Gutenberg Sci-Fi 6
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Leiber was not a typical pulp fiction writer, being linked to theatre, film, and a writer of journalism. He wrote not only sci‐fi, but was knowingly a fantasy man, sourcing the Swords and Sorcery genre. In rough date order… I tried A Pail of Air. It’s a good sci‐fi story, with interesting style and a non‐pulp payoff which stands out a mile. That Fritz Leiber runs on non‐pulp fuel is obvious. His people do not ‘recoil in shock’ or ‘feel faint’ when they hear the words of others. Also Dr. Kometevsky’s Day in which moon‐shattering proposals work out as drawing room comedy. Friends and Enemies is so hooked on symbols it becomes absurdist. SciFi only in trappings, this story of eviction, a bickering poet and scientist, and their subsequent rescue by a violet‐haired woman and earthquake deserves the magazine teaser, “…only Fritz Leiber [in SciFi] could have written….”. Time in the Round starts with dogs and kids, which cuteness I know many are good for but dulls me, before the author sluices in robots, childhood adventure, a more plausible description of time travel than anything else you’ll find, a theatrical reversal into drama and a goofy literary joke—how did he assemble this?
Fritz Leiber also has an inclination towards submerged metaphor, which explodes throughout the descriptions of inter‐planetary travel in The Snowbank Orbit. The story comes to a non‐twist end that most writers would not consider. The 64‐Square Madhouse shows another mark of M. Leiber’s work—like The Snowbank Orbit it is not only deeply researched, but M. Leiber finds ways to turn that research into propositions. This very long short story is particularly interesting because the science has come true, and did not work out as he described. However, before you dismiss the story for not being ‘prophetic’, consider that the dynamics M. Leiber constructed are still being played out today. And they are too‐seldom discussed—read this and you’ll learn something useful and unusual about computing. The Big Engine is a short sketch, psi‐fiction, thought‐provoking and well‐made.
The Green Millennium is a novel, one of M. Leiber’s earlier. It plays out round the question “Where’s the cat?” A spectacular mix of Sci‐Fi and Fantasy where the mix is deliberate, not a muddle. It’s from what Damon Knight called the ‘Gonzo’ school of Sci‐Fi,
Dytie opened in the air a small doorway that was black as ink, and climbed inside. She turned round… urged “Come in, Phil”, and stretched a white arm… down to him.
No reviews anywhere, but with Leiber’s people, colourful writing style and ideas arriving every paragraph, fans shouldn’t hesitate.
And then there is Conjure Wife. This was a serialised novel, likely Fritz Leiber’s first. The basic idea is a sweet spot hit. Witches exist, but rather than being some old‐time sorcery tale, Fritz Leiber proposed witches exist today, so moved his scenario into a modern environment. It’s a rare case of an artwork that can be verified as influential—several films have lifted the basic idea which, knowing or unknowing, remains a source for all ‘modern sorcery’ stories; and it’s not too much of a stretch to claim The Stepford Wives was a sharp recast of Conjure Wife’s psychological base. Nowadays the book’s college‐campus setting is self‐important and, though the characters are lively and their struggles convincing, the text doesn’t escape these limitations. Also a lack of body‐horror, political terror, or dramatic tension make the book more charming than scary. But there is a wealth of idea and human drama and, as Damon Knight wrote,
…the shocker at the end of Chapter 14, I am not ashamed to say that I jumped an inch out of my seat…
As good now as then.
There’s a lot of Fritz Leiber’s work on Gutenberg, though mostly short stories lifted from magazines.
Murray Leinster
Not the most famous of 50’s writers, but successful, Murray Leinster wrote by the yard. For anybody. To give you some idea, he turned out more than sixty novels, and that was before you count the articles, short stories, play scripts, and more. Interestingly, although his writing career pre‐dates the commerce of science fiction, he seemed to like the form—he was not a dabbler or evangelist.
