Free fiction: Universe, #1 (June 1953)

Someone posted scans of this issue as pdf via a torrent.

Includes a then controversial story of Theodore Sturgeon, & one of the minor stories of Murray Leinster (assuming I'm recollecting the right story of Leinster!) Other notable authors include Mack Reynolds & Mark Clifton.

Related: Old pulps; fiction from 1950s.

Murray Leinster's "Space Platform" (novel, space station, free): US putting up a nuclear missiles facility in orbit

I won't put it anywhere among the better stories of Leinster, but it's action packed - if occasionally a bit draggy. And if you are interested in machine tools, particularly in balancing things rotating fast around an axis, parts of it may be hard sf.

Story summary.

US is putting a space station ("Space Platform") in orbit around earth. It will be primarily a military facility capable of throwing nuclear weapons anywhere on earth. Reason given is a rather pious one: US wants to force a warring world to stop fighting!

Much of the world, of course, doesn't buy this peace argument; so there are major attempts to sabotage the building of the space station.

Hero, of course, will repeatedly frustrate these sabotage attempts. And of course, US will successfully launch it, in spite of all the sabotage attempts.

Notes.

1. Story also gives 2 secondary reasons for building the space platform: as a launching pad to go to stars, & as a launching pad for laboratories to do experiments too dangerous to do on earth.

See also.

1. Eric Frank Russell's "Wasp" (download): Another novel primarily about sabotage that I found far more interesting. And often hilarious.
2. Alfred Bester's "Adam & No Eve" (download comic book adaptation) & Larry Niven's "The Hole Man": Two popular examples of experiments that can threaten the home world. Experiments that Leinster proposes to conduct far away from earth, in labs launched from space platform, so earth won't be threatened.

Fact sheet.

First published: 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks., Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Murray Leinster.

Eric Frank Russell's "Somewhere a Voice" (collection): Annotated table of contents & review

I've not read all stories yet. Will fill up entries as I read.

"Dear Devil" is one of the most loved stories of the genre.

ToC below is in order of my preference, best first. Where I have a separate post on a story, link on title goes there. Where I'm aware of an online copy of the story, I include the link. Links on publisher or year fetch more matching fiction.

1. [novelette] "Dear Devil" (A); download scans as part of a larger package; Other Worlds, May 1950: Humanity rises from post-nuclear-war apocalypse - with some external help.
2. [ss] "U-Turn" (as by Duncan H Munro) (B); Astounding, April 1950: State helps a bored man commit "suicide"...  
3. [novelette] "I Am Nothing" (B); Astounding, July 1952: A ruthless dictator has a change of heart...
4. [novella] "Somewhere a Voice" (B); Other Worlds, January 1953: Unsuccessful hike to rescue by the stranded.
5. [ss] "Tieline" (as by Duncan H Munro) (B); Astounding, July 1955: A man alone on an entire planet that houses a space lighthouse is very lonely.
6. [novelette] "Seat of Oblivion" (B); Astounding, November 1941: What's the best place to hide for a runaway death row convict? In another man's body! 
7. [ss] "Displaced Person" (B); Weird Tales, September 1948; religion: Some revolutionaries aren't welcome anywhere.

Fact sheet.

First published: 1965.
Related: Stories of Eric Frank Russell.

Eric Frank Russell's "Somewhere a Voice" (novella, adventure): Unsuccessful hike to rescue by the stranded

One of the more mundane stories of Russell. Or may be I'm getting impatient with plots repeated a 1000 times. This one is of a hike through a jungle world, meeting & fighting local monsters.

At the start, it's a party of 7 men, 1 woman, & 1 dog - survivors of a spaceshipwreck that successfully landed on an uncolonized world. Uncolonized, but it still has a "rescue-station"! That's some 2000 miles north of landing place, no one knows how far east or west. They've no maps, no working communications gear.

So they set on a hike through the jungle to the rescue-station. All, except dog, will die on the way, one by one.

Fact sheet.

First published: Other Worlds Science Stories, January 1953.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Eric Frank Russell.

Henry Kuttner & C L Moore's "A Wild Surmise" (short story, free): What's real & what's imaginary?

This is nonsense. Or may be not. But quite funny.

Story summary.

Timothy Hooten is being treated by a psychiatrist, Dr Scott, at 2 pm, & by Dr Rasp at 2 am. He's human in one, but a bug in another. Which one is "real"?

It becomes really interesting when he gets an appointment from both doctors for the same time.

See also.

1. Rog Phillips' "The Yellow Pill" (download): Psycho patient thinks the doctor is really the patient...

Fact sheet.

First published: Star Science Fiction Stories, February 1953.
Read online at Scribd (slow page load, may need Flash enabled in browser).
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Henry Kuttner, C L Moore.

