Friday, April 30, 2010

Do Unto Others



"Do Unto Others" by Mark Clifton

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.... And the natives of Capella IV, philosophers at heart, were not ones to ignore the Golden Rule...."

Thursday, April 29, 2010

The Beasts in the Void



Tangle Hold by F. L. Wallace

"Jadiver objected to being the greatest influence for good on Venus ... because what was good for Venus was bad for Jadiver!"





"Chain of Command" by Stephen Arr

"By going through channels, George worked up from the woodwork to the top brass!"




"Holloway was used to big game hunters and their expeditions to other worlds. But this trip was sheer madness—a space ship stalking among—"

The Beasts in the Void by Paul W. Fairman

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Variable Man



The Variable Man by Philip K. Dick

"He fixed things—clocks, refrigerators, vidsenders and destinies. But he had no business in the future, where the calculators could not handle him. He was Earth’s only hope—and its sure failure!"





"Unbegotten Child" by Winston K. Marks

"If this was true, there ought to be another edition of What Every Young Girl Should Know!"




"Adam Slade was a man who had nothing to lose by making a break for it. The trouble was, he knew that no one had ever escaped from the—"

"Prison of a Billion Years" by Milton Lesser (as by C.H. Thames)

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Marley's Chain



"Marley's Chain" by Alan E. Nourse

"Tam's problem was simple. He lived in a world that belonged to someone else."





"The Romantic Analogue" by W.W. Skupeldyckle

"Norm Venner's fancy was pretty well fixed on thoughts of electronic calculators—until the invention started making passes at the inventor!"

Monday, April 26, 2010

The Kenzie Report



"The Kenzie Report" by Mark Clifton

"If this story has a moral, it is: "Leave well enough alone." Just look what happened to Kenzie "mad-about-ants" MacKenzie, who didn't...."



"Ellaby's society was a perfect democracy, where all men were equal. But some still wanted more personal attention, and they got it, like—"

"The Dictator" by Milton Lesser



"Nobody knew very much about the Sargasso area of the void; only one
thing was certain: if a ship was caught there it was doomed  in—
"

"The Graveyard of Space" by Milton Lesser

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Freudian Slip




"Wheels Within" by Charles V. De Vet

"Never ask "Who am I and where do I come from?" The answers may not be what you'd expect!"



"Freudian Slip" by Franklin Abel

"Things are exactly what they seem? Life is real? Life is earnest? Well, that depends."





The Enormous Room by H. L. Gold and Robert W. Krepps

"One big name per story is usually considered to be sufficient. So when two of them appear in one by-line, it can certainly be called a scoop; so that's what we'll call it. H. L. Gold and science-fiction go together like a blonde and a henna rinse. Robert Krepps is also big time. You may know him also under his other label—Geoff St. Reynard, but a Krepps by any name can write as well."





To Choke an Ocean by J. F. Bone

"Gourmets all agree that nothing can beat oysters on the half-shell—not even the armed might of the Terran Confederation!"

Saturday, April 24, 2010

The Ego Machine



"Turning Point" by Alfred Coppel

"The man is rare who will give his life for what is merely the lesser of two evils. Merrick's decision was even tougher: to save human beings at the expense of humanity, or vice versa?"





The Ego Machine by Henry Kuttner

"When a slightly mad robot drunk on AC, wants you to join an experiment in optimum ecology—don't do it! After all, who wants to argue like Disraeli or live like Ivan the Terrible?"

Friday, April 23, 2010

Instant of Decision



Instant of Decision by Randall Garrett

"How could a man tell the difference if all the reality of Earth turned out to be a cosmic hoax? Suppose it turned out that this was just a stage set for students of history?"





"The Executioner" by Frank Riley

"The vote was three to two for death! Jacques had no choice. He was a public servant with a duty...."

Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Small World of M-75



"Breeder Reaction" by Winston K. Marks

"The remarkable thing about Atummyc Afterbath Dusting Powder was that it gave you that lovely, radiant, atomic look—just the way the advertisements said it would. In fact, it also gave you a little something more!"





"The Small World of M-75" by Ed M. Clinton, Jr.

"For all his perfection and magnificence he was but a baby with a new found freedom in a strange and baffling world...."





"Brown John's Body" by Winston K. Marks

"Erd Neff wanted as little to do with his fellow men as possible. So he lived alone in his big cash-vault. Alone, except for John...."





"Love Story" by Irving E. Cox, Jr.

"Everything was aimed at satisfying the whims of women. The popular cliches, the pretty romances, the catchwords of advertising became realities; and the compound kept the men enslaved. George knew what he had to do...."

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

World of the Drone


"Dworn knew that if his machine failed him in battle he would die. For men fought each other viciously, with no bond of brotherhood, in this—"

World of the Drone by Robert Abernathy





Atom Drive by Charles L. Fontenay

"It was a race between the tortoise and the hare. But this hare was using some dirty tricks to make sure the ending would be different...."

