[November 25, 1963] State of Shock (December 1963 Fantastic)

[At time of publication, the state funeral for our late President, John F. Kennedy is underway.  Given the tumult of the last few days, we can only hope this article marks the resumption of some kind of normalcy, such as may yet be possible…]


by Victoria Silverwolf

My colleagues have already written eloquently about the horror and sorrow felt by people everywhere on Earth after the murder of President Kennedy.  There is very little I can add.  The killing of alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, witnessed on live television by millions of viewers, only added to my feeling of shock, leaving me emotionally numb.

Even listening to Top Forty radio reminds me of the recent tragedy.  Holding the Number One position is I'm Leaving It Up to You by Dale & Grace.  The popular singing duo were among other entertainers who waved at the presidential motorcade shortly before the shooting began.

I hope that loyal readers of this column will forgive me, therefore, if I approach the task of reviewing the latest issue of Fantastic with little enthusiasm.  As much as I would like to escape from the nightmare of the last few days, I'm afraid that even the limitless imagination of writers of science fiction and fantasy cannot completely erase bad memories.

After a Judgement Day, by Edmond Hamilton

A devastating plague caused by mutated bacteria threatens to wipe out humanity.  Two men remain on the Moon, facing the possibility that they are the only survivors.  They are part of a project to send mechanical replicas of human beings to the planets of other solar systems, in order to see if people can survive there.  Because the original purpose of the project is now meaningless, they decide to make use of the devices to make one last gesture on behalf of the human race.  This is a simple story with no surprises in the plot, but the conclusion has strong emotional appeal.  Three stars.

Lilliput Revisited, by Adam Bradford, M.D.

The name of the main character in this story is the same as that of the author, so I suspect it's a pseudonym.  An American physician discovers the journal of Lemuel Gulliver and sets out for the island of tiny people described in Jonathan Swift's famous book.  There he discovers that the Lilliputians are no longer ruled by an Emperor, but instead live under communism.  He also learns about their system of medical care, which places more emphasis on treatment than diagnosis.  Most of this story consists of the narrator's actions before he reaches the fictional island, and is not very interesting.  The author's intention is satiric, but his target is unclear.  The narrator seems to deplore the Lilliputian form of government, but admire the health care system.  In any case, this is a weak sequel to a classic work.  One star.

The Soul Buyer, by Keith Laumer

A professional gambler and his manager are the main characters in this fast-paced tale.  A disreputable fellow forces the gambler to accept a lottery ticket.  From then on, he has nothing but good luck, winning every poker game and every horse race.  Unsatisfied with his fortunate condition, he investigates the man who gave him the ticket.  This leads to strange and deadly encounters with alien beings.  This story is written in the style of hard-boiled crime fiction, with elements of science fiction and horror.  The constant action and weird elements in the plot keep the reader's interest, but one can't help wondering if the author is just making things up as he goes along.  It's an enjoyable rollercoaster ride, but somehow hollow.  Three stars.

Witch of the Four Winds (Part 2 of 2), by John Jakes

The arcane adventures of Brak the Barbarian continue in the conclusion of this short novel.  Trapped in the lair of a gigantic worm, he survives only to fall into the clutches of an evil sorceress.  Bloody battles with men and monsters follow.  There is very little here that could not be found in the yellowing pages of a 1930's issue of Weird Tales.  The author creates a convincing pastiche of Robert E. Howard's tales of Conan, but adds nothing new.  Two stars.

I cannot be certain if my negative review of this issue reflects its contents accurately, or if my mood distorts my taste in literature.  I can only wait for time to dull the pain of recent events, and hope that next year begins in a less depressing way than this year is ending.




7 thoughts on “[November 25, 1963] State of Shock (December 1963 Fantastic)”

    1. According to the table of contents, the cover artist is Paul E. Wenzel.  I believe he has done work for If and Galaxy recently.

  1. We were all touched by President Kennedy's two young children paying their respects to their father. I suspect they're both too young to fully understand what is happening, though the full extent will hit them in the next weeks and months. I hope they and Mrs. Kennedy get all the help and support they need.

    Regarding this month's issue with Fantastic, the typesetter clearly ran out of space on the title page of the Keith Laumer story. 

    That said, I did enjoy The Soul Buyer and Witch of the Four Winds, though the latter felt very much like a throwback to a 1930s issue of Weird Tales without bringing anything new to the table, unlike Fritz Leiber's occasional (and always welcome) returns to Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. But in times like these, familiar is just what you need.

    The Hamilton didn't do much for me and the Gulliver sequel annoyed me so much I abandoned it halfway through.

  2. It's a bit difficult to remember everything from this magazine after the events of the last few days, but with the aid of Victoria's review a few things did come back to me.

    The Hamilton was pretty good. Despite his reputation as a "planet-killer", this sort of thoughtful piece was what he was known for back before he became so closely associated with Captain Future.

    The Bradford, on the other hand, was terrible. Writing social satire in the vein of Swift is all well and good, but but simply piggybacking on his work is not the way. Come up with your own ideas! Let's hope he isn't planning on going on to Brobdingnag, Laputa and the rest.

    Laumer has three or four styles that works to good advantage. The whiz-bang humor of Retief, the more thoughtful military pieces with the Bolo tanks, and what we see here, the two-fisted adventure with an intergalactic flavor. This is probably my least favorite of his styles, but it was still an enjoyable story. And if you'd given me just the text, with no author name or title, I'd have said this was Laumer.

    Back when we first saw Brak at the beginning of the year, I wondered if we really needed a Conan pastiche. Thirty years ago, this would have been a rip-snorter that the fans would have loved. Jakes has everything right. The tone, the characterizations, the voice. But if he really wants to write this thud and blunder stuff, Fritz Leiber would be a much better model.

      1. Oh, absolutely. That's what I was getting at when I said the more thoughtful stuff. The first one that came to mind was "Combat Unit", which was only his third story.

      2. Yeah, but even though I like Laumer a lot, this particular story left me sitting there wondering "Whaaaatt?"

        It's two different stories with just enough glue to technically join them together, but at the end I wondered what the point of it all was.  Either part alone would, from Laumer's past performance, been perfectly satisfactory.  This weird cross-genre thing… I'm hoping it's just a temporary abberration.

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