Edward W Ludwig's "The Lonely Ones" (short story, first contact, free): Stone age man is modern man what modern man is to...

Man has looked through the Sol - all the way from Mercury to Pluto; no animal life anywhere. Now a party of 6 is on its way to Proxima Centauri to look. And they do find it there, but ... this is not what they wanted to find...

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy or If, July 1953.
Note: Project Gutenberg's HTML copy includes image of If's cover with the story, but attributes the story to Galaxy. ISFDB attributes it to If.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Edward W Ludwig; first contact fiction.

Alex Apostolides & Mark Clifton's "We're Civilized!" (short story, colonialism, free): Martians are savage to Man, Man is to...

First human expedition to Mars, led by a military commander, claims all of Mars for Western Alliance. The process involves a general genocide of Martians, but who has time to notice such minor details...

Our pioneers of Mars return to earth & are being felicitated. Only all doesn't go according to organizers plan...

See also.

1. A Bertram Chandler's "Familiar Pattern" (download): Very similar idea.

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy, August 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Mark Clifton.

Free fiction: Recently posted to Project Gutenberg

1. Alex Apostolides & Mark Clifton's "We're Civilized!"; download; Galaxy, August 1953: "Naturally, the superior race should win ... but superior by which standards ... and whose?"
2. Edward W Ludwig's "The Lonely Ones"; download; If, July 1953: "The line between noble dreams and madness is thin, and loneliness can push men past it..." 

Related: Fiction from old "pulps".

Stephen Arr's "Mr President" (short story, free)

What drives the President nuts?

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy, November 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Stephen Arr.

Poul Anderson's "Sentiment, Inc" (novelette, mad scientist, free)

This is mostly a very light read.

Story summary.

If you are well-connected & rich, Dr Robert Kennedy of Sentiment, Inc will convince the girl of your desire to fall in love with you. By conning her to an experiment where he rewires her brain!

But Colin Fraser is not someone to sit quite, when the girl he was about to marry was converted by Kennedy to marry someone else. He's determined get his girlfriend back. And ends up unearthing a conspiracy of world domination!

Fact sheet.

First published: Science Fiction Stories, #1 (1953).
Download full text from Project Gutenberg. [via Free Speculative Fiction Online]
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Poul Anderson.

Jack Vance's "Sjambak" (short story, free)

One of the minor stories of Vance. A TV journalist exposes a jihadi conspiracy...

Fact sheet.

First published: If, July 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks. [via John@ClassicScienceFiction]
Download audio from LibriVox.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Jack Vance.

Raymond Z Gallun's "Comet's Burial" (short story, free): Terraforming moon!

This is old fashioned science fiction adventure; drop any pretense of realism, & go have fun. We also see some ancient Martian relics on moon, ride through Sol aboard a Martian ship, & eat long-preserved Martian canned meat that's probably of earth's dinosaurs!

Jess Brinker is convinced real underground cities can be built on moon if only some way were found to cut through its 200 km thick crust to reach the resources inside. So he & his apprentice Arne Copeland will move Brulow's Comet to smash into far side of moon - without informing anyone else on moon or earth!

Of course, there will be happy ending.

Fact sheet.

First published: Science Fiction Stories, #1 (1953).
Download full text from Project Gutenberg.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Raymond Z Gallun.

"Startling Stories", April 1953 (ed Samuel Mines) (magazine, free): Annotated table of contents

Scans of the magazine are online in CBR format.

Table of contents.

1. [novel] Kendell Foster Crossen's "Halos, Inc": "It was pretty difficult to fall for a girl on a planet with light gravity - but Jerry Ransom was willing to attempt it!"
   
   I've not read this story, but description sounds like Arthur Clarke's "Cosmic Casanova".
2. [novelet] Ross Rocklynne's "Fulfillment": "They accused him of being asleep, Jig had to prove that only a sleeping man can have the conviction of his dreams!"
3. [ss] Robert Sherman Townes' "Earth is the Evening Star": "They got a key to the dead city from a race no longer there".
4. [ss] Robert Donald Locke's "Threshold": "He knew that some day he would leave the earth of his youth".
5. [ss] Sam Merwin, Jr's "Distortion Pattern": "She was the boss's secretary, but sat in the lap of the gods".
6. [ss] Leslie Bigelow's "Clockwork": "Was the professor a prophet - or, perhaps, was he a demon?"
7. [ss] Peter Phillips' "Lila": "He simply had to stop the girl from asking so many questions".
8. [ss] Richard Barr & Wallace West's "Rubberneck": "They were on a pleasure jaunt to a primitive town, New York".

See also.

1. Fiction from Startling Stories.
2. Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.
3. Fiction from 1950s.

Charles V De Vet's "Delayed Action" (short story, mystery, free): Why would a man consciously lose own his memory?

