That Only A Mother by Judith Merril - A short story review

This should really be called flash fiction coming in at only ten pages. Set in 1948, present day for when it was published, it is an alternate history story speculating on what life would be like in the USA after it was hit with nuclear bombs, like Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In particular it focuses on babies born after the parents were exposed to radiation.

Thank goodness the story was so short because the trauma of mutations and the psychological impact on the mothers was chilling.

The attitudes and dialog were a bit old fashioned for today but that's only a reflection of the time it was written in.

It was very well done and I found it quite disturbing.

A list of all her works can be found HERE.

Her Wikipedia page is HERE.

Her dedicated website is HERE.

Judith Merril

Astounding Science Fiction - June 1948

First Contact by Murray Leinster - A short story review

I enjoyed this story very much.  While on survey of the Crab Nebula the crew of the LLANVABON encounter another craft in the region.

You'd think First Contact would be a good and exciting thing. Trouble is, how can you be sure the species you've just encountered won't just follow you back home and wage war?

The author came up with a compelling resolution to the problem. It's an interesting premise since much of these kinds of encounters on Star Trek do not have this level of paranoia to complicate things.

This story was first published in 1945, considering the Cold War started at the same time I can see how the author could push the attitudes into space.

I think the story stands the test of time. The technology could use some freshening up but the plot would make a fine 90 minute movie. 

Find out more about the author HERE and HERE.

Murray Leinster - circa 1930's

Astounding Science Fiction - May 1945

Arena by Fredric Brown - The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Voume I

Humanity is on the cusp of inter-stellar war - mutual destruction in very likely.

Two representatives, one human one alien, are transported out of space and time to an arena by a god-like entity who is never seen and heard only once. 

They are instructed to fight to the death because the universe can only accommodate one of these races, there can be no middle ground.  Who ever wins the fight will ensure that his race will survive while the other will be wiped from existence.

I kept thinking, "I've read this before." and I may have; this story is a classic.  Then it struck me that it sounded very similar to an episode of the original Star Trek, where Kirk has to fight a giant lizard guy.

Not only did it sound familiar but Fredric Brown was credited for the episode.  You can read a quick story on how this came about at Memory Alpha: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Fredric_Brown

After a bit of Wikipedia research I found that Brown had a very interesting writing career and I may have to dig out some more of his fiction, both SF and mystery.

The story was first published in 1944 and is quite a bit different in the details than the Star Trek episode.  In the story the alien is a red ball with tentacles and the two combatants are separated by a force field.  For those who complain that TV shows and movies are often nothing like the source material; think about the photo above.  In the 60's how would they have been able create the alien from the story?  The visual arts has its own limitations so sometimes they have to make adjustments but the basic story remains.  If I remember correctly the ending of the Star Trek episode is quite different from the short story.

In any case I am a fan of Fredric Brown.

Fredric Brown

Astounding Science Fiction - June 1944

Huddling Place by Clifford D. Simak - The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume I

A surprisingly compelling story about a man struggling with agoraphobia.

Although humanity has ventured out to the planets some old psychological problems still plagues society.

After seeing his son off on a trip to Mars he discovers that he simply cannot deal with the crowds and the strangeness of the space port; he is terrified of being away from home and desperately works to get back there.

A few months later he discovers a good friend is dying on Mars and only he can save him.

How will he make the trip?  Will he?

July 1944

Clifford D. Simak

Mimsy Were the Borogoves by Lewis Padgett - The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume I

That's another one that escaped me.

An inventor creates time machines about the size of a breadbox.  He sends two, packed with his kids' discarded toys, back in time.  The first being sent to the present day (meaning the 1940's.  This story was published in '43, where much of the story takes place.

A young boy, Scotty, finds a strange box by the side of the river.  He opens it and discovers some strange and interesting toys within. He brings it all back home where he and his younger sister begin playing with them. 

It doesn't take long before the parents see these strange objects and begin to take an interest in them.  There is something very strange about these toys; the kids take to them naturally but the adults are baffled by them. The parents begin to worry that these toys are affecting the children. 

The parents bring in a child psychologist to analyze them and the children. It's then they discover that the underlying logic is completely different from our own.

This all gets quite confusing, to me the reader, and in the last few pages the author brings the second box into the story, which was found by Alice Liddell while on a picnic with Lewis Carroll.  She sings a strange song to him and he promises to include the verse in his book, Through the Looking Glass.

Scotty and his sister come across the book which was the last ingredient they needed to cross over into the realm of the inventor who sent the boxes back in time.

It just didn't work for me.

Astounding February 1943

Lewis Padgett was a pen name for the married writing team of Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore

Henry Kuttner 

C. L. Moore

The Weapon Shop by A. E. van Vogt - The Science Fiction Hall of Fame,Volume I

 This one didn't work for me.

I was unsympathetic to the main character who was a small town conservative taking action against a weapon shop that has suddenly opened in his town.

His life and career come unraveled as he tries to get the place shut down.

But there is more to the shop; it's actually a front for an anti-government resistance. 

In the end, I don't understand how this made the list.  Of course, they won't all appeal.

Astounding December 1942

 

A. E. van Vogt

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov - The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume I

The planet Lagash is situated in a star system containing six suns.  Consequently the people living there have never experienced night.  Darkness is completely unknown however, every 2,000 years the stars align and are eclipsed by another planet.

We take for granted knowing the night sky which makes for an interesting twist to discover people who've never known stars.

We are told the terrible history of this solar cycle and it's effect on the inhabitants of Lagash.

Written 72 years ago it is still fresh and relevant today.

September 1941

Isaac Asimov

Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon - The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume I

First published in the April 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction tells the tale of a modern-day Thomas Edison who lives in seclusion on a small east coast island.

His inventions take the world by storm and fundamentally change society in positive ways.  He gets so rich, in fact, that money loses its meaning - only the quest for knowledge drives him on.

However the true villain in this story is - his banker!

Very well done.  It could have been expanded into novel and would have made for a fantastic read.

Theodore Sturgeon

The Roads Must Roll by Robert A. Heinlein

Have you ever imagined what our cities would look like if the automobile was no more?  Seems almost impossible given, just how important and integrated into our society they are.

In Heinlein's world fossil fuels became so rare and valuable (sound familiar) that the US government decided that the military should have priority access to it.  Fuel prices became so expensive that a new method of mass transportation was created, he re-imagined roadways to be a series of conveyor belts each one going a bit faster than its neighbor, up to speeds of 100 MPH.  These roadways were powered by solar panels; very well imagined considering this story was published in 1940.

At the time the leading thinker on photovoltaic energy was Albert Einstein, who won the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his work in the area.  Look HERE for more information on that.

It takes a lot of work to keep the roadways rolling, during this story a revolt unfolds from the trade unionists that maintain the infrastructure.

This has all the right ingredients to make a fine modern day science fiction, action movie.  While reading it I kept thinking this story had the same look and feel of the movie I Robot - a gleaming city on top and a gritty world underneath it all, keeping it all running.

Good story even if the end of it is a bit clunky.  I'm sure it could be improved in the movie. (Just kidding)

Information or Robert A Heinlein can be found HERE and HERE

Robert A Heinlein

The story was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1940