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[June 28, 1964] Not Quite What You Think. ( New Worlds, July-August 1964)

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by Mark Yon

Scenes from England

Hello again!

I’m back to New Worlds this month on its new bi-monthly schedule. Getting an issue every other month is taking a bit of getting used to, if I’m honest – I was so used to receiving a monthly issue – but I must admit I’m liking the changes. Perhaps waiting that bit longer has sharpened my appetite?

The issue at hand


by James Cawthorn

The July-August 1964 issue of New Worlds starts with another eye-catching cover by Michael Moorcock’s friend Jim Cawthorn. Like the one in May, it draws you in and makes you want to read it, which does the job it is intended to do. (Although, as I will say later, there is some dissent in the Letters pages.)

To the stories themselves.

Hang on – where’s the rest of The Star Virus, by Barrington J. Bailey? Last issue I thought that there was going to be a second part. However, it seems I was wrong. Apologies for the misunderstanding on my part. (please take another point off the rating)

The Fall of Frenchy Steiner, by Hilary Bailey

I said last month that the ‘new’ New Worlds seems to want to merge the old clichés of s-f with the new sensibility of the so-called New Wave. The title story is one of those, in that the idea of alternate history is not a new one for s-f, but here it is given a new energy and perhaps grittier realism.

Told through the enigmatic and moody “Lowry”, it is a story of what happens to Frenchy Steiner, a German bar singer with psi-powers in an alternate Britain in 1954 run by the victorious Germans. Expectedly, it is a setting full of grimness, all rationing, power shortages and curfews, with the Germans keeping control through propaganda and a strict regime. As well as a pub entertainer, Frenchy leads a double life, as we find out about her familial connections to the Third Reich and her importance to the Fuhrer.

The story starts slowly but builds a credible impression of England under occupation. However, by the end it moves a little too quickly towards its resolution and there’s a few plot points that lack the thought of the initial set-up.

If you are a long-time reader, you may recognise the author’s name. We have met work by Hilary Bailey before, with Breakdown in the October 1963 issue of New Worlds. Breakdown was odd and a little underwhelming for me, but Frenchy Steiner, in a longer novella format, worked much better for me, even though I felt at the end that it could have been better paced. Despite the slight whiff of nepotism (Hilary is also the wife of Mr. Moorcock) this was a great start to the issue. 4 out of 5.

Storm-Water Tunnel, by Langdon Jones

A new writer with his debut here at New Worlds, Langdon is described by the story’s banner as ‘a musician’ as well as a writer. Storm-Water Tunnel is a time travel story using the Moebius strip idea – you know, the one where time is a continuous journey that twists back upon itself. This is a story that does that, but the reasons for it doing so are not clear and so it remains an intriguing trifle. I can see why editor Moorcock likes this one, as it covers similar ideas shown in his writing. As an attempt to be different, it’s OK. I suspect that we’ll see more of this writer in later issues. 3 out of 5.

Goodbye, Miranda, by Michael Moorcock

And so, after a story by the wife of the editor and a story by a friend of the editor, we now have a story by the editor. The banner at the top claims that Goodbye, Miranda is a story about ignorance and the consequences of ignorance. To me it was an experimental piece that just reminded me of a bad Shakespearean tragedy where everyone dies at the end. Based on this, Mike needs to stick to editing rather than writing, at the moment. Awful. 2 out of 5.

Single Combat, by Joseph Green

And here is the return of one of the ‘old guard’, from the older version of New Worlds! We last read Joseph’s work in the July 1963 New Worlds with the so-so Refuge. Single Combat is the story of a fight between a King and a pretender to the throne on a world where the people are seven feet tall. The main difference is that in addition to the physical battle psi-powers are used, which means that most of the story takes place in the participant’s heads.

It is interesting to see how the old style New Worlds writer stands up to the reinvigorated aims of the new New Worlds. The answer is not particularly well, frankly. Away from the psi-powers angle story, the story’s a mass of clichés. The tribes are clearly modelled on the coloured peoples of Africa and the twist in the tale is that – gasp – one of the combatants is a woman. I’m less convinced myself by this old sheep in new clothing persona given to the author myself, but the editor seems to like his work a lot. This is on a par with the ‘old stuff’, so, unsurprisingly, it gets a 3 out of 5 from me.

The Evidence, by Lee Harding

And from one of the old familiars to another. Next is the return of another writer, that of Lee Harding, last seen in the August 1963 issue of New Worlds. The Evidence is described as a “moral tale in the vein of Kafka or Peake”. These are rather lofty ambitions which the story fails to reach, although it is a good try. It’s very paranoid in nature but makes its minor point that whoever uses thermonuclear weapons in warfare must eventually be brought to trial. 3 out of 5.

Miscellany

We then have some letters! One of the advantages of being bi-monthly is that you can have responses in the next issue about the one just read. So, we have comments about Ballard’s story Equinox, concluded this month, and opinions given on the new style New Worlds, but at the same time there’s also the valid point that serial stories may not be good for the new magazine when the issues are two months apart. At least we have a range of perspectives and the views are not all positive, which I think is a healthy position to take. But again, I noticed that there are letters from Jim Cawthorn and John Brunner, which suggests that Moorcock is relying on his friends a great deal. Nevertheless, Brunner’s comment on Brian Aldiss’s mathematical gaffe in his story last month is gently amusing.

The Editorial that follows – again, an unusual placing in the issue – is a report on the British Science Fiction Association Convention of 1964. As I wasn’t able to attend myself, it’s an interesting read on the state of the genre in Britain and a nice overview of the way things are changing in fandom at the moment, but I do suspect that the report is a rather sanitised version of proceedings and doesn’t entirely cover all of the high jinks usually experienced at such events. Nevertheless it is heartening to read that there seems to be an influx of new younger attendees, whilst at the same time an award was given to New World’s retiring editor John Carnell. Do such matters translate to readers in the US, I wonder? I’m not sure. But I guess we may find out, in that one piece of good news in there was the announcement that the 1965 Worldcon may be held in London.

I’m also very pleased to see the return of the book review column, reviewed by someone new, James Colvin. (But actually, it is not new. James is a pseudonym used by both Michael Moorcock and Barrington J. Bayley.)

It is divided into British publications and US publications. In the British part this month we have under the spotlight Gunner Cade by Cyril Judd, otherwise known as Cyril Kornbluth and Judith Merrill, and a non-fiction book named Science: The Glorious Entertainment by Jacques Barzun.

There’s also two paperbacks reviewed covering similar non-fictional themes – Arthur C Clarke’s Profiles of the Future and the perhaps lesser known Inventing the Future by Dennis Gabor.

In the US section there’s Budrys’s Inferno by (strangely enough) Algis Budrys, You Will Never Be the Same by Cordwainer Smith and lastly an Ace Double, The Dragon Masters and The Five Gold Bands by Jack Vance.

Equinox, by J. G. Ballard

In the first part of this story we followed Dr. Sanders on his mission to find his friend Suzanne Clair who had sent him an odd letter and then disappeared into the Cameroun jungle. Much of this part is about Dr. Sanders’ time at the town of Mont Royale on the border between the jungle and the jungle turning into crystal.

The descriptions of the things that have turned into crystal are vivid and imaginative but there’s little else to the story. The plot, such as it is, seems to mainly involve lots of walking and running about by Dr. Sanders through the crystalline landscape in search of his friends.

Whilst Sanders does this there are a number of characters that we also revisit. Generally, the characters seem rather unpleasant, aggressive or sad, though whether this is because of their own nature or as a result of the crystals is unclear.

It helps that we now get an explanation of the cause of the crystallisation, as the physical effect of the combination of our timestream and anti-time, although it is not really rooted in sensible science. Really, Equinox is all about the mystery and strangeness of the landscape and in this the story succeeds, whilst simultaneously showing Ballard’s melancholic obsession with change and decay. If the story’s purpose is to weird out the reader, then it succeeds admirably. Even if I’m still not entirely sure what it’s all about. 4 out of 5.

Summing up

With the second issue of this “magazine of the Space Age”, we are starting to get a better idea of this brave new vision for New Worlds. We have a mixture of the old-style s-f combined with the new, to keep the old readers but also entice new ones. I still get the sense that the editor is finding his feet and seems to be mainly determined to shock and confuse, but he does seem to be confident in what he’s doing, even if he’s resorting to using those that he knows to create a creditable issue.

This seems to be the right way forward. There was a letter in the issue this month that seems rather telling – the correspondent has said that they had bought the last copy of issue 142 from their newsagent, which had not been the case for a long while during the Carnell era. I hope that it is so.

I do feel that there is a change that is new and exciting, even when it doesn’t quite meet its aspirations. Compared with New Worlds of a year ago, the magazine is good.

On this new schedule the next issue will be out at the end of August. Until next time…

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Book

[May 24, 1964] The Darkest of Nights… ( June 1964)

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by Mark Yon

Scenes from England

Hello again!

With New Worlds magazine turning bi-monthly last month I find myself in the position of having nothing particular to report this month. I could talk about what I’ve seen at the cinema (Becket, with Peter O Toole and Richard Burton — very good) or on television (I’m still enjoying Doctor Who), but I usually turn to something to read for my entertainment.

