[April 22, 1964] World Affairs (May 1964 Fantastic)


by Victoria Silverwolf

Hail, Britannia

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Beatles again have the most popular song on the U.S. charts.  This time is it's a cheerful little melody called Can't Buy Me Love.


You'd be grinning too, if you were that popular.

I suppose there will be no end of imitations.  My sources in the UK tell me a new group just released its first album.  You can't tell from the minimalist cover, but they're called the Rolling Stones.


I thought they were called Decca.

The album isn't yet available on this side of the Atlantic, so I can't tell you what it sounds like.  Judging by the haircuts, I assume it will be a lot like the Fab Four.  Fantastic Five, maybe, if Marvel Comics doesn't object.

The British don't just export music, of course.  They also supply us with sex and violence, in the person of James Bond, Agent 007.  From Russia With Love, the sequel to the hit movie Dr. No opened on Yankee screens this month.


One should always be properly dressed while wielding a pistol.

All's Fair

Other nations besides the United Kingdom have a chance to impress Americans for the next couple of years.  The New York World's Fair opened to the public today, with exhibits from dozens of foreign countries, as well as several states and business corporations.


That's the Unisphere, symbol of the Fair.  I call it a globe.

Those of us with long memories will recall the 1939 New York World's Fair.  It's hard to believe that a quarter of a century has gone by.


The pointy one is the Trylon and the round one is the Perisphere.  They look more modern than the new one, don't they?

It would tedious to try to describe all the stuff going on at this extravaganza, but let me point out a few highlights.  Science fiction fans will want to visit the Space Park.


NASA shows off their fancy equipment.

The state of Wisconsin brags about its most famous products.


Does that mean the World's Largest Cheese gets in free?

Noted puppeteers Sid and Marty Krofft will present a stage spectacular called Les Poupées de Paris (The Dolls of Paris.) So what?  Who cares about a kiddie puppet show?  Well, this musical revue is for adults only.  Seriously.  You have to be at least twenty-one years old to get in.  It's just too sexy and too scary for the little ones.


Here's one of the scary parts.  I can't show you the sexy parts unless you have proof of age.

For those of us who can't make it to the Big Apple this year or next, at least we can explore strange new worlds in the pages of our favorite magazines.  Let's head for the main gate and see what the latest issue of Fantastic has to offer.

Tickets, Please


art by Ed Emshwiller

Adept's Gambit, by Fritz Leiber

Our first exhibit is an oldie but a goodie — this issue's Fantasy Classic deserves the name, and I won't complain about filling more than one-third of the issue with a reprint.  It appeared in the pages of the 1947 Arkham House collection Night's Black Agents.


Cover art by Ronald Clyne

Just over three thousand copies of the book exist, so most fantasy fans won't be familiar with this novella featuring our old friends Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

A brief introductory note explains that the two adventurers are no longer in their usual fantasy realm of Nehwon.  Having made their way through passageways that connect all possible worlds, they are now on Earth.  To be specific, the Eastern Mediterranean area, in what seems to be ancient times.  Don't expect historical fiction, though.  This is a place full of enchantment and supernatural menace.

As they often do, the pair relax after their struggles in the arms of beautiful young women.  Things quickly go wrong when Fafhrd's paramour turns into a sow.  He suspects his companion of playing tricks on him, but this theory explodes when the Mouser's girlfriend changes into a giant snail.  Both ladies regain their normal shapes after a while, but whenever either of the heroes embraces a woman, the same thing happens.

This is, of course, an intolerable situation.  Reluctantly, they seek out their eldritch mentor Ningauble of the Seven Eyes.  That bizarre being sends them on a weird quest, in the company of a mysterious woman.  A long flashback sequence, narrated by the woman, relates the strange connection she has with her brother, a powerful practitioner of black magic.  It all leads up to a final confrontation with the evil sorcerer.

Nobody writes sword-and-sorcery adventures as well as Fritz Leiber.  This tale has just the right balance of wit, imagination, action, suspense, fully realized characters, colorful descriptions, and more than a touch of the macabre. 

Five stars.

To the Victor, by Leo P. Kelley


Cover art by George Schelling

We exit the giant Leiber pavilion and enter the first of four smaller exhibits. 

The setting is a planet inhabited by primitive aliens.  Humans colonized the place long ago, filling it with vast, high-tech buildings.  They want more elbowroom, and the aliens don't want their environment sacrificed to the newcomers.  Conflict is inevitable.  This isn't the usual kind of war, however.  One human being and one alien face each other in single combat.

