by Gideon Marcus
Tarnished Gold
I am an avid fan of science fiction magazines. It would not be going too far to say that Galactic Journey's original purpose was to document these delightful digests as they came out (since then, our scope has crept quite a bit, even as far as the opening of a publishing company!)
If you've been following my column, you know that I view some magazine editors more favorably than others. For instance, I have a great deal of respect for Fred Pohl, who helms Galaxy, IF AND Worlds of Tomorrow, all of them quite good reads. Then there's Cele Goldsmith (now Lalli) who took on both Amazing and Fantastic, and while neither are unalloyed excellence, they are improved over where they were before she came on, and there's usually something excellent in at least one of the mags every month.
My relationship with Fantasy and Science Fiction's Avram Davidson is more complicated; I understand he's moved to Berkeley and is retiring from the editorship of that magazine to devote himself to writing. I think that's probably better for everyone involved. Still, there have been some good issues under Davidson, and I can't let curses go without some grudging admiration.
And then there's John W. Campbell.
Look. I recognize that his Astounding kicked off the Golden Age of Science Fiction, and that, for a while, his magazine (and its sister, Unknown) were the best games in town, by far. But Campbell went off the deep end long, long ago, with his pseudo-science, his reactionary politics, his heavy-handed editorial policy that ensures that White Male Terrans are usually the stars (and writers) of his stories, and his inflammatory editorials that I gave up reading a while ago.
Asimov's long-since turned his back on him. Even I've rattled sabers with him. But the most poignant declaration against Campbell is a recent one, given by prominent writer Jeannette Ng at a local conference. She minced no words, denouncing his male-chauvinism, his racism, his authoritarianism, and urged that the genre be freed from the overlong shadow he casts.
Jeannette Ng, iconoclast
While Campbell's influence in SF is somewhat on the wane, Analog still has double the circulation of the next biggest competitor, four times that of F&SF, where the majority of the women SF writers publish. It's people like Ms. Ng, pointing at the naked Emperor and noting the ugliness, who will advance the New Wave, the post-Campbellian era.
All I have to say is "bravo".
The Issue at Hand
The ironic thing is that the current issue of Analog is actually pretty good (full disclosure: I didn't read the editorial, which is probably awful). Just the cover, illustrating the latest Lord D'Arcy story is worth the price of admission.
by John Schoenherr
Opening up the pages, things are pretty good inside, too. At least until the end.
the risk takers, by Carolyn Meyer
This article on the use of mannequins in aeronautical and medical science is lively, much more Asimovian than most of the non-fiction Campbell has subjected us to recently. And, it's the first time a woman author has graced the science column of Analog. While the piece is comparatively brief and perhaps aimed at a more general (dare I say "younger") audience than the average Analog reader, I enjoyed it.
Four stars.
A Case of Identity, Randall Garrett
Randall Garrett is possibly the author I've savaged the most during my tenure running the Journey, but even I have to admit that the fellow's latest series is a winner. Lord D'Arcy is a magical detective hailing from an alternate 1964. In this installment, the Marquis of Cherbourg is missing, and coincidentally, an exact double has just been found dead and naked near the docks. There's witchcraft afoot, and the good Lord, along with his sorcerer assistant, Master Sean O Lochlainn, are on the case.
by John Schoenherr
This story doesn't flow quite as smoothly as the first one, spending many inches on the historical background of this brand-new world. It's still a superlative tale, however.
Four strong stars.
The Machmen, James H. Schmitz
by John Schoenherr
An interstellar survey group is overpowered by a group of ambitious cyborgs. The goal of these so-called "Machmen" (presumably pronounced "Mash-men"?) is to forcibly convert the captured team of eggheads into brainwashed cybernetic comrades and start a colony. But one the scientists has gotten loose, and he has a risky plan to thwart the nefarious scheme that just…might…work.
It's not a bad piece. In fact it moves quite nicely, far more readily than the author's latest (and disappointing) Telzey Amberdon story. But on the other hand, it reads like it might have come out in the 1930s. I wonder if it's been hiding in a desk from the early days of Schmitz' career.
Three stars.
Sheol, Piers Anthony and H. James Hotaling
by John Schoenherr
This is an odd piece about the Government postman who delivers parcels to the oddballs who live in the suburbs. It's quite deftly written, but there's weird social commentary that, while not offensive, feels Campbellian. Tailor made for John, or doctored after the fact? There's no way to tell.
Three stars.
Sleeping Planet (Part 3 of 3), William R. Burkett, Jr.
by Kelly Freas
Last up, we have the conclusion to Sleeping Planet. What started out as a promising novel about the sudden subjugation of the Earth has ended up exactly as predicted. The few unsleeping humans, along with their robotic allies (abruptly introduced near the end of the last installment), put on a movie show that convinces the invaders that the dead spirits of Earth are taking out their revenge. This confusion facilitates the final gambit of the Terrans: to infiltrate and revive one of the planetary defense stations in El Paso. After that, it's all over but the shouting.
