About the Journey

Imagine living in the Silver Age of science fiction and fantasy. A youthful JFK is President. John Glenn is a national hero. Stranger in a Strange Land has just won the Hugos. Joanna Russ and Ursula K. Le Guin are promising new authors. Spider Man, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, and Thor are bursting onto the comics scene. What would it be like to actually be there, experiencing life, the movies, the books, the music, day per day? The Traveler and co. live in 1963, regularly commuting 55 years into the future to write about then-contemporary science fiction and fantasy, particularly fiction found in magazines. But that’s not all there is to life 55 years ago! So expect to read about the movies, the space shots, the politics, the music, and much more! There is nothing like the Journey anywhere else in the universe. Come jump through the portal and see a world you may but dimly remember, or which you may never have seen before, but without which your time could never have been…

If you enjoy this collection, you can read more at the Galactic Journey blog site , or join us on Discord at Portal 55. Galactic Journey

Selected posts and tweets from a fanzine blog Edited by Gideon Marcus Contents Twilight Zone, Season 4 Episodes 5–8...... 3

A Brighter Future New Worlds, May 1963...... 11

More Wooden Acting The British Show, Space Patrol...... 20

The Future in a Divided Land, Part 2 An Overview of Science Fiction in East and West Germany...... 31

Africa: From End to End a Beautiful Garden Vogue’s New Grand Tour...... 40

Engineers at Play Spacewars!, Hacking, and the PDP-1...... 50

Laughing Mushrooms Ishirō Honda’s Matango...... 59

Oh Brave New World The 1963 Worldcon...... 68

Druids at College An Old Religion for a New Era...... 80

Coming Up for Air The October 1963 Amazing...... 86

Out of Sight The Man with the X-Ray Eyes...... 96 An Integral Future Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We...... 104

Dr. Who? An Adventure in Space and Time...... 111

A Composer After My Own Heart A Theme Song for Dr. Who...... 122

SF or Not SF? That Is the Question They Came from the Mainstream, 1963 Edition...... 131

Count Every Star 1963’s Galactic Stars...... 139 Best Poetry...... 141 Best Vignette (1-9 pages): ...... 142 Best Short Story (10-19 pages): ...... 143 Best Novelette (20-45 pages) ...... 144 Best Novella (46+ pages) ...... 145 Best Novel/Serial ...... 146 Science Fact ...... 147 Best Magazine ...... 148 Best Author(s) ...... 149 Best Artist ...... 150 Best Dramatic Presentation ...... 153 Best Fanzine ...... 154

About the Journey Who We Are...... 157 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Jan. 1, 1963] Happy New Year, from the cast of the new Tonight Show!

 March 10, 1963

Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Feb. 7, 1963] “What computer do you prefer, Bob?” “Definitely the Control Data, Bill!”

 Twilight Zone, Season 4 Episodes 5–8

March 10, 1963

[We have a special treat for you, today. One of the Journey’s long-time followers has prepared a review of the latest episodes of The Twilight Zone. Natalie de- scribes herself as having “devoted her life to finding the best and the worst popular culture has to offer. Areas of expertise include music, movies and television.” I hope you enjoy her words as much as I did…and perhaps we can convince her to return?]

by Natalie Devitt

As you know by now, The Twilight Zone is no longer the most consis- tently good show. Episodes have been varying dramatically in terms of quality. The longer episodes this season have not helped matters. Some episodes seem padded to add time to stretch to the full hour, while others would probably work better as feature length films. That was certainly the case with some of the episodes this past month, but the episodes were not without moments of brilliance.

 March 10, 1963

Mute, by Richard Matheson

Mute is the story of a young girl named Ilse, who is used as a test subject by her parents. Her parents are members of an organization that studies telepathy. Even though Ilse is perfectly capable of learning how to speak, as part of a deal with other members of the organization, her parents raise her to communicate using only telepathy and document the results for other members of their organization. Sadly, her parents never seem to consider what would happen to Ilse if they were no longer able to care for her. So, when the family’s home suddenly burns down one night, killing both of her mother and her fa- ther, Ilse is left without the means to communicate with those around her. Luckily, the local sheriff and his wife offer her a place to stay, while they try to contact her next of kin. In the meantime, they enroll her in school, assuming that the school would teach her everything thing she needs to know in order to assimilate.

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I hate to admit that after last season’s Little Girl Lost, I expected a higher caliber of work from screenwriter Richard Matheson. This episode does not seem to work as an hour long story. What could be an interesting epi- sode about the pressure to conform or adults not always knowing what is best for children, turns into an episode that fails to leave any lasting impression. That said, Ann Jullian, who you may remember in Babes in Toyland and Gypsy, does a fine job as Ilse. In addition, the camera work with its frequent tilts and pans, effectively conveys Ilse’s feelings of being disori- ented as she transitions from having lived in silence to being thrown into a world of filled sound. The episode deserves two and a half stars.

Death Ship, by Richard Matheson

This episode gives a glimpse into the future. In the year 1997, Earth is overpopulated, so humans are in need of a new planet to colonize. A crew aboard a spaceship set out on an expedition in hopes of finding one. Once they finally land on a planet that they think has potential, they find a spaceship that bears a striking resemblance to their own. After assess-

 March 10, 1963 ing the situation, they enter the spaceship only to find a crew that looks just like them — except for one thing, the men in the spaceship are dead. The living crew struggle to find an explanation for how the ship and their deceased doppelgangers ended up on the planet, and how they can avoid meeting a similar fate.

This episode stars Jack Klugman and Ross Martin, and is a pretty con- sistently good episode. It can be at times fairly predictable. My biggest complaint is that a number of the sets have clearly been reused in order to cut costs. Even though the episode did not offer anything new visually, I still give it three stars.

Jess-Bell, by Earl Hammer Jr.

There is something special about Jess-Belle, a tale of obsession that aired just in time for Valentine’s Day. This episode takes place in the not too dis- tant past of the Appalachian Mountains. The title character in the episode is played by an unrecognizable Anne Francis, best known for her work as Altaira in Forbidden Planet. This time the usually blonde actress is sporting

 GalacticJourney.org a black wig and playing a desperate young woman, who enlists the help of a local witch, referred to as Granny Hart, to win back a former lover by the name of Billy Ben. Billy Ben is played by Western regular James Best. Not surprisingly, trouble ensues.

Anytime a blonde actress wears a dark wig and flirts with the dark side, you know what you are watching is bound to be entertaining, even if it is not in the way originally intended. To its credit, though, Jess-Belle man- ages to be very effective with its strong performances and haunting atmo- sphere, despite most of its characters being hillbilly stereotypes. I could not get this episode out of my head for days, so for that reason I give it four stars.

Miniature, by Charles Beaumont

This episode is about a character named Charley, who is played brilliantly by Robert Duvall. He is in his thirties and still lives at home with his con- trolling mother. He struggles to hold down a job or find a mate. One day on a trip to the museum he finds the excitement he craves in

 March 10, 1963 the most unlikely of places, inside a dollhouse. The only problem is that nobody else seems to realize that a beautiful doll in the museum doll- house is alive. Most of the story revolves around his overbearing mother and well-meaning sister trying to help him meet all of the markers of an ordinary adult life. The more his family members try to help him out of his state of arrested development, the more Charley escapes into fantasies of a love affair with the doll.

The years Robert Duvall spent honing his acting skills in the theatre world have finally paid off, because I cannot praise him enough for his work in this episode. Sometimes when actors transition from theater to television, they can be overly dramatic, because they are used to playing to the back of the house. That is certainly not the case with Robert Duvall‘s subtle performance in Miniature. Charley, if played by a less skilled actor could seem pathetic, because he is almost unbelievably passive at work and at home. Also, his imagi- nary relationship with the doll could have come across as being creepy in the wrong hands. Robert’s approach to the character, makes the episode incredibly touching, even to viewers who may not relate to Charley. The

 GalacticJourney.org acting alone earns the episode a solid three stars.

The most recent episodes certainly had their flaws, but I still found them enjoyable to watch. I am curious to see what the rest of the season has to offer.

 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Mar. 27, 1963] The new #Sony MICRO-TV -- look how tiny it is!

10 A Brighter Future New Worlds, May 1963

April 25, 1963

by Mark Yon

Last month I decided I would try and NOT mention the English weather in future transmissions. But I’m a Brit, and it’s become a tradition! So, suffice it to say that the commute to work has been easier this month and, since we last spoke, the weather has been more typically Spring. As the weather has improved, so has my mood. Another cause for cheer has been the radios being full of Britain’s latest pop sensation, The Beatles. Some of our other Travellers have mentioned their continuous rise. Their third single, From Me to You is something we can’t really avoid. Thankfully, I do like it a lot. It’s got a great beat and terrific harmo- nies. I can only see these boys from Liverpool continue to dominate the charts here if they keep this up.

11 April 25, 1963

Mind you, the cinema also seems to be determined to dispel the bleak Winter. Britain’s answer to Mr. Elvis Presley, Mr. Cliff Richard, has recently been filling our cinemas with a cheerily bright and colourful musical, Summer Holiday! It’s very popular and might just chase those Winter Blues away. We may not be quite there yet, but at least we can see that brighter times are ahead, even when the news is somewhat bleaker. The newspapers here are full of stories about march- es against nuclear weapons, which seem to be growing year on year:

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Onto this month’s New Worlds.

Can you see a problem with that cover? No, not the bright daffodil-yellow colour, nor the lack of author photographs, although that is disappointing. Look at the title of the Mr. Aldiss novella. See it? Such mis-spellings are shoddy and frankly embarrassing. A big minus mark for Mr. John Carnell this month. Does he really care about this magazine? It’s a shame, because there’s a lot to like in this issue. There’s even a common theme, as many of the stories this month seem to look at the conflict between order and chaos, between discipline and dissent. This also applies to the Editorial!

13 April 25, 1963

From The Edge of the Pond, by Mr. Lee Markham

Australian Mr. Markham has been a regular contributor to the stories of late and here in the capacity of Guest Editor he brings a forthright sum- mary of the ongoing debate on the state of s-f. He doesn’t mince words, though. “I don’t think any of us were surprised when some of the opinions expressed turned out to be, in turn, introspective, belligerent, and, in the case of John Rack- ham and Brian Aldiss, personally prejudiced and blandly indifferent.” Well, I guess that’s telling us! For all that, it’s an interesting summary to this (still) ongoing discussion, made impressive by the sheer number of other authors and works used to argue its case. Speaking of Mr. Aldiss, it is his novella (with the mis-spelling!) that holds prime position on the cover this month, albeit back at the rear of the magazine again. More later… To the other stories.

Confession, by Mr. John Rackham

Like last month’s story from Mr. Rackham, another tale of ‘supermen,’ here called an ‘X-person,’ which even the story banner admits has “slan- like” similarities. Despite this unoriginal concept, Confession was more en- joyable than last month’s effort. It’s set on a nicely imagined thixotropic (ketchupy) world, but really examines the tension created between disci- pline and intelligence when in a military situation, which was nicely done. Three out of five.

The Under-Privileged, by Mr. Brian W. Aldiss

The return of Mr. Aldiss to New Worlds is a welcome one, especially after his recent success with his Hothouse series in the United States. Mr. Aldiss himself celebrates this return with his usual sense of humour in an inside- cover Profile:

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The Under-Privileged is a fine story of immigration and alien resettlement which, under its positive tone, left me with a certain degree of unease, as I suspect is its goal. As ever from Mr. Aldiss, it is a story of social s-f rather than the traditional, but the style and the underlying nuances of the plot suggest a superior piece of work. It’s not Hothouse, but I enjoyed it. Four out of five.