So, what I’ve decided to review this month is perhaps something I should have commented on before. I am a subscriber to the British Science Fiction Book Club, and have been for many years. The club has been sending me a hardback book since 1953 for the princely sum of 6s and 6d (six shillings and sixpence, about $1.50?) a month. Initially it was bi-monthly, but has been so popular it soon changed to monthly.

The books are selected for readers by a panel, which has included at various stages Arthur C. Clarke, Kingsley Amis and coincidentally John ‘Ted’ Carnell, the recent editor of New Worlds.

Not all choices have been what we would call ‘current’ – some have been published elsewhere a year previously, for example – but in my opinion, they’re usually a good affordable read, or a chance to catch up on something I might have missed when first published.

This month’s selection (the 83rd!), The Darkest of Nights, is one you may not know in the US, but you may know the author.

Charles Eric Mayne is a British author who has transcended the boundaries of genre to become attractive to mainstream readers as well. I understand that “Charles Eric Maine” is the pseudonym of David McIlwain, a writer of science fiction novels since the 1950s. Like The Beatles, he’s from Liverpool. Previous novels that you may know include Spaceways (1953), Timeliner (1955) and High Vacuum (1956). His stories are usually fast-paced and combine current contemporary themes with the latest ideas in science and technology.

In terms of science-fictional themes, you may have noticed that British sf has taken some interesting developments in recent years. We’ve had the so-called “New Wave”, that I’ve spoken about here before, but perhaps less remarkably but more enduring has been the trend of apocalyptic novels, which have become popular with mainstream readers. Led by authors such as John Wyndham with his novels The Day of the Triffids (1951) and The Kraken Wakes (1953), there has been a burgeoning of similar stories in recent years. John Christopher’s The Death of Grass (1956) and The World in Winter (1962) are superior examples, in my opinion. Even J G Ballard has been tempted to go there, with his novel The Drowned World (1962).

At first glance, The Darkest of Nights is another of those end of the world stories.


(the Book Club covers are very, very dull – compare this original first British edition cover with the Book Club version above)

The story begins with a bang, although it is written about in that understated British way that downplays it.  A mutated virus has been spreading across Asia. The Hueste Virus begins with a sudden rise in body temperature to above one-hundred-and-five degrees before the victim lapses into a coma. The skin then goes dry and appears both grey and glossy. It seems to be fatal once caught, at least initially.

As the first recognised cases are in Japan, at first the virus is relatively unnoticed by the general public in Europe and North America.  Our lead character is Dr. Pauline Brant, who works for the International Virus Research Organisation in Japan and has first-hand experiences of the epidemic. Separated from her journalist husband Clive, she returns to England and begins work on an antivirus vaccine in England. She also begins a tentative relationship with fellow Doctor Vincent, despite not yet being divorced from Clive.

If you are a reader accustomed to the novels of John Wyndham, you may expect that when the virus eventually spreads to England, the nation shows the resolve and ‘stiff-upper-lip’ mentality that is typically expected – the so-called ‘Dunkirk Spirit’, shown in World War Two.

This doesn’t happen.

Being mainly set in England, there is an unsurprising focus on the consequences of the virus on social order. In such a stratified social situation, it may not surprise you that as the deaths mount up, the working-class feel that they are deliberately being abandoned by those in power whilst the rich entrepreneurs and higher elements of society are rumoured to be hoarding a cure in admittedly limited supply. 

We see the consequences of this when in the middle part of the novel the focus shifts to Pauline’s estranged husband Clive. He has decided to take up the offer of a new job given by his new girlfriend’s father, and leaves his journalist position at the Daily Monitor newspaper to become a reporter who, as part of a mobile film crew, will film the events to create movie records for official archives. When his team, including his girlfriend, arrive from the USA, we see through them the consequences of the world falling apart.

In London there is panic, looting and a breakdown of social order that is horrifying to read. With most of the politicians and decision makers locked away in bunkers, new secrecy laws are introduced. A public militia is formed to reflect the dissatisfaction of the general public who take on the police and the military across many cities, including London. This leads to armed battles and tanks on the streets of the British capital whilst many workers strike, objecting to the situation.  Would the fabric of society collapse as quickly as it is shown here? Perhaps not – it may be accelerated for the sake of entertainment – but it does read surprisingly realistically.

The idea of a ‘cure’ is more than a rumour. When research discovers that there are two forms of the virus – a lethal version referred to as AB virus and a harmless alternative called BA virus – the story becomes a race to create a vaccine from the BA virus that will cure without killing the host. This is a major development early on in the novel, although estimates suggest that even with the BA virus isolated, the deaths amongst the general population will be approximately fifty-per-cent. Pauline is given a difficult choice to make – should she try and help the masses with limited hospital care and a fifty-fifty chance of survival, or should she take the offer given of a position looking after the privileged decision-makers kept in protected underground bunkers?

The ending is perhaps the book’s weakest element, with a rather convenient meeting of the main characters that stretches credulity a little. It should not be too much of a surprise to the well-read s-f reader that things do not end well for everybody. Whilst the final battle is quite exciting, the story leaves things rather open-ended. Some characters, having seemed crucial at the beginning, become unimportant at the end. At least one appears to have been left redundant, with some other characters' fate left undisclosed. It seems a little rushed and a bit forced, which is a shame after such a good start.

Summing up

It's not the first time that Charles has written about global catastrophes – this bears some similarities to his novel The Tide Went Out (1958), which covered similar themes of global crisis around a nuclear weapon test that cracks the Earth open. One of the key characters there was also a reporter who had an extra-marital affair.

Similarities aside, I must say that The Darkest of Nights is engaging and at times even a little too close for comfort. It reads as if real, the plausibility enhanced by the scientific explanation given to describe the cause and effect of the virus, which to me, as a non-scientist, all sounds remarkably possible.

What is perhaps most scary is the bigger picture — that the source of the virus seems to be a random development that in reality could happen at any time. Whilst it is possible that it's a mutation created by nuclear testing or biological warfare, the most likely is that that it is an accidental, yet natural, evolution. It happened by chance, not deliberately.

Despite the unconvincing ending, I enjoyed a lot of this novel, which was a grisly, entertaining, and occasionally chilling read. Like Wyndham’s stories it is remarkably English in its style and tone, although darker and grimmer than anything Wyndham has written. In the end, perhaps the book’s biggest strength is that it made me appreciate that for all of our social ills, things could be a lot, lot worse. It’s not a New Wave story but it was grimly engaging.

4 out of 5.

And with that, I’ll leave it until the next issue of New Worlds arrives through the letterbox, which is probably when I’ll speak to you next. 

[Come join us at Portal 55, Galactic Journey's real-time lounge!  Talk about your favorite SFF, chat with the Traveler and co., relax, sit a spell…]




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Book, Magazine

[April 28, 1964] Out With the Old…. (New Worlds, May-June 1964)

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by Mark Yon

Scenes from England

Hello again!

To be honest, I wasn’t sure I would have anything to report to you this month. The changes in ownership and editorship at New Worlds last month had left things in a fair degree of confusion and chaos. Although new hands were at the wheel, it wasn’t clear when exactly we would see the fruits of their labours. Well, here we are, with an issue that seems determined to ring in the changes and make a dramatic impact.


cover by James Cawthorn

The issue at hand

This is a magazine with surprises from the start. The first shock I noticed when I unwrapped my copy, freshly delivered by the postman, is that the magazine has physically changed shape, from the traditional pulp digest size format to a more shelf-friendly paperback size. This strikes me as a good idea, possibly prolonging time on the newsstands or even in the shops where it can sit happily with the latest paperbacks at W. H. Smiths or John Menzies. 

I was also surprised that the magazine/paperback is cheaper than the old magazine, from 3/- to 2/6 [that's from about 72 cents to 60 cents for the Americans in the audience (Ed)]. This might make new readers more willing to ‘give-it-a-go’.

The next immediately noticeable change is the cover. Gone are the bland old unicoloured covers with boring type, replaced by something that immediately catches the eye. It’s deceptively simple, yet immediately striking. Whilst the artwork by James Cawthorn is not like that created by older artists such as Brian Lewis, Gordon Hutchings and Gerard Quinn, it is a very welcome alteration from those of late. Perhaps more importantly from a practical perspective it is also immediately recognisable, as different from the previous covers as it is from Astounding, Galaxy and the like, which should generate a much-needed unique identity.

The cover also highlights that the lead story is one written by one of the vanguards of this New Wave of stylish fiction. J. G. Ballard made quite an impression with his last story, The Terminal Beach in the March issue – astounding many and confusing and confounding others. Equinox thus arrives with high expectations.