I plucked from the barrel, The Pirates of Ersatz. The book is an adventure story in outer space. It doesn’t have the sharps of Harry Harrison, or the outlandish fantasy some of these novels can create. But it makes up for that with an even‐handed approach to society—the worlds the protagonist crosses vex him. And there is a practicality to the inter‐planetary setting that is thoughtful and maybe original—struggles with equipment and communication, opportunities and setbacks—what might it be like to skim the atmosphere of a planet in a spacecraft?—none of which you will find elsewhere. It’s ‘Biggles in Space’ and I have a place for that. The Ambulance Made Two Trips is from later. The good title delivers an amusing, non‐SciFi mystery from the start—a Police detective at odds with unexpected parcel deliveries—as it plows into an unlikely but interesting resolution on a psychic anti‐weapon, while delivering amusing small‐scale scenes.
Project Gutenberg lists forty‐one works by Murray Leinster, many of them novels, none of which have heavy downloads. It is an academic mystery—who is doing this work? Anyway, there is a load of it, though I can’t vouch for the others.
Stanisław Lem
NB: not represented on Gutenberg
Writer of poems, essays, reviews and philosophical tracts, Stanisław Lem wrote a lot of science fiction. Maybe the best selling Polish author ever, and known throughout the world, he should be mentioned—if only as a representative of a subject not on this list, European SciFi. His work remains largely unavailable in England and America, let alone Gutenberg. Best known film adaption by far, if not the only one, is Solaris.
Frank Belknap Long
Better known, reports say, for horror stories with fantasy monsters, and correspondence with the similarly inclined H.P. Lovecraft. However, this shows why people argued at the time, and still argue, about what SciFi is (your author has his own thoughts. The Cottage starts with a psychological drama unmatched anywhere here (though Ray Bradbury ventured often into such areas and arguably much of his reputation is based there). A cobbled together SciFi explanation sets up a fantasy proposal in which children get a vicious revenge on their abusive father. Overall, a fantasy proposition, almost a dark fairy tale, not speculative but it sticks for me.
Robert A. W. Lowndes
Lowndes was a writer, notably an editor. Damon Knight makes many references to him but offers no criticism… likely because Lowndes wrote little and perhaps because this got Knight as a friend from a jamb. The Troubadour is a micro story, It has an unlikely urbane style and more likely highbow party scenario that lobs in Spengler and the word ‘hetrogeneous’ as it draws breath. The shallow arch and amused style tells a story of a visiting folk singer who sings of Apocalypse, from which arrives moody revelations. I’d drop this into my new category ‘MythFi’, though I’m not at all sure the author is committed—‐Wikipedia reported that when he wrote, he wrote Horror stories.
Four on Gutenberg with a Lowndes credit
Edward W. Ludwig
Sparse coverage by only The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction confirms this writer existed. Juvenile Delinquent is a SocFi story if ever there was one—a future society that discourages reading—‐with the end a small surprise as it challenges story commonplaces. Between the character interaction, of which there is some, and the inventive construction.
The ESF says Edward Ludwig wrote twenty four stories, so the ten returned by Gutenberg is good coverage.
Winston K. Marks
A writer who in this usually well‐annotated area has only the barest sketch of online coverage. The Water Eater uses an Average Joe character to discover an idea somewhat similar to a Robert Sheckley story, but couldn’t be more different in delivery. Where Robert Sheckley keeps delivery clear and precise, and is unapologetic about a fantasy base, Winston Marks finds an amusing, implausible but viable explanation, and delivers in a style thoughtful and present.
It is reported Robert Marks wrote nearly eighty stories, and twenty four are available on Gutenberg, a good sample.
Richard Matheson
NB: not represented on Gutenberg
Writer also for TV and film, he wasn’t a SciFi but a real‐world fantasy and horror writer—he did get magazine publication. Well‐known adaptions are The Omega Man, The Incredible Shrinking Man and Duel.
Judith Merril
Organiser and anthologist, politically active and co‐writer of a few novels and a handful of short stories… Judith Merril was important without necessarily being a writer. The Lonely shows some of what she was. First, it has a inlaid document structure which is not of Sci‐Fi culture, more literary. And makes alien comments about sexuality. I don’t think either of these make it a better story, but what does tell is the dose of realism which makes the story more, not less, ambiguous and mysterious.