15 April 25, 1963

The Jaywalkers, by Mr. Russ Markham

Mr. Markham’s tale is another reasonable effort in the Galactic Union Sur- vey stories, this time on a planet which is not what it seems. It’s based around a nice idea, but it almost drowns in its scientific gobbledegook explanation towards the end. Three out of five points.

I, the Judge, by Mr. R. W. Mackelworth

I really liked Mr. Mackelworth’s debut in New Worlds in January, but this one is even better. I, the Judge is a story of future law and order, in a style very different from his first story. Shocking and revelatory, I, the Judge, in terms of its literary style and its complexity of concept, dazzled. I felt that it even put Mr. Aldiss’s effort in the shade. Rather made me think of the stories of Mr. Harlan Ellison, and echoes this month’s running theme of discipline and disorder , by highlighting the value of defiance against obedience. This may be the future of s-f. It is one of the most memorable plots I’ve read in recent months. Four out of five, my favourite story of the issue.

Window On The Moon, by Mr. E. C. Tubb

The second part of this serial moves things on-apace, as it should. Our hero, Felix Larsen, tries to get to the bottom of things, whilst others pick up a mysterious means of communication leaked from the British base, which leads to a visit from the Americans. There’s a rather unpleasant parochial part about how the Brits ‘see’ Americans and vice versa, but that aside, it was surprisingly exciting, to the point where I’m going to increase last month’s score from three-out-of-five to four this month. Really look- ing forward to the conclusion next time.

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At the back of the issue there is the return of the Postmortem letters section, although there is only one, admittedly lengthy, letter, where Mr. John Baxter eviscerates Mr. Lan Wright for his Editorial in the December 1962 issue. It makes entertaining reading, if rather painful.

There’s also another The Book Review this month from Mr. John Carnell. There’s reviews of the “interesting revival” of Mr. Robert Heinlein’s Or- phans of the Sky, Mr. William Tenn’s Time in Advance and the “thoroughly enjoyable, non-cerebral” entertainment of Mr. Mark Clifton’s “wonder- fully witty” When They Come from Space. Mr. Eric Frank Russell’s collection of his early work, Dark Tides is rather less polished than his latest efforts, but still recommended.

In summary, the erroneous cover belies an issue that is much better than that typo would suggest. Whilst some stories seem to be marking time, some are great, making this one of the strongest issues I’ve reviewed so far. The future may be bright. However, I am beginning to question Mr. Carnell’s editorship, particularly after the efforts of Mr. Moorcock last month. I am starting to feel that his attention is elsewhere or, just as bad, that he is rather too stretched to focus on producing a quality magazine. This is a concern.

17 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[May 8, 1963] Dr. No, the first James Bond film, premieres in American tonight. Are you going?

18 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[May 10, 1963] Triumph! Birmingham store owners agree to desegregate lunch counters, rest rooms, fitting rooms and drinking fountains and to hire more Black Americans for sales and clerical jobs. Southern Christian Leadership Conference will end the successful business boycott.

19 More Wooden Acting The British Show, Space Patrol

May 20, 1963

by Ashley R. Pollard

The United Kingdom has recently been blessed with yet another tele- vised science fiction spectacular:Space Patrol, is a brand new puppet show produced by Roberta Leigh for the Associated British Corporation. (I’m informed that this new series will be renamed when it’s shown on American TV to Planet Patrol.) Set in the year 2100, the story chronicles the adventures of Captain Larry Dart and the crew of Galasphere 347. He is aided by Slim from Ve- nus, and Husky from Mars. The former elfin

20 GalacticJourney.org like, the latter stocky with a love for sausages. They work for the United Galactic Organization whose headquarters are set in New York. There is also a large supporting cast including: Colonel Raeburn their boss, and Marla his blonde assistant from Venus, who gets this wonder- ful line of dialogue: “There are no dumb blondes on Venus.” They’re joined on occasion by Professor Aloysius O’Brien O’Rourke Haggerty, and his daughter Cassiopeia. Appearing with them is their pet Martian parrot called, Gabblerdictum.

Space Patrol’s creator, Roberta Leigh (actually Rita Lewin née Shulman) is what I understand Americans call a bit of a mover and shaker. Not only is she the first woman to own her own television production company — National Interest Pictures — but she’s also an author with her novel In Name Only, published in 1950. In addition, she is also an accom- plished abstract artist, and music composer.

21 May 20, 1963

I became aware of her first through the children’s show Sara and Hoppity, about a dolls hospital, which was based on one of her novels. But, she’s probably better known for her collaboration with AP Films who produced Torchy the Battery Boy, a charming and delightful children’s show directed by Gerry Anderson. While Hoppity and Tor- chy were both aimed at the younger audience, Patrol looks to be aimed at a slight- ly older age group. Driven by the current interest in all things to do with space, this show introduces science fic- tion to a receptive audience. Or at least, so I surmise from the reaction of my friend’s young son whom I

22 GalacticJourney.org babysit, who sat enraptured while watching the first episode, as he did watching the other popular SF marionette shows, Supercar andFireball XL5. Like Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation series’, Space Patrol pup- pets have mouth movements that are synchronized with the voice actors’ words. Also of note, is the use of electronic music for the opening and closing credits, composed by Roberta Leigh. She really is a polymath of some con- siderable talent. While this is not the first time electronic music has been used for a production, as that credit must go to my favourite SF film of all time, Forbidden Planet, it’s still a first for television. One wonders if it will set a trend for British SF shows.

So far six episodes of Space Patrol have been transmitted: The first, The Swamps of Jupiter, involves the crew being sent to inves- tigate a scientific base they’ve lost contact with on Jupiter. OK, we shall have to overlook the small fact that Jupiter is a gas giant. But what’s interesting is that in many other respects the story sticks to what might be considered plausible science, in particular, transit time. The crew therefore travel in a freezer for their three-month journey from Earth to Jupiter. Compare this to how space travel and distances are dealt

23 May 20, 1963 with in Gerry Anderson’s Fireball XL5. In Space Patrol ships take months to travel around the Solar system while Fireball XL5 travels to other stars in no time at all. Anyway, Swamps has the crew stop Martian hunters who murdered all the scientists, and who are now hunting and killing sentient aliens for their fur. Boo hiss. But Captain Dart and Crewman Husky bring them to justice.

The second episode, The Wandering Asteroid, sees our intrepid heroes take on the mission to destroy a rogue asteroid that is heading towards the Martian capital of Wotan. Given the increased awareness in the threat that asteroids pose to life on Earth, this seems a most apt subject for a series about travel in space. I’m sure this would make a good plot for a large budget Hollywood action film. In episode three, The Dark Planet, we are introduced to Professor Hag- gerty and his daughter Cassiopeia. They’re scientists researching plants from Uranus that appear to think. After twenty people sent to survey Ura- nus are lost, the crew of Galasphere 347 go to investigate. The plants turn out to be less than friendly, and I don’t know why, but the story reminded me of the 1960 Roger Corman movie, Little Shop of Horrors, with talking plants killing people.

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Episode four is called, The Slaves of Neptune, a title that elicits a da, da, dum for setting the tone of the story. Galasphere 347 is sent to investigate. They discover that a Neptunian overlord named Tyro is behind the mysterious disappearance of a colony spaceship. He’s using his dastardly hypnotic power to enslave people. The fifth episode is called, The Fires of Mercury. The story is driven by the freezing conditions threatening the colony on Pluto. Marla, the very smart blonde Venusian assistant to Colonel Raeburn, realizes that the di- saster can be alleviated by transmitting energy from Mercury using Pro- fessor Haggerty’s invention that converts heat into radio waves.

25 May 20, 1963

The last episode I’ve watched was The Shrinking Spaceman. The gallant crew of Galasphere 347 go off to repair a sonar beam transmitter in the asteroid belt and Husky the Martian shrinks after cutting himself on one of the rocks. Put into suspended animation and taken back to Earth, Pro- fessor Haggerty is in a race against time to save him.

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In Space Patrol mankind has met aliens from stars, and law and order is being brought to the worlds. At the end of each episode we see a city of the future, clean and marvelous. The age to come certainly looks promis- ing, and with another twenty episodes to be aired, our immediate future also looks bright.

27 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[May 27, 1963] Bob #Dylan’s got a new album out. Think it’ll be a flop like his first one?

28 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[June 30, 1963] What could go wrong?

29 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[July 1, 1963] Did you get one of these? The world is getting more comput- erized and numeralized every day... #ZIPCODE

30 The Future in a Divided Land, Part 2 An Overview of Science Fiction in East and West Germany

July 8, 1963

by Cora Buhlert

I’m back to continue my overview of (West) German science fiction begun last month. Today, I’ll talk about Perry Rhodan, Germany’s most successful science fiction -se ries. The brainchild of writers Clark Dalton a.k.a. Walter Ernsting and K.H. Scheer, the “Heftroman” se- ries Perry Rhodan started two years ago, in September 1961, and will reach its landmark 100th issue in a couple of weeks. “Unternehmen Stardust”, the first issue of Perry Rhodan, begins in the not so far off future of 1971. International tensions are running

31 July 8, 1963 high and the Western Bloc, the somewhat diminished Eastern Bloc and the rising Asian Federation are at each other’s throats. In this climate, the spaceship Stardust under the command of Major Perry Rhodan of the US Space Force embarks on humanity’s first trip to the moon. However, Rho- dan and his crew find more than they bargained for when they come across an alien spaceship that crashed on the moon months before. Aboard the spaceship, Perry Rhodan and fellow crewmember Reginald Bull encoun- ter the Arkonoids, a group of humanoid aliens led by the striking Thora de Zoltral and the scientist Crest de Zoltral. The Arkonoids were on a mission to locate the legendary planet of eternal life in order to heal the cancer-stricken Crest, when their ship crashed. Thora is initially suspicious about the humans and their motives, though she is also fascinated by Perry Rhodan. Crest is more open to- wards the Earthmen and quickly strikes up a friendship with Rhodan, who offers to take him back to Earth for treatment (apparently, cancer treatment will make great advances in the eight years until then). However, instead of returning to the US, Rhodan lands the Stardust- with Crest on board in the Gobi desert, which he deems remote enough to keep the Arkonoids and their ad- vanced technology out of the hands of the warring powers of Earth. For Perry Rhodan has become dis- illusioned with the power blocs on Earth and the resulting risk of nu- clear war. So he severs his alliance with the US and the Western Bloc and declares himself a citizen of the world instead. He also founds a new state, the so-called Third Power, in the Gobi desert around the landing site of the Stardust and proceeds to recruit people from all over the world, particularly mutants with ESP powers, to his cause. And because establishing a new state requires a lot of capital, Perry Rhodan also recruits a disgraced

32 GalacticJourney.org banker named Homer G. Adams to procure said capital via clever invest- ments. In a genre which all too often portrays galactic empires operating without any economic basis whatsoever, acknowledging that empires, ga- lactic or otherwise, cost money is truly a breath of fresh air. The Western Bloc, the Eastern Bloc and the Asian Federation may be at odds otherwise, but they can all agree on one thing: Perry Rhodan and his Third Power are the enemy and must be eliminated. And so they launch a nuclear strike against the Stardust landing site and the city that has sprung up around it, only to be thwarted by superior Arkonoid technology in the form of an energy dome. Eventually, the Third Power is accepted as an independent state, while the remaining three blocs change their warlike ways and finally join the Third Power to form a united world state. Mind you, all this and more happens in the first ten issues of the series. So after having made contact with aliens, founding a state, preventing World War III, ending the Cold War and uniting and pacifying a divided Earth, the question is what will Perry Rhodan do for an encore? Well, Rhodan es- tablished a base on Venus, led an expedition to Vega, put down a ro- bot revolt, solved the great galac- tic riddle and gained immortality. What is more, he also found per- sonal happiness, when the sparks that had been flying between him and Arkonoid commander Thora blossomed into love. Perry and Thora were married and even had a son, though sadly Thora died in issue 78 published earlier this year. What is more, Thomas Cardif, Thora’s and Perry’s son, blames his father for his mother’s death and is in the pro- cess of turning into a villain in his quest for revenge. Considering at what a fast clip the plot moves, it is astonishing that the writing team, still headed by Walter Ernsting a.k.a. Clark Dalton and

33 July 8, 1963

K.H. Scheer, keeps coming up with new stories to tell. The cast continues to grow and includes such memorable characters as fan favourite Gucky, a telepathic alien rodent who just happened to look like a cross between a mouse and a beaver, and recent addition At- lan, an ancient Arkonoid who once commanded a base on the legend- ary continent of Atlantis and has recently woken from suspended animation, all portrayed on the striking covers by artist Johnnny Bruck. Unfortunately, the cast of Perry Rhodan is still overwhelm- ingly male, especially after the re- cent loss of Thora.