But first, new editor Michael Moorcock sets out his stall with a bold mission statement in his editorial, A New Literature for the Space Age.  Quoting “controversial” American writer William Burroughs, Moorcock states that the new New Worlds will emphasise literary merit over science which suggests to me a focus on softer science fiction based around the social sciences rather than the old-style cliches of spaceships and planetary exploration. More inner space than outer space, perhaps! The choice of Burroughs as a quoted influence (and as an article later in the issue) is a clear sign that things are being deliberately shaken up. It also highlights that the expansion of consciousness through drugs is now part of the British mainstream – or at least amongst the young. To this we can add sex and what some might consider obscene language in order to, as Moorcock puts it, ‘(provide) a kind of SF which is unconventional in every sense and which must be recognised as an important revitalisation of the literary mainstream.’

This ambitious aim seems new and original, but actually is not that different from what previous editor John Carnell was attempting to achieve, admittedly with varying degrees of success. Perhaps with such a bold statement and a newer, younger, fresher face at the helm, the new New Worlds might just reverse the present trend of declining sales.

To the stories themselves. 

Equinox, by J.G. Ballard

And so, in this new age of literary SF, we begin with a bang. The latest in J. G.’s stories here in Britain is more straightforward than his last (The Terminal Beach, March 1964) and more similar in tone to his previous take on a disaster novel, that of The Drowned World (1962).
It’s all rather grim to begin with. Doctor Sanders is on a boat travelling up the Matarre River in the Cameroun. We discover that this is not a journey for leisure. He is in search of an old friend, Suzanne Clair, another doctor working at a leper colony and much of this first part of the story is about his journey into the unknown.
All of this is most un-science-fictional. It reads more like a tale of colonialism in the Third World, combined with the physical and metaphysical journey taken in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.  This first part of Equinox builds the tension to create the now standard Ballard tone of grubbiness and decay, a world in decline.
And then it takes a left turn into the strange. The Ballardian twist is that the jungle is somehow changing things into crystal, by means and for reasons unknown. It’s both beautiful and yet also odd. Nobody writes like Ballard, which is why this is a good start for the new order.  4 out of 5.

[This story is definitely in the same universe as this month's The Illuminated Man. (Ed.)]

Never Let Go of My Hand, by Brian Aldiss

Aldiss’ latest gives us his usual sense of humour but this one also has a serious element towards the end. The beginning of the story starts like a comical Aldiss story.  Two humans, an elderly mother and her middle-aged son, are abducted by aliens and kept for observation. There’s some initial amusement over the strange nature of the aliens, which are weird. I feel that Aldiss has been staring at his fruit bowl too long for inspiration – one being banana shaped and the other pear-shaped! The humans discover that in their new environment normal laws of physics do not seem to exist and that time appears to run backwards. This has the result of them getting younger, which has consequences at the end of the story. It is also weirdly Freudian, up to the unconvincing end, which loses the story a point. Overall it feels like two ideas jammed together that don’t work well together. As an attempt to be different it’s OK, but not one of his best. 3 out of 5.

The Last Lonely Man, by John Brunner

Above this story, there’s a blurb that says that John is perhaps bigger in reputation with you in the States than here. That may be true, but this story doesn't represent his best work.

There’s a great idea within: in the future, instead of dying, people can choose to be transferred to another person’s body in a process known as Contact. People make contracts with family and friends so that they can continue after death, eventually being assimilated into the other person’s body. Where this one gets interesting is that there is a plot point where Mr. Hale, our main protagonist, has a chance meeting in a bar with someone who persuades him to take on a Contact contract as he has no one else to Contact with. It’s an intriguing premise, though the consequences of this arrangement seem too convenient and the ending is rather predictable.  3 out of 5.

The Star Virus, by Barrington J. Bayley

And here’s another author we know already, though the name may not be entirely familiar. ‘B.J. Bayley’, as his name is written on the contents page, is perhaps better known to you as Barrington J. Bayley, who has frequented New Worlds before, last as “P. F. Woods” in the April 1964 issue. He has had many pseudonyms – even the editor states at the beginning of this story that he has been ‘hiding his light under a bushel of pen-names’. 

The Star Virus is a space opera story involving space pirates and an alien artefact. Initially, it is strangely old-fashioned, to such an extent that, at first, I wondered if the author’s intent was to parody the old-school pulp SF story. It involves Rodrone, a space-adventurer, and his latest find, The Lens. (I’m sure that the Lens artefact is something that EE ‘Doc’ Smith may have misplaced or has had borrowed for a while.) Escaping arrest on a planet called Stundaker, with The Lens he rocks around the galaxy in a tale that feels like it would not be out of place in the Golden Age of the 1940’s. Where this tale is made more contemporary is by making the characters quite unpleasant and the story grimmer and more downbeat than anything from the Golden Age. It’s fast moving and feels like an attempt to tap into the old sense of wonder but with a modern, grittier perspective, which is admirable but didn’t quite work for me.  High marks for effort but I think for me it’ll depend on where it goes in the second (final) part next issue. 3 out of 5.

(Turns out I was wrong — this is a single-parter, and earns just 2 of 5 for it [MY 6-8-64])

Myth-Maker of the 20th Century, by J.G. Ballard

We finish with an article penned by J.G. Ballard, this time giving a non-fictional account of someone who both Ballard and Moorcock feel is a major new influence in the genre: William Burroughs. It’s a little generous in its hyperbole, but it is clearly heart-felt. As an agenda for the new style magazine it makes a good case.

As might be expected, there is no Book Review section and a very brief Letters page. I’m sure these will be added over time as the new magazine settles into its new form. It’ll be interesting to see what readers make of these changes and whether they agree with these major changes in direction.

Summing up

And there we have it – the first issue for a new age. Moorcock has pulled out all the stops here, managing to bring in many of his friends, the people who are reshaping the genre, in order to send out a clear message: this is new, this is different and they’re not afraid to take risks.

The future of British science fiction is uncertain, but based on what I’ve read here, it does appear to be vibrant, exciting and guaranteed to create a response. This issue is reflective of the current state of the British genre scene – very different to what has been before. It is hoped that such a bold statement will also pick up additional readers responsive to that, but only time will tell. 

This issue makes me realise that things at New Worlds have needed a jolt for a while, and this issue shows what can be done with new energy and enthusiasm. It’s not perfect, but I’ve not been as excited over an issue as this one for a long time. New Worlds is dead – long live New Worlds! Now it remains to be seen if this standard can be maintained or improved.

One last wrinkle – the magazine has changed from a monthly issue to a bimonthly release – at least for now. The next issue will therefore be out at the end of June (fingers crossed!), which is probably when I’ll speak to you next. 

[Come join us at Portal 55, Galactic Journey's real-time lounge!  Talk about your favorite SFF, chat with the Traveler and co., relax, sit a spell…]




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Book, Magazine

[March 27, 1964] The End of an Era? Not With a Bang…. ( New Worlds, April 1964)

3 Comments


by Mark Yon

Scenes from England

Hello again!

Well, here we are, with what at one time would have been the last ever issue of New Worlds. Since this was announced in November last year, I have flip-flopped between resignation and despair.

With the time arrived, I must admit that I was curious to see what the final issue would be like. Would it go the way of many others before it, in that typically understated British manner, with a polite “Thank You” and a cheery wave? Or would it rage against the unfairness of it all, snarling and roaring like a wounded animal, determined to show everyone in a dazzling blaze of glory that the decision to cancel was wrong?

Interestingly, last month’s issue had given a few hints that it was going to be more of the latter than the former. Editor Mr. John Carnell had accused the genre of being dull, of producing little that was memorable, and yet in the same issue given the rallying call of The Terminal Beach, an undeniably memorable yet undefinable piece of what now seems to be called “New Wave” science fiction. As a result, I wasn’t sure how this one would go. (And as it turns out, there is a lifeline, of which I will explain more later.)

The issue at hand

To begin with, we have Mr. Carnell’s full description of the state of the genre at the end of 1963, as hinted at last month.
It shows some interesting results, if a poll of about 350 correspondents tells us anything. Sf readership is getting older, presumably as readers stay with the genre, but there is an intriguing development with an increase in younger readers – much needed, perhaps, and also reflecting the sea change in the genre. Perhaps most importantly, with the improved accessibility of paperbacks it is perhaps no surprise that magazine sales are down and book sales are up. The summary ends on a positive note, that sf is now perhaps more mainstream than ever before – but it does make me wonder what those who like their sf to be off-kilter and underground think about it.

To the stories themselves. 

beyond the reach of storms, by Mr. Donald Malcolm

We begin the stories in this issue with the last in Mr. Malcolm’s Planetary Expedition Team (P.E.T.) stories. The most recent was in the March 1964 issue. In the tradition of many old-style s-f stories, it starts with an unusual astronomical discovery – that of a star with a hole in the middle! Of course, our team have to travel through it. I’m not sure about the scientific plausibility of such a thing, but the novelette is pretty traditional s-f – entertaining yet nothing particularly startling. I have grown to like these stories, but they are not especially memorable. 3 out of 5.

megapolitan underground , by Mr. William Spencer

And this is this month’s attempt to be Ballard.  After Mr Spencer’s tale of automotive madness last month, this is another story about urban angst, this time created by travelling on moving walkways and being bombarded with advertising images. It made me think of a never-ending journey on the London Underground, although it is really an alternative take on Mr. Robert Heinlein’s The Roads Must Roll. Again, it’s not something particularly new, nor particularly original. It seems that we have had a few of Mr. Spencer’s stories from the left-over pile. 3 out of 5.

now is the time , by Mr. Steve Hall

As computers in the future may become part of everyday life, here we have a story of another potential use: the manipulation of a political election by computers. The premise seems a little far-fetched to me – who would have thought such things were possible? In any event, the story does little more than illustrate the idea.  3 out of 5.

