by Gideon Marcus
Those of you who have been following the Journey over the past several years know that my appraisal of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction has changed a few times. Back in the days when Anthony Boucher and then Robert Mills were editing F&SF, it was my favorite magazine, a dessert I saved for reviewing last.
Then Avram Davidson took over in 1962, and while there were still standout issues, Davidson's whimsical, somewhat obtuse preferences led to a pretty rough couple of years. Recently, Joe Ferman, son of the owner of the magazine, took over, and quality has been on a slow but perceptible rise.
One thing about F&SF is that it has always been unique amongst its SFF magazine brethren (which once numbered 40 and now less than ten). It was the literary sibling, the most highfalutin. Composed largely of vignettes and short stories, it contrasted sharply with the crunchier digests like Analog.
Which is why the current July 1965 issue is so unusual. It's not bad; indeed, it's pretty good. But it reads much like an issue of Galaxy or IF, one of the more mainstream mags. I'm not disappointed. It's just odd is all. Read on and see what I mean.
by Jack Gaughan (he likes dragons — he did the illos for Vance's The Dragon Masters too!
Rogue Dragon, by Avram Davidson
Last year, Davidson left editing to go back to writing full time, and Rogue Dragon is his first major work since his departure from the helm of F&SF. From the title, I expected a fantasy piece, or perhaps the dragon would even turn out to be metaphorical. Both suppositions were wrong: Rogue Dragon is pure science fiction set on a far future Earth, one that had been conquered and then abandoned by the merciless insectoid Kar-chee.
Now simply called Prime World, humanity's original home has devolved to a handful of city-states. The planet's economy is based on Hunts, wherein the dragons introduced by the Kar-chee are slain by off-world big game hunters. These dragons are nigh invulnerable things, their chest armor only pierceable in a weak spot identified with a painted white cross.
Enter Jan-Joras, the Private Man (representative) of the great off-world leader, Por Paulo. Sent to arrange a vacation for the elected king he serves, Jan-Joras quickly gets caught up in a political struggle between the aristocratic Gentlemen class, who raise the dragons, the base-born (known pejoratively as dogcatchers and potato-growers), and the outlaws, who have hatched a scheme that will strike at the very foundation of the Hunt system.
But Rogue Dragon is no political thriller. Rather, after a slightly difficult to read opening act (Davidson introduces many concepts and an abundance of idiomatic language in a short space), Rogue Dragon is an adventure story filled with derring-do, great escapes, and much traveling across increasingly hot frying pans — and we all know what destination lies at the end of that trail.
I found that I liked the story quite a bit, although it is perhaps less substantial than it might have been. I waver between giving it three stars (perfectly adequate entertainment) and four stars (there's creative worldbuilding here).
Generosity wins. Four stars it is, and welcome back to where you belong, Avram.
Computer Diagnosis, by Theodore L. Thomas
For his latest science fact vignette, Thomas discusses computer-assisted medical diagnosis — feed the data in, get a determination of malady and a life expectancy out. Expanded, this could have made a nice article. As is…
Three stars for being harmless.
The Expendables, by Miriam Allen deFord
In this odd bird of a story, the first astronauts sent to Mars are senior citizens. The logic is that the mission is so hazardous, with so remote a chance of returning, that it is kinder to send folks with fewer years remaining in their lives.
It doesn't make a great deal of sense, and the story is hampered by some clunky "as you know" dialogue. On the other hand, I thought the characters were pretty well drawn, and I appreciated the non-standard protagonists (two men, two women, all over 68).
Three stars.
The Eight Billion, by Richard Wilson
Many have made the dire prediction that Earth is heading toward massive overpopulation. Indeed, the tremendous-sounding number, "Eight Billion", may well be reached by the end of the century. Now imagine that crowding was such that eight thousand thousand thousands were crammed just into the island of Manhattan!
Wilson's story is mostly humorous fluff supporting a twist ending, but I enjoyed it.
Three stars.
Becalmed in Hell, by Larry Niven
Niven continues to impress with his fourth tale, sequel to The Coldest Place, which appeared in IF. In his hard as nails variation on McCaffrey's The Ship who Sang, Howie and Eric-the-cyborg-ship explore the boiling planet of Venus. There, floating twenty miles above the molten surface, Eric develops a fault and is unable to blast back into orbit. Is the problem mechanical or psychosomatic?
This is the first story set on post-Mariner 2 Venus, and what a delight it is to see what is probably a much more accurate representation of the Planet of Love. I do balk at the notion that it would be pitch black under Venus' clouds — it's not under an equivalent pressure of ocean, after all. On the other hand, perhaps they were exploring the night side.
In any event, it's a neat story (albeit one I might have expected to find in Analog). Four stars.