Imagine a time machine that moves you 20 years ahead every time you pass through it, but without aging you. But it does extract a drastic price as a side-effect: you'll lose almost your entire memory if you use it. Author thinks up a case where someone might want to use consciously.

Device in the story is a natural one: "Moebius Strip", a curious geological feature on the alien world called Marlock.

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy, September 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Charles V De Vet.

Hal Clement's "Whirligig World" (essay)

Author describes the rigorous process, including consultations with Isaac Asimov & others, he went through in designing Mesklin, the world at the heart of "Mission of Gravity".

He also tells us: "I hereby give official permission to anyone who so desires to lay scenes there." "there" is Mesklin; according to the article, you can set a story there without worrying about copyright violations, provided that you "maintain reasonable scientific standards, & that's certainly an elastic requirement in the field of science fiction."

First published: Astounding, June 1953.
Related: Stories of Hal Clement.

Algis Budrys' "Riya's Foundling" (short story, free)

This is strange story, & I'm not sure I understand it fully. A very strange mother adopts some strange foundlings - telepathic beings, both mother & one of her adopted kids, & each probably from different parallel earths...

Fact sheet.

First published: Science Fiction Stories, #1 (1953).
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Algis Budrys.

Robert A Heinlein's "Starman Jones" (novel, space opera): Boy comes of age, in style

Now that I think of it a few days after reading, I guess it required an incredible suspension of belief as circumstances conspire to turn Maximilian Jones, a vagrant boy & hero of the story, from a penniless urchin to captain of Asgard, a big spaceship, in a matter of months - a captain who'll get the passengers back home safely after getting lost in uncharted reaches of galaxy. But it was a fast quick read, & didn't feel like suspending too much belief! That's Heinlein at his best.

A few chapters near end have an adventure on a world ruled by centaur-like intelligent aliens - aliens to whom the newly arrived humans are probably food, & whose tools are biological rather mechanical - a snake-like being that serves as rope & is controlled by special patting, balloon-like flying creatures used for keeping watch on things, small beings that can be made to glow to make light by touching a pressure point on their body, scavengers specially trained (or engineered or bred?) for city's garbage disposal, ...

See also.

1. Arthur Clarke & Gentry Lee's "Rama Revealed": Another novel featuring aliens whose tools are biological rather than mechanical.

Fact sheet.

First published: 1953.
Rating: A.
Credits: I found this book via ClassicScienceFiction Yahoo group.
Related: Stories of Robert Heinlein.

Murray Leinster's "The Trans-Human" (short story, war): Loneliness does strange things to a teenager

There are a lot of stories where a baby is raised by another species & grows up thinking it's of its adoptive species rather than its real one - Mogli raised by wolves, eagle baby raised among the chicken, ... This story is of this kind.

Story summary.

Human colonization of galaxy has brought them in conflict with Khasr, spider-like aliens. Khasr had destroyed a lot of human colony worlds before humans suspected aliens' existence. Then the war began.

The story is of Johnny, a 2 year old baby boy kidnapped by Khasr before they destroyed his world. He's fed carefully chosen propaganda & grows up thinking he's a mutilated Khasr, mutilated by violent human action. Aliens will deploy him on a suicide mission to destroy earth when he's 14.

Only, he's naive at subterfuge & is quickly caught near earth. And then come his hormonal reactions on his first ever landing on earth, physical contact with a girl, living with a family, ...

Meanwhile, humans will use Khasr weapon on aliens themselves.

Fact sheet.

First published: Science-Fiction Plus, December 1953.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Murray Leinster (an annotated selection of his "good" works).

Eric Frank Russell's "Bitter End" (short story, man-hunt): Predicament of the crew of first successful Mars round-trip

James Vail & Richard Kingston took off Luna City for Mars - first manned mission to red world. Contact will be lost with earth & moon, they won't return back at appointed time or weeks afterward, & will be presumed lost.

Only, they're'nt lost. Their ship had developed a snag on Mars, & took a while to fix. The delay created an unusual emergency - one that resulted in the ship returning to earth with Vail alone. And Vail will abandon the ship after landing it in a place it will be easily found, but doesn't want to show back his own face.

Why does the first successful Mars round-trip survivor want to go hide somewhere in anonymity? Ancient plot, very well done - reads like a thriller.

Fact sheet.

First published: Science-Fiction Plus, December 1953.
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Eric Frank Russell (annotated & ranked list).

Philip K Dick's "Piper in the Woods" (short story, free): A world that turns men into plants!

Asteroid Y-3 in asteroid belt is actually an earth-like world - earth gravity, natural air & water, native animals & plants, ... Even native intelligent inhabitants, probably descended from Martians.