Farewell, Dear Brother, by Mr. P.F. Woods

As the last ever short story of New Worlds (at least, so we had been led to believe until this month), I’m pretty sure that this story by Mr. Woods (also known as Mr. Barrington J. Bayley) has been deliberately placed here in the magazine because of its title. It is a story of the broken relationship between a twin and his feckless brother, the more reckless of whom has been in a space accident and is now kept at home in the attic, out of the way of visitors. It’s meant to be creepy and despite the dodgy science (a planet with no temperature?) is quite readable in its portrayal of a dysfunctional family. But is it really sf? 3 out of 5.

open prison , by Mr. James White

And now the last installment of the final(?) serial in New Worlds. Following on from last month, we’re back to our story of civilians and military personnel trying to escape from a planet they’ve been imprisoned upon. Usually in such a story, the last part of this three-part escape story is meant to be the exciting bit, where our heroes and heroines leave the prison planet despite all the odds and return to normality. The problem is that it ends without too many surprises. With three weeks to go before E-Day there’s tension between the military group and the civilians, not to mention between the men and the women, but in the end, guess what happens?

This feels like a bit of a damp squib to finish a rather disappointing tale. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, except perhaps for that whiff of male-chauvinism that pervades the pages occasionally and that I felt more sorry for the alien Bugs killed than the humans trying to escape. But it’s a frustratingly mundane tale with a weak ending that is not up to the standard of Mr. White’s Sector General stories, which I enjoyed much more. In short, I pretty much worked this one out from the start, and barely got what I expected. 3 out of 5.

At the back of this issue we have the tying up of loose ends. There’s a Farewell Editorial, which gives us the news that although Mr. Carnell is moving onto pastures new, we will see the return of New Worlds and Science Fantasy, but under new editorship. For New Worlds, Mr. Michael Moorcock is to take the reins in a new incarnation of the magazine, which I think should be interesting and different.

There’s another short set of Book Reviews by Mr. Leslie Flood. This is one part of the magazine I will miss most, as Mr. Flood’s brief yet insightful comments have led me to try many books I might have missed otherwise over the years. This time he looks at Mr. Robert Sheckley’s ‘mordantly successful’ Journey Beyond Tomorrow, Mr. Robert P. Mills’s “superlative collection” The Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction 11th Series (really?) and two new books in a new series, which confirm what we have said earlier this issue, that the future of sf may be in book form rather than in magazines. Even when one of them is Mr. E.C. Tubb’s Window On the Moon, which ironically was serialised in New Worlds last year.

Lastly, we have a final Postmortem letters page, which reflects the plaudits and dingbats showered upon the magazine in its coverage of sf over the last few years. It is noticeable that one of the letters is from new editor, Mr. Michael Moorcock, and another from Mr. Moorcock’s artist friend, Mr. Jim Cawthorn, gestures which bode well for the future, perhaps.

Summing up

This last issue of New Worlds in its present incarnation is sadly not what I hoped it would be. It’s an issue which feels tired and rather beaten. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, yet it is not as memorable as last month’s issue. Whether this is because of money, because of a lack of interest or just that Mr. Carnell has run out of steam, I do feel that the magazine is leaving not with a bang but with a whimper. It is just not as good as some of the issues that preceded it, although it reflects the transition taking place in some quarters of the British genre scene.

Which then leads me to consider where we are in Britain with sf in 1964. As the Survey at the beginning of this issue shows, the reading habits and even the readership of sf are changing. We are in a very different place from where we were a decade ago, and whether we like it or not, much of this change is as a result of the work of Mr. John Carnell here at New Worlds. I think that it’ll be interesting to see where this goes with new leadership, although at the same time I suspect that not everyone is going to like it.

What I don’t know at this stage is when the new New Worlds will appear. Settling into a new form may take time, although it seems Mr. Moorcock has had a couple of months to get things together. I did notice that the magazine didn’t say anything about an issue next month, so nothing is definite about when I actually get the next one.  If and when a new issue does appear, you'll be hearing from me about it here on the Journey, so watch this space!

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[February 27, 1964] Beatles, Boredom and Ballard ( New Worlds, March 1964)

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by Mark Yon

Scenes from England

Hello again!

Things have been busy since last time we spoke. I have been watching with interest (and some good-natured amusement!) the return of The Beatles to your shores. You really have taken the Liverpudlian mop-tops to your hearts, as they have taken over here. I did try and warn you last month about the effect that their enthusiasm and energetic pop can have on impressionable teenagers, and from what news coverage I have seen here many of you seem to have capitulated to their collective charms, as we had before Christmas. 

Doctor Who is still continuing to enthrall and charm here. As fellow traveller Jessica has said already, the latest episode has been an odd one (to put it mildly!), but generally the family and I are still enjoying it a great deal. This is a rather different view to that given in this month’s New Worlds magazine, as you will see… 

To the magazine, then.

The issue at hand

As we approach the end of the magazine next month, it does appear that there is a general feeling of closure evident. But, perhaps knowing that the end is near, the magazine has some terrific fiction amongst the usual fare. 

We begin however with a typically controversial opinion. Whilst there is no guest editorial this month, in its place the issue has a summary of the state of sf in 1963 as editor Mr. Carnell sees it, entitled “A Dull Year".

Now that Mr. Carnell’s tenure as Editor is drawing to a close, it does seem that the gloves are off. His view comes across as rather grumpy. For example, describing Doctor Who as a programme “designed for teenagers and tottering oldsters" is a bit mean. Granted, it is not pushing the boundaries of sf too much, but the fact that we’re seeing any sf on British television I see as a strength. We are not as lucky as yourselves in the US – I still wish I could see The Twilight Zone here, but no sign yet.

Mr. Carnell is similarly disgruntled with sf fiction. There were over thirty hardback books published in Britain last year, but according to Mr. Carnell only three were of any merit. This may be a case of quantity over quality, although I found it interesting that a quick summary of the New Worlds Survey asked for last year (the first since 1958, don’t forget) may suggest another reason for Mr. Carnell’s umbrage – magazine sales are down but paperback sales are up.

After such a gloomy context, we begin the issue’s fiction with something a little more to Mr. Carnell’s taste, perhaps. 

the terminal beach, by Mr. J. G. Ballard

The Terminal Beach is the story of Traven (typically no first names here!), who, for reasons that become clear over the course of the story, has travelled to the island of Eniwetok, a site of atomic bomb tests. As is typical of Ballard, the emphasis is more on mood and less on plot, with many of the Ballard motifs from other stories repeated: physical and mental decay, dystopian featureless buildings, isolation, and deteriorating technology. It is bleak, enigmatic and unsettling, and inevitably concerned with the human condition, which frankly isn’t looking great from this perspective. I’m not entirely sure what all of it is about, or even if it has an overall meaning, but its pervasive mood is chillingly depressing.

It is also a prime example of how far the British New Wave has changed science fiction in the last decade or so. We are light years away from spaceships and monsters here. 4 out of 5.

the traps of time , by Mr. John Baxter

And now to more traditional fare, a time travel story where a killer from the 39th century escapes justice to hide in the nuclear wastes of the 48th. The idea of how minor changes in time travel have consequences is nicely done, but overall the story adds little to the genre. The story concludes with that now almost-traditional downbeat note that seems to be a British convention. 3 out of 5.

unfinished business , by Mr. Clifford C. Reed

Even compared with the rest of the issue, this story is an oddity. Unfinished Business is a story of a married couple, one of whom disappears when flying off to see a pregnant friend. The result is that the remaining partner takes on deliberately dangerous jobs on other planets, not caring if he dies or not. After seventeen years he returns to Earth, to find that the girl who was born at the time of his partner’s apparent death seems strangely familiar. I suspect that it is meant to be creepy, but in the end comes across as just strange. 3 out of 5.

the unremembered , by Mr. Edward Mackin

Have you ever been subject to one of those rants by an old person that “things are not as good as they used to be"? Mr. Mackin’s story begins like that, with an elderly couple complaining about a depressing future world of synthetic foods and euthanasia clinics. It’s not too surprising then that with the closure of ‘the Clinics’, our protagonist is determined to discover another way out and finds some sort of Cosmic message at the end. It’s a mixture of dystopian social commentary and cosmic revelation that didn’t fit together well for me, to the point where this becomes another story with a title that seems to be sadly appropriate. 2 out of 5.

jetway 75 , by Mr. William Spencer

Mr. Spencer was last here as Bill Spencer in the October 1963 issue with Project 13013. This is a one-trick pony kind of tale, showing a future where pedestrians play chicken with the endless stream of cars on the titular means of conveyance. The point of the story, if there is any, seems to be that both walker and vehicle driver need this deadly interaction to create excitement in their otherwise humdrum life. Rather Ballardian, but without the style and skill, something emphasized by having The Terminal Beach in the same issue. 3 out of 5.

open prison , by Mr. James White

Last month this story left us with the situation where a group of inmates with an innate duty to escape from the prison planet were planning to heist an orbiting spaceship. Much of this middle part is about the preparation for “E-Day" and the practical and political challenges facing the escapees. Admittedly, the story moves along and there’s a building of tension as the escape approaches, but it is scarcely original and clearly the middle part of a story. And there’s still that patronizing tone that vacillates between “What are we going to let the useless girls do?" and “Gosh, those women are jolly useful, aren’t they?" Not one of Mr White’s best, I feel. 3 out of 5.