Because “Heftromane” are cheap and offer a lot of bang for buck, they are frequently read by teenagers and working class peo- ple. As a result, they frequently come under fire from the usual busybodies concerned about de- pictions of violence and (mild) sexuality and what these will do to impressionable minds. Until re- cently, those busybodies focussed their attention mainly on G-Man Jerry Cotton and the World War II series Der Landser, which actu- ally deserves all the criticism it receives. However, with the enor- mous success of Perry Rhodan, the series has become a new favoured

34 GalacticJourney.org target of “Heftroman” critics. The charges levelled at Perry Rhodan are largely the same that were previously hurled at G-Man Jerry Cotton and Der Landser, namely that Perry Rhodan is fascist, that the series glorifies war and violence and that it promotes racial purity and a Führer cult. Futurist Dr. Robert Jungk even referred to Perry Rhodan as the “galactic Hitler”. So how justified are those criti- cisms? Well, Perry Rhodan certain- ly is a leader figure, immortal and almost all powerful. And initially, he is not exactly an elected leader but one who appoints himself, though this is remedied in later issues, when the Third Power and later the unit- ed world state Terra elect him as their president. What is more, the Perry Rhodan series can be heavy on action and warfare on occasion, described in loving detail by K.H. Scheer, whose penchant for fight scenes has gained him the nick- name “Hand Grenade Herbert”, even though Scheer did not experi- ence any fighting in World War II, unlike his co-author Walter Ernst- ing. However, what the critics miss is that in spite of all the cosmic action and intergalactic warfare, Perry Rho- dan is a man of peace, who strives to end the Cold War and the threat of nuclear annihilation. Perry Rhodan’s friends and allies include humans of many nations and even aliens. And apart from the initial land grab in the Gobi desert, Perry Rhodan does not actually conquer other planets either. Finally, in this era of global strife, the vision of a united humanity as pre- sented in the Perry Rhodan series is certainly seductive. Considering that the first issue came out only a few months after the building of the Berlin Wall literally cemented the division of Germany (and was almost certain- ly influenced by these real world events), it is not surprising that Perry Rhodan‘s vision of a united world has struck a chord in so many fans.

35 July 8, 1963

The enormous success of Perry Rhodan did not just draw the attention of critics, but also inspired other publishers to create their own ongoing sci- ence fiction series. And so Pabel, who already had a foot in the West Ger- man science fiction market with their Utopia franchise, launched a Perry Rhodan competitor named Mark Powersin 1962, initially in Utopia and later as a separate series. Mark Powers was introduced as a former military of- ficer whose excessive courage and honesty brought him into conflict with his superiors. Now a sort of private troubleshooter, Powers and his good friend Al “Biggy” Bighead investigate mysterious objects and occurrences which inevitably involve alien invasion attempts. The central concept is not bad and might have made for an inter- esting series, especially since the first few issues were penned by Freder van Holk a.k.a. Paul Alfred Müller, a true veteran of German science fiction who had penned the “Heftroman” series Sun Koh – The Heir of Atlantis and Jan Mayen – Master of Atomic Powerbefore the war. However, audiences have moved on. The fact that Müller and his co-author K.H. Schmidt are pro- ponents of the Hollow Earth theory and insisted on integrating it into Mark Powers didn’t help either, since contemporary audiences are no longer as willing to accept sto- ries of underground civilisations inside Earth as they were in the 1930s. And while Walter Ernsting and K.H. Scheer took great care to create plot arcs and outlines for Perry Rho- dan to ensure consistency, no such efforts were made for Mark Powers. As a result, the early issues are something of a mess of unconnected stories that just happen to star two characters named Mark Powers and Al Big- head. Several early stories by authors such as J.E. Wells and Jim Parker creator Alf Tjörnsen are also obvious rewrites of earlier novels with only the names of the protagonists changed.

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The publishers attempted to save Mark Powers by forcing a radical retooling of the series from issue 19 on. Paul Alfred Müller and K.H. Schmidt were ousted and Alf Tjörnsen became head author. Mark Powers got his own spaceship, the Meteor, and a regular crew. Unfortunately, the rebooted Mark Powers hewed way too close to Perry Rhodan to develop its own identity and new characters such as the alien scientist Chrech Acham and the telepathic alien bear Smarty were clearly carbon copies of Crest and Gucky of Perry Rhodan fame. As of this writing, Mark Powers is still hanging on, though it has never managed to evolve beyond a pale Perry Rhodanclone.

And that’s it for now. Next time, we’ll take a peek across the iron curtain to see what’s going on in East German and East European science fiction.

37 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[July 24, 1963] #JFK shakes hands in the Rose Garden with the delegate to the American Legion Boys Nation, Bill Clinton.

38 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[July 20, 1963] It’s dark in here! 5th graders in Maywood, Illinois, view the first solar eclipse visible from the United States in nine years.

39 Africa: From End to End a Beautiful Garden

Vogue’s New Grand Tour

July 28, 1963

by Gwyn Conaway

Seydou Keïta, a Malian photographer, is known for his portraiture, particularly of women that simultaneously become a part of their environment and assume command of it.

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The newest Vogue offers a refreshing departure from the traditional ven- ues of Paris, London, and New York. Its pages have let me peek into the lives of people in places I’d never thought much about. For this summer’s Vogue embarks on a grand tour of Africa. It offers glimpses of Nigeria and Uganda, worlds wholly different from and beyond our own. Much like when Alice follows the White Rabbit to Wonderland, I’ve found myself both in awe of this new adventure and questioning my place within it. The words of Mary Roblee Henry struck a lasting chord with me when she wrote “Africa, in fact, has everything – except a frame of refer- ence.” As of fifty years ago, the African continent, with the exception of the Empire of Ethiopia, was entirely colonized by Europe. As a result, our American eyes have always seen Africa as an extension of our own desire for adventure, not a continent with its own rich point of view.

Marchesa Sieuwke Bisleti on her farm Marula in the Kenyan highlands with two leopard cubs. She wears a grass green linen Serengeti shirt, khaki slacks, and earthy brown leather boots.

In addition to touring Nigeria and Uganda, this issue of Vogue documents the daily life of Marchesa Sieuwke Bisleti in Kenya, where she cares for many exotic animals on her farm, Marula. Western women in their 30s crave her practical elegance. She embodies the windswept beauty of a woman who has seen adventure and now lives comfortably within that frame of mind.

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As romantic as this notion is, our sense of adventure may be a dou- ble-edged sword. On one hand, wearing bush jackets, Gurkha shorts, and khaki freesuits gives us a taste of discovering those distant, ancient, un- touched places. On the other hand, it revives imperialist sentiments just as the continent Churchill once called “from end to end one beautiful gar- den” gains its independence.

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa on leave with his children on his farm in northern Nigeria.

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Finance Minister Okotie-Eboh and his wife, both wearing Iro skirts. Okotie-Eboh was also an Itsekiri chief near the Benin River.

After devouring every page of Vogue, I turned to current events. I needed more than Western fantasies to quench my curiosity. Luckily, Queen Eliz- abeth II has been busy on the continent, working closely with the soon-to- be Federal Republic of Nigeria to recall the British protectorate. I was struck by the big personalities of Prime Minister Abubakar Ta- fawa Balewa and Finance Minister Festus Okotie-Eboh. How had I never paid attention to Nigerian politics before! Although, in the picture above, Tafawa Balewa is sitting in a casual setting, far from the pomp and cir- cumstance of the capitol, he still exudes authority, as if he belongs to the country as much as it belongs to him. Perhaps the simple, large, billowing shapes of his agbada emphasize his assumption of power. Okotie-Eboh, however, truly uses Nigerian fashion and tradition to make a grand statement. He and his wife in the image above are breath- taking, adorned in many yards of traditional Nigerian textiles, peacock

43 July 28, 1963 feathers, and coral beads. While part of me is giddy for Okotie-Eboh’s bold choices, I’m also concerned for the burgeoning republic’s image. Do his people see the grandeur as a statement of pride, or do they see indulgence and excess? This is a question I have no answer to for the moment, but leaves me feeling uneasy for the future.

Nigerian women standing for a portrait. Note that the woman in the center is wearing an English dress suit while the ladies on either side are wearing the traditional iro (skirt), buba (shirt), and gele (headwrap)

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Beyond Nigeria’s politicians, her people possess a breathtaking strength of character. More so than in any fashion line or runway show, Nigerians’ personal power and charisma is interwoven into their textiles and fashion. In the clamour to define the modern Nigerian identity, traditional and European aesthetics are caught in a fiery dance for domination. The younger generation in particular is visually torn between their new independence and the allure of western style. Men here combined sports jackets of the finest linens and tweeds with their white or brightly colored, airy agbadas and Oxford brogues. Girls wear western polka dot- ted blouses with their iros and beaded jewelry.

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Photography by J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere

Photographers like J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere and Seydou Keïta explore this in their portraiture. One moment, Ojeikere will photograph wealthy Nige- rians dressed head-to-toe as fashionable young British women, donning pumps, sundresses, and pearl earrings. The next, he’ll snap a photo of two men leaning against an enviable Rambler Ambassador parked on rich Nigerian red earth roads, one in a dress shirt and tie, the other in a traditional agbada, with a backdrop of Coca Cola trucks, stressing the country’s identity crisis.

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Sade Thomas-Fahm sources local Nigerian textiles to create her own take on European fashions.

