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.

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.

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.

Isaac Asimov's "Youth" (novelette, first contact, free): On daring of the young

Familiar tropes - tiny intelligent species meets giants. But it was good fun read. With a surprising, though not new, ending.

Very important:  See note with download links at bottom before choosing a download link & format. Most versions include spoiler as illustration!

Story summary.

Two young boys are caught up in adventure. One of them found two tiny very exotic animals, & has put them in a cage. The duo intend to use them to get into a circus.

Of course, the "animals" are actually aliens, crash landed on their world last night. One of them had previously made contact with dad of one of the children, but is not able to meet appointment because of being caged.

Advenure & confusion ensues.

Fact sheet.

First published: Space Science Fiction, May 1952.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks (Caution: Prefer text-only version at Project Gutenberg; all other versions, including landing pages at Manybooks & Feedbooks, include an illustration that is a BIG story spoiler).
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Isaac Asimov; Fiction from 1950s; Tuesday Classics.

Alan E Nourse's "Infinite Intruder" (novelette, grandfather paradox, free): When a man was his own grandfather!

Decent first half where suspense builds up; crappy second half where we are handed a lot of stuff about the pseudo-Physics & limitations of time travel.

Through the story, we'll see Eurasia destroyed in an "Atomic War" with the US, & a US Dictator beginning attacks on Mars inhabited by peaceful Martians who do have enormous resources.

Story summary.

Some people have been trying kill the little son of Roger Strang, a man building some sort of "electronic Barrier" to protect the US from atomic war with "the Eurasian Combine". And local security people think Roger is mad & don't plan to investigate; in fact, they accuse him to be an impostor ... some kind of a spy planted in their midst!

Suspense will slowly reveal, but only after we're handed far too much crap on time travel technology & rules.

Fact sheet.

First published: Space Science Fiction, July 1953.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, or Feedbooks.
Rating: B.
Related: Grandfather paradox in fiction; fiction from 1950s.