William Tenn's "Time in Advance" (collection): Annotated table of contents & review

Four stories. I'd read "Firewater" long back - communications difficulties during first contact with aliens, & modeled after the (presumably) historical European invader/native American interactions.

There is only story one I really loved - "Time in Advance", but others are still readable.

Where I have a separate post on a story, link on its title goes there.

Table of contents.

1. [novelette] "Time in Advance" (A); Galaxy, August 1956: There is a 50% discount on conviction provided you get arrested & let a court convict you before you commit a murder!
2. [novella] "Firewater" (B); Astounding, February 1952; communication: Traders come before theorists...
3. [novelette] "The Sickness" (B); Infinity SF, November 1955.: A cure for cold war mistrust between US & USSR...
4. [novella] "Winthrop was Stubborn" (B); Galaxy, August 1957, time travel: A look at the world of 25th century...

Fact sheet.

First published: 1958.
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

William Tenn's "Winthrop was Stubborn" aka "Time Waits for Winthrop" (novella, time travel): What will the world look like in 25th century?

This is about as colorful an adventure as you're likely to see in science fiction. And from William Tenn, of all people! Alive sidewalks that help you move & help prevent your fall, "government machine" you can order materialized out of thin air to discuss things governmental, "Shriek Field" where you can play mad (but only in nude!) to relive stress, telepathic semi-sentient food that will work all it can for your enjoyment, "Oracle Machine" that can solve any problem, floor that keeps adjusting to your needs, "jumper" - a cylindrical contraption you can materialize from thin air & get inside to instantly teleport anywhere, ...; it goes on & on!

Story summary.

A group of 5 Americans in 1958 travel to 2458, selected with great fanfare (by government?) on invitation from & with technology of 25th century. The deal is: it's an exchange; when they go to future, simultaneously 5 persons from future will materialize in now. Only way the parties can return to their time is at an appointed time & place, & only if all of them want to return; if even one of them wants to stay, all get stranded in foreign time.

And Winthrop, an old man among the visitors to future, likes it so much here that he's refusing to return, stranding everyone else! Story if of efforts of others in his party to persuade or coarse him to return.

Collected in.

1.  William Tenn's "Time in Advance".

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy, August 1957.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

William Tenn's "The Sickness" (novelette): A cure for cold war mistrust between US & USSR

This is a story of two epidemics caused by bugs - one physical & literal, other metaphorical as in US/USSR standoff. Knowing Tenn, I won't be surprised if he intended it as a satire on cold war war-mongering at both ends.

Story summary.

US & USSR not only are constantly at each other's throat, they also have independent programs to send people to Mars. An India-mediated joint expedition to Mars might hopefully help understanding & ease tensions - so the ship that goes there contains an equal number of Americans & Russians but with the condition that Americans will only speak Russian & Russians only English during the expedition.

On Mars, they'll find a vast & ancient underground city - still kept alive by machines though its inhabitants are long dead. Human explorer to the city will return infected with a highly contagious (via breathing) bug, & quickly infect the whole expedition. They'll nearly die out, but there is a miracle waiting - both for their personal sickness, & of humanity's sickness back on earth...

Collected in.

1.  William Tenn's "Time in Advance".

Fact sheet.

First published: Infinity Science Fiction, November 1955.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

William Tenn's "Time in Advance" (novelette, free): 50% discount on pre-murder conviction!

I'd recently read a story from Astounding, August 1958 (British ed) where I liked the concept: Stanley Mullen's "Fool Killer". Looks like that was an imitation of this excellent original.

Story summary.

On this future earth, you get a 50% discount on a murder sentence, provided you seek conviction before committing the murder! 7 years on deadly prison planets. You can, of course, change your mind part way through the sentence & return without prejudice, but then you forfeit the served sentence. But on successful completion of the sentence, you've earned the right to murder one human being!

One such precriminal, just returned after serving the pre-murder sentence, will actually get some completely unexpected enlightenment...

Collected in.

1.  William Tenn's "Time in Advance".

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy, August 1956.
Note: I'd read this in an anthology, but scans of the issue where this story originally appeared is online.
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

William Tenn's "The Flat-Eyed Monster" (novelette, parody): An inversion of bug-eyed monster idea

There have been several stories of the class; perhaps the most famous is van Vogt's "The Monster". And while I didn't find it as magical as van Vogt's, it's a very good read.

