Galaxy, March 1955. Cover by Mel Hunter

It’s time for another exciting Galaxy Science Fiction review!  The March, 1955 issue contains stories by some of Galaxy’s best authors — Simak, Pohl, and Sturgeon.  I know I’ve been away for a while, so let’s dive in.

The cover, “Hold Still, Dammit!” is by Mel Hunter.  Hunter was very interested in aviation and also worked as a technical illustrator at Northrop Aircraft.

“Project Mastodon” by Clifford D. Simak — Three men work together to create a time machine and go about 150,000 years into the past.  They set up a camp and plan to establish their own land they could lease out to tourists or movie producers — if they can be recognized as a sovereign nation.  They account for differences in terrain by using a helicopter that contains the time machine. But when a raging mastodon charges into their camp, their helicopter is destroyed, leaving them stranded in the past unless they can figure out a way to account for the terrain differences in the future so they don’t emerge in mid-air or buried underground.

[Click the images for dinosaur-sized versions.]

The opening of the story is a bit on the silly side, but it becomes more grounded as it builds.  I think this is the first time travel story I’ve read that considered terrain differences and how to account for them.

“The Candle Lighter” by Frederik Pohl — Jaffa Doane leads the Equality League, protesting the treatment of Martians and the current Martian Administrator.  In response, the Trusteeship Director appoints Doane as the new administrator.  Doane has big plans for changing the Martian culture and revokes their use of his position for healing and executions.  In denying the Martians what they need from their human leader, Doane inadvertently creates worse issues, and he quickly realizes the treatments he protested are the only solution.

I like seeing a cultural difference in aliens and exploring how something that could be offensive to us is necessary to another society that has a different physiology.

“Dulcie & Decorum” by Damon Knight — Jones and Wallace are two journalists who meet at an uneventful press conference.  They begin noticing random typos in each other’s works, and while drinking, they wonder if there’s meaning in all of it.  Days later, Jones continues to muse on the notion and allows his mind to wander as he types, looking for hidden messages.  And as he finds them, he goes down a twisted path that risks his sanity, trying to discover the origin of the messages and what they mean.

I don’t want to spoil the ending, but when the story finally unveiled whether Jones was simply going mad or if there was a source trying to reach him, I thought this story would be just as fitting if it were written today. The ending left me feeling very uneasy.

Xenogenesis , the first collection by Miriam Allen DeFord, containing
“One Way.” (Ballantine Books, March 1969). Cover by Richard Powers

“One Way” by Miriam Allen DeFord — Frank’s adult son, Hal, is selected for the Lydna Project. Hal is one of 200 people randomly picked for space colonization. While some are excited to be chosen for the project, Frank and his wife are saddened to see their only son leave them, with no hope of future contact. The news is just as challenging for Hal and his girlfriend who had plans to marry. There seems to be no way to free Hal from the assignment, and Frank struggles with his emotions as Hal’s departure approaches.

This story is an example of excellent writing — the voice, narrative, dialogue — very crisp and strong. DeFord was a prolific author (which is very clear with the caliber of this tale); she wrote both science fiction and mystery. Her first short story collection Xenogenesis, published by Ballantine Books in 1969, contained this story and fifteen others from Worlds of If, Startling Stories, F&SF, Fantastic Universe, and other genre magazines.

The Great SF Stories #17, edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg,
containing “Who” by Theodore Sturgeon (DAW Books, January 1988). Cover by Jim Burns

“Who?” by Theodore Sturgeon — The protagonist pilots a spaceship along with an unknown counterpart, separated by a bulkhead.  An intercom button allows interaction – provided both pilots decide to engage. The protagonist chooses to remain alone for as long as possible before finally succumbing to curiosity, boredom, or perhaps mild insanity. On the other side is a young man, a kid in the protagonist’s view, who’s barely holding himself together, starving for interaction.

Told in second person point of view (an interesting, great choice), this story is a brilliant psychological tale with deep characters (as to be expected with Sturgeon). Technically, it’s science fiction due to the spaceship and other aspects, but it pulls the reader through with the right amount of psychological tension, following the thoughts and emotions of the protagonist.  I feel like with some minor tweaks, a screenwriter could turn this into a great movie. The story was reprinted in The Great SF Stories #17, edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg, in 1988.

“Big Stupe” by Charles V. De Vet — On Waterfield’s Planet, the crew of visiting Earthmen interact with the alien people, trying to mimic their culture and leadership structure. The alien tribe presents them with a gift — a large bird-like creature that was very attentive but also clumsy and gullible — falling for the humans’ jokes over and over. The humans name the creature Big Stupe and are amused by its stupidity… until they learn the word the aliens call it.

This is a quick story to end the issue, leaving the reader with a bit of humor and whimsy. Charles De Vet had over 50 short stories published and worked in the US Postal Service.

The issue also contains an article by Willy Ley (“For Your Information”) as well as book reviews by Groff Conklin.

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Matthew Wuertz’s project to review every issue of Galaxy magazine in order of publication began with the January 1950 issue. See all his reviews here.