ANALOG PLUS 50: Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact May 1971

ANALOG PLUS 50: Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, May 1971

The fifth issue in my ANALOG PLUS 50 series. For anyone finding these reviews, my purpose is two-fold: enjoying some "classic" sci-fi, and looking for stories that I think could be adapted for TV broadcast since so much of what shows up on anthology shows is rough to awful.

At some point, I'll stop numbering, but probably not until I do this for at least a year. If I do this for a year.

Overall, this one was a mixed bag, but maybe it's the novelty of what I'm doing wearing off. If this stops being fun and becomes more of a chore, I'll end it.

In this issue:

This will be updated shortly.

The Editorial: "Pollution Paranoia", by John. W. Campbell. There are three kinds of pollution: actual, political and hysterical. It's the latter two that prevent us from taking care of the first one, or any other problem. Grandiose solutions to non-existant problems (yes, there are problems, but not the PROBLEMS! the hysterical folks point out or the political folks want credit for "doing something" about -- like getting the naturally-occuring amount of mercury in the oceans, and therefore in the sea life like tuna, out of the water) divert resources from actual problems that could have long-term meaningful solutions.

One thing to keep in mind: It is impossible to cheat the Universe. You can balance the laws of the Universe, but you can't break them. The Universe will demand its due. You will pay the cost of time or energy, or the Universe will collect in the end (regardless of unconscionable injustice or evil oppression -- the Universe doesn't care).

Basically, we need good judgment and not paranoia.

Serial: "The Outposter" by Gordon R. Dickson, part 1 of 3.
I'll get back to this later. As it is by Gordon R. Dickson, I will definitely get back to it.

Science Fact: "Men to Mars" by Walter B. Hendrickson, Jr. There is an image of a Space Station Concept of 12-man space station by North American Rockwell's Space Division, Downey, CA. The caption reads, "With the current state of NASA's moth-eaten budget, the hardware for a Mars expedition is not being built. But that doesn't mean thinking and planning about the problem has stopped!"

This was a great read, even if all the dates have passed. You have to figure the windows of opporutnity can be recalculated, and the science may have improved a bit. Then again, for all I know, some of the suggestions may have been shown to be unworkable now that we've had people in space for over a year. It was also ambitious, given that this was printed in 1971, not long after the Apollo 13 incident. Given the lead time required in publishing a magazine, Apollo 14 might not have even launched yet when this was scheduled to be printed. Likewsie, the proposed dates for the mission were only a few years away, in the mid-to-late 70s. But should the need arise for a hard sci-fi setting for any story I'm writing (not likely), I might revisit this one.

Novelette: "Company Planet" by James H. Schmitz, with an illustration by Kelly Freas, showing a woman in a jacket the length of a minidress, walking in the midground, and an alien cityscape in the background. In the lower right, in the foreground, we see a seated woman (covered with tattoos or an elaborately designed skin-tight suit) with a tail. A muscular "man" except he has the head of some other kind of animal (flat head, long snout). There is a woman in a skimpy outfit standing with wild hair that appears somewhat floral. The caption reads, Telzey was generally competent enough to take care of herself -- and her enemies for that matter! But this time she was up against a very stacked deck indeed!

Telzey Amberdon is back, only four months after her first story. (At least, I think it was her first -- it was the first that I saw.) This time she's on the Company Planet of Fermilaur, which consists of a resort area and little else. The resort has a spa where body modifictions can be made, such as the ones shown in the image, or just lengthing the leg bones to make one taller (and then the follow-up procedures to adjust the rest of the body to match). Telzey is there at the behest of the parent's of a friend to convince the friend not to go through with any mods.

It is known that Telzey is a telepath, but not known that she is a psi, which isn't the same. Psis are much more powerful than simple telepaths. She's given a service guide named Uspurul (whom, in my head, I kept calling "Usurpul") to talk up modifications like they were modern time shares but also to get an idea of why she is there. There are things going on on Fermilaur that COS Services wouldn't want known, but what? (By the way, I went through the beginning again, and I'm not exactly sure what "COS" stands for, other than the Company.)

Telzey meets with Keth, an investigative reporter for a newscast service, who is always on the lookout for a story, but not there chasing any story in particular. Now the folks at COS have to worry that the two of them have been sent there to uncover what's really been going on.

Unlike the last story (SPOILER), there's only one Telzey in this story, so if she were played by twins in an adaptation of "The Telzey Toy", only one sister would be needed here. It would make as good a story for TV as the previous one, better, in my opinion. Plenty of speakng parts for a diverse cast. Solve the mystery, get the story, don't get killed before it's over, with a sci-fi backdrop.