Man has set up a sort of immigration station there, The Garrison. All outer space traffic is cleared here.

A mysterious contagion has began affecting the men working here: they claim they've become plants, but are otherwise rational; they bask in the sunlight all day & don't work; it's impossible to awaken them from sleep at night.

Dr Henry Harris on earth is assigned the job of unraveling the mystery. He will succeed, with the results you can already guess...

See also.

1. John Taine's "The Ultimate Catalyst": Technology to actually turn men into plants! Set in a jungle in South America.

Fact sheet.

First published: Imagination, February 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Philip K Dick.

H L Gold's "No Charge for Alterations" (novelette, free): A society that alters its members psychologically & physically, as needed!

Have a pretty & rebellious teenage daughter? Helpful doctor can alter her psychologically to kill rebellion, & can make her ugly so she won't spend time preening herself!!!

Have a husband you don't like the looks of? Doctor can alter him physically to make him visually appealing.

We'll see the reactions of young Dr Leo Hoyt, newly arrived on this grossly underpopulated world called Deneb, to "Ego Alter" & "Rephysical" technologies change from disgusting to necessary.

Fact sheet.

First published: Amazing Stories, April-May 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of H L Gold.

Winston K Marks' "Unbegotten Child" (short story, cancer, free): Evolution's retaliation against birth control!

Very light & totally non-sentimental read for a story about a serious case of cancer - one that changes the meaning of cancer itself! "The high incidence of various tumors evidences Nature's experiments in developing a asexual reproduction."

Story summary.

When Ms Sara Caffey was examined by Dr Phillipe Sansome at Cancer Institute in Paris, she had a serious case of inoperable cancer. Old doctor had his cancer as alternate reproduction technique theory cooking, & administered treatment called for by that assumption - medication that encourages cancer growth rather than retards it!

A few months later, she began having signs of pregnancy rather than tumor! And in time, gave birth to a healthy baby girl, normal in all respects except...

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy, April 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Winston K Marks; stories about evolution, cancer.

Eric Frank Russell's "Postscript" aka "P.S." (short story, philosophy, free): How appearances affect our perception

Unlike some of Ted Chiang's philosophical stories, this one is a human story. And while not a hilarious one, as many of the author's most memorable works are, it made me smile in later parts - as the idea stuck home.

Story summary.

Dr Malcolm Harrison, now 77, had made a pen-pal 65 years ago with Gaily (aka Vandashanda), a "girl" who's a native of the far away world Reba. They've been good friends ever since, & still exchange letters.

One fine day, Doc accidentally stumbles into Jim Corlett, a much younger acquaintance in Space Service who'd recently returned from 17 years in space. Among the gossip exchanged is Jim's 2 days stop at Reba, & his repulsive reaction to its intelligent smelly native fungi! He even has brought back a picture of 6 natives - among them one Vandashanda!

How should the Doc be affected by the revelation that his long time friend "Gaily" is not a woman but smelly fungus?

Fact sheet.

First published: Science-Fiction Plus, October 1953.
Download full text as part of the scans of the magazine it originally appeared in.
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Eric Frank Russell (annotated & ranked list); Tuesday Classics.

"Science Fiction Plus", Vol 1 No 6 (October 1953) (ed Hugo Gernsback) (magazine, free): Annotated table of contents

Scans of this magazine in CBR format are online as part of a larger package.

There is an interesting call for authors on ToC page: "$100.00 will be paid by this magazine for each Short-Short Science-Fiction Story. These stories must be real science fiction, not fantasy, & should not run over 1,000 words.The Short-Short + will occupy one full page." Doesn't that make it the highest paying flash fiction market of its time?

Note: Magazine seems to interchangeably use "Science Fiction Plus" & "Science Fiction +" as its titles. Cover logo blends the two.

Table of contents. 

Links on authors fetch more fiction by author. Where I have a separate post on a story, link on story title goes there.

1. [novelette] Thomas Calvert McClary's "The Celestial Brake".
2. [short novel] Philip Jose Farmer's "Strange Compulsion": "The conquest of many of the most distressing infirmities is made difficult by the veil of prudery which covers such illnesses as venereal diseases, & even today there exists the absurd notion that it is not respectful to have cancer or a hernia. It seems logical that even the most careful preparation will not avoid the contraction of new diseases when man conquers space--& should those ills be fostered by prudery, the result might prove tragic."
3. [ss] Jack Williamson's "Operation: Gravity": "at present we simply have no concept of the nature of gravity. If ... we should have the opportunity of studying gravity under special conditions, we may arrive at an understanding that will make science-fiction notions about gravitation a possibility."
4. [ss] Eric Frank Russell's "Postscript" aka "P.S." (A): 'How great are the odds against human beings feeling emotions of sympathy, understanding, & compassion for any alien races that may be discovered on distant worlds in the years following interplanetary travel? View the great difficulty the peoples of the world seem to have in getting along with human beings who are different only in color of skin. Consider the tendency to treat groups of opposing religious or political thought as "different," & something less than human.'
5. [ss] Roger Dee's "Worlds Within Worlds": "what would happen if we discovered that an insuperable barrier imprisoned us to the surface of the Earth forever"?
6. [ff] Anne McCaffrey's "Freedom of the Race".

