Galaxy ~edited by Frederick Pohl
–December 1964
–Galaxy Publishing Corporation
–192 pages
There is something about the first time. The first day of school, that first time sitting behind the wheel, your first kiss…firsts–good or bad, monumental or inconsequential–carry with them the potential for something memorable. Over the past few years I have had the pleasure of reading stories short and long from some of science fiction’s most notable authors, stories that first saw print in one of the magazines of the day. Frequently that magazine was Galaxy. Thanks to the generosity and enthusiasm of my friend Jerry, I had the pleasure of my first experience reading directly from the source. Jerry knows of my growing passion for the classics and my fondness for short stories, and he just knew that I had to read To Avenge Man by Lester Del Rey.
Well, I did that and more.
I will get to my review of To Avenge Man (to alleviate suspense, it was great!) soon, but first I want to share a brief thought about the other stories in the magazine.
The Starsloggers, by Harry Harrison, turned out to be the first appearance of Bill, the Galactic Hero, a character that I wasn’t particularly fond of when I read one novel in this series many decades ago. This early iteration of military satire had a more subdued sense of humor than my (admittedly faulty) memory recalled. This was a fun, good-but-not-great, story. Had Harrison ended it after Bill stumbled into heroism it would have been a much better story. A few of the end ‘chapters’ felt like they were tacked on and these watered down the effectiveness of the story. (3.25/5 stars)
Next up was an 8 page story called The Rules of the Road by Norman Spinard. What started out as an interesting story with a nice bit of suspense devolved into the kind of metaphysical mumbo-jumbo that some might like in their science fiction–not me. (2.5/5 stars)
Ballad of the Interstellar Merchants is a two page song by Sheri S. Eberhart. This was actually very entertaining, with a nice rhythm to it. I could not help but think of the titular story of Robert A. Heinlein’s The Green Hills of Earth as the main character was a singer of songs. I could see Rhysling crooning this in the local space dive. (3.75/5 stars)
The Monster and the Maiden was a one page story by Roger Zelazny. One page stories are generally all about the reveal, and this one was no different. That it gave me a pleasant surprise was evidence that, for me, it worked. (3.25/5 stars)
I started A Man of the Renaissance by Wyman Guin but abandoned it after a few pages. It might be a fine story, but by this point I was anxious to read the story Jerry loaned me the magazine to read. I wasn’t enjoying the writing style and I wasn’t willing to commit myself to the length of this one to see if it got better. (No rating)
Let Me Call Her Sweetcore by David R. Bunch was a sharply humorous little six page story about robots and relationships. There was a wicked thread of bitterness here. I couldn’t help but wonder if this story was birthed out of some personal experience of the author. (3.75/5 stars)
And finally To Avenge Man by Lester Del Rey. I knew of the name Del Rey because of the book line and knew of his work as an editor, but only recently realized that he was a published author as well. This was my first experience with his work and boy was this a good story. This novelette begins with a powerful opening ‘chapter’ that ties in well with the stories end. It then proceeds to focus on a lone moon-based robot, Sam, an anomaly among his kind in that he has developed a friendship with man, in particular Hal Norman, and has been accepted among them. When the men of the base are suddenly recalled to earth because of war, Sam is left behind believing that it is only a matter of time before his companions return.
Del Rey captures the feeling of abandonment and loneliness quite brilliantly. There is a moment early in the story (no spoilers) where Sam is gazing up at Earth and I got a visual image of what was happening in the story that took my breath away. I don’t always “see” things when I am reading as clearly as I saw this, but something about the way Del Rey was telling the story just opened the eyes of my imagination to a profoundly powerful image. Over nearly 40 pages I got to know, like, and relate to the experience of Sam.
In the midst of his waiting Sam decides to start reading the many books left behind when the men of the base rushed to return to Earth. Having only a cursory understanding of nonfiction vs. fiction, Sam develops a theory about what has happened by reading classics like Edgar Rice Burrough’s John Carter of Mars series. Book lovers cannot help but feel a kinship with Sam as he discovers reading.
Woven throughout Sam’s story is an examination of belief and purpose that adds to the overall effect of the story and gives the opening paragraphs a much deeper meaning.
I cannot thank Jerry enough for sharing this story with me. I really enjoyed it. At the very least I want short stories to entertain. When they are captivating and thought-provoking I feel as if I’ve struck gold. To Avenge Man is a gem. The cover art, by McKenna, only adds to the pleasure of reading this story. That we can relate so strongly to a robot is a testament to the skill Lester Del Rey exhibited in this story. Track down a collection of Lester Del Rey’s stories and read it. (5/5 stars)
So that is it, my first experience with the magazine that gave birth to legions of science fiction fans as well as some of science fiction’s most memorable stories. Thanks to To Avenge Man, it is a first experience that I won’t soon forget.
oh gawd look at that will you! .60 cents! Now that would be 7.99 fersure!..and I was 20 yrs old when that came out! Agggggh!!!!!