Only two Judith Merril entries on Gutenberg, but there’s not much out there.
Abraham Merritt
Not the earliest writer on this list, but Abraham Merritt predates Fifties Sci‐Fi by thirty years. His work is often categorised as a source of the boom. If The Moon Pool is typical, then that’s a claim that needs to be explained. See, this is a hidden world story. It’s true that, while describing it’s hidden world, the text shows a concern to reference scientific plausibility. It would take more knowledge than mine to tell you if Mr. Merrit’s science was good for the time. Or how much scientific reference was a feature of the time, though I know the idea of social class was making it’s way everywhere. Anyway, Mr. Merrit spins and weaves stuff like,
I took out the two Bequerel ray‐condensers… I had found them most useful in making spectroscopic analysis of luminous vapours… had found them most useful… splendid results… in collecting the diffused radiance of the nebulae…
On the one hand, that is a reference to science of the time. On the other, it’s pebbledash to avoid investigation of rough fantasy. I’m not holding this against Merrit’s work, because much early Fifties Sci‐Fi was ‘hidden world’, except the ‘hidden world’ was outer space. But then the Fifties work, at it’s most terse and involving became more—scientific speculation—which Merrit’s work is not. Merrit’s lost world is Empire fantasy, all silk, marble, and dangerous natives—though with a view generous that there may be also knowledge unknown and human drama. Readers will get this kind of writing,
I turned and faced an immensity of crimson waters… A breeze blew, the first real wind I had encountered… the surface, that had been a molten laquer, rippled and dimpled. Little waves broke with a spray of rose‐pearls and rubies. The giant Medusae drifted—stately, luminous kaleidoscopic elfin moons.
Merrit’s work is, it is said, ‘Not much read now’ but he was a bestseller of the age. I say he’s good style, that the characters of Goodwin and O’Keefe are nicely set against each other—Goodwin is a scientist with some hazy superstition, O’Keefe believes superstition as fact, but has no time for the inexplicable. I’d say also that Merrit’s stream of drama and image has invention—impressive—but The Moon Pool shows how basic premises have weight—this book’s love/slavery drama has no modern resonance.
Sam Merwin
Considering he lead a long career as author and editor, there’s not much information on Sam Merwin. Admittedly, he was an earlier writer, WWII into Fifties, which will reduce information. And The Final Figure will not explain why. The story is only vaguely Sci‐Fi and perhaps better for that, as it’s a story with a mild twist, modest characters, involves war‐models and is well‐assembled. Arbiter is one of those jolly lets‐fix‐this American types, with a more‐than‐usual complex background and subtle solution. You know, spaceships, they crash… and whose fault is that?
There’s maybe seven Sci‐Fi stories by Sam Merwin on Project Gutenberg. If you find mystery and romance stories by ‘Samuel Merwin’… not the same person.
Catherine L. Moore
Usually disguised as ‘C. L. Moore’. Also a university lecturer in creative writing, and for a while television scriptwriter. As noted not only here, but every public mention, prising her work from Henry Kuttner is still a subject today. The editors of Gutenberg must know or suspect something, because Juke‐Box is credited to C. L. Moore, yet the transcription credits to ‘Woodrow Wilson Smith’, a cover‐name for Henry Kuttner. Bewildered?! Anyway, the story starts with ok character and action, low‐key, in a scenario that is not SciFi, about a communicative jukebox. Then detonates a small bomb, before reaching the end it should. I found myself hovering, especially until the bomb arrives, over a story loaded but not explored with potential for allegory and fantasy. Still, a well‐made story about something other than interplanetary flight. Song in a Minor Key is a micro story. I’d sure like to have sat and talked with Catherine Moore about if this is a story in form—I’d say there is a case it is, but most would see it as a psychological moment. Anyway, it’s the stuff of interplanetary hoodlums dumped into rural idyll, which is amusing and pretty. The Tree of Life is a short story of wizardry and Empire that would usually make me grit my teeth, but the author finds enough new things in it, mostly the inverse effect of the central image and the insecurity of the central character, to keep me reading.
