James Nicoll Reviews

Poul Anderson’s 1975 Homeward and Beyond collects nine science fiction stories.

This book was at one time one of my favourite Anderson collections. Alas, what motivates me to review this today are not those fond memories, but pure spite… spite not directed at Anderson.

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Glen Cook’s 1972 The Heirs of Babylon is a stand-alone post-holocaust novel.

Two centuries earlier, Germany was reduced from one hundred million people to one hundred thousand. The survivors’ descendants are concentrated in the Baltic Littoral. Germany and the neighbouring nations were lucky. Some nations, such as China, were extirpated¹.

The Baltic Littoral’s people live hand-to-mouth. Little can be spared to rebuild. Blame the perfidious Australians.

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Wilson Tucker’s The Long Loud Silence (1952, 1954) is a stand-alone post-apocalyptic novel.

The enemy struck without warning. Major cities like Chicago were incinerated with atomic bombs. Lesser cities and towns did not rate atomic weapons. Instead, bombs delivered weaponized diseases.

Millions died… east of the Mississippi. The enemy’s weapons could not reach the west. Therefore, those twenty-two states were spared.

Good news for Corporal Russell Gary, who wakes from a bender to discover that he is one of the survivors. Bad news for Gary, who wakes from a bender to discover that he is one of the survivors… on the wrong side of the Mississippi.

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Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a science fiction novel.

Fireman Guy Montag and his wife Millie live comfortable, middle-class lives. Millie finds purpose in an endless stream of television entertainment. Guy burns books.

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William Pène du Bois’ 1947 novel The Twenty-One Balloons is a Newbery-award-winning juvenile comedy adventure.

How did Professor William Waterman Sherman, late of San Francisco, end up floating in the North Atlantic on a raft composed of the wreckage of a flotilla of balloons? The question holds 1893 America¹ in thrall!

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L. Sprague de Camp’s 1953 The Continent Makers is a collection of his early Viagens Interplanetarias stories.

In the wake of World War Three, Brazil became Earth’s foremost power¹. Thus, it fell to Brazil to deliver relativistic star flight. First contact with the surprisingly large number of alien civilizations in neighboring star systems was followed by the formation of the Interplanetary Council.

Why was the Interplanetary Council needed, when contact, being sublight, was a matter of years and decades? In part, so that technologically backward, aggressive cultures do not get their hands on starships and nuclear weapons. However, there is another consideration.

Let us discuss Planets of Hats.

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Andrew M. Stephenson’s 1979 The Wall of Years is a stand-alone science fiction novel.

In 2011, the Commissariat of National Integrity launched Project Damocles to protect the British Republics¹ from the deleterious effects of time travel, specifically the possibility that events in nearby timelines could affect the home timeline. This is a serious concern given that neighboring timelines were marching to a final War. The simple answer: murder every outside analog of time travel’s inventor, Frobisher. With no outside time travel available, existence would remain local causality for local people.

The CNI’s models were flawed. Their actions set off a series of time storms. End result: the Earth was reduced to a nearly lifeless, radioactive wasteland². Humanity perished… at least in 2011.

The 26^th century is another matter entirely.

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Mary Elizabeth Counselman’s 1978 Half in Shadow is a collection of weird stories. Despite overlap, it should not be confused with Mary Elizabeth Counselman’s 1964 Half in Shadow. Yeah, not really sure what Arkham was thinking when they reused the title.

Alabama-born Counselman (1911 – 1995) might be best remembered as a Weird Tales contributor, although her output was not limited to that magazine.

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Robert C. Dille’s 1969 The Collected Works of Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century is a collection of Buck Rogers strips from the 1920s to the 1940s. Early story arcs were written by Phil Nowland and illustrated by Dick Calkins. The last two arcs are by Calkins alone.

Trapped by a mine collapse, 20^th century American Buck Rogers is surely doomed, in this, the first panel of what would be a long-running series. 

When Buck wakes up, he finds that the USA has been delenda¹.

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Although the masthead asserted that Destinies would be published four times a year, Destinies, October-December 1979 was the fifth issue in the first volume of the science fiction bookazine Destinies. Destinies was edited by Jim Baen, who is credited as James Baen on the cover and James Patrick Baen within¹.

Volume One, Number Five has some vexing issues, but it did at least provide noteworthy juxtapositions.

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