There are several problems with this last part. First off, it's essentially unnecessary. There are no surprises, the human plan pretty much going as discussed in the last part. That's the big picture. Smaller picture issues include:
- Why were Earth's defense centers even vulnerable to the sleeping dust in the first place? Wouldn't it make sense for them to have their own air supplies against chemical/biological attack?
- The amazingly human-like aliens (another Campbellian feature) are always played for suckers. I was almost rooting for them to win at the end, so arrogant and annoying were the humans.
- At the end, Earth's leaders make light of the attack, calling it a brief nap (but a warning as to what might happen NEXT TIME). I understand this is largely to quell panic and outrage. At the same time, though, it is mentioned numerous times that hundreds, maybe thousands of women were revived and rendered stupefied so that the might "service" the alien troops. That this mass rape goes unaddressed and essentially laughed off really bothered me. Honestly, even including this element was disgusting and unnecessary, especially in a story that mostly kept a light tone.
Two stars for this segment, two-and-a-half for the book as a whole. We'll see if it gets picked up for separate print.
Summing Up
Thus ends another edition of the magazine that Campbell built, representative of the best and worst of the man. This time, the positive aspects have won out, resulting in a 3.2 star issue. This is surpassed this month only by Fantasy and Science Fiction (3.4). There was no IF this month due to a problem at the printers, the result of shifting from bimonthly to monthly. That leaves the new New Worlds (3.1), Amazing (2.7), and Fantastic (2.6) scoring below Analog and F&SF. An unusual month, indeed.
Women wrote 6 of 38 pieces (1 of 4 science articles, 5 of 34 fiction pieces), a fairly average month. Despite the paucity of magazines, there was enough high quality material to make a decently sized issue. Now that I'm in the anthology business, perhaps I'll do just that…
SPEAKING OF WHICH:
We have exciting news! Journey Press, the publishing company founded by the team behind Galactic Journey, has just launched its first book. We know you will enjoy Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963), a curated set of fourteen excellent stories introduced by the rising stars of 2019.
If you enjoy Galactic Journey, you'll want to purchase a copy today — available physically and virtually! Not only will you find it excellent reading, but it will support our efforts and allow us to make more of the material you enjoy! Thank you for your support!
Heavens, I wish I could train myself not to read Campbell's editorials. Alas, if there are words on a page in front of me, I'm compelled to at least give them a try. (The one thing in Glory Road that really resonated with me was when Oscar had to beg Rufo for some reading material so he could get to sleep.) This time, he was arguing against all the evidence indicating that smoking leads to cancer. He even said with a straight face that maybe people with cancer were more likely to smoke, rather than people who smoke being more likely to get cancer. I'm sure if you backed him into a corner on any subject with facts and logic, he'd keep moving the goalposts as long as possible and then say he was "just asking questions."
The test mannequin article was quite interesting. I imagine they will soon be able to integrate the sensor technology and telemetry that NASA uses to monitor our astronauts.
The Lord Darcy story was quite good. It offered a decent little mystery, even if some parts felt a little tacked on. And a spy story this time. Maybe Garrett will try out a variety of mystery genres in this world (though I have a hard time imagining Lord Darcy doing Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade). Now, imagine what this story could have been in the hands of a decent editor like Fred Pohl.
"The Machmen" was ultimately forgettable, and not made any better by my constantly wondering how to pronounce "Machmen" every time it appeared on the page. Schmitz is an odd case. I'm generally hopeful whenever his name shows up in the table of contents, yet more often than not he disappoints. And then I promptly forget about him until his next magazine appearance.
"Sheol" is definitely an odd one. You've summed it up perfectly, right down to the strange social commentary and Campbell's influence. Still, Anthony has been interesting so far under Cele Lalli's editorship. He's worth keeping an eye on.
The Sleeping Planet is at last over. Burkett showed a bit of talent here and there, but this was all over the place, with things cropping up without foreshadowing because the author needed them. Another story where a decent editor could have taken it to a higher level.
To sum up, it seems to me that this is a good issue in spite of Campbell. In fact, he's dragged it down. I saw Miss Ng's impassioned Philippic and agreed with her on nearly every point. Indeed, whenever I began to quibble, I realized I was using Campbellian hair-splitting and logic-chopping to disagree. His faults are vast and many, despite the debt this genre owes him, but let me append the further criticism that his poor editing is actively hampering the next generation of science fiction authors. It's time for him to retire. Maybe he can build a working Dean drive in his garage.