Story summary.

Alien scientists on a world near the center of galaxy have accidentally teleported a human, Clyde Manship, into their lab! Aliens ("flefnobes") are telepathic among themselves; Clyde can listen to their conversations, but cannot be "heard" by them.

Of course, the aliens find the man supremely repulsive, what with "those horrible lonely eyes! Just two of them--& so flat! That dry, dry skin without a trace of slime", & probably a non-sentient animal. So he must be killed, perhaps after dissection. So we get a standard monster story - with Clyde, the monster, running for his life through the alien city & the whole world hunting him "before the creature starts to reproduce" ...

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy, August 1955.
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

William Tenn's "The Ghost Standard" (short story, farce): Defining what is "human"

This is probably the last published story of Tenn.

Story summary.

This is set as legal dilemma resulting from a case of cannibalism aboard a lifeboat: Juan Kydd, a human, & Tuezuzim, "a sapient lobstermorph" alien, both equally skilled computer programmers, are stranded on a lifeboat after a deep space shipwreck. Without food. Only one of them can survive to rescue by eating the other.

To decide, they play the word game "Ghost", with ship's computer acting as referee & executor. Juan wins, & during trial later, the galactic legalese gets a new definition of when an intelligence - alien, machine, whatever - is legally "human": "Intelligence has always been extremely difficult to define precisely, but it will be here & henceforth understood to involve the capacity to understand & play the terrestrial game of Ghost."

See also.

1. Arthur Clarke's "Breaking Strain": Meteor hit has drained most oxygen off a spaceship, so only one of its two passengers (or is it 2 of 3?) can survive to rescue. Who is to die?

Fact sheet.

First published: Playboy, December 1994.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

William Tenn's "The Servant Problem" (novelette, satire): The "ultimate" triumph of power seekers!

I began reading it may be a week back, the day the media was reporting of the close shave with disaster of passengers of 3 planes for a shamefully irresponsible reason: President of India was returning to Delhi from somewhere, & the visiting President of Turkmenistan(?) wanted to go see Taj Mahal. So powers that be shut off the second busiest airport in the country for an hour! And because it involved "VIP Security", no one was to be informed - not even the planes approaching Delhi! Only after reaching there were they told to go land elsewhere. One of the planes landed in Jaipur with just 3 minutes of fuel remaining, other two with may be 10 minutes worth of fuel!

Like many, I was feeling very indignant - public servants behaving as public masters. So this story immediately stuck a chord - it begins with precisely this theme: public servants doing everything in their power to become masters of the public. In fact, the ministers are called "Servants" - like the "Servant of Security", "Servant of Education", ... Dictator is called "Servant of All". The mansions they live in are called "Hovels"! There is a very Kurt Vonnegut feel to early parts of story, though it's more verbose; then irony begins to creep in.

It's not a one sitting reading; took me many days to finish. But I loved the early parts.

Story summary.

Today is "the day of complete control": "Garomma, the Servant of All" - dictator of World State for 25 years - has now a completely thought-controlled citizenry: citizens automatically feel ecstasy when they see him! This is because of propaganda & indoctrination program he's been running.

Through the celebrations of this special day, we will learn that Moddo, Garomma's humble adviser, is the true controller of Garomma. But wait, there is someone else who has complete control over Moddo, & someone else with complete control over this worthy, & this ultimate controller himself helpless against Garomma!

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy, April 1955.
Rating: B. 
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

William Tenn's "My Mother Was a Witch" (short story, non-genre, humor, free)

Very funny verbal fights of neighbor women.

Fact sheet.

First published: August 1966. Bud Webster's article at JBU notes the magazine's name as "P.S."; I'm not clear what the expanded form is.
Download full text from Google cache.
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

New at Project Gutenberg (3 June 2010)

Links on author, publisher, or year fetch more matching fiction. Link on a magazine issue leads to its annotated ToC; sometimes, magazine's download link will be found there.

