by Gideon Marcus
Change
Out in the world of music, there's a change brewing. One can hear it in the experimentation of the Beatles' Rubber Soul album or the otherworldly tinge of The Yardbirds' latest hit, Shapes of Things. I've been long planning to write an article on the musical scene, and I'd best get it done quickly before the landscape changes entirely!
My friend and associate, Cora Buhlert, has noted that although the Stones and Beatles are popular in Germany, the number one hit right now is the syrupy Schlager tune by Roy Black, "Ganz in Weiß" (All in white). In other words, even in times of great flux, conservative forces remain steadfast, like stubborn boulders in a stream.
Oh look — it's time to review the latest issue of Analog.
Stagnation
by Kelly Freas
Moon Prospector, by William B. Ellern
It would be hard to find a more emblematic story of the reactionary SF outlet that is Analog than this, the lead story in the April issue. Set early in E.E. Smith's Lensman series, it apparently got the full blessing of "Doc" Smith just a few days before he died! That's pretty remarkable.
The story, however, isn't. A lunar prospector in is semi-sentient "creeper" gets a distress call. Turns out an old buddy has been buried in the aftereffects of a meteor shower, and ol' Pete has to dig him out. But what was the fellow doing out in that quadrant of the Moon to begin with, and does it have anything to do with a centuries-old missile base abandoned around there?
by Kelly Freas
There's no water on the Moon, so I suppose it's appropriate that the story, itself, is dry as a bone. Perhaps it would have been more exciting if I'd had some stake in the universe. Maybe I'd have thrilled at the mention of the Solar Patrol being evolved into a Galactic Patrol. The fact is, I didn't care for Doc Smith's stories much when I was a kid, so they evoke no nostalgia for me now.
Two stars.
Rat Race, by Raymond F. Jones
by Kelly Freas
A century and a half in the future, when a completely computer-planned economy has resulted in plenty for all of humanity, a fellow decides to recreate the hobby of model train running (though not in the destructive manner of the Addams family, more's the pity).
This hobby runs the fellow afoul of the Computer, for when he tries to make his own trains, he is accused of attempting his own production, which will upset the finely balanced economy and lead to scarcity. Our protagonist must find a way to satisfy the human urge to create while not upsetting the economic apple cart. The story ends with the suggestion that do-it-yourselfism will spread and eventually topple the current order.
It's a pleasant-enough story, and I suppose the "stick-it-to-communism" sentiment appealed to editor Campbell. On the other hand, while I appreciate that some folks really like to build things even when they could just be bought (and I have to think that hobbyist building would not break a planned economy), the notion that we've become too centralized and folks should all be able to be self-sufficient, making a living from the land, is unworkable.
The fact is, we've long since populated the Earth beyond its ability to sustain a society of independent farmers. The great island cities, the vast modern nations, they only support their teeming millions through coordinated and interconnected systems. The writer in the air-conditioned apartment, who bangs out a paean to independent living before catching a television show and then popping off to the deli for dinner, is a dreamer, not a visionary.
Three stars.
The Easy Way Out, by Lee Correy
by John Schoenherr
Aliens conduct a survey of planet Earth, evaluating its species for aggressive tendencies. After coming across a grizzly bear and a wolverine, and then the human family that has adopted the latter, they decide Earth is more trouble than it's worth.
Typical Campbellian Earth-firsterism. Two stars.
Drifting Continents, by Robert S. Dietz
by John Holden
If it's a crackpot theory that flies in the face of the scientific establishment, chances are you'll read about it in Analog. But sometimes a theory is crackpot, flies in the face of the scientific establishment, and is probably right. As someone born in earthquake country, I've probably heard more about "continental drift" than many. It's the idea that the continents very slowly move around the globe. It's why the coasts of South America and Africa seem like edges of the same torn newspaper. It explains why there are similar fossils at similar depths across continents that are nowhere near each other…today.