See also.

1. Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.
2. Fiction from 1950s.

New at Project Gutenberg (27 September 2010)

Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction.

1. Charles Vincent De Vet's "Delayed Action"; download; Galaxy, September 1953: "This planet gave him the perfect chance to commit the perfect crime--only he couldn't remember just what it was he had committed."

Related: Fiction from old pulps.

"Fantastic Universe", Vol 1 No 1 (June-July 1953) (ed Sam Merwin, Jr) (magazine, free): Annotated table of contents

Inaugural issue of the magazine. Going by sheer number of stories, this looks more like an anthology than a magazine! Its scans in CBR format are online as part of a larger package.

Table of contents. 

Links on authors fetch more fiction by author. Where I have a separate post on a story, link on story title goes there.

1. [novella] Sam Merwin, Jr's "Nightmare Tower" (as by Jacques Jean Ferrat): "Lynne disliked the man from Mars on sight. Yet drawn by forces beyond her control she let him carry her off to the Red Planet."
2. [novelette] A Bertram Chandler's "Vicious Circle": "It's bad to be trapped in a time warp with anyone. And when anyone is Malaprop Jenkins it can adder a man's wits peppermintly."
3. [ss] Frank Belknap Long's "Little Men of Space": "The Children were very young--& the crisis they were called upon to face would have driven most adults into a straitjacket."
4. [novelette] E Hoffmann Price's "The Fire and the Flesh": "Was Agni Deva flame? Or was she flesh? In either case, the woman of volcano was irresistible."
   
   Note: I wonder whatever made the author make "Agni Deva" female? In Hindu mythology, it's a male. Also, "Deva" (also written "Dev" in English) literally means "god" & is clearly male; "Devi" is "goddess" & female.
5. [ss] August Derleth's "The Maugham Obsession": "All inventors seek success. Some few achieve it. And now & then, a Quintus Maugham is a bit too successful for his own health."
   
   From editor's introduction to story: author was the owner of Arkham press at the time the story was published.
6. [ss] Arthur C Clarke's "The Other Tiger": "When a pair of strollers begin to ponder parallel worlds just about anything can happen. And this time about anything does."
   
   From Clarke's introduction to this story in his "Collected Stories": "Originally entitled 'Refutation', this story was retitled by Sam Merwin, editor of Fantastic Universe, as a nod to Frank Stockton's classic but now forgotten 'The Lady or the Tiger'".
   
   For me, it's among the forgettable stories of Clarke. It's very small though, probably just above the boundary of flash fiction.
7. [ss] Gene L Henderson's "The Small Bears": "The aliens looked cute as Koalas. But there was a little matter of a graveyard of dead spaceships."
8. [ss] Philip K Dick's "Martians Come in Clouds": "Among Man's noblest dreams is that of making friendly contact with other world creatures. But dreams may become nightmares..."
9. [ss] Roger Dee's "The Minister Had To Wait": 'The Brass said, "Turn it on!" So Doc Maxey could but obey--which created one hell of a big mess.'
10. [ss] Milton Lesser's "Finders Keepers": "Amhurst wanted to get married. But then an invisible ingenue moved in on his wedding day..."
11. [ss] Ray Bradbury's "Time in Thy Flight": "The circus, Hallowe'en, the Glorious Fourth may go--yet eternal is their pull on a child's heart."
12. [ss] Eric Frank Russell's "It's in the Blood" (B): "Space may flow in a young man's veins. But at times the laws of heredity can take tragic twists."
13. [ss, reprint] Francis G Rayer's "Of Those Who Came" (as by George Longdon); New Worlds, November 1952: "The alien scheme was perfect--a night landing, infiltration, human disguises. Fortunately for us the Policeman was awaiting them."

See also.

1. Fiction from Fantastic Universe.
2. Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.
3. Fiction from 1950s.

Vern Fearing's "The Sloths of Kruvny" (short story, humor, free): Why the hell is there no war!

Generally complete nonsense, but a fun read that brought me smile at several places.

Story summary.

Commander Metternich of Galaxy Patrol is very worried: "Nobody's Attacking The Earth"! "Nobody Is Out To Conquer The Universe! How Come"?