Very little on Gutenberg, currently two stories, but note the connection with Henry Kuttner.
Andre Norton
Andre Norton has good coverage online, possibly because there were many books, possibly because they sold readily, possibly because (finally) they received awards. Andre Norton was Alice Mary Norton, but changed her name to become this pseudonym. Like another writer with the same device, Leigh Brackett, Andre Norton sometimes wrote stories of adventure in other‐worlds. But Leigh Brackett wrote Westerns, or most of what I have read of her on Gutenberg is Westerns, with fantasy monsters. Whereas in the book Star Hunter Andre Norton writes smaller‐scale character and while her monsters are fantasy they are present within a physical realism. This may seem limiting, but in practice frees the author to engage in character and dramatic development, not to mention extending the adventure sequences. In the end I’d say this kind of thing isn’t Science Fiction, but it is what people would think of as the model of pulp SciFi. And Andre Norton was the best of it, only Harry Harrison’s wry politics are any kind of match for this …unless we admit later writers like Ursula Le Guin. Oh and Andre Norton is a nifty writer too, delivering a range of sentences in neat and dense construction. Jolly good, and stands today.
Much Andre Norton on Gutenberg, but her work covered several genres, so I can’t vouch for other books on offer.
Edgar Pangborn
A writer who somewhat predated the sci‐fi boom, and who published some of it’s first novels. I’ve not read enough, but truth is his writing seems tangential to sci‐fi, but firmly in a position of wonderous fantasy. I read a full‐length book, West of the Sun, an alternate planet setup, which is written in a home‐brew style I found likable. His work is not pulpy in scenario, only concept.
If it helps, one of Mr. Pangborn’s stories, pretty famous, is the title of an album by the rock group Gong—‘Angel’s Egg’. And it’s on Gutenberg. I recall someone saying somewhere that Angels Egg was hugely popular. Not sure what that means. Angel’s Egg is presented as science fiction, but is fantasy. As usual, the utopian future is pastoral. Is it well‐turned and does the author earn his charm, not trade it it? Yes. The Good Neighbors is a very short story from the Age of Sci‐Fi. It takes the idea of alien invasion in a direction of misunderstanding, good intention and erratic diplomacy. In that it seems close to reality, as it’s shadow drifts towards an end absurd and oddly moving.
H. Beam Piper
A lesser‐known writer from the early SciFi age (1950’s), H. Piper was a working man, self‐taught and thoughtful. Graveyard of Dreams uses the common stock of planetary travel and American can‐do with unusual subtlety of personal and political thought, which makes for drama. A story of the impossible dreams that support common life, a journey that doesn’t work out, and a resolution that is at least practical. If short of Poul Anderson’s towards‐realism, it’s a tightly‐written example of the rise in pulp fiction standard without stepping from it’s origins.
Time and Time Again is a time‐travel effort. It ducks the nonsense involved, instead pitching for emotional history and wish‐fullfillment. In this, though the characters and subjects are entirely different, it achieves the effect of the script for the much‐loved film ‘Back to The Future’. Damon Knight noted this story as part of a collection translated into German, and further noted that the stories selected were ‘excellent’. Recommended.
Little Fuzzy is a novel which strikes on a wonderful SciFi, and science fiction, premise that a race of ‘animals’ is discovered which display maybe emerging human mental ability. This allows an exploration of what it means to be human, through concepts like consciousness, kinds of reasoning, and so forth. Piper delivers this story in his no‐nonsense way without sentiment, mysticism or academia. He reveals an ability which is perhaps a mild surprise—he can summon a childlike sense of wonder. Put together with simple character drama this makes one of the key events, small in scale but huge in meaning, unlikely in how moving it is. I tell you—I put the phone down and for a while stopped reading. But you don’t need my word for it, the book spawned several sequels and other spin‐offs.
Reportedly through copyright loss, but also likely archival enthusiasm, there are thirty‐nine entries for Piper work on Gutenberg—I can’t vouch for all of it, but surely worth a look.