It's a theory I found little reference to in my science books of the 50s, including Rachel Carson's seminal The Sea Around Us. But damned if Dietz doesn't make some very compelling arguments. I would not be surprised if continental drift, as has happened recently with the Big Bang Theory and global warming, did not become thoroughly accepted this decade.
Five stars.
Who Needs Insurance?, by Robin S. Scott
by Kelly Freas
Pete "Lucky Pierre" Albers has always been blessed with good fortune. Twenty years a pilot, he has always managed to avoid even the slightest injury, despite 8500 hours of flying time. He first suspected that his lucky streak was not completely due to chance after a harrowing mission over Ploesti left his B-24 with just one working engine. That tortured device not only held together all the way back to Libya, but it spun with the 800 horsepower needed to keep the plane in the air. After the crash landing, Albers found a little gray box attached to the driveshaft.
Twenty years later, over Vietnam, Colonel Albers was in a bullet-riddled Huey whose engine somehow held together long enough to get him and his charges back to base. Sure enough, a little box was installed on the engine.
Clearly someone, or something, has taken an interest in Albers' survival. It's up to Albers and his closest friends to discover the secret.
I really enjoyed this story, told in narrative fashion. It's a fun mystery, the details are evocative, and I like when a piece includes a competent woman scientist (in this case, Marty the programmer, with her pet 2706).
Four stars.
A Sun Invisible, by Poul Anderson
by Domenic Iaia
With this latest installation in the adventures of David Falkayn, the momentum gained by the magazine comes to a shuddering halt. Anderson's writing is of widely varying quality, and the adventures of this troubleshooting young protogé of Nicholas van Rijn are among the worst.
The plot takes forever to develop, but it's something about a planet of Germanics looking to take on the Polesotechnic League by working with the belligerent Kroaka. The trick is that Falkayn has to figure out where the would-be enemies make their home. By getting the female leader of Neuheim drunk and talkative, Falkayn learns enough astronomical clues to deduce the star around which the insurgents' planet revolves. Falkayn stops the threat and gets the girl.
I do like the astronomy Anderson weaves into these stories and I also appreciated the seamless way he introduced a new pronoun for an alien race with three sexes. Other than that, it's a deadly dull story, and smug to boot. Falkayn is like a boring, Sexist Retief.
Two stars.
Computation
After all that, the conservative reef that is Analog finishes near the bottom of the pack, though that is as much due to the relative excellence of the other mags that came out this month. Campbell's mag clocks in at a reasonable 3 stars, beating out the truly bad, all-reprint Amazing (2.3).
Above Analog, starting at the top, are Impulse (3.5), Galaxy (3.4), IF (3.3), New Worlds (3.1), and Fantasy and Science Fiction (3.1).
It was something of a banner month for SF mags, actually. Enough worthy stuff was printed to fill two full-size mags (and if you take out Amazing, that means a full third of everything printed was four stars and up). Also, women produced 11.5% of the new fiction published this month, the highest proportion I've seen in a long time. We'll see if this trend holds out.
That's it for March! April is a whole new ballgame, starting with the next issue of IF. I'm very keen to see how that magazine does now that the excellent Heinlein serial has ended (I've high hopes for the Laumer/Brown novel.)
Until then, all we can to is keep trying to discern the pattern of Shapes of Things to Come…
Don't miss the next exciting Adventure-themed episode of The Journey Show, taking you to the highest peaks, the deepest wildernesses, the coldest extremes, the vacuum of space, and the depths of the sea. April 3 at 1PM — book your (free) ticket for adventure now!)
The Yardbirds' "Shapes of Things" is my spring 1966 favorite! Of course, anything that even hints at a science-fiction theme works for me. But the flip side on the record sleeve pictured above isn't the same as the flip side of my 45 RPM — mine is "I'm Not Talkin'."
It was a surprisingly good month for the science fiction mags. I'm sure it won't last and next month the roller coaster will go hurtling down. April is, after all, the cruelest month.
"Moon Prospector" had the potential to be decent, if not particularly special. Unfortunately, being shackled to Doc Smith's work dragged it down. Perhaps Mr. Ellern should focus on creating his own worlds and settings. He's not without talent.