Considering the events in Nigeria right now, I was shocked to learn how difficult it has been for these artists to blaze their creative trails. Take Sade Thomas-Fahm, for example. She’s an up-and-coming fashion designer from Nigeria, and the first woman to open her own boutique in the coun- try. Her designs combine tradition and modernism, reinventing British silhouettes with Nigerian textiles. Although it’s a perfect marriage, the public is a hard sell. It seems to me that the European influence over the African continent will be strong for many years to come. Circling back to Mary Roblee Henry, I now find myself wary of style icons such as Marchesa Sieuwke Bisleti after exploring some of Africa’s “missing” frame of reference (which I now know is not so much “miss- ing” as covered by a veil of European colonialism). Although I can’t help

47 July 28, 1963 but feel the call to adventure, the romance of bush jackets and Gurkha shorts comes with a dash of bitterness now. Instead, I think I’ll find my practical elegance elsewhere, and look to lift up the voices of those like Sade Thomas-Fahm. Now there is a true adventure.

Special Thanks to Nigerian Nostalgia Project for images from their archives.

48 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Aug. 2, 1963] Meet the “Rolling Stones,” a British blues group.

49 Engineers at Play Spacewars!, Hacking, and the PDP-1

August 14, 1963

[Want to talk to the Journey crew and fellow fans? Come join us at Portal 55! (Ed.)]

by Ida Moya

A War in Space, in the Computer

Last month the traveler reviewed the August 1963 issue of Galaxy maga- zine. His assessment of this issue was that it contained standout stories by lesser authors, and lesser stories by standout authors. But one thing our intrepid traveler did not mention was Frederik Pohl’s editorial about his visit to M.I.T.’s computer section to play a game called Spacewar! on one of their computers. Why is that a big deal? Because Spacewar! is one of the very first “computer games,” and possibly the very first not based on an existing game (Tic-Tac-Toe, Chess, Tennis, etc.)

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Editor Frederik Pohl’s editorial about Spacewar. Note too the ubiquitous advertisement for the Rosicrucians. I wonder what that is all about?

Pohl waxes poetic, imagining himself to be the Fenachrone while his op- ponent is Dick Seaton. He used a simple handheld control to fly space- ships programmed in the computer to accelerate, steer, and shoot torpe- does at one another across a cathode-screen readout. I had to look it up – those characters are from the Skylark of Space series, a work by Edward E. Smith, Ph.D., originally serialized in the pulp magazine Amazing Stories in the 1930s. Pohl doesn’t tell us what kind of computer he saw Spacewar being played on, nor does he name the people responsible for programming the computer to play such an active and compelling game. But I can take a guess from what I have seen about computing – it is a PDP-1, a Pro- grammed Data Processor-1, made by Digital Equipment Corporation.

A new way to use the Computer

These young men at M.I.T. are a different generation from the buttoned-

51 August 14, 1963 down physicists and computer scientists I work with here at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. The computer users here in the Theoretical Physics or “T” division tend to be very serious about their computing, and there is no time for frivolous use of these expensive machines. The IBM 7090 and other equipment we have is carefully guarded, and has no time for games.

The TX-0 computer at M.I.T. (Image courtesy Computer History Museum)

From what I hear, these fellows at M.I.T. are a bunch of unwashed boys who emerged from the model railroad club to play with this spare com- puter called a TX-0. This TX-0 is a transistorized version of another one- off military computer called Whirlwind, also developed at M.I.T. These young men are not doing anything like serious physics or science, but are

52 GalacticJourney.org rather doing these useless but extremely clever things like making pro- grams that convert Arabic numerals to Roman numerals in as few steps as possible. These kids could only get time on the TX-0 in the middle of the night, when other people aren’t using the valuable computer time, so they have very undisciplined habits and working hours. I hear that they call what they are doing “hacking.”

Brochure for Friden Flexowriter (Image courtesy Living Computers: Museum + Labs)

One interesting thing about this “hacking” and the computers they use is that, instead of using punched cards, like the batch processing we do on our IBM Stretch, they use a Friden Flexowriter, an unwieldy sort of teletypewriter, to make punched paper tapes of programs that they then directly feed into the computer. The hackers have direct access to the com- puter, and can fix programs themselves, rather than having to give their card deck to an operator, and hope that the results come out. That is what Pohl is talking about in his article when he says “…add another tape.”

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The PDP-1 at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

A couple of year ago, in 1961, one of the designers of the TX-0, Ken Ol- sen, founded a company he calls Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). DEC donated PDP-1 serial number 1 to M.I.T’s Research Lab for Electron- ics, and these hackers have been playing with it ever since. One of these young men, with the unlikely moniker “Slug” Russell, is a big fan of sci- ence fiction, including the swashbuckling works of E.E. Smith. He and his friends designed this “computer game,” presented on the 19-inch DEC Type 30 display. The game includes a lot of realistic physics in the move- ment of the spaceships, and a background star field based on a real star map. They must have a lot of time on their hands. The leader of “T” division here at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Roger Lazarus, is suspicious of these small “time-sharing” computers like the PDP-1. He would rather invest in larger computers where all the pow- er is used for calculating our nuclear tests, rather than sharing the power across a number of users. So we have not gotten our own PDP-1 at LASL. However, our sister institution, the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (once the University of California radiation Laboratory at Livermore), received a PDP-1 in 1961.

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Cecilia Larsen and the PDP-1

Cecilia Larsen, center, working on the PDP-1 at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Cecilia Larsen, my colleague at LRL, has told me all about working with this PDP-1. Cecilia has an interesting story of how she got into computing. She is a native of Livermore, California, where her Portuguese immigrant parents owned a small general store. She received her B.A. from Dominican Col- lege in San Rafael with a full scholarship, and then went on to UC Berkeley where she achieved an MA in history, a general secondary teaching certif- icate, and a Technical Writing certificate. She also got a certificate in Music from the University of San Francisco. Cecilia’s husband died in 1943, so she held many jobs to support her 2 children and widowed mother. A dozen years ago, in 1951, Cecilia saw an advertisement for a “Girl Friday” at what turned out to be the start up of Lawrence Radiation Labo- ratory. She works with Ernest Lawrence himself, as well as lab manag- er Sid Fernbach and that wicked Edward Teller. Did you know that Dr. Teller made Oppie, J. Robert Oppenheimer, lose his security clearance? Over what, some crazy accusation that this great man was a communist?

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What a terrible thing. At any rate, this California laboratory was set up to provide competition to the nuclear weapon design we are doing at Los Alamos, and sometimes we have strong feelings about what they are do- ing out there. Cecilia and asked for more training to become oriented toward the work of the lab, so she was placed in an internship at the University of California Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley. There she learned about the organization by working in several departments, including the Tool and Machine Shop. She later also helped set up the Laboratory’s Technical In- formation Department, a library of all of the classified documents that Dr. Teller and his team needed to use. Sounds so like what Charlotte Serber did at Los Alamos library!

Univac computer, showing various peripherals including a Unityper. (Image courtesy Computer History Museum)

Cecilia also got to travel to Philadelphia with the engineers to learn how to use their very first computer, the Univac LARC. The LARC came out be-

56 GalacticJourney.org fore the IBM Stretch, but after the IBM 7090. Back at the Lawrence Radia- tion Laboratory, Cecilia led the team of women that created the magnetic data tapes for the Univac on this cumbersome machine called a Unityper. Since your typing directly went onto magnetic tape, the work absolutely had to be correct, or you would have to start over. They would have two tapes made by different gals, and then compare them to see if they were the same. And they better be the same, or else. What a crazy system. When the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory at Livermore got their PDP- 1 it probably came with Spacewar! in memory. I hear that the engineers from Digital Equipment Corporation do that to test whether the computer was working once it is turned on at its new location. Since the Laboratory is a secure site, used to model nuclear tests, they aren’t too likely to have a lot of computer game play going on, or a lot of outright “hackers” like university computer sites are breeding. All the young engineers depend on Cecilia at the Laboratory. She al- ways remembers everything, she knows where everything is, and she is unflappable. She never loses her temper, and that is very important to all of the young guys who don’t know what they are doing there. Cecilia tells me that she didn’t see much play when she works during the day, but per- haps the younger and more audacious computer users pull out the paper tapes in the evenings when the administrators go home. In any event, it makes sense, corresponding with all the other upheav- als in our society today, that there is a new generation of computer experts coming of age who are very different from the buttoned-down white- shirt-and-tie fellows we see from IBM. Who knows what they’ll come up with next!

(By the way, though there are currently few places you can play the world’s first computer game, given my- con tacts, I think I can help you sneak in for a session or two. Just head over here. Tell them Ida sent you…)

Spacewar! in action

57 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Aug. 16, 1963] Something a friend picked up for me overseas on a lark. #Ikea. Silly name. You’d never find something like it in the States...

58 Laughing Mushrooms Ishirō Honda’s Matango

August 23, 1963

by Rosemary Benton

August has been a good but bizarre month. Early on there were great strides made towards the curtailing worldwide nuclear testing when the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States congregated in Moscow to sign the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmo- sphere, in Outer Space and Under Water. Then, like something straight out of a western, a train heading from Glasgow to London was robbed and ₤2.6 million were stolen. And that was all within the first week of August! In short it has felt like a world tipped suddenly and momentarily on its head.

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In my own world, that sense of odd juxtaposition managed to permeate my

60 GalacticJourney.org recent trip to Japan with my Aunt Mika and Uncle Ed. Knowing my inter- est in Japanese art, an invitation was extended to me to travel with them to Mika’s home town in Hiroshima Prefecture. While there, we would sight- see and witness the opening of Sanyo Women’s College, a junior women’s college that my cousin would be attending. After a six hour flight to Honolulu, another eight hour flight to Tokyo, and finally, a two hour domestic flight to the new Hiroshima airport, we were on our way to Mika’s family home. Twenty-four hours beyond that the grand opening of the school had concluded and a small group of us, including my aunt, were all going into a theater for the evening to watch the new Ishirō Honda’s survival horror movie Matango at the behest of the Western guests – my uncle and myself. Like the month of August, my trip was about to go from a celebration of civility and education to a chill- ing and eye-opening clash of film and culture.

The plot of Matango I can truthfully only retell in broad terms. With my limited understanding of Japanese, I relied on the short synopses and key dialogue that Mika and Ed were generous enough to translate for me. As it was explained to me, a group of five wealthy upper class nouveau riche and their two crew members are shipwrecked when their yacht is caught in a storm. As their di- lapidated ship floats further and further off course, tempers begin to wear thin, until they come into sight of a mist shrouded tropical island. However, they soon realize that things haven’t improved for them. After consulting the logs of a beached oceanography vessel they conclude that their situation is dire. The island was previously un- known, although it was being in- vestigated by an international team of scientists studying the effects of

61 August 23, 1963 radiation. Strangely, members of the crew began disappearing, and while the reason is not clear, our protagonists believe that it could be traced to the abundant mushrooms that cover the humid island. Mushrooms, it is cryptically noted in the logs, that have “neurological effects.”

As time passes and they work to make the yacht sea worthy, we see tensions begin to flare. This eventually culminates in a split between the survivors. After a failed attempt to gain control of the group and force them to con- sume some of the fungus, two of the people are banished into the jungle. Eventually the need for food drives all but one of the men and one of the women into the depths of the jungle. Inevitably, the woman too falls to the need for food and begins eating the mushrooms. Running after her, the sole survivor finds his companion eating the fungus along with the rest of their group, all of whom are in various stages of transformation into walking piles of mushrooms. The movie concludes with the survivor ad- mitting that he too, adrift at sea and at a breaking point devoid of all hope, succumbed to hun- ger and ate some of the mushrooms. He dramatically turns and we see the be- ginning stages of fungus enveloping his face.

