Guest SSW: Paul Di Filippo on SPACE SCIENCE FICTION magazine, September 1952, edited by Lester Del Rey: Short Story Wednesday (1 of 2)

It took me months to work my way thru this 'zine at a page or two per night.  If I seem hazy on the earlier stories in the TOC, that might be why!  But I think I have given good valuations of them all. Overall, a decent issue with lots of entertainment but no classics and only one or two stinkers.

This issue can be read online here.

First the cover, then the TOC, with my brief comments interlineated:

• 2 • Editorial (Space Science Fiction, September 1952) • essay by Lester del Rey
• 4 • Moon-Blind • novelette by Lester del Rey [as by Erik Van Lhin]

1). The Del Rey lead-off story would have made a great Twilight Zone episode. A lone astronaut is sent to the Moon, and his promised return-trip vessel never shows. He manages (shades of Andy Weir) to survive and return to Earth, but back on Earth no one knows of him or his mission. The bulk of the story is an exercise in paranoia and weirdness, and the hurried conclusion—some unknown force is erasing all traces of any attempt by mankind to attain the stars—is weak by comparison. Basically never reprinted.

• 35 • The Fence • short story by Clifford D. Simak
• 35 •  The Fence • interior artwork by Gari

2). Simak’s piece has been much reprinted. In a post-scarcity world, our hero feels useless—and even more so when he discovers that mankind is part of a zoo exhibit of some sort.

• 47 • The God in the Bowl • [Conan] • short story by Robert E. Howard
• 47 •  The God in the Bowl • interior artwork by Schecterson

3). Conan!  What more need be said!  [Uncredited "posthumous collaborator"] L. Sprague De Camp’s short intro opines that this must’ve been “one of the first Conan stories to be written.”  A satisfying amount of gratuitous slaughter.

• 65 • Science: Fact and Fiction (Space Science Fiction, September 1952) • essay by George O. Smith
• 65 •   Review: Jack of Eagles by James Blish • (1952) • review by George O. Smith
• 66 • A Matter of Faith • novella by Robert A. W. Lowndes [as by Michael Sherman]
• 66 •  A Matter of Faith • interior artwork by Peter Poulton [as by Poulton]

4). “Michael Sherman” was really R.A.W. Lowndes. Never reprinted. This is the worst thing I have read in a long time. In trawling thru old zines, I try to read every word and not skim, but I had to skip sections here after a while, as the story goes on for what seems an infinite span without anything happening. Our hero has some kind of secret, and is pursued on a cultish planet by authorities, until he isn’t, because he joins the establishment, but is always at risk of falling afoul of the strange customs. The kicker is that—like the Star Trek episode where the natives are reciting a garbled U.S. Declaration of Independence—the three rival planets here derive their culture from three forms of office shorthand! “Gregg, Pittman and Speedwriting.”

• 106 • The Barrier • short story by Murray Leinster
• 106 •  The Barrier • interior artwork by Paul Orban [as by Orban]

5). "Leinster" gives us a competent but perfunctory tale.  A basically Asperger’s-type hero sacrifices love to achieve FTL travel. Basically never reprinted.

• 119 •   Review: The Weapon Makers by A. E. van Vogt • (1952) • review by George O. Smith
• 119 •   Review: Invaders of Earth by Groff Conklin • (1952) • review by George O. Smith
• 120 • With Wings • short story by John Jakes
• 120 •  With Wings • interior artwork by Schecterson

6). Jakes’s tale was about his 18th short fiction sale. A vignette about the sad fate a mutant boy. Never reprinted.

• 124 • Official Record • novelette by Fletcher Pratt
• 124 •  Official Record • interior artwork by Schecterson

7). Pratt’s story has some sardonic humor and satire, as it chronicles a reconnaissance expedition into the territory of a former enemy that had been blockaded for decades while a deliberately deployed war virus has been allowed to run rampant. Some nice biopunk ideas still topical today. Of course, the “superior” invaders are quickly bamboozled and the table is turned. Sparsely reprinted.

• 143 • The Revisitor • short story by Theodore L. Thomas
• 143 •  The Revisitor • interior artwork by Gari

8). Society is ruled by a Van Vogtian system that tests all citizens for their moral qualities. Thomas depicts the ramifications of this nicely—imagine politicians who are altruistic and trustworthy!—but then wraps the conceit in the notion that omnipotent aliens secretly watching Earth will utilize the system to deem humanity worth saving or needing destruction. This part seems unnecessary and at odds with the core conceit. Never reprinted.

• bc • Meet Paul Orban • essay by Paul Orban
• original text Copyright 

  ©

  2024 by Paul Di Filippo; index/cover image courtesy ISFDB.

And, elsewhere, John Boston was moved to comment on the Lowndes-story assessment:

Sherman/Lowndes's "A Matter of Faith" was later booked by Avalon in 1961 as BELIEVERS' WORLD, presumably with some expansion, even allowing for the large type and wide margins that publisher favored.  Interestingly (well, not very), Lowndes was editing their SF line at the time.  I had a similar reaction to yours 60-plus years ago, though unencumbered by any self-imposed obligation to finish it, and I didn't.