There is an alternate universe story in all this. In the early 1950s John Campbell was looking to find a job that paid more than Street and Smith. This was back when he was still , one guesses, still buddy buddy with L Ron Hubbard. For a while Campbell was only at his office, was it 2 days a week? Elsetime he was at a New Jersey Dianetics ‘Clinic’ working as a ‘auditor’ (or whatever the hell they were called). Any day the money would be rolling in, except Dianetics Clinics were not viable only L Ron made some dough, which he absconded with. Suppose that had worked? Who would have taken ASF? Not Ray Palmer, he was getting out of the editing biz, any way Ray Palmer!? Who would have gotten ASF? Is there an alternate universe story in that?
So not far up the line was Clam-ology , could big John have become a Clam? Would L Ron have made him a master Clam? After all there had to more at the top than L Ron raking in all those dollars from Clam Marks? The gullible were uncountable!
But I guess John W was on the outs with L Ron.
Not only Asimov, Campbell had left a bad impression on Heinlein with his own synthetic Dianetics at dinner one night … driven Al Bester to distraction with one office visit. Asimov kept his mouth , kinda shut, but was shaking his head. Still he offered Naked Sun to ASF, and Heinlein seemed to like the higher word pay so Double Star and Citizen of the Galaxy , tho not Starship Troopers , I am thinking to Campbell’s chagrin eventually…. or Door Into Summer….
1950 to 1960 it was very noticeable that H L Gold was not turning down the best novels of those years. Of course Campbell was oblivious to this… and F&SF was getting it's licks in.
Guess who published the first story by James Tiptree, Jr (Alice Sheldon)? John Campbell.
She offered it to Analog first, rather than to F&SF or Galaxy.
It's easy with hindsight to see all the flaws (and I saw them at the time in terms of his politics), but he was a great editor who welcomed new talent – and then he stultified. It's worth reading Harry Harrison's essay on Campbell, where he says:
John Campbell conversations consisted of a series of pointed questions. I remember one day he looked at me and said:
"You're a medieval peasant and you're allergic to white bread, what happens? Speak up!"
I said: "Er … er … I eat white bread and I get sick."
"Right, and you fall down foaming at the mouth. Now where do you get white bread? Only the landowner eats white bread, you would never see it."
"Maybe I get some that falls from his table … Or he throws it out in the garbage."
"You're not thinking!" He'd crack a whip and make you think. I had about half an hour of this. My palms were clammy. I was wishing for salvation or for lightning to strike or something. Finally, reluctantly, he sits back heavily and says: "The answer is obvious. I said you were a peasant, remember? When would you ever see white bread? You'd actually be served white bread when you get the Host in church. When you get the Host you'd fall down and foam at the mouth – and that's the explanation for medieval possession! Go away and write the story!"
Harrison also wrote: "Although we were opposites politically, John and I got along extremely well."
And, " John Campbell was responsible for the Golden Age of science fiction. When Brian Aldiss and I edited our Decades series we chose the best stories, and everyone selected for the 1940s volume was from Astounding … The first SF novels published in paperback in the '50s had all been sixty-thousand-word Astounding serials. … I can sum up in one sentence: John Campbell invented modern science fiction."
Of course modern SF has evolved magnificently since then. But should we trash our pioneers? Which of our own attitudes will be seen as unspeakable on 70 years time?
I can't think of anyone else as an editor who could have done what he did between 1938 and 1950. Was it a golden age or Paradigm shift? I mean I didn't start reading SF until 1953 but then I read pretty thoroughly everything written between 1940 and 1960 , to me H L Gold's Galaxy and Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas's F&SF trumped ASF 1950 to 1960 so it was 'golden age' extended, is it that it has never really ended? I think without Campbell the modern form of sophisticated SF would have developed (some was about before Campbell), I think it would have taken longer to get there.
We absolutely can trash our pioneers when they do things that deserve denigration.
It works both ways. If, for example, George Wallace were ever to renounce his segregationalist ways and embrace multiculturalism, I would welcome him to the side of light.
The cover art is excellent, a perfect pastiche of the Dutch Renaissance style. Worthy of five stars by itself.
Garrett seems very comfortable in the Lord Darcy series, and has clearly done his homework. I'd quibble that they'd be more at home in the late, lamented Unknown than Analog, but that's a minor matter. Quite enjoyable.
"The Machman" wasn't much, and I was annoyed that the hero solves the problem with a gizmo that he pulled out of his hat.
As said, "Sheol" was very strange. Lots of the details in it made me wonder what the heck was going on. I'm not sure I believe that you can be creative without intelligence, or vice versa, so the premise of the story didn't ring true with me. But it was weird enough to keep me reading.