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Matango is, in all aspects, a well made film. Its story is well balanced in terms of pacing, and while I was not privy to the nitty gritty lines of dia- logue, I was still able to tell the basic personality traits and motives for the cast of characters based nearly entirely on the body language of the actors. The special effects should also be noted for their grotesque look and very visceral texture. They not only look horrifying, but wet, painful, and as if they would possess a stomach wrenching smell. It wasn’t surprising to hear the audience gasp at the first sight of a partially transformed mush- room-person, but it was telling that by the end of the movie the rest of the theater seemed to be in a state of gripped morbid fascination. I had been informed on our way to the theater that the film had nearly been banned for the special effects’ close resemblance to radiation burns, but only after seeing the film myself and then witnessing the audience’s reaction could I really begin to appreciate that.

As can be expected from Ishirō Honda, the focus of Matango is not on the actual final transformation of humans into mushrooms, but the tragic fall and eventual apathy of individuals desperate to survive. The actual “hor- ror” of this horror movie is very characteristically Japanese. By this I mean that the monster of the story, in this case the fungus, is not doing anything intentionally malicious. It simply exists and has motives for survival that are contrary to the survival of humanity. It’s the monster’s/fungus’ very existence and ability to control and destroy humanity that is terrifying.

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Other Japanese films we’ve seen this theme: In Godzilla the titular giant lizard was disturbed and forced out of its natural habitat by under- water hydrogen bomb testing. Rodan likewise featured a beast disturbed by nuclear testing which forced it out of its home. The “Snowman” in Half Human was a yeti-like creature defending himself against pursuing humans.

Where we see Ishirō Honda’s real skill as a science fiction/horror screen- writer is his ability to take this monster-by-necessity motivation and tie it in with an even greater enemy – apathetic acceptance. In the films I men- tion above the protagonists eventually triumph by fighting harder and smarter than the monster. But in Matango the time spent humanizing each of the seven passengers is all the more tragic as they all succumb to an age old enemy that can’t be beaten: hunger. This leads to a horror greater than the human to mushroom transformation – the calm willingness of the human characters to join the mushrooms once they have given up and stopped fighting their need for food.

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As our group was walking home after the movie we were all abuzz with thoughts. The general consensus was that the movie had been very dis- turbing both visually and in terms of atmosphere. It wasn’t the feel-good, uplifting, fun kind of Ishirō Honda film that we had been expecting, Hon- da, of course, being the director of the original Godzilla and the recent Godzilla vs. King Kong. Indeed it seemed that the majority of the group found it to be too dark and not what they had really been in the mood for. With other concurrent films like Bushido, Samurai Saga and Alone Across the Pacific still resonating with action, Japanese pride and intense mes- sages of determination, seeing a film so solidly nihilistic felt off kilter. Personally I couldn’t help enjoying it, being a fan of horror and science fiction, but I could definitely appreciate the hesitancy of my hosts to em- brace such a film.

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The rest of the trip passed too quickly. But although it was a memorable and successful trip with family, there will always be that kink in the un- paralleled adventure; that event that strangely juxtaposed with the rest of my time in Japan. My “great train robbery” if you will; that very odd, fascinating, well executed but strangely timed release, Matango.

66 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Sep. 4, 1963] Good morning. Alabama schools were integrated today, but some very fine people are protesting.

67 Oh Brave New World The 1963 Worldcon

September 5, 1963

by Gideon Marcus

This has been a year of many firsts. My first year as a full-time writer, my first published fiction story, and now, my first Worldcon. Ever since I be- came a science fiction fan back in 1950, Worldcons have been mysterious, half-magic events that happened to other people. I’d read reports in Fanac or Science Fiction Times or heard summaries from attendees, but they were never real for me. Until now. On August 31, 1963, I walked through the doors of the Statler-Hil- ton in Washington D.C. and attended Discon I, August 31 – September 2, 1963.

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The Statler-Hilton in Washington D.C.

It was a weekend of panels, shopping, heated debate, raucous partying, fantastic costumes, and writers. There, in the flesh, I saw some of the titans of a field I am just entering. Most of them were somehow apart from me, beyond my ability to connect with at more than a perfunctory level. Others were more than happy to mingle. For instance, rising star Bob Silverberg, shared banter and contact information. Of course, Silverberg is the fellow who wrote the second-most offensive story I’ve ever read, the one that turned me off of the magazine Venture forever. One can only hope he’s grown out of his reactionary mindset.

Silverbob, himself! (from fanac)

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But in addition to the cavalcade of celebrities, there were, of course, the hundreds of fans, and boy did we have fun together. The names of a few with whom I connected: Denise Head, Al Jackson, Myriam Warren, Larry Niven, Joe Haldeman. I even spent a little time palling around with young Astrid Anderson (daughter of Karen and Poul — I never quite managed to cross their path). Precocious kid. She’s going places.

As usual, Galactic Journey presented a panel on the current state of fandom. The room was packed, and the questions were excellent. There was just one moment of heat: an attendee took umbrage at our less-than-flattering comments regarding Barry Goldwater. Well, it’s a free country.

Leiber, Emsh, Ley, Scithers, Brackett, Asimov, De Camp (from locus)

On the last day, we crammed into the main hall for the award ceremony. The highlight of the luncheon was, without a doubt, the final award for “Dramatic Presentation.” You see, Isaac Asimov was presenting, as he

70 GalacticJourney.org usually does (a rumor that it would be Ted Sturgeon turned out to be un- founded — he wasn’t there). He made his little introductions for each of the winners, with increasing irritation as the night wore on. You see, he really wanted a Hugo, and he was upset that he had nev- er gotten one in his 25 years of writing. And now that he’d transitioned to mostly writing science articles, it was becoming clear (to him) that he never would. Once he reached the last envelope, he took a moment to treat us all to a tirade. He knew, he said, why he had never gotten the golden rock- etship. It had nothing to do with merit. It was anti-semitism, plain and simple. We were all Nazis. Yes, even me. And with a snarl, he ripped open the final envelope and called out, “The award goes to I…” and froze, his tongue tripping on his own name. It turned out that there was no Dramatic Presentation award this year. In- stead, Asimov was given a Hugo for his F&SF science articles — “putting the science in science fiction,” the award read. The laughter lasted quite a long time. As for the rest of the Hugos, well, here’s how they went:

Best Novel

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick [Putnam, 1962]

Nominees • Sword of Aldones by Marion Zimmer Bradley [Ace, 1961] • A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke [Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962] • Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper [Avon, 1962] • Sylva by Vercors [Putnam, 1961]

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H. Beam Piper in tie at the convention (from zarthani)

This selection is truly remarkable. Not a single one of these books made our Galactic Stars list this year (though, to be fair, A Fall of Moondust was on our list the prior year). The Dick is decent, but not Hugo-worthy; ditto the Piper. The Bradley is just awful. None of us read Sylva, a French novel about a woman who turns into a fox, so we can’t judge that one.

Short Fiction

The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance [Galaxy Aug 1962]

Nominees • Myrrha by Gary Jennings [F&SF Sep 1962] • The Unholy Grail by Fritz Leiber [Fantastic October 1962] • When You Care, When You Love by Theodore Sturgeon [F&SF Sep 1962] • Where Is the Bird of Fire? by Thomas Burnett Swann [Science Fantasy Apr 1962]

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Costumes of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser at the convention (from fanac)

Here, we’re on more common ground. Of course, the WorldCon commit- tee only picks five sub-novel length stories to award while the Journey gives out fifteen, which allows more opportunities for overlap between the two sets of awards. The Vance is really an excellent novella, and I understand a sequel may be in the works. The Leiber is definitely deserving, and its warm re- ception appears to have spurred a host of new Fahfrd and Mouser stories. The Sturgeon is a reasonable choice, though it was not one of ours. We were not so taken by the Jennings, and we missed out on the Swann. Would any of our fellow travelers like to clue us in?

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Best Dramatic Presentation

No Winner

Nominees • Burn, Witch, Burn (1962) (alt: Night of the Eagle) [Anglo- Amalgamated/ Independent Artists] Directed by Sidney Hayers; Screenplay by Charles Beaumont & Richard Matheson and George Baxt; based on the novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber • The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) [British Lion/Pax] Directed by Val Guest; Written by Wolf Mankowitz & Val Guest • Last Year at Marienbad (1962) [Argos Films] Directed by Alain Resnais; Screenplay by Alain Resnais and Alain Robbe-Grillet; based on the novel The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares • The Twilight Zone (TV series) by Rod Serling [CBS]

From The Twilight Zone episode Little Girl Lost

As described above, no program managed to secure the gold rocket ship this year. In any event, I am dismayed that we only covered two of the finalists. We will endeavor to Do Better!

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Best Professional Magazine

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ed. by Robert P. Mills and Avram Davidson

Nominees • Analog Science Fiction and Fact ed. by John W. Campbell, Jr. • Galaxy ed. by H. L. Gold • Fantastic ed. by Cele Goldsmith • Science Fantasy ed. by John Carnell

Once again, the names are the same but the order changes. There just aren’t that many magazines around these days, though there has been a resurgence lately (and I just read that Wonder Stories may be back!) I wonder if we should start covering Science Fantasy…

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Best Professional Artist Roy G. Krenkel

Nominees • Ed Emshwiller • Virgil Finlay • Jack Gaughan • John Schoenherr

Krenkel’s is a name I was unfamiliar with until recently. He’s the one re- sponsible for the beautiful cover work on the Edgar Rice Burroughs re- prints. The others are, of course, staples of the magazine world.

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Best Fanzine

Xero ed. by Richard A. Lupoff and Pat Lupoff

Nominees • Warhoon ed. by Richard Bergeron • Mirage ed. by Jack L. Chalker • Yandro ed. by Robert Coulson and Juanita Coulson • Shangri L’Affaires ed. by Fred Patten, Albert Lewis, Bjo Trimble and John Trimble

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“Where is Galactic Journey?” you cry. After all, it was widely reported that our beloved journal would be on the ballot this year. Sadly, due to some arcane rule I don’t quite understand, Galactic Journey was not eligible for the Hugo in 1963. Maybe next year…

Despite our not having officially been on the ballot, the Journey was invit- ed to the Sunday night reveling that is traditional for Hugo losers. We sent a representative; however, the Traveler and Editor decided to get some much-needed rest. It had been a roller-coaster of a week, and we wanted to be fresh for the return to San Diego. Nevertheless, Worldcon was a blast. We loved the venue, the friends, and the programming. We will definitely attend next year. Hope to see you there!

[We’ll be discussing the Hugo winners, losers, and shoulda-beens all week, starting now, at Portal 55! Come join us!]

78 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Sep. 6, 1963] The Air Force is launching big spy sats these days. Is it another #SAMOS, or are they bet- ting on a big film-recovery spy sat? That’d be quite a #GAMBIT...

79 Druids at College An Old Religion for a New Era

September 7, 1963

[Our archivist, a self-described “kook,” has a strong interest in consciousness expansion and a belief that our world’s new technologies need to be integrated with new mental and spiritual techniques. In this, she is not alone. New Age religions have been popping up all over the place as the post-WW2 generation of young adults tries to make sense of our regimented world. She returns to writing to cover one of the latest spiritual organizations. Note, this article is for informa- tional purposes only, and should not be considered an endorsement…unless it’s your kind of kookery, of course!]

by Erica Frank

Like many private colleges, Carleton College in Minnesota requires that students regularly attend religious services. They don’t specify which religion, expecting that Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Muslims will each worship in their own way, but they expect the worship to conform to conventional flavors. Earlier this year, in May, a group of students at Carleton found a creative way around this directive: the students recently announced that they are now druids, and that they have been holding wor- ship services at a stone altar outdoors rather than in any of the churches near campus.