1. William P McGivern's "The Chameleon Man"; download; Amazing Stories, January 1943: "Perfect adaptation, that's what it was. When a human being can blend with his surroundings, funny things can happen!"
2. [novel] Leigh Brackett's "Black Amazon of Mars"; download; Planet Stories, March 1951:  "Grimly Eric John Stark slogged toward that ancient Martian city--with every step he cursed  the talisman of Ban Cruach that flamed in his blood-stained belt. Behind him screamed the hordes of Ciaran, hungering for that magic jewel--ahead lay the dread abode of the Ice Creatures--at his side stalked the whispering spectre of Ban Cruach, urging him on to a battle Stark knew he must lose!"
3. Rory Magill's "The Last Gentleman"; download; If, January 1953: "No one knew, no one cared. For a great lethargy was overcoming the people and their only salvation was--"
4. Roger Dee's "The Anglers of Arz"; download; If, January 1953: "In order to make Izaak Walton's sport complete, there must be an angler, a fish, and some bait. All three existed on Arz but there was a question as to which was which."
5. Roger Phillips Graham's "Ye of Little Faith"; download; If, January 1953: "It matters not whether you believe or disbelieve. Reality is not always based on logic; nor, particularly, are the laws of the universe..."
6. Daniel F Galouye's "Spillthrough"; download; Imagination, January 1953: "Ships switching from hyper to normal space had to do it in a micro-second--if the crews were to live. But it would take Brad suicidal minutes!"
7. William Tenn's "Project Hush"; download; Galaxy, February 1954: "The biggest job in history and it had to be done with complete secrecy. It was--which was just the trouble!"
8. Stephen Bartholomew's "The Standardized Man"; download; If, February 1958: 'The dilemma of "The Man in the White Suit" was but a minor irritation compared to Charles and his "all-weather" suit!'

Related: Fiction from old "pulp" magazines.

William Tenn's "Firewater" (novella, communications): Traders come before theorists

The key thesis here is: well organized human knowledge often has a vast history behind. A whole lot of people over long periods of time doing routine jobs gathering bits of isolated data, until finally the accumulated lot begins to fit a pattern & is fit for generalization & theorizing.

This is also a first contact story about communication difficulties with aliens who're totally & utterly incomprehensible, & with whom we don't have anything in common - sort of, a tamer version of Stanislaw Lem's "Solaris" & Terry Carr's "The Dance of Changer & the Three" (download). Another noteworthy story of the class is Hal Clement's "Longline"; while aliens continue to remain impossible to understandable here, a method of communication is worked out.

Through the story, we see analogies with European invaders of Americas in the past & their interactions with native Americans. "Firewater" of title refers to whisky, apparantly a European product sometimes traded with native Americans for tobacco, the local product. I obviously missed nuances Americans will see here.

Story summary.

This is a complex-story-that-feels-simple, with several actors persuing their own agenda:

1. "Aliens" who've been on earth a while, & now occupy localized places. They're so vastly superior to humans as to be god-like. They're obviously not interested in occupying earth or looting. Their presence here is giving humanity fits because of inferiority complex it breeds.
2. "Primeys", short for "Humanity Prime": Some of the smartest humans who've achieved enough contact with aliens to get noticed have turned into these gabbing idiots, but with vast magical powers. They effectively run as errand boys for Aliens, & are best seen as a race distinct from normal humanity. Think of them as magic-weaving characters from James Schmitz's "The Witches of Karres" (download), but of incomprehensible motives.
3. United Mankind's "Special Investigating Commission" (SIC): And organ of the "world government" ("United Mankind"), granted vast police powers & mandated to open channels of communications with Aliens. They've nothing to show, in spite of a lot of public money spent.
4. "Humanity Firsters", or just "Firsters": A near-religious cult a man named Vandermeer Dempsey spawned & is using to further his own agenda of political power. Cultists deny that Aliens exist, & think Primeys & people who deal with them are humanity's worst enemies.
5. Algernon Hebster, a rich businessman who's made a fortune building gadgets by picking knowledge off Primeys. He's the central character around whom the whole story is woven.

P Braganza, of SIC, wants Hebster to work for government in establishing communications with aliens. Dempsey sees Hebster as the poster boy to rouse passions among the masses that will begin a revolution for him. Running from both, Hebster will end up getting caught among the Aliens & successfully contact the trade representative of their expedition: let's begin with the profits, understanding can come centuries hence using bits of data that will be gathered while trading.

Notes.

1. During the meeting of Hebster with Aliens, we're offered a simile: "like the girl in Greek mythology who had begged Zeus for the privilege of seeing him in the full regalia of his godhood. A few moments after her request had been granted, there had been nothing left of the inquisitive female but a fine feathery ash."
   
   I know of at least one other story that uses this Greek legend in a central way: Henry Kuttner & C L Moore's "The Children's Hour" (download).

