by Gideon Marcus
Living in the Past
Dancing on the main stage
The Renaissance Pleasure Faire has really taken off since it first opened in 1963. Sort of a reaction to modern society, it is several acres of the 16th Century surrounded by semi-arid modern Southern California. And as a refuge from the horrors of today (and sanitized to be free of the horrors of yesterday), it has become a prime sanctuary for hippies and other counter-culture freaks to enjoy some solace.
A typical scene–we pretend the "mundanes" aren't there…
And the Journey is no exception!
Iacobus of Constantinople (left) confers with Lord Sir Basil, Count of Argent (me!)
Lorelei has found her chosen weapon.
Captain Clara Hawkins (time traveling from the 17th Century) and Lorelei ride unicorns.
Good writers don't grow on trees, but some, like Elijah, play in them.
The whole gang. Note associates Elijah (purple, third from left), Joe (center, back), Abby (gold, center front), Lorelei (to her right), and Tam (second from right).
Living in the Future
The pages of this month's Galaxy also offer an escape, and for the most part, a pleasant one!
by Gray Morrow
To Outlive Eternity (pt 1 of 2), by Poul Anderson
Things open with a literal bang. The Leonora Christine, zooming through space at relativistic velocities on a mission of colonization, rams into a small nebula at near light speed. Though the 50 or so crew and scientists are unhurt, the ship has lost its ability to decelerate. It is now doomed to travel through the galaxy and beyond, its tau (or time) compression factor ever increasing, such that the entire life of the universe might pass in a lifetime.
Earth is now long in the past; can the Leonora Christine's complement effect repairs such that they can at least someday cease being a cosmic Flying Dutchman?
by Jack Gaughan
Poul Anderson, when he's got his blood high, fuses science and character better than most (when he's in it for the paycheck, he gets the science right, but the rest is dull as dishwater). The near-light Bussard ramjet concept was explored recently in Niven's The Ethics of Madness, but this gripping tale promises to reward the reader more fully.
Four stars.
Mirror of Ice, by Gary Wright
Gary must have recently watched Grand Prix, for his tale of high-speed bobsledding of the future, with its 10% fatality rate per race, strongly evokes that vivid movie. Or the author is just a big racing fanatic. After all, such was the topic of his last story.
Anyway, perfectly acceptable, if not too memorable; I wonder if he'd originally intended this for Playboy…or Sports Illustrated!
Three stars.
Polity and Custom of the Camiroi, by R. A. Lafferty
A three-person anthropological team investigates the highly libertarian planet of Camiroi. Society there is highly advanced, seemingly utopian, and utterly decentralized. Sounds like a Heinleinesque paradise. However, there are indications that the Terrans are being put on, mostly in an attempt to just get them to leave.
The result is something like what might have happened if Cordwainer Smith and Robert Sheckley had a baby. That'd be one weird tot…but an interesting one.
Four stars.
The Man Who Loved the Faioli, by Roger Zelazny
The Faioli are ethereal beauties who appear in a man's (or a woman's?) last month of life. Or perhaps they are the cause of impending demise. In any event, they pay for the quick mortality with the most pleasant company imaginable, perhaps feeding on the emotional feedback.
Here is the tale of a man living-in-death (or dead in living?) who romances a Faioli and remains to tell about it.
Zelazny is capable of beautiful, effective prose, but sometimes, it seems he just waxes purple and hopes his readers can't tell the difference. This one feels like the latter.
Three stars.
For Your Information: Another Look at Atlantis, by Willy Ley
Mr. Ley, Galaxy's science columnist, is back to form with this quite interesting article on all we know for certain (and it's not much!) about the mythical continent of Atlantis. Worth a read.
Four stars.
Spare That Tree, by C. C. MacApp
by Dennis M. Smith
Inspector Kruger of the Interstellar Division is back (we first saw him in the January issue of IF). This time, he's on the trail of a kidnapped tree, prized possession of an Emperor whom the galactic federation wishes to keep on the good side.
David observed that Laumer or Goulart could do a better job with these tales, and they are, indeed, the authors I was reminded of while reading this piece. It starts out genuinely interesting and funny, but the last half meanders into a whimper.
A high two (or a low three, depending on your mood).
Howling Day, by Jim Harmon
In this epistolary, an agent keeps sending a spec script to the wrong kinds of publishing houses. They all appreciate the quality of the work, but it's not quite right for what they put out. Which makes sense–turns out it's not a spec script at all…
I found this one a bit tedious and old-fashioned. Two stars.