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Stamped Caution



Stamped Caution by Raymond Z. Gallun

"It's a funny thing, but most monsters seem to be of the opinion that it's men who are the monsters. You know, they have a point."




"Alice knew that Dobie was a good dog, even if he did have an alarming habit of hunting down rabbits and gophers. But one day he brought her—"

"The Hand" by Jerry Sohl

Monday, April 19, 2010

Diplomatic Immunity



Diplomatic Immunity by Robert Sheckley

"He said he wasn't immortal—but nothing could kill him. Still, if the Earth was to live as a free world, he had to die."





"One Man's Poison" by Robert Sheckley

"They could eat a horse, only luckily there was none ... it might have eaten them first!"





The Unprotected Species by Melvin Sturgis

"It was a chill, terrifying planet inhabited by furtive gnomes. And something was forcing the crew into homicidal insanity. But what?"

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Second Variety



"Seed of the Arctic Ice" by Harry Bates and Desmond W. Hall (as by H. G. Winter)

"Killer whales and seal-creatures tangle Ken Torrance in an amazing adventure under the ice-roofed arctic sea."





Second Variety by Philip K. Dick

"The claws were bad enough in the first place—nasty, crawling little death-robots. But when they began to imitate their creators, it was time for the human race to make peace—if it could!"





Forget Me Nearly by F. L. Wallace

"What sort of world was it, he puzzled, that wouldn't help victims find out whether they had been murdered or had committed suicide?"





"Like every farmer on every planet, Duncan had to hunt down anything that damaged his crops—even though he was aware this was—"

The World That Couldn't Be by Clifford D. Simak

Saturday, April 17, 2010

A Feast of Demons



Special Delivery by Damon Knight

"All Len had to hear was the old gag: "We've never lost a father yet." His child was not even born and it was thoroughly unbearable!"





A Feast of Demons by William Morrison

"If you want my opinion, old Maxwell should have kept his big mouth shut ... and then El Greco could not have put Earth in a frame!"

Friday, April 16, 2010

The Knights of Arthur



"The Reluctant Weapon" by Howard L. Myers

"A live weapon is a downright liability ... it's all too apt to get qualms of conscience!"






The Knights of Arthur by Frederik Pohl

"With one suitcase as his domain, Arthur was desperately in need of armed henchmen … for his keys to a kingdom were typewriter keys!"

Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Tunnel Under The World



No Charge for Alterations by H. L. Gold

'"We got a way to handle that on Deneb. A girl gets highfalutin up there, the Doc puts her in the Ego Alter room. Thicken up her ankles a little, take some of the sparkle out of her eyes and hair, and you get a woman fit to pull a plow!"

Hold it, Madam! H. L. Gold said that; not us. Personally, we like girls—not Percherons!
'





"Rough Translation" by Jean M. Janis

"Don't be ashamed if you can't blikkel any more. It's because you couldn't help framishing."






The Tunnel Under The World by Frederik Pohl

"Pinching yourself is no way to see if you are dreaming. Surgical instruments? Well, yes—but a mechanic's kit is best of all!"



Perfect Control by Richard Stockham

"Why can't you go home again after years in space? There had to be an answer ... could he find it in time, though?"





"The Eel" by Miriam Allen DeFord

"The punishment had to fit more than just the crime—it had to suit every world in the Galaxy!"

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Trippy Time Lords

The new Dr Who is set to premier this weekend and it will be interesting to see where they take it.



David Tennant will be a hard act to follow, but I'll keep an open mind until I see what they do. Unfortunately it looks set to continue the pattern of of having a bored and/or frustrated middle class woman who meets the slightly eccentric but charming Doctor who then whisks her off on a series of thrilling adventures. I can't shake the feeling they're targeting the same sexually frustrated audience that loves Twilight.

And in an odd bit of news, Mick Farren blogged yesterday about documents that have turned up which show that the Doctor's regenerations were modeled on bad acid trips.

“Internal BBC memos have revealed how Doctor Who's regenerations were modelled on bad LSD trips. Documents published for the first time describe how the Doctor's occasional transformations were supposed to convey the "hell and dank horror" of the hallucinogenic drug."

No wonder the Fifth Doctor was stuck in that wheelchair for so long after regenerating.

Derelict



Derelict by Alan E. Nourse

"What was the mystery of this great ship from the dark, deep reaches of space? For, within its death-filled chambers—was the avenue of life!"





"What Rough Beast?" by Jefferson Highe

"When you are a teacher, you expect kids to play pranks. But with tigers—and worse?"

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Feline Red



"Feline Red" by Robert Sampson

"It was up to Jerill to think fast ... to do something ... before those strange beasts sucked away the last purified ore on the freighter Bertha."





"Joy Ride" by Mark Meadows

"Men or machines—something had to give—though not necessarily one or the other. Why not both?"





"Brknk's Bounty" by Jerry Sohl

 "From a feature writer to feature attraction—now there's a real booze-to-riches success story!"





"The Ethical Way" by Joseph Farrell

"There is a way around every tabu, knock on wood—but just watch out that the wood doesn't knock back!"