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Not much is known about the historical druids of Britain, who were sup- pressed by the Romans until the older religion was either destroyed or went so far into hiding that it faded into folklore. What we know of them mostly comes from Latin and Gaelic writers almost two thousand years ago, reporting that druids served as holy men, doctors, judges, and ed- ucators. (They were also reported to be sorcerers, shape-changers, and weather-witches; sorting fact from rumor is difficult.) They were priests of a pre-Christian religion that venerated nature; while they did not build Stonehenge, they are believed to be the spiritual heirs of those who did. Taking inspiration from the ancient druids, some students are calling themselves the “Reformed Druids of North America.” They have rejected religious orthodoxy in favor of nature-focused spirituality. They insist that their religious ceremonies involve wearing long robes and making sacri- fices (of vegetables) to the Earth-Mother… and drinking whiskey, which is derived from grain and is therefore one of the holy gifts of nature.

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They outlined the two tenets of their religion:

1. North American Reformed Druids believe that one of the many ways in which the object of man’s search for religious truth can be found is through Nature, the Earth-Mother. 2. North American Reformed Druids believe that Nature, being one of the primary concerns in man’s life and struggle, and being one of the Objects of Creation, is important to man’s spiritual quests.

Canny readers may notice that these two statements can be rephrased as:

1. Religion is in nature. 2. Nature is religious.

While that’s a bit simplistic, it would be hard to argue that there is no truth in the two statements, nor that countless religions have not included similar concepts. Their services draw from several religious traditions, and member- ship in their church is available to anyone who asks and partakes of the “Waters of Life” – a phrase which they may have borrowed from Hein- lein’s recent Hugo winner, Stranger in a Strange Land, although similar concepts exist in many religions. The concept of “water-brotherhood” has appeared among some students; these students aren’t claiming to follow Heinlein’s fictional religion, but may have been inspired by parts of it. Their mention of the Earth-Mother may have been inspired by the re- cent explorations of Catal Huyuk, a prehistoric settlement in Turkey. The site was discovered in 1961, and is still being excavated. James Mellaart’s discovery of the Seated Woman sculpture, showing a regal image flanked by lionesses, is widely understood to indicate a paleolithic matriarchal culture worshiping a mother-goddess.

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These discoveries match what Gerald Gardner outlined in his 1954 book, Witchcraft Today: that the Stone Age religion worshipped the Great Mother, and that this “Old Religion” is being revived in the modern era. While Gardner’s focus is on the “witchcraft religion” in England, several

83 September 7, 1963 groups inspired by ancient religions have begun to make an appearance in the US, including the Carleton College druids. Some suspect that the druid group is a prank, nothing more than a way to get out of attending stuffy church services. Instead of listening to a preacher talk about sin, they have a picnic on the lawn, with some robes and chanting to the Earth-Mother to make it qualify as a religious service. If it is just a way to dodge the rules, it is an effective test of the administra- tion’s tolerance and adherence to its own policies; since the requirement to attend services doesn’t specify religion, there is no way to ban these “services” without declaring that this is not, in fact, a religion. Their new Arch-Druid said, “Our services of worship are public, and have been held regularly for the past month and a half and we feel that they in every way fulfill not only the letter but the spirit of the religious requirement.” The students have been holding public services attended by dozens of people, and their chants and prayers seem to be as spiritual as those of any mainstream faith. It will be interesting to see what these druids do in the future. The services have started up again this school year, and if the attendees have found some real spiritual value in their “druid religion,” it may have some real staying power.

84 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Sep. 11, 1963] #Apollo got a baby test on Little Joe 2, August 28, 1963... #NASA

85 Coming Up for Air The October 1963 Amazing

September 13, 1963

by John Boston

So, there was a big civil rights march in Washington—quarter of a million people, the papers say. Lots of eloquent speeches and fine sentiments. It could make you think that the racial caste system that America was built on is finally starting to change. But I wonder. I work after school and on Saturdays at the local public library here in this small Kentucky town. Every now and then some of my fellow high school students drop in and spend some time at the magazine rack. One of the magazines they always look at is Ebony, which as you probably know is sort of a Life magazine for the Negro community: large-sized and glossy, with articles about famous or distinguished Negroes, social problems of interest, etc. It runs the same ads as Life and other slick magazines, but with Negro models.

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These students leaf through Ebony looking at the ads, and snickering. Nothing is more hilarious to them than a Negro wearing a well cut suit, sipping an expensive whiskey, or behind the wheel of a prestigious car. These scoffers are not the local hoodlums; they are kids from respected families who make good grades and don’t get in trouble with the po- lice—the Leaders of the Twenty-First Century, as they like to put it on the Mickey Mouse Club.

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So marches in Washington are nice, and the proposed civil rights leg- islation will be great if it passes, but how much difference are they going to make along the back roads of Kentucky and similar places where atti- tudes like these prevail? I guess we’ll know in a few decades.

The October 1963 Amazing, on the other hand, is right here and we can pass judgment now. It’s a considerable improvement over last month’s, since there’s nothing in it that’s grossly stupid or offensive (Robert F. Young is

88 GalacticJourney.org nowhere in sight.) There’s nothing outstanding either, but at least some of this material falls short in more interesting ways than usual. The lead story is Cordwainer Smith’s Drunkboat . Smith’s last seven stories—his production over the past three years—have all appeared in Galaxy, If, or Fantasy & Science Fiction, and this one’s appearance in Amaz- ing strongly suggests that it was rejected by those higher-paying and at least slightly more prestigious outlets. It’s not hard to see why: it’s a mess. On the other hand, a Cordwainer Smith mess is more interesting than many other authors’ successes. Sometimes with Smith, there is in the end a fairly straightforward story, but it’s told backwards or sideways, and swathed in stylistic antics and bizarre inventions, and the reader’s task is to appreciate them without becoming too distracted to figure out what the hell is going on. Here, the basic idea is one you hear every day on Top 40 radio, 30 or 40 times if you leave it on long enough: guy wants his baby back. Another guy, a Lord of the Instrumentality, has figured out a way to exploit this desire into a world(s)-changing discovery. To get there, you navigate a series of flash- backs and –forwards; an absurd if lively series of events at a hospital of the future, which offers some of the more bizarre medical techniques ever proposed; and a court of inquiry of the Lords of the Instrumentality, along with a rather alarming expository lump about how the Instrumentality actually operates. Much of this is told in a rather affected style that lies somewhere between saga and baby-talk. (First sentence: “Perhaps it is the saddest, maddest, wildest story in the whole long history of space.”) The problem is the center doesn’t hold. The distractions overcome the story rather than seasoning it; it’s basically out of control. On the other hand, maybe that’s the point: the main character (the guy looking for his love) is called Artyr Rambo, seemingly named after a French poet who I gather was pretty far out of control himself. He was also fond of absinthe, which may have something to do with the story’s title (otherwise very poorly accounted for). Anyway, three stars for the entertainment value of sorting it all out. A nod also goes to cover artist Lloyd Birmingham, who picks up on the story’s overtones of childishness with a cover that reflects a close reading of the story and is done in a style reminiscent of what children might do with scissors, construction paper, and glue, though of course much more complex and better executed.

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The other novelet represents (be very afraid) the Return of the Classic Re- prints, in the form of The Prince of Liars by one L. Taylor Hansen, from the October 1930 Amazing. The L is allegedly for Louise, though Sam Mos- kowitz says in his introduction that it’s not clear whether Louise actually wrote the several stories under this byline or whether she was fronting for her brother. This question might be more interesting if the story were. It starts out with a disquisition on relativity, then turns into a drawing-room frame story in which the narrator recounts what he was told by a mysteri- ous character whose rooms are full of old books and artifacts.

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The story proper starts out with more about relativity, then segues into one about a young Greek man, kidnapped by pirates, who escapes and takes refuge in a temple, where he encounters an extraordinarily beautiful woman, who isn’t what she seems, and soon enough he’s on an alien spaceship, and relativity comes back into play, etc. etc. It’s quite well written and is more the stuff of 1900-vintage scientific romance than of 1930s magazine SF, halfway between Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs I suppose, but lacking the intellectual incisiveness that keeps Wells inter- esting even at this late date. Three stars for literacy and readability, but pretty dated.

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Philip K. Dick is here with his first short SF in almost four years,Stand-By . He’s been busy in the interim with his Hugo-winning novel The Man in the High Castle and with All We Marsmen, now being serialized in Worlds of Tomorrow. He’s also, rumor has it, made a few unsuccessful attempts at contemporary novels. Stand-By starts with a brilliant small notion: the news clown (can’t you just see it down the road?) but then mostly throws it away. Instead, we are shown a world in which the American Presidency is occupied by a computer, with a stand-by President in case Unicephalon goes out of commission. Stand-by dies, and his place is taken by lazy schlumpf Max Fischer, because he’s next on the union seniority list. Then Unicephalon goes on the blink, so it’s Max into the breach just as an extraterrestrial invasion fleet breezes into the Solar System. Unqualified President Max learns to enjoy power and its abuses in ways that I am sure could never happen here. News clown Jim Briskin becomes his completely serious antagonist, and upon Unicephalon’s resuscitation, Max is out and the alien invasion fades into the background. This reads more like a rambling stand-up routine than a story, but nonetheless it’s clever, amusing, and readable enough. Three stars, and a hope that Dick regains the form of some of his older and more penetrating stories like Autofac and The Father-Thing.

Roger Zelazny is back with The Misfit, a minor item on a familiar theme that might seem better if we didn’t know he’s capable of more. Protago- nist is trapped in an artificial reality; he wants out to the real one; how will he know if he’s found it? Zelazny has the good sense to keep it very short. Three stars for insubstantiality well turned.

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Larry Eisenberg contributes his second SF story, The Fastest Draw, which is clever but contrived and a bit turgid. An electronics genius is hired to per- fect a simulated old-West gunfighter game for an eccentric millionaire and succeeds too well. For something this trivial, Eisenberg should take les- sons in brevity from Zelazny—then maybe he’d rate more than two stars.

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Sam Moskowitz has another SF Profile, this one of Edmond Hamilton, which is well below his usual standard both in substance and execution. It ignores major stretches of Hamilton’s career (all of the 1950s, and most of the 1940s, and his entire engagement with comic books) and is also ex- ecrably written, even for klunkmeisterMoskowitz. Consider this sentence: “Romance and marriage was approached via many delays and detours.” Two stars, Sam, and you’re getting off easy. Don’t come back until you take some remedial English!

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So, once more, this magazine seems to be looking up. But . . . from the Coming Next Month squib: “From the long-locked safe of Edgar Rice Bur- roughs comes a never-before-published manuscript” in which the protag- onists “sail the fiery seas of Molop Az in the search for Hodon the Fleet One and Dian the Beautiful”! I’m scheduling my lobotomy now.