The Adults, by Larry Niven
by Virgil Finlay
From the center of the galaxy comes Phthsspok, a super-intelligent, highly determined alien looking for a long lost colony. He has reason to believe it is Earth…or was, hundreds of thousands of years ago. Phthsspok is a Protector, with armored hide and hyper-reflexes. Utterly beyond human capabilities.
Except, when Phthsspok runs across and kidnaps Jack Brennan, a Belter in his middle-40s, the connection between Protectors and humanity turns out to be closer than anyone expected.
Set in the same time and setting as World of Ptavvs, and featuring Lucas Garner and Lit Schaeffer from that book, The Adults is a fascinating read. And it offers the compelling question: would you trade your sex and your outward humanity at age 45 for the privilege of immortality and extreme intellect?
Forty-four year olds in the audience, are you reading?
Four stars.
Alien's Bequest, by Charles V. De Vet
Wrapping things up, we have a new twist on The Puppet Masters. It's mildly intriguing, and I am always happy to see De Vet's name, but ultimately, the story doesn't quite go anywhere.
Three stars.
Return to Reality
What a nice weekend that was! First centuries past, then centuries to come. I'm not sure I'm ready to face Vietnam, another summer of protests, or a second season of The Invaders.
Oh look! The June issuse of Fantasy and Science Fiction has arrived. Just in time…
The Anderson was pretty good. This was largely set-up, of course, but I'm interested in seeing where it goes. It's always a good thing when Poul pays attention to character. He still has his problems with writing women, though.
"Mirror of Ice" was a decent read. I did have a hard time accepting the popularity of a sport with that sort of fatality rate. Sure, there are plenty of folks who watch auto racing for the crashes (such as we sadly saw in Monaco recently), but it's never going to catch on if you can't watch it on TV.
I didn't much care for the Lafferty, and I'm usually pretty accepting of his work. The best I could say for this is that it was better than the previous Camiroi story.
You liked the Zelazny better than I thought you would. I figured this would hit all the notes you don't like about his stuff. It may be more of a trompe l'oeil than having real depth, but it's very pretty.
Willy Ley quoted Aristotle on everything you need to know about Atlantis. That bit about "He who created it, destroyed it" or whatever it was. Plato wasn't drawing on Solon. He just mentioned him for a bit of verisimilitude and some political cover. Don't get me started. Now, the destruction of Thera might have some connection to the collapse of several late Bronze Age civilizations — the timing seems to be interesting — but leave Atlantis out of it.
The MacApp was slightly better than the first Inspector Kruger story, but not by much. He really doesn't have a hand for humor, but it if it keeps him from writing more Gree stories, more power to him.
"Howling Day" took too long to get where it was going and the trip was mostly dull.
"The Adults" was pretty good. I'm not sure about four stars, but certainly close. I think the problem is that it felt incomplete. There were hints of a Pak fleet following behind Phssthpok. Niven seems to have just forgotten about them. And I wonder if Lit Schaeffer is an ancestor of Beowulf.
The De Vet was all right, but not much more. We haven't seen much of him lately, and what he has put out hasn't quite been up to his old standards.
Anderson and Niven in one issue, with Zelazny and Lafferty too! Solid!
Oops. Didn't sign this one.
The Anderson one hasn't worked for me so far. I think I have read so many time dilation stories this needed to do more for me. Simply adding that they can now travel at near infinite speed actually makes it feel sillier for me. Maybe the second half is better but if it is going to end up being yet another story where only a man and a woman on the crew are left alive and they become the new Adam and Eve, I may throw it across the room.
Mirror of Ice was fine, not really one for sport stories myself.
The Lafferty didn't work for me, as usual, but then I am not much of a fan of Cordwainer Smith or Sheckley either, so that child is more a horrific Frankenstein creation to me!
Zelazny wasn't bad but he can definitely do better. Having said that, it still might be my favourite piece in this magazine.
I am annoyed with Mr. MacApp. When he did Prisoners of the Sky last year he tried to trick us into thinking that he would be a good writer outside of the Gree stories. It turns out he is going to continue to produce things of that quality…
Howling Day was a nothing of a story
The Niven started well but went on too long for me and was bored by the end. I think I wanted more of the politics and less of the super-powerful aliens that seem to litter US television SF (and before I get the usual response of "but most aliens should be like that", most of space travel should be sitting around bored and dealing with the problems of ablusions and space bacteria. We don't get that as it is not interesting, I feel the same here).
And I don't really have much to say on the DeVet.
So not much for me this time around I am afraid. I am curious about Silverberg's next month. It sounds more like what I would expect to read from Sheckley.