Unusually, but again expectedly, there is a postmortem letters section this month, the first since the announcement that next month’s New Worlds may be the last. Surprisingly, this selection is not as full of outrage and regret as you might expect, instead reading as any normal letters section. Some readers take the opportunity to complain about stories (such as the recent Mr. Colin Kapp) or bemoan the fact that sf is for entertainment and not an artform, as recent editorials have tried to indicate. There’s also an impassioned cry from a long-time reader for a return to ‘sense-of-wonder’ stories, but I feel that we’ve moved long past that.

(Talking of the end of New Worlds, there are rumours, but I must emphasise at this stage only rumours, that a rescue package may be being looked at for the magazine. Hopefully we will know more by next month.)

Lastly, this month’s rather short set of Book Reviews. Mr. Leslie Flood looks at what sounds like an interesting hardback collecting together recent Russian Science Fiction, which he describes as toeing “the socialist line" but finds “entertaining". He also reviews Mr. Edmund Cooper’s Transit as a “better than average" book, albeit with a hoary plot. He is much more positive about Mr Clifford Simak’s Way Station, which you may remember our Traveller reviewing when it appeared in Galaxy Magazine in two parts last year. Mr. Flood summarises it as “the sort of nonsense I simply cannot resist, and Simak does it so well." I’ve recently read this myself and can only agree.

Lastly, Mr Flood mentions the print of a post-war classic, “for too long out of print", Messers Pohl and Kornbluth’s Gladiator-At-Law. Whilst lacking “the spurious charm" of The Space Merchants, it is “very compulsive reading".

Summing up

In summary, another diverse issue. Mr. Carnell’s tenure as Editor may be drawing to a close, but he seems determined to want to go with a bang, although I am sure that Mr. Ballard’s story will have many readers who hate it as much as others love it. You may not like everything here, and it hardly manages any degree of consistency, but it can’t be denied that in places this is a thought-provoking issue. 

Until next month.

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[January 28, 1964] Beatles, Prisons and Doctors ( New Worlds, February 1964)

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by Mark Yon

London Calling

Hello again!

The Winter rolls on here in Britain. I must admit that last month’s news about New Worlds has left me here in a bit of a blue mood. I’ve realised that with the loss of the two remaining British magazines there’s not a lot of opportunities for British s-f left. As much as I enjoy reading your American issues, even the ones fellow travellers don’t like (when I can get them), I do feel that we’re missing a trick here. The loss of such a laudable attempt to reinvent the genre means that we are lesser for it. Even when I don’t like all the attempts to push the envelope. 

In this month’s “Beatle-Watch”, the mop-tops have continued their reign of madness and world domination. They are now playing concerts outside Britain, most recently in Paris.  I understand that they may well be heading back to your fair shores by the end of February, so keep an eye out if you want an idea of what their fans here are going mad about.

Since we last spoke, I did get chance to go with the family to see The Sword in the Stone over the holiday season. It was fun, but there’s not too much of Mr. T. H. White’s original novel left beyond the basic outline. The youngsters in the cinema seemed to enjoy it, though, especially with the added musical numbers. 

I’m very pleased that Doctor Who has continued to go from strength to strength. As fellow traveller Jessica has said, the latest serial, The Daleks, is a real triumph. It is scary and exciting. I can’t wait to see what happens next. 

The Issue at Hand

To the magazine, then – the February 1964 New Worlds:

I’ll not say much about the cover this month, other than it is orange.

possible worlds of the mind, by Mr. L. H. Barnes

Intriguingly, but perhaps expectedly, this is heralded as “the last in our series”. Mr. Barnes examines the role of s-f in today’s society. After suggesting a number of possibilities – escapism, the continuity of myth, for an insight into the possible extensions of technology – Mr. Barnes concludes with the idea that the mainstreaming of s-f contributes to modern man coping with a world-in-flux. It is an effective summary of editor Mr. John Carnell’s aims as you could expect.

Onto the stories!

open prison, by Mr. James White

I guess that this could be the last serial to be published in New Worlds, but as is usually the case with Mr. White’s work, it’s an interesting tale, though very different to Mr. White’s Sector General stories. This one tells of a planet that is used as a prisoner-of-war camp and the prisoners upon it. What makes it interesting is that we have tension created between those prisoners who have given up and decided to make the best of their new lives and those who feel that it is their duty to escape. It seems to be really a comment on social class and the order and discipline of the military life. Well told, if hardly original. Even the tagline suggests that this is an old-fashioned war story transmuted into a future prison escape story.  4 out of 5.

counter-feat and one-way strait, by Mr. Brian W. Aldiss

Next, we have two short stories back-to-back from the redoubtable Mr. Aldiss. They are simply short logic puzzles in a science-fictional setting. Goofy fun, typical Aldiss, but relatively minor work from this well-loved author. 3 out of 5.

the unexpected martyr, by Mr. R. W. Mackelworth

This story looks at a revolution through the eyes of an anarchist recordkeeper in a future surveillance society. Could they be thinking of a future Russia, perhaps? I liked this one – a nice tone with a pleasing style in the manner of Orwell’s 1984 – in that it shows how important the minor characters are in moulding and changing society, though it seems to suggest that trusting your female descendants is not advisable. 4 out of 5.

the time dweller, by Mr. Michael Moorcock

Mr. Moorcock’s latest is, like his story Flux in the July 1963 issue, a story that deals with time. Set in a far future wilderness, the story tells of the journey made by a warrior, The Scar-faced Brooder. Whilst travelling this barren wasteland the Brooder discovers that he can travel through time, in the timestreams, based on his own will. It repeats an idea proposed by Mr. Moorcock before, that the notion of Time is a state of mind and will change depending upon context. Echoing both Mr. Jack Vance and Mr. Edgar Rice Burroughs, I found this tale to be vividly imaginative, very similar to Mr. Moorcock’s Elric tales. It is also a salutary lesson in the dangers of obsessing about keeping to time. 4 out of 5.

die and grow rich, by Mr. John Rackham

Like Mr. Mackelworth’s story, Mr. Rackham’s tale is another piece utilizing computerization this month. die and grow rich is a story for anyone fed up with filling out insurance applications, set in a future where insurance policies are computerized. When the computer seems to malfunction, one of Mr. Rackham’s ‘X-persons’ is brought in to help sort it out. It becomes, basically, an insurance scam in a very unusual manner. This seems to be an extreme method to obtain money for research, even when the research involves bringing dead people back to life. More worryingly, it is another story whose underlying message seems to be “Don’t trust women”. 3 out of 5.

Lastly, this month’s Book Reviews.  Mr. Leslie Flood looks at the books this time around. It is a very positive set of reviews this month. Mr Brian Aldiss’s The Dark Light Years shows an author reaching his “literary maturity” and is thoroughly recommended. The story collection Spectrum III edited by Messers. Amis and Conquest is ”a splendid collection” and Mr. Flood cannot praise too highly Mr. Damon Knight’s ambitious project A Century of Science Fiction, a useful summary for the aficionado and “a masterly and knowledgeable introduction to science fiction for the new convert.“

The Upshot

In summary, there’s a couple of strong stories here that I really liked and Mr. White’s serial has potential. New Worlds may be going, but it is clearly determined not to go without a fight. 

Until next month.




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[December 27, 1963] Democracy, Doctors and Decline ( New Worlds, January 1964)

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by Mark Yon

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Snapshot from England

Hello from 1964!

Christmas here was a good one. The weather, though cold, was nothing like last year’s record-breaking Winter, thank goodness.

As rather expected, The Beatles were Number 1 in the charts with I Want to Hold Your Hand. They have dominated British culture this year, and this going straight to the top of the charts here reflects that. There were pre-orders of over one million copies.

I’ve also had chance to catch up with some movies in the cinema. This year’s Christmas movie for the family was It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, which we enjoyed a lot. Very silly, but we enjoyed looking out for all the cameos. We will probably go see Walt Disney’s The Sword in the Stone over the holiday season, which appeared in the cinema on Boxing Day here. Really looking forward to seeing how much of the novel remains. 

And so, to genre business. On the magazine front I have to start this month’s report with the sad validation of something I’ve been expecting for a while now. Since we last spoke it has been announced that “due to declining sales” New Worlds and Science Fantasy magazines are to close. It is sad, but not too surprising. I have for a number of months now been commenting on the variable quality of our homegrown content, and it has been clear in a number of ways that things have been difficult, so this is not a complete surprise. According to the news release we definitely have material until the April 1964 issue and then I guess we will see what happens. I am hopeful that this will not be the end of British-based magazines, though. There are rumours of a take-over bid that will allow at least one of the magazines to continue, but nothing is definite. Interesting times!