Collected in.

1.  William Tenn's "Time in Advance".

Fact sheet.

First published: Astounding, February 1952.
Rating: B.
Among the stories from Astounding/Analog issues edited by John W Campbell, Jr. 
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

William Tenn's "Project Hush" (short story, satire): On military secrecy

"Project Hush" is a top-secret project of US government - to build some sort of anti-nuclear-weapons system. It involves being the first to go to moon, & to set up some sort of military base there. And doing so in complete secrecy.

All goes well with the landing. A little scouting around their base's ("dome") location reveals yet another, already existing, dome! A scout is sent to find out more, & finds something astonishing...

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy, February 1954.
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of William Tenn, from 1950s.

Bud Webster's tribute to William Tenn

In JBU, #24 (April 2010).
Note: This is the last issue for JBU. I'm not sure how long this article will stay online at link above, but I suppose it'll be there for at least 2 months that a typical JBU issue stays current?

Noteworthy parts:

1. Some stories named.
   
   Of the ones I've read among the ones he names, two are especially good: "Child's Play" (download MP3) is in a sort of tribute to Henry Kuttner & C L Moore, & "Down Among the Dead Men" (download text scans as part of a larger package) is an interesting team building story for managers.
2. I used to think that "Of Men & Monsters" was his only novel. Webster lists another one too, "A Lamp For Medusa".
3. A few authors named. I've read all except Goulart - had not even heard his name; Webster says he was a humorist.
   
   PS: Robert Sheckley is often described as a humorist but only one of his half dozen odd stories I've read - "Hunting Problem" (download) - has actually worked for me. Anyone care to suggest a few really funny titles? (I've read that famous story about TV reality show where a man has to escape his own staged killers - that one didn't work for me).
4. There is a Tenn bibliography at end.

Related: Stories of William Tenn.

Frederik Pohl on some stories of William Tenn

Link.

I'd not even heard of Tenn's brother, Morton Klass, who wrote "a few quite good stories".

Related: Stories of William Tenn, Frederik Pohl.

Free fiction: Audio of several stories of William Tenn

1. @File770: Author himself reading his story "On Venus, Have We Got a Rabbi!"
2. @SFFAudio: Old radio recordings of "Child’s Play" (I've linked its audio before), "Venus Is A Man’s World", & "The Discovery Of Mornial Matheway".

Text of several of Tenn's stories are also online; see William Tenn posts.

RIP: William Tenn: 9 May 1920 - 7 February 2010

One of the best satirists of science fiction is no more.

SFFAudio links an old Real audio file that contains a reading of one of his stories, "On Venus, Have We Got A Rabbi!".

Text of one of his best known short stories, "Down Among the Dead Men", is online as part of the scans of the Galaxy issue where it originally appeared.

I've linked online copies one or two of his other stories too in the past; see download links in his fiction posts.

Free fiction: Audio: "Old Time Radio Downloads"

[Link]. [via Crosseyed Cyclops]

Many have been online elsewhere a while. I haven't personally played any from this lot yet.

Among the lot are Heinlein's "Universe" (MP3), "The Green Hills of Earth" (MP3), & "Requiem" (MP3); Asimov's "A Pebble in the Sky" (MP3) & "Nightfall" (MP3); William Tenn's "Child's Play" (MP3); Bradbury's "Marionettes Inc" (MP3), "... And the Moon Be Still as Bright" (MP3), & "Mars is Heaven!" (MP3); Murray Leinster's "First Contact" (MP3) (this is the story that coined the term "first contact").

William Tenn's "Of Men and Monsters" (novel, satire): What if humans changed places with cockroaches?

It's clear this book is a satire - generally on certain ways of thinking. But on precisely what ... is probably open to debate - against human cruelty to own & other species, against corruption of "my" culture by "yours" ("ancestor science" vs "alien science"), ...

"Ancestor science" vs "alien science" was the only part I could clearly associate with. A version of this debate that keeps coming up periodically in India at many levels.

Story summary.

Giant aliens ("Monsters") invaded earth centuries ago & are now the local lords. They are physically so huge, they never even noticed humans or ever associated previous culture with humans!

Humans have pretty much lost their civilization, & now live like primitive in ... hold your breath, crevices in the insulation in the walls of the aliens' homes! These walls are so thick, several tribes inhabit its width! These tribes are always at war with each other; also some are technologically a bit more advanced than others. And life expectancy is so low - most women now give birth to litters rather than single babies.