So he dispatches Bradley Broadshoulders & Ugh ("a cross between a Martian and a Texan") to go find out! Duo will eventually land on the world Kruvny, & make contact with Sloths, half its natives. And find out why Sloths aren't attacking earth!

On their way back, they'll also learn that earthmen don't really need aliens to destroy their home, they're quite capable of doing it themselves.

Fact sheet.

First published: Amazing Stories, October-November 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, or Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Funny stories.

Eric Frank Russell's "It's in the Blood" (short story, tragedy, free): Don't force your career choice on your child

Much hashed story idea now, & I could see the ending part way through the story, but still quite readable.

Story summary.

Twenty year old Tom Fanshaw is the sixth generation in the family to look at space-pilot as as a profession. His proud dad has driven him to the school where he'll fly a spaceship solo for the first time. You can already guess the results...

See also.

1. Henry Kuttner's "Absalom" (download): Very dark story of a child refusing to accept the career choice his father wants to make for him. Or may be it's about the choice of what he should study in college? It's been a while since I read it.

Fact sheet.

First published: Fantastic Universe, June-July 1953.
Download full text as part of Fantastic Universe, June/July 1953. Scans of this magazine in CBR format are online as part of a larger package.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Eric Frank Russell (annotated & ranked list).

Alfred Coppel's "Turnover Point" (short story, revenge, free): A man avenges the killing of his son

A young policeman is killed by a robber "in a back alley in Lower Marsport". Same robber has now hijacked the little spaceship of the cop's dad, forcing dad to pilot him to safety away from Mars.

During escape, Pop Ganlon will learn that this is the killer. Pop himself will get killed by robber, but only after ensuring that the robber gets the justice due him...

Fact sheet.

First published: Amazing Stories, April-May 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, or Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Mars in fiction.

Eric Frank Russell's "The Army Comes to Venus" aka "Sustained Pressure" (novelette, Christianity, free): Persistence pays

Army of title refers to The Salvation Army, a Christian sect. Story is about pressure groups - how they come into being & shape society.

Story summary.

An unnamed frontier town on Venus, the only one there yet. Mankind has recently reached Venus & is busy mining the place. This is a rowdy men-only town; Annie's brothel is about the only place that has women.

That's when Miranda Dean arrives to start her church. This is the story of her persistence, & patience, bringing religion to the town of sinners.

Collected in.

1. "Major Ingredients" (ed Rick Katze). 

Fact sheet.

First published: Nebula Science Fiction December 1953. [via Robert Wilfred Franson]
Download as part of the scans of the Fantastic Universe, May 1959 where it was reprinted.
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Eric Frank Russell (annotated & ranked list).

Jack Vance's "The Mitr" (short story): Man is sometimes so heartless

This is the second Vance story I've read about rape; parts of "The Languages of Pao" has women in far worse position.

Story summary.

Mitr is the only human at a place full of large intelligent talking beetles; beetles who are friends, even though they sometimes suck her blood! She's living an animal existence here; apparently, she's been alone since she was a baby.

On this fine day, 3 men arrive in a spaceship - the first she's seen of her own kind. Her curiosity brings her to their notice; their reaction is to rape her!

Notes.

1. There is a Hindi word pronounced "mitr", meaning "friend". I don't know if that is related to title of this story, but beetles use of this term for all humans suggests it might be.

Fact sheet.

First published: Vortex Science Fiction, Vol 1 No 1 (1953).
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Jack Vance.

New at Project Gutenberg (6 September 2010)

Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction.

1. [novel] Donald Allen Wollheim's "The Secret of the Ninth Planet"; download: An interplanetary adventure to uncover what's behind "the theft of the solar system's light".
2. Kris Neville's "Earth Alert!"; download; Imagination, February 1953: "What defense could she raise against mutant science--telepathy, invisibility, teleportation--especially since Earth was not aware of its danger!"
   
   I haven't done the word count, but this appears to be nearly novel size. Or at least novella size.

Related: Fiction from old "pulps".

Philip K Dick's "The Variable Man" (novella, war, free): A mechanical genius against a machine worshiper

If it were not for the mostly silly later half, I would have put it among the best of PKD. But first half is very good.

Story summary.

It's mostly a contrast of two men:

1. Security Commissioner Reinhart, a warmonger in a position of power around mid twenty-second century. This is an era where few people understand machines, though the world is full of them; too much specialization. Reinhart practically worships "SRB computer" - a machine that can analyze very complex situations & make statistical predictions of likely near future outcomes.
2. Thomas Cole, a mechanical genius from early twentieth century who has been transported to Reinhart's world because of an official's carelessness with a time machine. His presence in this future time has made SRB computer go bonkers - he's a variable about whom machine knows nothing. It was predicting Terra's victory if it raided Proxima Centauri; now it's refusing to say anything. To take this variable from the past (hence title) off the machine's considerations - to fix the machine, so to say - Reinhart wants Cole killed!

