Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Eric Frank Russell's "Afternoon of a Fahn" aka "Rainbow's End" (short story, free): When human explorers landed on a "trap" world

An illustration accompanying the original publication in Imagination magazine of short story Afternoon of a Fahn by Eric Frank Russell
Idea is very familiar - Ray Bradbury's "Mars is Heaven!" (download radio adaptation), Eric Frank Russell's "Mesmerica", Fredric Brown's "Nothing Sirius" (download scans as part of a larger package), ... But I still liked it.

There is a reference to an apparently European legend I'm unfamiliar with: midget people with magical powers go away to another earth-like world because they're not welcome on earth. Does "fahn" mean anything to anyone?

Story summary.

A human scout ship with a crew of 4 has discovered a very earth-like world, rich in uranium. They land to explore.

Then they meet its midget humanoid natives, & things begin to get both pleasing & annoying...

Fact sheet.

First published: Imagination, April 1951.
Download full text as part of scans of the magazine it originally appeared in.
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Eric Frank Russell (annotated & ranked list).

7 comments:

LarryS said...

Fahn is a play on the word Fawn, from the piece of music by Debussy, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, a faun being a young deer.

Tinkoo said...

But he does talk of a legend where midget magicians left earth for another world because they weren't welcome on earth. How does that relate to the music you're referring to?

LarryS said...

Well I dont suppose it relates to it at all, but he's just playing with the title of the piece of music.
Are there sexual themes in the story-bestiality,because thats one of the themes in the story of the music

Tinkoo said...

There are ordinary love stories, but no bestiality.

LarryS said...

Well the story of the music goes that a young child falls in love with a faun, or vice versa.

Tinkoo said...

You may have something there - I'm not sure. May be someone who's read both the story & is familiar with the song can correlate better.

Anonymous said...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27apr%C3%A8s-midi_d%27un_faune_(poem)