Humans live like vermin - stealing bits of food & small articles from aliens. They get treated as vermin too - snipped under the foot when an alien sees them, sprayed with pesticide that kills them by the hundreds, ...

This is the coming of age story of Eric - of a tribe that calls itself "Mankind". Initiation into adult society requires that he venture into Monster territory (open spaces inside the alien's home) & steal something. He will get caught in his tribe's political intrigue, get nearly killed by his own people, join a band of multi-tribe revolutionaries out to find aliens' weapons, end up as a research animal in aliens' pest research lab where he will witness aliens dissecting fellow humans & trying various ways of killing them & where he will meet his lady love, make a daring escape from this lab with his lady love & a friend, & finally join his girl's people on their conquest of space - by stowing away as vermin on alien cargo ship (which also has similar insulation) with a plan to land small batches of people on each world the ship lands, so there will be humans everywhere the Monsters are!

Notes.

1. Story is not always logical. How many homes have a well equipped pest research lab? How many homes will keep a cargo spaceship on their roof (& with hatch open too!), even if they are alien residents here?

See also.

1. There is just too much similarity between this story & two decades older A Bertram Chandler's "Giant Killer" (1945). Replace humans with rats, aliens with humans, & add substantially more violence - & you have Chandler's version.
2. Eric Frank Russell's "Into Your Tent I'll Creep" (1957) shares, at some level, its idea of the conquest of other worlds as a pest. In Russell's version, it's the dogs that do the conquesting.

Fact sheet.

First published: 1968. Is an expansion of his short story "The Men in the Walls" (1963). I've not read the short story version.
Rating: B.
Included in "grubthrower"'s list of "Top 10 Obscure But Superb Science Fiction Novels".
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

William Tenn's "The Liberation of Earth" (short story, satire): Plight of innocents caught in the power play of the armed

Like "Brooklyn Project", this story too has a history of being thrown out by major US magazine publishers because of its political content - criticism of US military presence in Korea. Devastation faced by Korean civilians in the power games of US, USSR, & China.

But reading today & with no background of that political situation, I find it describes the plight of innocent locals caught in the war games of powerful everywhere: Tamil civilians caught in fighting between Lankan army & LTTE last month (or was it month before?); Afghan civilians caught in the conflict of US/USSR a decade or two back, or between Taliban/US today; ...

It's a timeless story - has sadly always described an aspect of human society, & will likely do so for foreseeable future.

Story summary.

Dendi & Troxxt are two alien races fighting a war. Earth ends up falling in their moving war front. Both will occupy earth - to "liberate" it from the other, & wreck local life & the very earth a little. Till the other party drives them away & does its own liberation. Sequence repeats several times, till there are few humans left & earth is an unfit place even to fight a war - when they both move in search of another place to fight.

Fact sheet.

First published: Future Science Fiction, May 1953.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of William Tenn.

Very curious old interview with William Tenn (from 1975)

Link. [via Dark Worlds]

Very unusual answers. But long.

Related: Stories of William Tenn.

William Tenn's "Party of the Two Parts" (novelette, humor, free): Cross-species "pornography" peddling

This has the feel of a Jack Vance story - not style-, but content-wise. Very colorful descriptions.

Knowing Tenn, I won't be surprised if the legal farce that this story is satirizes some aspect of US administration or society of 1950s - something with a universal appeal, however. But I cannot pinpoint.

Story summary.

L'payr is a habitual criminal on his home world Gtet, & about to be sentenced to life in prison for peddling pornography to minors. He escapes to the primitive earth, a sort of reservation of galactic government with a lot of restrictions on activities of advanced aliens.

On earth, L'payr will manage to sell his pornography to Osborne Blatch, a human school teacher, in exchange for fuel. Only, the two have different perspective on things exchanged. Human cannot see anything erotic in pictures, but thinks they're invaluable as illustrations of alien biology. And valuable-for-alien fuel is cheap stuff in any chemistry lab in a school.

Complications arise - for the galactic cops - when human publishes a biology textbook with these illustrations, effectively peddling alien pornography to human minors...

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy, August 1954.
Rating: A.
Download full text from Internet Archive.
Included in Ellen Datlow's SciFiction classics.
Related: Stories of William Tenn; First contact fiction (annotated, but much smaller list).