On a more positive note, the television programme Doctor Who has continued to enthral the household. It has become our family “must-see” on a Saturday teatime. New Traveller Jessica has written about this in detail, so I won’t go into it at great length. Whilst I was less impressed with the caveman story that followed the promising first episode, the latest tale is a science-fictional one which has introduced a metallic monster that Mr. H.G. Wells would have been proud of. The Daleks are quite inhuman and scarily strident in their determination for galactic subjugation. More importantly, they are an enormous success for the BBC. They have clearly struck a chord. I look forward to seeing where this goes.

The Reading Matter at Hand

To the January 1964 edition of New Worlds, then.

This month’s cover is a return to the plain but brightly-coloured style of a few months ago. No moonscape, but a lurid shade of yellow. The cover type is easy to read, as there is nothing else there to distract from the reader’s eye. Effectively simple, but will it sell magazines?  Not really sure that it matters given the month’s news, which may be Mr. Carnell’s view as well. The general impression is of a magazine on the cheap – how different to the lurid cover of your American issues!

The text inside is, thankfully, a little better.

on political attitudes in s-f, by Mr. John Brunner

Having bemoaned the lack of discussion in last month’s Editorial, this month’s examination of the importance of politics in s-f by Mr. Brunner is much more like the usual article of old. More importantly, it is literate, knowledgeable and even amusing, making the reader examine whether the traditional capitalist view is the only one and where such a review has originated from.

I know that this will have been written months ago, before the events of November, but it is still surreal to read about politics in fiction at a time when real-world politics is in such a state.  Democracy is still in flux.

Onto the stories!

dilemma with three horns, by Mr. Donald Malcolm

And here we have the return of Mr. Malcolm’s ongoing P.E.T. (Planetary Expedition Team) series, last seen in February 1963 with twice bitten. This one taps into that ‘sensawunda’ often exhibited by alien environments, to create a straightforward, old-school predicament that would not be remiss of, say, Analog magazine. Our intrepid explorers are given a seemingly impossible choice – stranded from their mothership, do they remain on the newfound planet and die through overexposure to increasing radiation or leave the planet and die because they have to pass through the extremely high Van Allen radiation belt?

To add to this, the third problem of the dilemma is that the intense gravity is causing spinal damage that is untreatable on the planet. I liked it, up to the rather convenient solution, which is plucked out of nowhere and devalues the story overall. What strikes me most though is how this story is not typical New Worlds fare these days. It shows how much the magazine has changed in the last couple of years.  3 out of 5.

the last generation, by Mr. Ernest Hill

And for contrast, this one is more like the “new style” stories of the magazine. A story set far in the future, filled with technical gobbledegook and an attempt to be controversial by combining science with religion. Really its little more than a more complicated version of what Mr. van Vogt was doing in the 1940’s.  It is rather full of its own self-importance, whereas I was less impressed. Kudos for trying to be different, but ultimately this falls short of its own ambition.  2 out of 5.

the countenance, by Mr. P. F. Woods

Mr. Woods’s latest resurrects that old idea that the infiniteness of space is too much for mere Humans to cope with. Summarise it as “Space is bad for you”. Not a new idea – Mr. Poul Anderson had something similar in Brain Wave in the 1950’s and then, of course, there’s Mr. Isaac Asimov’s famous Nightfall even further back. There’s even a touch of Mr. Lovecraft’s tales of Cosmic Horror, though the cause here is never clearly explained. It’s entertainingly done through the eyes of a young teenager and his older mentor but is a tad predictable – even with the rather expected and dispiriting twist. 3 out of 5.

toys, by Mr. John Baxter

Set in Mr. Baxter’s home territory of Australia, this story of a cobbler and the toys he creates is an updating of the old Pinocchio story. It makes its point about toys being weapons well – rather appropriately at Christmastime – but is also a little depressing.  3 out of 5.

the dark mind (Part 3 of 3), by Mr. Colin Kapp

The last part of Mr. Kapp’s serial continues at a breakneck pace and with not too much sense, full of the same large type face seen in the previous two. This time, Ivan Dalroi, with his dormant powers unleashed and with a single-minded determination for revenge, travels to other worlds to get it. The ending shows us the much bigger picture beyond Dalroi and gives Humanity a reputation for being the tearaway teenagers of the known worlds. It’s a frantic ending to an energetic story, that ties everything up in a bit of a rush at the finish. Whilst I’m always a little wary of a story that depends on textual gimmicks to work (although it did work for Alfred Bester, admittedly) it is good fun, even if it doesn’t dwell with the reader too long.  3 out of 5.

Strangely, and bearing in mind that we now know that we have only a limited time left for New Worlds, there’s a request for readers to contribute to a ‘State of the Nation’ report for 1963.  It is the first update since 1958, and so should reflect what Mr. Carnell has been trying to do over the last couple of years. I guess we’ll know before the magazine goes, which may be the point.  Perhaps it can be used to determine a fresh start.

Lastly, this month’s Book Reviews are split between editor Mr. John Carnell and book reviewer Mr. Leslie Flood. Mr. Carnell looks at the books imported from your good selves across the water. Of the novels, Mr. Hal Clement’s Mission of Gravity is “in a class of its own” and Ms. Rosel George Brown’s A Handful of Time is “quietly charming”. There are also a couple of anthologies worth looking at. Mr. Martin Greenberg’s anthology Men Against the Stars is a cut-down version of the US version but still “about the best of the current bunch”. Similarly, Mr. T. E. Dikty’s 5 Tales from Tomorrow is also shorter than its US counterpart but is praised for including Mr. Tom Godwin’s The Cold Equations. It is strange to read stories from 1955 appearing here nearly 9 years later, though they do show us how different things were “then” and “now”. We have changed a great deal.

Mr. Flood looks at the new British books new to print here. It’s not all good – Mr. George Hay’s Hell Hath Fury is a story collection from the now-defunct Unknown magazine, but has the reviewer questioning whether this is actually the best of the magazine in a “curiously dated and dispirited collection of ghosts and deviltry”.

Faring better is Mr. Arthur C. Clarke’s juvenile novel Dolphin Island, a minor work but an “entertaining adventure” that “does not talk down beyond the level aimed at.” Moon of Destiny by Mr. Lester de Rey and Destination Moon by Mr. Hugh Walters are also briefly mentioned as “space-flight adventures of some considerable excitement, plausibility and scientific accuracy”.

Summing up

The news of the magazine’s demise has dampened my enthusiasm of the issue a little. I guess that I should make the most of the magazine before it disappears. Again, though, it is a solid issue without being outstanding. I am glad that New Worlds has, unlike many, made it to the end of the year, but I am torn between feeling sad that I’ll never see its like again and bemusement over whether it will be actually missed when it goes.

Until next month.




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[November 27, 1963] … Death, Doctors and Mythology ( New Worlds, November 1963)

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by Mark Yon

Hello again.

It is difficult to write about things fictional after world events of the last few days. Whilst I look on with horror at some of the observations of fellow travelers, the assassination has been noted here in Britain with a surreal quiet. The news, and indeed political commentary generally, has been oddly muted and yet remarkably acute. If comments at work and on my daily commute are anything to go by, the man on the street here has reacted with both revulsion and sadness. The world is a different place since last we spoke. Whatever your political persuasion, the event is a sobering one for us all.

Our BBC correspondent Mr. Alastair Cook, who writes a Letter from America every week for our radio summed it up for us so well. I cannot say it better than this master of the English language, so I leave his radio broadcast as an effective response via the spoken word

The surreal events of November 22nd have managed to alter what I was hoping to spend more time talking about this month. The debut of the BBC television science fiction series Doctor Who was made the day after the assassination.

Despite the grim news preceding the programme, I really liked it. I think the series has potential, so much so that I think that it is one of the most exciting things I’ve seen on British television recently, despite being mainly for a family audience, which limits its depth. The actor portraying the Doctor, Mr. William Hartnell, is by turns wonderfully enigmatic and impressively grumpy. I look forward to seeing where this series goes.

To the magazine, then.

This month’s cover is a surprisingly lurid shade of purple, which undoubtedly stands out, even if it makes the title print difficult to read. 

s-f and mythology, by Ms. Roberta Rambelli

Another factual piece this month for the Editorial, in the form of a transcribed lecture given at the recent Trieste S-F Film Festival.  It’s undoubtedly informative and educational, one for those who want to know the difference between their teratomorphical, their theriomorphical and their anthropomorphical categories of s-f. But it does seem to be an easy way out to writing an editorial – there’s no argument, no debate, no attempt to generate discussion here. As interesting as the article is, it doesn’t feel like an editorial. 