Exclamation Point!, by Isaac Asimov
The Good Doctor continues his streak of turning his frivolous meanderings through mathematics into readable but not particularly momentous articles. In this latest, he expounds on the "Asimov series", a cute way he has developed to approximate the value of the special constant, e.
An enjoyable ride, I suppose. Three stars.
A Murkle For Jesse, by Gary Jennings
Gary Jennings last appeared in print in this very magazine, some three years ago, with the story Myrrha. It was nominated for the Hugo, though I didn't think it merited such acclaim.
In any event, I think I liked Murkle better. It stars an eight-year-old boy, a section of the rural Northeast, a little lost girl, and a 400-year old Irish fairy who is most certainly not lost.
If Clifford Simak and R.A. Lafferty were put in a blender, this piece might pour out. Three stars.
The Pterodactyl, by Philip José Farmer
The book concludes with a short poem about the wing-fingered flying reptiles of the Mesozoic. A difficult read, it also seems to suggest that pterodactyls were the evolutionary precursors of birds.
The weakest piece of the issue; two stars.
Wrapping up
And there you have it: a pleasant, above-average issue, but with stories that seem slightly odd fits for F&SF. I'm not really complaining, though.
Unless, of course, it means the other mags suffer…
[Don't miss the next episode of The Journey Show, featuring singer-songwriter Harry Seldon. He'll be playing a mix of Dylan, Simon, and some unique original compositions!]
Even though "Rogue Dragon" was pretty long, there were still far more stories than you might usually see in one of the other magazines. Running the occasional longer piece seems like a fairly good idea to me. Certainly, there are stories that just don't fit in any of the other mags, and if they turn out to be long, they still need a place to go.
"Rogue Dragon" was pretty good and reminded me a bit of the old Avram Davidson, the one who's been missing for several years. My biggest quibble is that Jan-Joras' special skills seemed to come out of nowhere when he first needed them. Maybe Davidson will expand this into a full length novel, giving him room to add more foreshadowing and substance, thus clearing up both our complaints.
For once, the Science Springboard could have been really interesting, but Thomas failed to even begin doing anything with the concept. That might not be a bad thing, since so many of his speculations have been complete nonsense. Actually, I think this topic would be best served by a decent fact article in one of the mags. Ben Bova might be able to make it work.
There's an interesting idea in "The Expendables", and frankly I would have expected Mrs. de Ford to do pretty well with it. She's a bit off her game here, though. I expect better from her. Fortunately, weak de Ford is still pretty good.
I found "The Eight Billion" tedious. It was never as clever as it thought it was and just meandered along. Two stars for me.
Niven continues strong. This was a very good problem story, and boy am I glad Campbell didn't get his hooks into this new author. As for the phrase "searing black hell", I think some astronomer or other may have come up with that term after the first real data came in. I wonder if Howie and Eric are going to take a trip across the Solar System. If so, then I suppose Mars is next.
Dr. A is just phoning it in lately. At least this one was actually about science and mathematics, unlike last month. He needs some juicy science fact he can sink his teeth into.
"Murkle" was also very good. The Irish fairy was a bit of a stereotype, but all in all a very enjoyable read. I hope we see more from him.
As for the Farmer, apparently he isn't _always_ almost good.
I recently decide to look at specifically where I felt F&SF has improved this year compared with the last couple. Looking at my own personal ratings, my feelings on the vignettes have remained largely level, however it is in the novellas and novelettes where I think its game has stepped up. As such I don't mind a temporary foray into Pohl's territory.
I am generally not an Avram Davidson fan but I thought Rogue Dragon was pretty good. Not mind blowing but enjoyable science fantasy.
The Expendables works better than I would have expected from the concept. Another well written and solid entry.
The Eight Billion on the other hand was particularly poor on all fronts.
Niven is someone I continue to totally bounce off of and this story is no different.
Murkle ended the issue on a bit of a bum note.
As for the poem, I am beginning to realise SFF poetry seems to really be in the doldrums right now. You used to have people that were actual poets contributing and going to the poetry convention recently made me realise works like this are not only dull, it doesn't really say anything or even have an understanding of metre. The same problem I had reading Lin Carter's Wizard of Lemuria recently. He seemed to think it was a good idea to put poems at he beginning of each chapter, but it only works if you can actually write good poems. Tolkien he sure ain't and neither is Farmer here.
I thought all the stories in this issue were so-so, with the big exception of the Niven. Not only does he continue to produce some of the most effective "hard" SF out there, in the Hal Clement tradition, but, with this story, he proves he can write well. There were none of the slightly awkward sentences I've detected in his work before, and the characters are more fully developed than before. I think I would have given it a solid five stars, and put it on the list for the next Galactic Stars award.