Deslily: I was T-minus 4 years and counting. 😉 And yes, that 60 cents cracked me up. $3.00 for a subscription of 6 issues. You cannot even get one of these similar mags for $3 now, not even subscription price, I bet. The last novel I finished, which I will post a review of soon, was also 60 cents. Now the same novel is indeed 7.99. Crazy!
My recollection of the time was that, for some reason, there were Galaxy readers and there were Astounding / Analog readers and for some reason each kept pretty much to that preference. I guess it’s sort of like that old Ford vs. Chevy thing.
I was an Astounding / Analog reader, I had a subscription, and only occasionally read Galaxy if I happened to see an issue on the newsstand that looked interesting. There was also a budget issue, I wasn’t that old and money was limited. This issue was one I missed.
Lester Del Rey is a fine writer. You might be interested to know that NESFA (Google it for website) has published WAR AND PEACE, Volume 1 of The Selected Short Stories of Lester Del Rey.
Richard: That doesn’t surprise me at all, we aren’t any different today, are we? That whole phenomenon just amazes me. While a number of award winning stories are still being published in the SF/F magazines of today, it certainly is not the same as it was then, when the novels that are remembered and lauded all these years later first found their way into reader’s hands courtesy of these magazines. Jerry loaned me the Feb. 1966 issue as well so that I could read a Cordwainer Smith story that I haven’t read yet and in the cover it lists stories that came out of Galaxy during its first 15 years. It is like a Who’s Who of famous authors/stories. I’m sure Astounding/Analog was the same way.
Thanks for the info on the Lester Del Rey collection. One of the many wonderful things about dipping back into the past for my science fiction reading is that every time I turn around there is something new and wonderful to read.
You’re right, we’re the same these days, though my SF reading seems to take one of these paths: (1) old books I have on hand and reread, (2) collections and anthologies from publishers NESFA, TOR, Baen and others, and (3) discoveries made via blogs: reviews and personal recommendations.
My pleasure, and NESFA also has some Cordwainer Smith collections available, also ones by Hal Clement, Poul Anderson, Fredrick Brown, Eric Frank Russell and many others.
At one time there were some very good collections of stories from Astounding and from Galaxy, also from F&SF. They can sometimes be found at old paperback shows and once in a long while in used book stores.
Richard:
Most of my SF purchases of late have either been at used bookstores or on Ebay. If a book exists with a cover that I find particularly interesting I generally want to try to track that down instead of just picking up the latest printing of it. Sometimes the latest printing is the best one, cover wise, in my opinion, but more often than not I am drawn to these classic illustrators.
My reading is all over the board. While I’ve considered myself a SF fan since childhood, looking back over the past 5 years of reading since I started blogging shows a pretty even balance between SF and other stuff. I still consider SF my first love, however, and have been making a concerted effort over the years to both explore the past and to keep up with some of the contemporary stuff. I’ll never be one of the cutting edge SF bloggers, which is fine by me. I don’t have the time to keep up with all that is going on in the community and there is always non SF stuff that I want to read as well.
I’ve only recently read stories by Brown, Clement, and Russell. I still have not taken the opportunity to read Poul Anderson, but I really want to find the story, Call Me Joe, I believe, that people are linking to the Avatar film. Not because I particularly loved Avatar, but because that story sounds really interesting. I’ll have to check out the NESFA site.
The NESFA vol 1 of the Poul Anderson has the story.
That is good to know. I haven’t been able to find it online or in any of the books I’ve seen on new and used bookstore shelves here over the last month. I looked on my library site and they do not have Vol 1 of the NESFA book (although they have Vol 2 of Anderson’s work from them on order), but I found that it is also printed in Science Fiction Hall of Fame vol. 2 A, so I requested an interlibrary loan of it. Hopefully it will come in soon.
That story sounds very touching. I also like the whole John Carter tie in. That’s just great. Sounds like the rest of the issue was just so-so to me but it is neat you got to read the Del Rey story in it’s original format. Too cool.
Jeff: I think you’d enjoy the Del Rey story, it was definitely worth taking the time to read. I’m going to bring it by the shop tomorrow in case you want to borrow it. Pretty quick read.
I would like to borrow it if you and Jerry don’t mind.
It will be coming up to the shop for you tonight! 🙂
How I miss Galaxy (and Worlds of IF). Galaxy was always one of my favorite magazines. I don’t remember reading “To Avenge Man”. I will have to see if I have it.
Jim: Do, it is a great story, well worth tracking down.
Both NESFA volumes of del Rey’s stories have now been published. The first is called WAR AND SPACE, the second is ROBOTS AND MAGIC. “To Avenge Man” is in the second volume.
I hope anyone who reads them enjoys them since I edited the two volumes. 🙂
Thanks Steven, both are books that I want, especially the second one as I’d love to have To Avenge Man in book form. I imagine they are great volumes!
Avenge Man by Lester Del Rey seem like a interesting book im looking to start reading it thanks to you 🙂
Ryuzaki: It is a good one, I hope you enjoy it.