A man well over one hundred years old, with doubts about what humanity has done to the planet, is the protagonist.  He witnesses the battle, and makes a symbolic gesture of his own.

The author contrasts the rapaciousness of the technological invaders with the aliens' love of the natural world.  I appreciate the point he's trying to make, but he does it in a heavy-handed way.  The combat scene involves odd, almost comic Rube Goldberg devices, which spoils the story's somber mood.

Two stars.

Master of Chaos, by Michael Moorcock


Cover art by Virgil Finlay

Time for a brief excursion outside the American section of this paper World's Fair, and a quick look at what the British have on display.  Will they offer us something as groundbreaking as the Beatles?

Well, not really.  Like the lead novella, this is a swashbuckling fantasy adventure yarn.  The hero goes to a castle that lies at the edge of the Earth.  After nearly losing his way inside its labyrinthine corridors, and doing battle with a monster, he confronts the sole inhabitant (As tradition demands, a beautiful and seductive sorceress).  Their meeting leads to a new challenge.

The most interesting and original concept in this story is the idea that Earth is surrounded by ever-changing Chaos.  As Chaos is conquered, Earth grows.  It's a striking notion, and adds a novel touch to an otherwise typical example of the genre.

Three stars.

All For Nothing, by David R. Bunch


Cover art by Lutjens

Back to the States with a writer like no one else, for good or bad.  In this offbeat creation, written in the author's eccentric style, a man creates an exact duplicate of himself.  His mad scheme is to challenge God to accept the double in his place, so he can escape from life and the afterlife.  Adding to the horrific mood is the elaborate machines the fellow intends to use to kill himself in a particularly slow and painful way.

I don't know what to make of this grim account of someone who doesn't want to exist in Earth, Heaven, or Hell.  It certainly held my attention, if only in a depressing way. 

Two stars.

Gulliver's Magic Islands, by Adam Bradford, M. D.


Cover art by Blair

If Fritz Leiber's name brought me into the fairgrounds, then Adam Bradford's made me want to find the exit.  Fair is fair, however, and I have to give the man a chance to redeem himself.  His last two Swiftian pastiches failed to add anything to the original, and missed the satiric point.  Will he stumble again?

(By the way, the magazine's editorial reveals that the author's real name is Joseph Wassersug.  He's a physician who writes medical articles.  As far as I can tell, he's never published any fiction other than this series.  The editorial also promises – or should I say threatens? – another one to follow.)

Once again, the narrator follows in Gulliver's footsteps.  He visits Balnibarbi, the island of scientists; Laputa, the flying island that floats above it; Glubbdubdrib, the island of magicians; and Luggnagg, the home of the immortal struldbrugs.  Not much is done with any of these except Balnibarbi.  I have to admit that the author provides some decent satire on the way in which scientists have to chase after money for their projects.  For that reason, this entry is a little better than the others.

(One odd thing that struck me.  The inhabitants of Glubbdubdrib are described as dark-skinned.  The name of their leader is Loother Krring.  All other words made up by the author seem to be meaningless, but this one appears to be an allusion to Doctor Martin Luther King, the famous civil rights leader.  What the point of this reference might be escapes me.)

Two stars

After the Fair is Over

As night falls and we leave the fairgrounds, souvenirs in our hands, we look back over an eventful day.  Obviously, the Fritz Leiber pavilion was the highlight of the fair.  If the other exhibits were disappointing, well, that's life.  At least we can send a postcard telling the folks back home all about it.


[Come join us at Portal 55, Galactic Journey's real-time lounge!  Talk about your favorite SFF, chat with the Traveler and co., relax, sit a spell…]




6 thoughts on “[April 22, 1964] World Affairs (May 1964 Fantastic)”

  1. I think that puppet show actually premiered at the Seattle World's Fair two years ago. Billy Graham condemned it because "the women don't wear bras" (without noting that those women are puppets) and the show was a smash. Standing room only and the Kroft brothers couldn't even get their friends in to see it. Maybe those friends will have a chance this time around.

    The Leiber story was wonderful. The duo are indeed in ancient times, as the author specifically tells us that this is a century or so after Alexander the Great. He also does some very experimental things here. Four or five grand adventures, each worthy of its own lengthy story, get described in a paragraph each, and then that lengthy flashback occasionally interrupted by a brief mention of their progress in climbing a mountain. And it all works, wonderfully. This is what a classic reprint should be: something tremendous that most people haven't seen or didn't even have a chance to see. It's worth the price of admission all on its own.