To the still annoying lower-cased-titled stories!

relative genius, by Mr. Philip E. High

And here we have the return of Mr. High, last seen in May 1963 with the underwhelming point of no return. By comparison, this story of penal reform is better. The story begins with a bit of a “Prisoner of Zenda/Count of Monte Cristo” situation, with a man in a luxury prison with no memory of who he is and why he is there. Our man plots his escape and the tale turns into an entertaining jailbreak story. It’s not a patch on other similar stories, but it was entertaining, though the twist at the end didn’t really work for me.  3 out of 5.

when I come back, by Mr. Jonathan Burke

This is a creepy tale of people seemingly being possessed by things from somewhere else through their dreams, and the consequences of what happens as a result. On first reading I thought it was OK, but this is one I keep coming back to afterwards, because of its unyielding bleakness. It’s not particularly new – I’m reminded of Jack Finney’s American version of identity theft, The Body Snatchers , for example – but it does prey on the reader’s imagination rather well. Consequently my favourite story of the month.  4 out of 5.

the cliff-hangers, by Mr. R. W. Mackelworth

Mr. Mackelworth’s latest is a tale of future corporate shenanigans as one big business tries to outdo another. It’s a little like Mr. High’s story this month in that it reads as a tale of one group of people trying to get one up on another, though this story is rather on the side of the nasty people, at least at first. All get their come-uppance in the end. This is the latest of Mr Mackelworth’s rather bleak visions of the future, which rests easily alongside his previous stories of future justice and personal freedoms. I don’t think it is one of his strongest, however.  3 out of 5.

no brother of mine, by Mr. Robert Presslie

Another returning writer. Mr. Presslie’s story this month is about something youngster Davey finds in the family’s nuclear fallout shelter, a creature which, despite its strange alien appearance, may have more in common with humans than we, at first, believe. I think it is meant to be sad, but I was strangely unaffected by it.  3 out of 5.

Tee Vee Man, by R. A. Hargreaves.

In a month that seems appropriate with Doctor Who beginning and the death of a man widely regarded as the first President of ‘the television age,’ here’s a story that shows how pervasive the box in our front room may become. It reminded me of Mr. Robert Heinlein’s Future History stories, in that it’s a story of proficient people getting on with their jobs in a bright new future. Here our capable hero is in charge of maintaining a global network of television signals via satellite and the consequences of what happens when a developing African country loses their connection. The feel is a little less positive than Mr. Heinlein’s “can-do” version, but it reads well, and I could see more stories from this scenario in the future.  3 out of 5.

The Dark Mind (Part 2 of 3), by Mr. Colin Kapp

The second part of Mr. Kapp’s serial continues in the same fast paced, relentless manner of the first. Our hero, Ivan Dalroi, was left last issue in a dilemma – that he was being put into transfinite space by Failway without any means of support. Unsurprisingly, the cliffhanger plot point is quickly resolved in a rather psychedelic manner and what should have been a disaster ends up as a triumph. Dalroi returns from transfinite space a different man to unleash vengeance on his enemies, as a weapon and not a victim. Trains derail, lorries crash and buildings explode as Dalroi travels between worlds and vanquishes his enemies. It all gets rather frantic as Dalroi’s power is described with increasingly purple prose worthy of 1930’s pulp fiction.  At one point his actions are shown by a series of words in bigger and bigger print, often with exclamation marks for emphasis, which seems a little unnecessary. Despite this, it’s still a fun read, even if some of the deathless dialogue is wince-inducing. 3 out of 5.

Lastly, we have the return of Mr. Leslie Flood’s Book Review page. This month Mr Flood comments on a number of novels and collections new to us but not to you: Mr. Walter M. Miller’s “very well observed” story collection Conditionally Human, Mr. James Gunn’s “brilliantly executed and conceived” The Joy Makers, Mr. Isaac Asimov’s story collection Nine Tomorrows (“Good stuff”) and two from Mr. Robert Heinlein: Methuselah’s Children (“Superlative science fiction of the grand scale”) and his juvenile Time for the Stars.

Of the books new to print here, Mr. Michael Moorcock’s fantasy hero Elric is given faint praise (Elric is “given an individual touch by deepening the purpleness of his prose and double-dyeing his mighty warrior with a dabbling of sorcery and insatiable blood-lust”), and even less positive is the review of Messer’s Greg and Geoffrey Hoyle’s The Fifth Planet, “a heavy-handed attempt to achieve topicality and neo-realism with a creaking plot.” Has Mr. Flood read any of the stories in New Worlds lately, I wonder?

In summary, this month’s New Worlds is a solid one, using the talents of a regular coterie of writers. The general feel is of standard work often well done but rarely outstanding, although this issue feels less erratic than some of the issues of late. The Editorial was an interesting one, even if it feels that something rushed out to fill a space. Nevertheless, in a time of uncertainty for sf magazines generally here, I guess that I should be glad that New Worlds has made it to the end of the year. There have been concerns over the year that, like some of its contemporaries, New Worlds may not do so.

And with that more positive note I will wish you a Merry Christmas from here in the UK.  Here’s hoping that 1964, despite the events of recent days, may turn out to be an optimistic one.  On a more positive note, The Beatles are doing a Christmas tour – 100 000 tickets over 30 shows, all sold out. Their pop dominance reigns supreme. Despite everything, some things still endure.

Until next month – and next year.




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[October 28, 1963] … Beatles, Spies and Spacecraft (New Worlds, November 1963)

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by Mark Yon

Hello again.

Since we spoke last time, the dominance of British popular music by the so-called “Fab Four” has become complete. According to The Daily Mirror newspaper we are now in the grip of “Beatlemania”. This seems to be groups of screaming teenagers which are increasingly commonplace wherever they appear, such as onstage at the prestigious London Palladium:

By comparison, a quiet month here as I hunker down in front of the coal fire and catch up with some reading — in this case, the November 1963 New Worlds.

Perhaps to reflect the sombre blue cover of this copy, this month’s guest editorial begins the issue with a sobering description of the real Space Race.

satellite hunters, by Mr. John Ashton

With all of the constant reporting and news-film footage I see of NASA’s journey into space, it is easy to forget that across the Iron Curtain similar events are happening but obscured with a dark veil of secrecy. Mr. Ashton, a reporter from the much-respected London daily newspaper, The Evening Standard , reports that for every successful Russian flight there may be a number of them less reported that ended in failure and death. His sombre, no-nonsense tone gives the article a feeling of quiet authenticity, which is horrifying if even part of it is true. For all of our stories of bravery and derring-do here, the reality shows us that truth can be as strange as fiction. 

To the lower-cased-titled stories! (Yes, it’s still annoying.)

the dark mind (Part 1 of 3), by Mr. Colin Kapp

After the completion of the Brunner novel last month, we begin the fiction in November with the return of the much-loved Mr. Kapp. This first part’s great – a fast paced, relentless tale of detective Ivan Dalroi being hunted down because he’s taken on a case against mega-business Failway. At one point it seems that everyone is after him: Failway, the police, the elite Black Knights government security agents, even members of the committee he’s been hired to help. In terms of tone and style, the dark mind reminded me of the Lan Wright serial a few months ago, but this is so much better (provided you don’t stop to think about the implausibilities). It has a cliffhanger ending that makes me want to read the next issue – a sign of a job well done. 4 out of 5.

crux, by Mr. John Rackham

Another issue, another Rackham “X-men” story.  After this series’ rather wobbly start, to my surprise I find I’m starting to actually like the more recent stories. This time around, the X-person is Arthur Sixsmith, whose skills as a doctor are required by a gangster who has been shot. This gangster holds Sixsmith’s girlfriend to ransom, and Arthur discovers that the predicament forced on him leads to the unleashing of his X-powers, which up to now have been a mystery to himself and others. The plot is an interesting conundrum, but the eventual solution also leads to a conveniently straightforward resolution. 3 out of 5.

the postlethwaite effect, by B. N. Ball

Does the surname ‘Postlethwaite’ translate across the Atlantic? Not sure…but the story is plain enough. It is a tale of academics and administrational ineptitude. The Postlethwaite Effect is how something which started as a joke – some made-up honorary titles on letters – is mistaken for something much more serious. The result is that the scientist who receives the letters climbs academically and socially, to the point where his continued incompetence leads to a revolutionary invention.

I guess that the key point of the story is that sometimes mistakes make right. The irony is that Postlethwaite (who is given the honour of having the invention named after him) is not the inventor, but the junior scientist who sent the strangely titled letters. It reads well enough, but it is one of those stories that may have been funnier in the writing than the reading. 3 out of 5.

interlude, by Mr. John Baxter

This is Mr. Baxter’s irregular return to New Worlds, his first story since Eviction in New Worlds in March 1963. interlude is about a retired combatant saving the life of a space pilot injured on a distant planet. The medic who helps is surprised to find that the patient is an enemy soldier – and a girl. It’s told well enough, but is nothing particularly original. The downbeat ending is typically British. 3 out of 5.

return visit, by Mr. P. F. Woods

This is the story of an alien invasion with a twist in the tale – or even the tail, once you discover what the invader looks like. Mr Wood’s story is a mildly-humorous story of skepticism that hinges on one aspect at the end, that boils down to the point that insects have been around on this earth longer than humans. A slight story, nothing particularly bad about it, but rather unmemorable once read. 3 out of 5.

no ending, by Mr. David Busby.