Lot of chase, & running around - lone man winning against massive government machinary. Happy ending - Reinhart will be ousted, & Cole will show these men how to win without going to war.

See also.

1. Robert Heinlein's "Misfit": Another story about a mechanical genius.
2. Murray F Yaco's "No Moving Parts" (download) & "Unspecialist" (download): Not very closely related to this, but something is similar, if I recall correctly: a mechanical genius or something, in a world too set in its fixed ways of doing things. Former is funny too.

Fact sheet.

First published: Space Science Fiction (British edition), July 1953. (Wikipedia says it was "sold by Philip K. Dick before he had an agent", but doesn't give date of this self publication.)
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks.
Download audio from LibriVox.
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Philip K Dick.

Alfred Coppel's "The Invader" (short story, alien invasion, humor, free)

Parasitic alien invader chooses wrong host!

See also.

1. Arthur Clarke's "The Possessed": Another funny story of tiny parasitic aliens choosing the wrong host during their colonization of earth.

Fact sheet.

First published: Imagination, February 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Alfred Coppel.

Walter M Miller, Jr's "Check and Checkmate" (novelette, diplomacy, free): An unusual weapon for diplomatic haggling & espionage

Much of it sounds like Indo-Pak "talks" we constantly seem to have! If individuals were doing it rather than countries, we would have called them neurotic.

Story summary.

This is a cold war story - US vs Soviet Union. Only both are replaced by complicated alternate tags: "Western Federation of Autonomous States" & "Asian Proletarian League", respectively.

After a 4 decade of isolation, the two have now opened a communications channel - their Presidents have began talking to each other. Over the course of the story, one will learn, too late, that the other has an unusual weapon that gives its side TOTAL advantage over the other...

Fact sheet.

First published: If, January 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Walter M Miller.

Raymond Z Gallun's "Stamped Caution" (novelette, first contact, free): Humans-Martians successfully make peaceful first contact

A pioneering Martian spaceship has crashed on earth, killing its 3 occupants. But a little baby, born apparently on the way, survived. Baby will be raised by wary humans & given a basic education.

Eventually, humans make a return trip to Mars, carrying the now grown Martian with them. Some drama there, & we see the beginning of a kind of wary trust between the two sides.

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Raymond Z Gallun.

New at Project Gutenberg (19 June 2010)

Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction.

1. P F Costello's "Death Makes A Mistake"; download; Amazing Stories, January 1943: "Mr Demise had Reggie Van Fiddler's name in his book, but Reggie didn't want to be on any list, so he set out to correct the mistake!"
2. E J Liston's "Castle of Terror"; download; Amazing Stories, November 1948: "What strange dimension was this where giants, gangsters, Lucretia Borgia, dwarfs and Rip Van Winkle lived at the same time?"
3. Richard Stockham's "Circle of Flight"; download; If, May 1953.
4. Robert E Gilbert's "Thy Rocks and Rills"; download; If, September 1953: "They were out of place in the Manly Age--Stonecypher, a man who loved animals; Moe, a bull who hated men. Together, they marched to inevitably similar destinies..."
   This has been at BaenCD & Webscription a long time, as part of the anthology "The World Turned Upside Down". I don't think I liked the story, & I don't recollect many details; very brief summary is included in my anthology post.
5. Henry M Stanley's "My Dark Companions And Their Strange Stories"; download; unknown year of original publication: This looks like a "people telling stories around a campfire" type of thing. I'm not sure whether it's best seen as a short story collection or novel. A cursory glance does suggest it's genre.

Related: Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.

New at Project Gutenberg (17 June 2010)

Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction.

1. Edmond Hamilton's "The Door into Infinity"; download; Weird Tales, August-September 1936.
2. Walter M Miller's "Check and Checkmate"; download; If, January 1953: "Victory hinges not always on the mightiest sword, but often on lowly subterfuge. Here is a classic example, with the Western World as stooge!"
3. Robert Abernathy's "When the Mountain Shook"; download; If, March 1954: "Dark was the Ryzga mountain and forbidding; steep were its cliffs and sheer its crevasses. But its outward perils could not compare with the Ryzgas themselves, who slept within, ready to wake and conquer..."

Related: Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.

New at Project Gutenberg (15 June 2010)

Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction.

1. Charles Beaumont's "Elegy"; download; Imagination, February 1953: "It was an impossible situation: an asteroid in space where no asteroid should have been--with a city that could only have existed back on Earth!"
2. Stephen Marlowe's "World Beyond Pluto"; download; Amazing Stories, November 1958: "Johnny Mayhem, one of the most popular series characters ever to appear in AMAZING, has been absent too long. So here's good news for Mayhem fans; another great adventure of the Man of Many Bodies."