"Rat Race" was tedious. Reynolds or Sheckley could have done something with this (and probably have). Jones has been around for a while, but he seems stuck in the 50s. I guess that makes him perfect for Campbell.
"The Easy Way Out" was… a story I read. I think. Another one stuck in the last decade,
My brother-in-law is a retired geologist, and we've talked about continental drift once or twice. From what I gather, the evidence is there and it would actually solve a couple of thorny questions in geology. But they need a mechanism to really be able to accept it. If someone could come up with a plausible way for continents to move around (and I'm not sure Dietz has in this article), most geologists would probably be happy to make continental drift an accepted fact.
"Who Needs Insurance?" was enjoyable, though I'm not sure I'd give it that fourth star. Either way, it's the best story in the issue.
"A Sun Invisible" felt like an Anderson story from when he was in his slump a few years ago. It's lifeless and dull and seems more put together in a "one from column A, two from column B" manner. It's also out of sequence (Falkayn hopes that success here will garner van Rijn's attention), so we see a less mature protagonist that we grew accustomed to in "Trader Team" last year. Anderson did that with Flandry, too. I suppose we'll eventually see all the Falkayn stories put together in chronological order some day. Can't complain too much, I guess. C. S. Forester did the same thing with Hornblower.
They talk about Picasso's Blue period, and so forth. I suggest SF historians of the future will look back and see this era of John Campbell's tenure at ASF as his late Senile Period.
When James Schmitz is the most attractive draw amongst your repertoire of regular writers, you as an editor are doing something wrong. I like Schmitz, don't get me wrong; but he's a solid B-string entertainer at best, and if he's the zenith of what you're putting out, you're clueless.
But while Campbell continues to put out mostly a steaming pile of Nothing as far as the reading content goes, ANALOG continues to be the best-looking magazine out there. Freas has jumped up a level since he returned from Mexico. His b&W illos in this issue, alongside those of Schoenherr, are things of beauty ….
Except how did those crude, amateur illos for the Anderson story get in there? Blech! (As they say in MAD magazine.)
*****
In other matters: you mention the UK beat group the Yardbirds and their hit 'Shapes of Things.' In fact, their line-up recently changed as their former lead guitarist Eric 'Slowhand' Clapton departed for other things and they have a new player in Clapton's stead, a fellow called Jeff Back.
Word is that Beck is one to watch, an unconventional talent who gets sounds out of the electric guitar that haven't been heard before. Indeed, those who follow beat music closely have come up with a flashy new tag to describe the new flavor of beat music the Yardbirds have developed: "psychedelic."
We'll see where this goes.
Beck's not all that new! We caught him on SHINDIG! a couple of times last year. The Yardbirds is one of my favorite bands. for sure.
Good riddance to The Clap. He was mad the 'birds left blues. He can peddle his 12 bars elsewhere.
"Moon Prospector" (a dull title, and nothing to do with the plot): Half technological rescue story, half space opera, and neither one very interesting.
"Rat Race": Maybe of interest to model train fans, but otherwise a pretty heavy-handed satire of the Individual vs Society.
"The Easy Way Out" is Christopher Anvil light; the dumb aliens get defeated again, this time with animals.
"Who Needs Insurance?" : It was OK. Maybe the best (if not best written — see below) story in the issue.
"A Sun Invisible": Frustrating, because it had some fine world-and-alien-building (Anderson has a real talent for that) and it was well-written, for the most part, but it boils down to a puzzle story (with a pretty anticlimactic solution) that drags on long after the puzzle is solved.
Lee Corry is G. Harry Stine. Aerospace engineer at White Sands for many years. Friend of Robert Heinlein.
Talked him once , bit of a conservative war hawk.
He wrote some young adult novels that were better than some others doing YA, not in the class of Heinlein and not as entertaining as Andre Norton.
Thanks for the clarification! I like his rocketry stuff. I hope my juveniles are better than his!