    "To the Victor" tried to be good satire, but missed the mark by a good distance. I can see what Kelley was aiming for. This one either should have gone back in a drawer or had a really good editor to show the author where changes needed to be made.

    I have heard about Michael Moorcock, but I don't think he's had anything published stateside. I believe he's had several stories in Science Fantasy in recent years. Perhaps Mark Yon can tell us more. Certainly, based on just this story, I'd like to see more.

    David Bunch is a polarizing author, as the readers of the Z-D magazines have made clear. I've never felt all that strongly about him one way or the other. He can write, no question, but the stories he chooses to tell just leave me cold. This was no exception.

    Another of those horrible Gulliver pastiches. This one was certainly better than the other two, and the first part might even be called good. I was a bit put off when he dubbed the big board with all the grant money Gofer Broak, but stuck it out. The second half was more like the earlier stories. At least there's only one more to go (and apparently the motivating idea behind the whole series).

    Anyway, Leiber makes the whole issue worth getting and Moorcock makes a very good contribution. As for the rest, don't bother unless you're a glutton for punishment or think that Victoria shouldn't have to suffer alone.

  2. I believe you are looking in the wrong place in describing the Rolling Stones as Beatles imitators.  The haircuts are the same, but the Beatles are all grinning and the Rolling Stones are all scowling.  I doubt this is an accident.

    1. Indeed. I've actually heard a couple of their songs, which were just covers of rock songs from a few years ago, nothing at all like what the Beatles are doing. It's a little strange hearing someone sing about Route 66 with a heavy British accent, but their version of "Carol" was fairly nice. They and the Beatles seem to be on opposite sides of this "Mods" (who I think were called Teddy boys a couple of years ago) and "Rockers" divide that resulted in large-scale fighting last month over Easter weekend. All I know is what I pick up from occasionally hearing a radio broadcast aimed at British troops stationed in Germany. I'm sure one of our British correspondents can tell us more.

      1. I've heard the Rolling Stones on BFBS (British Forces Broadcast Service), too, and they don't sound very Beatles like, in spite of the haircuts. Their music is rockier and bluesier. I quite liked their take on "Route 66".

  3. I'd certainly love to go to the New York World Fair, but it's a little far. I had the chance to visit the 1958 World Fair in Brussels and that was a great experience.

    I don't think I've ever been disappointed by a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser story and "Adept's Gambit" is no exception. Even out of their usual habitat, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser are enjoyable as ever and this story coincidentally confirms my theory about Mouser's ethnic background. I'd love to see more about the adventures only briefly alluded to, though the long flashback in the middle could have been shorter, especially since Asura and her brother are not nearly as interesting as Fafhrd and Mouser. 

    I'm also glad to finally get to read this story, especially since it was left out of the Gnome Press collection that included the other early stories of our favourite pair of rogues. Finally, I also love Ed Emschwiller's interpretation of the formidable sorcerer Ninguable of the Seven Eyes. And in case you're wondering why he has only six eyes on the cover – well, that's explained in the story.

    I haven't read anything by Michael Moorcock yet, though based on this story, he certainly shows promise. And there's always room for more authors of swashbuckling fantasy – after all, Fritz Leiber can't fulfill the demand for this subgenre all on his own.

    The Bunch was a typical Bunch story. If you like him (and I usually do), you'll like this one. If not, you won't.

    The Kelley story clearly has something to say about colonialism and imperialism, but while his heart is in the right place, the story does come across as heavy-handed.

    I wish Adam Bradford would stick to writing medical articles, because those Gulliver pastiches are just bad.

  4. Hi Demetrios, and all. 

    Just thought I'd pick up on that point you mentioned – Michael (Mike) Moorcock is pretty well known here in the UK, but mainly for his Fantasy work than his Science Fiction. His Elric stories – a tale of an albino warrior in a symbiotic relationship with his bloodthirsty sword – are perhaps his most recognisable, as an updated version of Robert E Howard's sword and fantasy character Conan (though Elric is an exiled monarch rather than a barbarian). Most of these have been in Science Fantasy magazine.  Great fun: I've enjoyed them a lot.

    Behind the scenes he has also been an active participant, being editor for a couple of years of the British Science Fiction Association's magazine Vector.

    Most excitingly, he has recently taken on the editorship of New Worlds Magazine, and seems to be giving it a much-needed kick, in my opinion. It's going to be really interesting as to where it goes, I think.

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