Related: Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.

New at Project Gutenberg (13 June 2010)

Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction.

1. J J Allerton's "Once Upon A Planet"; download; Amazing Stories, December 1948: "The mighty King Miotis came down to Earth to recapture his lost desire for war. But what he saw on this planet, caused him to feel differently."
2. Raymond Z Gallun's "Asteroid of Fear"; download; Planet Stories, March 1951: "All space was electrified as that harsh challenge rang out ... but John Endlich hesitated. For he saw beyond his own murder--saw the horror and destruction his death would unleash--and knew he dared not fight back!"
3. Richard Sharpe Shaver's "The Dark Goddess"; download; Imagination, February 1953: "Deep within her caverns the great mer-woman longed for death to end her loneliness. But then came a voyager from space--a man--also lonely..."

Related: Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.

New at Project Gutenberg (12 June 2010)

Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction.

1. Robert Turner's "Success Story"; download; If, January 1953: "What is to be will be. Our only refuge lies in that which might not have been."
2. Walter M Miller's "The Ties That Bind"; download; If, May 1954: "The Earth was green and quiet. Nature had survived Man, and Man had survived himself. Then, one day, the great silvery ships broke the tranquillity of the skies, bringing Man's twenty-thousand-year-lost inheritance back to Earth..."

There is also a collection titled "The Great Keinplatz Experiment and Other Tales of Twilight and the Unseen" (download) by Arthur Conan Doyle that may be genre, but I'm not sure.

Related: Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.

New at Project Gutenberg (11 June 2010)

Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction.

1. James Elroy Flecker's "The Last Generation" (1908); download: Probably a short novel.
2. H B Fyfe's "Manners of the Age"; download; Galaxy, March 1952: "With everyone gone elsewhere, Earth was perfect for gracious living--only there was nothing gracious about it!"
3. Kirby Brooks' "All That Goes Up"; download; Space Science Fiction, May 1953: "At fifty, a man should be too old to go around flying off the handle, or wandering around on the ceiling. But what could a man do when he had a son who insisted on being a genius?"

Related: Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.

Roger Dee's "The Anglers of Arz" (short story, perspective inversion, free): Some very unusual "fishing"

Three human explorers on an alien world have been seeing a rather unusual sight every morning: an islet visible from port of their ship always have "two pinkish, bipedal Arzian fishermen" in the morning, flying dragons swoon down to kill them just after sunrise, then some sort of squid rise up the sea & take the dragons.

What's the mystery? Why do some Arzian fishermen let them get butchured by lizards every morning?

See also.

1. Harry Bates' "Farewell to the Master" (download): A much better known story with similar issues of perspective inversion.

Fact sheet.

First published: If, January 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks.
Rating: A. 

Free fiction: Space Science Fiction, March 1953

At Internet Archive in multiple formats.

Editor: Lester del Rey.
Among the authors: Damon Knight.

Philip K Dick's "Second Variety" (novelette, doomsday, free): Retelling Joseph Kelleam's "Rust"

While Kelleam's classic is more in the mood of Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" (download text/MP3), & Arthur Clarke's "The Curse" & "If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth ...", Dick's version has more action. Kelleam's version is told a long time after humanity is gone, killed by its own war robots gone berserk, this one is told while the process is still happening. And the robots here are more resourceful.

Notes.

1. While there is the suspense about the "second variety" of robots that is supposed to be revealed only in the end, it was actually clear about half way through the story - just a little after the idea of varieties comes up.

Fact sheet.

First published: Space Science Fiction, May 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks, Internet Archive.
Caution: HTML version of the story at Project Gutenberg contains an illustration that is a story spoiler.
Download audio from LibriVox.
Rating: A. 
Related: Stories of Philip K Dick.

New at Project Gutenberg (6 June 2010)

Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction.

1. Robert Moore Williams' "Planet of the Gods"; download; Amazing Stories, December 1942: "Two planets circling Vega! But a more amazing discovery waited the explorers when they landed!"
2. [novel] E E Smith's "Triplanetary"; download; 1948: This is chronologically the first book in author's well-known "Lensman" series of space opera.
   
   Original shorter version of this story that appeared in Amazing Stories in 1934 is already online at Project Gutenberg; newly posted version appears to be a later novelization.
3. Frank Quattrocchi's "The Sword"; download; If, March 1953: "There were but three days in which to decipher the most cryptic message ever delivered to earth."
4. Paul W Fairman's "Deadly City"; download; If, March 1953: "You're all alone in a deserted city. You walk down an empty street, yearning for the sight of one living face--one moving figure. Then you see a man on a corner and you know your terror has only begun."

Related: Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.