Short Story: "Not Stupid Enough" by G. H. Scithers, with an illustration by David Cook, showing a stone statue of a bearded, bald man, with several birds (or bird-like creatures) on it. The caption reads, The fact that an alien's cursons violate the ethics of your people does not prove that they're wrong. It may simply prove they are, indeed, alien!

Novelette: "Culture Shock" by Perry A. Chapdelaine, with an illustration by Leo Summers, showing people in hooded cloaks in the foreground protesting. There's a sign reading, "Death to All Aliens" and another that looks like it starts with "GOD is". There looks like a fire or explosion happened in the background. The caption reads, A man may not be what he thinks he is -- but he can put a lot of effort into trying to be!

There was more going on in this story than I could keep track of or, honestly, wanted to. It didn't help that I fell asleep a few times in the middle of reading this one. Mankind has been visited by aliens from Epsion Eridan (aka Ran, which is not mentioned in this story). They are four feet high, six feet long and four-legged. They are obviously more scientifically advanced than us. There are people who don't want them here, and they are mostly in the GIMITI society: God is Made in Terrain Image. Then there's Dr. Michael O'Hara who is the director of Project Ozma X, which, despite the work it does, will have it's budget slashed by half very soon by the UN President Ownouchai. There's a Communications and Cryptographic (C and C) dept and a special Public Relations and Information (PuR) section. There are a bunch of people who are nonconformists, or nonconies who work for the government. And there's a credible assassination attempt against the Eridanians as they travel around Earth.

A little too much going on, and that isn't all of it. I might've enjoyed a short story based on this novelette. That said, just because I didn't "get it" doesn't mean that there wasn't a good "protect the alien ambassador" story that could be adapted out of it. All the elements for adaptation are there, except that the aliens would require good CGI or puppet work, or get modified into something that could be played by human actors of any particular type. I'd cut a lot of the government bureaucratic stuff, though, mostly because I wasn't particularly interested.

Novelette: "Peace With Honor" by Jerry Pournelle, with an illustration by Vincent Difate, showing a bare-legged, bare-footed man in an overcoat, swinging a sword. There's half a wheel on the ground (with a shadow) and a car heading toward a wooden covered bridge which turns into more of a steel trestle.The caption reads, Given infinite mobility, you have absolute immunity. But if there is a place you want to be -- thereby you're limited!

Politics and dirty tricks, set in a future with a United States and a "Co-Dominium" still in a Cold War with Russia. I'm not exactly sure what makes this science-fiction even with the type of dirty trick to be pulled, or the mention of Lunar bases (non-essential) and other places that could be out there or just someplace on Earth I'm not familiar with. I wonder how much of this some of stuff was known to the public 50 years ago. Now anyone who follows politics just assumes it, especially from the other side, if not from their own political allegiance (where they might excuse it and explain it away).

The longer one stands in office, the more corrupt they become, probably out of necessity, but also just out of tolerance for other corruption. And there's a theme of That's Just How It Is, and the country wouldn't last long under the idealist candidate who doesn't understand how the world works or how the game is played. A bit cynical, and then it gets close to home for the point-of-view character.

This could be filmed, though it's primarily men, and a bit dated and sexist, but some of the men in the room can be gender swapped to bring it up to date. But I don't think it would make a satisfying segment of a sci-fi anthology show unless something else were added in. And I wouldn't be one to presuppose that I could do better than Jerry Pournelle. In any case, I did enjoy the story for the intrigue.

The Reference Library , by P. Schuyler Miller.
Books reviewed include: More Issues at Hand by William Atheling, Jr (aka James Blish), The Universe Makers by Donald Wollheim, The Pulps: Fifty Years of American Pop Culture by Tony Goodstone, Tower of Glass by Robert Silverberg, Mutants by Gordon R. Dickson, Nebula Award Stories Five by James Blish (ed.), Index to the Science Fiction Magazines, 1969 (compiled by Anthony Lewis), Behind the Walls of Terra by Philip Jose Farmer, and Aliens 4 by Theodore Sturgeon.

Brass Tacks: Nothing much to think about except a few lengthy letters about the fallacies of the "Now Generation", which Campbell believes isn't all sweetness and idealism. It also wasn't an age group but a philosophy.

On to June, and whatever else is in the TBR stacks in Kindle, iBooks, and the physical nightstand.