95 Out of Sight The Man with the X-Ray Eyes

September 19, 1963

by Lorelei Marcus

When a new science fiction movie comes out for me to review, my father usually proposes it as, “There’s a new movie to watch.” This means I go in blind with nothing but the title and a few actors’ names to fill me in on what to expect. What I hope for is a movie so horrendously bad I can laugh my way through and then write an easy article with a comedic spin about how terrible it was. What I often get is a mediocre movie that leaves me feeling like I could’ve spent my time in better ways, but gives me easy enough content to fill my articles with.

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However, once in a while I get a very good movie that makes me think and is enjoyable all the way through. In this case our diamond in the rough is The Man With the X-Ray Eyes, a movie so good that, as I sat down I was left at a loss for words. See, I was ecstatic to have witnessed such a great movie, but that also meant I was going to have to write a great article to go with it. A movie with this complex a story is not an easy beast to tackle, but that won’t stop me from trying!

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Our movie follows Dr. Xavier as he develops (and like any good doctor, tests on himself) a serum that will allow him to enhance his eyesight. At first the serum seems to have simple x-ray effects, removing clothes, look- ing through walls, etc., but that’s only the beginning. He uses his new- found powers to operate on a little girl, saving her life. However, the se- rum is also potentially dangerous; in one scene, he tests the serum on a monkey (a scene that caused both me and my dad to shout ‘Konga!’), and the animal dies immediately after taking a large dose.

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I won’t say any more because frankly, this movie threw me and my fa- ther for a loop with how simply unpredictable it was! We were expecting the classic plot of “Man gets power that eventually drives him crazy and turns him into a monster,” but this movie is anything but. Nearly every moment had us guessing what would happen next. The story was truly something new and refreshing that took the trope of x-ray vision down a new intriguing path.

This movie is especially impressive considering the budget wasn’t super large. Like Panic! In Year Zero (Another movie starring Ray Milland) it made up for what it lacked in effects with provocative storytelling instead. That’s not to say the special effects were bad, though I did find it tiring when they kept showing the “x-ray vision” — basically a glorified kalei- doscope filter. The most effective effect, I’d say, was when we got to see a room of people doing the twist — naked! It was the one time it truly felt like we were seeing the world through x-ray vision.

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The linchpin that made this movie so great was definitely the characters and the actors portraying them. Ray Milland gave an excellent perfor- mance, as always, and played a convincing balance of under stress but not quite crazy. Don Rickles effectively played a corrupt circus worker (espe- cially interesting considering he’s known for his Vegas Comedy act).

Finally, Diana Van der Vlis plays Doctor Diane Fairfax, one of the best

100 GalacticJourney.org characters in the movie. It was incredibly refreshing to see a strong , intel- ligent woman played as something much more than a simple love inter- est, in fact, she’s Xavier’s boss! Doctor Fairfax was a complex character who was critical to the story and very enjoyable to watch: I hope other movies feature similar characters.

In sum, this movie has a deep and compelling plot, potent special effects, and fantastic acting. It was a roller coaster of an experience, keeping me and my dad on the edges of our seats the entire time. A solid film, deserv- ing of four out of five stars. I would recommend you watch this and try to predict the end. I’d love to hear responses of how far off your predictions get! This is the Young Traveler, signing off.

101 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Oct. 31, 1963] The Control Data Corporation’s #3200: .8Mhz frequency, 24-bit bus, 96K of memory, and only $200,000! Coming soon.

102 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Oct. 31, 1963] Halloween in Camelot.

103 An Integral Future Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We

November 11, 1963

by Margarita Mospanova

Hello, dear readers! Do you have books that you’ve always wanted to read but never got the chance to? Books that you’ve heard so much about they’ve long since made their place in your bookish plans and budgets, but haven’t quite managed to reach your hands? The reason these books remain unopened still might be lack of time. Not quite full wallet. Or simply their absence from the nearest bookstore. But in my case, the reason often was censorship. It won’t come as a surprise to many of you, but being a published author in the USSR almost unfailingly meant having to obey various rules and regulations of the people in power, written or unwritten. As such, many of the titles that I undoubtedly would have greatly enjoyed at the time were rebuffed by the editors before they even saw the light of day.

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Now that I no longer reside in the Soviet Union, obtaining Soviet books is even harder. However, some of them were fortunate enough to trickle through the borders, with or without their authors. And here we come to the subject of this humble review. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, written in 1921 and first published in Eng- lish in 1924 in New York, is still very much forbidden in USSR. The origi- nal Russian edition only came out in 1952 and, again, only in New York. Having read the book, I can certainly see why.

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The story is set far in the future, at least a thousand years or more, with the world having been conquered by a so called United State. As the name implies, there are no other countries or nations, though that might be at- tributed to the fact that a war wiped out more than 99% of the planet’s population several centuries earlier. Curiously enough, though perhaps not unexpectedly at all, the war was fought over food and resulted in the creation of a petroleum-based substance that took its place on the people’s plates. The more conventional meals were slowly forgotten. The nation, meanwhile, is governed by a single person, called the

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Well-Doer, who is overly fond of mass surveillance and standardizing his subjects. Names have been replaced by given numbers. People live in glass, completely transparent, apartments, and cannot draw down the curtains unless they have, ah, received the pink permission slip. Yes, it means exactly what you think it means. When they go to sleep, they no longer dream, as dreaming is an illness and has been cured long ago. At breakfast, they chew exactly 50 times per each bite. On the streets, they move as one, marching in lines, wearing the same uniforms. Confusing emotions and imagination gave way to logic and reason. To formulae, equations, and science. There is no freedom. The people are happy. They are also planning to build a space rocket (with the appropriate mathematical name, “The Integral”) to share their way of life with any extraterrestrial life forms they might encounter. The story follows one of the lead builders working on the rocket. A model citizen, D-503, decides to start a jour- nal, depicting his daily life and thoughts, and then put it onto the rocket. Enlighten the aliens, so to speak. I will let you, dear read- ers, read for yourself exactly what we learn through each of D-503’s entries, but suf- fice it to say, action, drama, and (really, really awkward) romance abound. As well as, at times, rather confused ramblings of a man who has never before been confront- ed with illogical feelings.

the author

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Naturally, I read the novel in Russian. However, I did take time to peruse the 1924 English translation as well. On its own, it seems to be a fairly good read, but I’m afraid it falls somewhat short of the source. In the Russian We the writing is uneven, full of short bursts and ragged edges, that seem to be smoothed or faded when one opens up the English copy. And I’m not talking about the length of the sentences, but rather the structure and choice of words. Still, that slight demerit only really mat- ters if one makes it a point to compare the two versions. If you have the chance (and ability) read it in Russian. Otherwise, the English copy will serve perfectly well. The style of prose itself is very much in tune with the character, never straying too far from what we might expect, and yet delivering a gripping account of D-503’s deconstruction of his own world. The contrast between the mathematical precision of some parts and emotional upheavals of the others works nicely to highlight the faults of the world Zamyatin built. Despite the bleakness and sheer uniformness of the United State, the characters we meet throughout the novel are vibrant and very much alive. Every single one of them has something to say, and every single one of them is worth listening to. The characters are the novel’s strongest side, and after finishing the book, I caught myself wanting to know what hap- pens to them next. In fact, the characters have quite possibly outshone any and all pos- sible allusions to USSR and its problems for me. The satire and criticisms are plain, don’t get me wrong, but considering that Zamyatin wrote the book when the Soviet Union was only in its infancy, the impression they left with me is not quite as deep as one might expect. I greatly enjoyed We, for all its dystopian gloominess. This is a book that has now become a permanent fixture on my bookshelves and I fore- see many rereads in its future. And so, dear readers, I invite you to try it out for yourselves. I promise it will not disappoint. I give “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin five integrals out of five.

108 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Nov. 16, 1963] Does anyone know what the Kingsmen are saying? Ah well. It’s a good song, nonetheless! www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQMIjFDNjs4

109 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Nov. 22, 1963] BREAKING: President John F. Kennedy died at approxi- mately 1:00 CST today of a gunshot wound to the brain. Police are chas- ing down the President’s assailant, who has shot and killed a local police officer.

110 Dr. Who? An Adventure in Space and Time

December 3, 1963

by Jessica Holmes

A New Science Fiction Series Lands At The BBC

Hello, class! Some of you may remember me from last month’s article on the Arecibo observatory. For those who don’t: hello, my name is Jessica, and I am an artist who likes science. A lot of people think of the arts and sciences as being at odds with one another, and although I lean towards the arts, I don’t see why they have to be separated. The structure of a DNA helix is like a work of sculpture. The exquisite tile patterns found in buildings around the Islamic world are designed according to mathematical principles. Science can be art, and art can be science. So, why am I waffling on about this? Because I believe that the adventure we’re about to embark on will prove my assertion.

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Produced by Verity Lambert (the BBC’s youngest and only woman pro- ducer), Doctor Who is the new science fiction series from the BBC, about the mysterious eponymous old man and his machine that allows him to travel through time and space. Along with him are his granddaughter, Susan, and two of her school teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. Together, they’ll travel backwards and forwards through history, and up- side down and sideways through the universe. According to the Radio Times, each adventure may bring them to the North Pole, distant worlds devastated by neutron bombs (well, THERE’S a relevant story for you!), and even the caravan of Marco Polo. I also hear this show is to have a bit of an educational element, so I’ll be looking forward to seeing how that goes. I wouldn’t normally cover such a mundane thing as opening credits, but I think in this case it would be remiss of me not to draw attention to them. The theme music itself is exciting and memorable, and sounds truly from another world from the first few bars. Accompanying this is a novel visual effect (or at least, one I haven’t seen before) of abstract swirls

112 GalacticJourney.org pulsating and contorting. I did a little research into how it was done, and it turns out this effect is actually quite simple: it’s feedback. Much as plac- ing a microphone close to its own output speaker produces an extremely unpleasant screech, pointing a camera at its own output monitor yields ‘howlaround’ feedback in the form of these abstract waves. Enough technical talk. On with the episode.

Wandering the Fourth Dimension We had a bit of an unusual situation in the release of this premier episode. It was shown, in fact, last week, but for obvious reasons not a lot of people watched it, not to mention the nationwide blackout we suffered that night. It was shown again immediately before the second episode of the serial, which I shall be covering next time. We fade in from the opening onto a dark, misty shot of a police of- ficer on the beat, passing by a gate labelled with the words ‘I.M. Foreman, Scrap Merchant, 76 Totters Lane’. The music gives its cue something is about to happen. The camera closes in on the gate, which swings open to reveal…a junkyard. Shocking, I know. We track forwards into the scrap merchant’s yard, passing by a police box as we pan upwards, and then, just as the viewer starts to wonder what we’re supposed to be looking at, back to the police box, from within which comes a low hum.

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We zoom in on the familiar sign—well, familiar to those of us in my coun- try, anyway. They’re quite common, these big blue boxes, though they are sometimes found in other colours, dotted around Britain’s streets. Inside each is a telephone connected directly to the local police station, allowing both the public and local police to quickly and easily call for assistance wherever they may be. They can even be used to hold detainees until re- inforcements arrive, and I won’t even get started on their other, less or- thodox uses. And now we see the title card: An Unearthly Child. This episode was written by Anthony Coburn. Just when I think we’re about to find out what’s inside this police box, we cut away to the sound of a school bell, and find ourselves at Coal Hill School, where we meet two of our main characters for the first time: Ian Chesterton, science master, and Barbara Wright, history teacher. These at- tentive (or perhaps it’d be more accurate to call them nosy) teachers have a conundrum on their hands. It’s not an academic matter that ails them, but one of their students, a strange girl named Susan, possesses knowl- edge far beyond either of them in some fields, while not even being able to say how many shillings are in a pound. It is indeed quite perplexing how such a common piece of knowledge could slip by an otherwise intel- ligent fifteen year-old (for those unfamiliar, there are twenty shillings in a pound, and twelve pennies in a shilling.) How this girl manages to buy anything without understanding how money works, I couldn’t say. She certainly doesn’t seem to be from outside Britain; her diction would make my grandmother weep with joy.