Mr. Busby’s story is set in a far future from the point a view of a person who believes himself to be God. The result is much pontificating and bluster from a character who feels that he has the power of a religious deity. There is a rational explanation for the delusion, but we don't learn it until the man has murdered others and undergone psychological analysis and a trial. The ending is as open-ended as the title would suggest. I can’t help but feel that the story is attempting to be controversial in its use of religion, but to me the whole thing feels like introspective navel-gazing of a rather dull nature. I struggled to finish it. 3 out of 5.

In summary, this month’s New Worlds is another mixed bag, with a slight turn towards the lighter side of things. On the whole, the best that I can say about it is that with the exception of the story serial, the issue is unmemorable. Even the new serial, which treads familiar ground, albeit well, has the potential to easily turn sour. I guess we will see over the coming months.

And with that I will wish you a Happy Halloween, or a great Bonfire Night here in the UK. 

Until next month.




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[September 27, 1963] Beatles, Birds and Brunner (New Worlds, October 1963)

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by Mark Yon

Hello again. September means that we get to Autumn, which is perhaps my favourite time of the year. The nights are getting colder and darker and the lure of a warm home with a good book or magazine grows ever more favorable.

Outside the house (when I do venture outside!) those mop-top-lets, The Beatles, are still taking the pop music world by storm. They are on tour in Britain and filling their venues as they go. Their latest recording is an EP of their hits so far –  From Me to You, Please Please Me and Love Me Do, with a B-side track, Thank You Girl.

Even though this is really a re-release, “by popular demand,” as they say, like all their other releases I suspect that this one will go to the top of the British pop charts. Their upbeat energy and enthusiasm is quite infectious.

Movie-wise, I have been to see Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, which finally got to Britain this month. I thought it was good. There are some chilling scenes in the movie, although on the whole I felt that it’s more of a slow burn of a movie than Psycho ever was. The creepiest thing, that I realised after seeing the film, was that there is no reason given for the bird’s unusual behaviour. It just happens, which means that it could happen to you or me: anytime, anywhere.

Perhaps the most exciting news to me is the announcement made by Mr. Kennedy a couple of days ago that there should be a joint Soviet-US mission to the Moon. Being a positively minded sort of chap, I’m thinking, “Wouldn’t that be a wonderful development?” I find it hard to imagine that such a positive comment for exploration could be made less than a year after the Cuban Crisis. I guess the opposite view is that the US government may be worried about how much progress the Russians seem to be making?

On science-fictional matters, last month I did say that I would pass comment on the Hugo Awards. It sounds like it was a good time with the Good Doctor Asimov in charge of proceedings. I’ll mention him again later.

My Hugo predictions were, as I rather expected, a little off.  I was disappointed, though not surprised, that the novel The Man in the High Castle won, though I have yet to actually read it myself. Well done also to Galaxy and Mr. Jack Vance for The Dragon Masters which I was pleased with. It was one of my favourite novellas last year. I was very surprised on there being “No Award” for Dramatic Presentation. Was The Twilight Zone, my prediction for winning, really that bad?

I’ll try again next year.

Right – to this month’s New Worlds.

After a couple of variable, though stronger issues, this month we seem to be back to our usual standard.

s.x, s-f and c_________p, by Mr. G.H. Doherty

No, that title’s not a misprint- that’s how it’s written. This month’s Guest Editor is someone unknown to me. However, the matter he discusses is a topical one – how does and should science fiction tackle sex in its fiction? There is a long history of the topic in s-f  being avoided or ignored, partly because the fiction has grown up from the pulps and partly because its typical matters of science and technology do not lend themselves easily to the issue.

Mr. Doherty’s Editorial is part Convention Report and part-thought-experiment, in that the issue was raised by a presentation from Mr. Harry Harrison at this year’s BSFA Convention. What was meant to be a slightly humorous talk ended up as something more serious. There’s some very interesting comments made by the participants and this leads Mr. Doherty to conclude that if the genre is to make progress then it needs a more grown-up attitude. It’s not quite a return to the ranty tirades of old Editorials, but it is more anecdotal than analytical.   

To the lower-cased-titled stories! (Yes, it’s still annoying.)

man-hunt , by Mr. John Rackham

This month’s Rackham story is more traditional than his recent “X-person” stories, a Galactic Police detective tale that wouldn’t be that amiss from the 1940’s pulps. Combining a man-hunt adventure with a healthy dose of Galactic Empire order, it is a story of a competent cop who meets and is tested by senior management. It is good fun. There’s a bit of ruminating about the characteristics you need to be a person with great powers and responsibility, and how sometimes meeting your heroes is not always a good thing, but nothing really new here. 3 out of 5.

breakdown , by Ms. Hilary Bailey

This story is written by – gasp – a woman! It is good to see a change in this male-dominated magazine. A sign of the times, perhaps. It’s not really a coincidence, though. Ms. Bailey is a friend of Mr. Michael Moorcock, which might explain the connection. As a social-science story, it is OK. The characters visit Neurodram Park, a place where visitors can watch others placed there for cathartic therapy by the Welfare State. This story is really about the voyeuristic attractiveness of watching other’s lives (I’m sure television scratches the same itch) and the need for people to let off steam. Shows us that perhaps we’ve not come that far from Bedlam Asylum of the 1800’s, where members of the public could watch patients. As stories based around an idea go, its OK. It made me think of the dystopian tales that Mr. J. G. Ballard does well, but without the cutting bite of his prose.  3 out of 5.

forty years on , by E. R. James

A time travel story of sorts, although really it is the sort of time travel tale typified by stories like Mr. H. G. Wells’ The Sleeper Wakes. Space miner Greg Dormer finds himself waking from cryogenic sleep forty years on than he expected to be. Seen by some as a hero, with his own Fan Club, in hospital he discovers that he is actually a suspect being investigated for the destruction of his original spaceship and the loss of the rest of the crew. This is a solid enough tale of wish-fulfilment and space piracy. It reads well enough, though the motive for the crime at the end I found a little unconvincing. 3 out of 5.

project 13013 , by Mr. Bill Spencer

Last seen in the July 1963 edition of New Worlds, with The Nothing, Mr. Spencer’s story this month is a run-of-the-mill laboratory tale. This time the drug being trialled is an attempt to achieve life longevity, with (surprise surprise!) its testing having unfortunate side effects. Ho-hum. 3 out of 5.

yutsy brown , by Mr. Pino Puggioni

Here’s something we haven’t seen for a while in New Worlds: a reprint, from a story first published in the author’s native Italian in August of this year. It is clearly part of Mr. Carnell’s commitment to publishing s-f beyond the traditional British and US markets. Others might say, uncharitably, that it is a money-saving effort. Nevertheless, the story is a jaunty tale of the eponymous author of the future meeting one of his harshest literary critics – a publishing machine!  yutsy brown is entertaining and not-too-serious, which brought a certain degree of lighter relief to the issue. At the same time it also raises the sobering point that literary criticism is entirely subjective, something I must always bear in mind! In the end it was one of the issue’s stronger stories for me, which, considering my usual low opinion of ‘funny stories’, was a surprise. I must be mellowing. 4 out of 5.

To Conquer Chaos (Part 3 of 3), by Mr. John Brunner.

In the final third part of this serial we find things pretty much tied up. Much of this portion is about the joining-up of the two halves of the plot, when Idle Conrad and Jervis Yanderman meet Nestermay and her grandfather inside the dome of the barrenland. The purpose of the dome is revealed, as is the cause of Conrad’s visions.  The general feel is that the story’s a little unbalanced, with a lot being revealed through information-dump in the last few pages. Much of the dialogue goes along the lines of “I don’t know why, you’ll just have to trust me,” which is rather depressingly convenient. Nevertheless, the novel’s been worth a read and it is still one of the most memorable serials of late. It shows what you can get when you get work from an experienced writer.  4 out of 5.

book reviews , by Mr Leslie Flood.

Most highly recommended this month is Mr. Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, which I guess should not be a surprise judging by the comments from your side of the Atlantic. Plaudits also for Mr. Brian Aldiss’s “qualitatively erratic and erotic” The Airs of Earth but Mr. Frederik Pohl’s “failed experiment” The Expert Dreamers is less successful. Worst of all, Mr. Derek Ingrey’s Pig on a Lead is reviewed as “the strangest and most sickeningly desolate (novel), both physically and spiritually” read recently by Mr. Flood. A reason to rush out to your nearest bookshop if ever you needed one.

Personally, I really want a copy of Mr. Isaac Asimov’s anthology of The Hugo Winners, all the novelette and short story winners from Mr. Walter M. Miller’s The Darfsteller in 1955 to Mr. Poul Anderson’s The Longest Voyage in 1961. I have read most of them already, but it is great value.

***

In summary, I’m pleased that this was a fairly solid issue of New Worlds this month. The serial was good, and the reprint of a non-English story has given life to an issue that otherwise would be a little mundane, even with an editorial that discusses the ever-controversial issue of sex in s-f.

Until next month.




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