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From left to right: Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford and William Russell as Barbara Wright, Susan Foreman, and Ian Chesterton respectively.

Perhaps more perplexing than Susan herself is her address: 76 Totters Lane — the junkyard we saw at the beginning of the episode. In an effort to talk to Susan’s grandfather, her only guardian, Ian and Barbara travel to the junkyard one night and await his arrival. And this, in my opinion, is where the episode starts to get good. It’s all been fine up to this point, but there’s nothing terribly exciting about watching teachers talk about a difficult student. With the return of the junkyard, the humming police box, and a haze of smog over everything, the mysterious atmosphere kicks back in in full force, and soon enough, my favourite part of the episode arrives. Enter the Doctor, William Hartnell. There’s a good chance you’ve al- ready heard the name before; he’s been in more films over the last decade than I care to mention. Not being the biggest fan of war films, I admit I haven’t really seen him in action much, but this Doctor is a far cry from the military men Hartnell normally steps into the shoes of. From the moment he steps into frame, we see just why this programme is called Doctor Who. For all the mystery about Susan, the Doctor blows it out of the water.

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William Hartnell as the Doctor.

The Doctor is strange. We get the impression we only hear perhaps a tenth of what he’s really thinking, and that his is a mind that races far faster than theirs. It’s also clear that this is a man with something to hide; every word out of his mouth is an attempt to deflect the teachers, to persuade them to leave well enough alone. But there’s a mischievous twinkle in his eye; we almost get the impression he thinks of this all as a game, an amusement to pass his time. The teachers notice quickly that he’s suspiciously keen on keeping them away from the police box. All comes to a head when Susan’s voice calls out from inside the box, and fearing her to be in danger, the teachers burst in. At last we get the truth—or at least, our first slice of it. The police box is bigger on the inside.

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All aboard the TARDIS.

Gone is the gloomy junkyard where we had to squint to see; now we’re in a bright, open room, lined with all manner of electrical equipment and control panels, and in the centre, a console. This is the TARDIS, short for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It is both a space ship, and a time machine. Susan and her grandfather are exiles from another time, another world, cast adrift in time and space, never able to settle in one place for too long, for fear of situations such as these. It’s clear both long for home, or at the very least, stability.

“Have you ever thought what it’s like to be wanderers in the Fourth Dimension? Have you? To be exiles? Su- san and I are cut off from our own planet – without friends or protection. But one day we shall get back. Yes, one day.” —The Doctor

The teachers may be people of learning, but this is quite beyond them, as the Doctor notes with a derisive comment. Believing the Doctor to be quite mad and his TARDIS to be an elaborate hoax, the teachers attempt to leave, but to no avail. The Doctor has locked the doors!

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In a confrontation with her grandfather, Susan demands that he allow her and the teachers to leave. Seemingly the Doctor acquiesces, but as the rest of the crew make for the door, he begins to laugh in a way greatly reminiscent of the cheeky chuckle my grandfather makes whenever he’s cheating at a board game. With the flick of a switch, that mischievous gleam in the Doctor’s eye betrays a hint of malice, or perhaps madness. Quick at work on the con- trols of his machine, the teachers’ pleas to be released fall on deaf ears; his ship is launching, and they’re along for the ride. A wheezing, grinding cacophony rises, the swirling lights from the opening titles return, and all aboard have an expression of great discom- fort. Clearly, travel through the extra dimensions is a little more uncom- fortable than a ride on the London Underground (if such a thing is even possible). The wheezing noise fades away, and we cut to the outside of the box, but not to the junkyard. Outside the TARDIS is a barren landscape stretching as far as the eye can see, desolate and lifeless. Or is it?

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Final Thoughts So, that was an interesting start to what I hope will be an interesting series. The episode was perhaps a little slow to get going, but things re- ally pick up at the halfway point, with some excellent decisions made by director Waris Hussein. In particular I want to praise the contrast between the dim junkyard and the bright interior of the TARDIS. The jarring tran- sition leaves us as agape as the teachers. The mundane world of modern Britain falls away, and now we’re in a place where anything can happen. Good performances all around, but especially from Hartnell, who has a real charm, even if I’m not quite sure as to the motivations of his Doctor character. Eccentric or plain mad? Mischievous or malicious? It’s too early to say. The Doctor is an intriguing character, and I’m very excited to see more of his antics, and follow along on the adventure.

119 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Dec. 3, 1963] Progress will continue under the new administration: Presi- dent Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., meet at the White House.

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[Dec. 4, 1963] Argonne National Laboratory’s “Zero Gradient Synchro- tron” atom smasher goes online near Chicago.

121 A Composer After My Own Heart A Theme Song for Dr. Who

December 5, 1963

by Victoria Lucas

Tracking down the Dr. Who theme

After reading Mark Yon’s column mentioning the British telly program “Doctor Who,” I distracted myself from (shudder!) the assassination by trying to find out anything I could about that program, particularly the unique theme music (new music is my bag, you see).

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My usual sources are the libraries at the University of Arizona (UA) and in downtown Tucson. When those turn up empty, I start in on my private network–folks I know. Someone mentioned that the music was supplied by the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, who do all BBC sound effects and theme music. But how to find out more? And if it’s the music I’m inter- ested in, how can I hear it? There appear to be no plans to broadcast “Doc- tor Who” in the US. OK, now I’m right up against the wall and climbing as fast as I can, because I’m stubborn. (If you knew my family you’d know I come by it honestly.) And besides, I promised to write this column. Oh! My tape net- work. I’ve mentioned before, in connection with hearing a radio program I missed, that I’m part of a sort of round robin that sends reel-to-reel tape around for hearing, copying, etc. (I do sound and other services for lo- cal little theater–it comes in handy if there’s some effect I can’t produce or some music I need.) So I phoned my contact, who phoned his con- tact–etc.

A gift from London

To my utter surprise and relief, it turned out that there was a package waiting to be sent from England, and I am the ideal person to receive it and send it on. You know how composers are–well, maybe you don’t.

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Music composition is not a lucrative profession, for the most part. It’s sort of like the few sports stars who occupy everyone’s attention, and everyone else who isn’t on one’s hometown team is ignored. This is the age of the 20th-Century Canon, in the sense that “classical” musicians put their faith in a slightly varying list (like a set of sacred books) of composers and mu- sic that symphonies play and national radio and television favor. When you go to a concert, leaving “pop” or jazz alternatives aside, you know you’re usually going to hear at least one of the four B’s (Bach, Brahms, Berlioz, Beethoven). And a few others, most 19th or early 20th century European “classical” music.. I’m tempted to add a fifth “B” for Borge, but he makes a living playing (not composing) “classical” music, with a few jokes on the side.

Victor Borge in concert 1957

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If you don’t compose or play music that sounds like the items on that list, you will have to find some other way to make a living, or live very fru- gally, squeezing out a few dollars here or there from donations, commis- sions, or occasional gigs that pay actual money. Just ask my friend Barney Childs at UA, who holds a PhD in music composition from Stanford. He teaches English as an assistant professor and composes in his spare time. His music is often highly dissonant and doesn’t appeal to your average concertgoer, who expects dominant, consonant melodies presented in classical formats by musicians who, in turn, usually expect the same and may be so offended if their sheet music does not conform to what they learned in the conservatory that they will walk out or otherwise disrupt a concert. Finding performers who will play unusual music can be quite difficult, making electronic music, despite its complicated techniques, at- tractive, since often the only performer is the composer.

Barney Childs and his ever present pipe

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And in this case the composer who is to receive the package is more or less homeless, sleeping on other people’s couches or floors and traveling when and where he is paid to perform. So I actually feel pretty good about inserting myself into this delivery process, quite aside from being able to listen to the very latest in (as it turns out) electronic music. I’m responsible for finding out where he is from the local contacts I was given (too much long-distance calling for folks in England) and sending it on. Best of all, the tape I just received and played has a sheet of (legible!) comments on the music and even some words about and a photograph of the performer, with her equipment.

Meet the maker

Delia Darbyshire on tape machines

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According to the comments, it seems that someone by the name of Ron Grainer composed music for the “Doctor Who” theme. Another some- body–by the name of Delia Derbyshire (what a veddy British name that is!)–realized it as electronic music in the Workshop! The anonymous writer also says that Derbyshire wasn’t allowed to compose music on her job for the Workshop, but she was allowed to do “special sound by BBC Radiophonic Work- shop,” which apparently is anything she wants to do. What a job! But it sounds as it if was lot of trouble and some luck to get there, and some knocking around, because Derbyshire had a hard time finding anywhere she could use her degree in mathematics and music. For instance, she was told that Decca Records wouldn’t em- ploy women, and … well, whoever heard of a woman composer?

Clara Schumann

I wanted to compose too after I learned to transpose while studying piano, but I didn’t know anybody who had heard of a woman composer, and that includes my mother and aunt, harpists who had performed in the concert circuit. My father was not supportive, although my mother always indulged me. Without specific encouragement to realize my dream, how- ever, I saw my future stretching before me, always playing other peoples’ music that for the most part bored me, and I didn’t like that future. So I stopped studying music and started looking for some other way to make a living. (Mind you, I was 12, as you might see in my previous column.) Derbyshire, on the other hand, had an opportunity to work with Luciano Berio last year when they attend- ed the famous Dartington Summer School in Devon, England, so she was able to hobnob with at least one VIP of new music decidedly not in the Canon. I wonder if this was the fulfillment of a dream for her. It would be for me. Behind every great man… Composer Luciano Berio

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There is a brief note in the comments that made me laugh aloud: Derbyshire is so clever that when Grainer heard her music for “Doctor Who” and delightedly asked, “Did I really write this?”, she answered “Most of it.” The same page in the package shows a small drawing of the composer’s music de- scribed as “swoops,” and nothing more. So there was a lot of room to improvise. Come to think of it, the lack of a staff and appar- ent use of graphic notation remind me of John Cage, who used a transparency with lines to overlay dots and lines in his “Fon- Ron Grainer tana Mix.” Talk about its being hard to find performers when your music is unusual, think of Cage’s predicament after the debut of his last year’s “4’ 33” after which many people consider him a joke! On the other hand, put yourself in the position of a classically trained musician confronted with that com- position’s page of sheet music indicating three parts, each declaring only “Tacet” (musicianese for “silence”). Was Grainer “avant garde,” too? I have to wonder whether what Derbyshire meant by her remark about his composition was that the rest of “most of it” was written by her, or by her assistant Dick Mills, a sound engineer who I understand is responsible for sound effects for a programme (note British spelling) called “The Goon Show.” Something tells me I would be surprised by the truth.

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Dick Mills on the left

I can’t imagine getting to England anytime soon–especially since I’m pay- ing for the next leg of the journey for a piece of tape and its wrapping, a photo and a piece of paper, as well as some long distance charges. But maybe I’ll get to San Francisco again before long, where there’s a place I keep hearing about called the Tape Music Center. If I can’t make electronic music, maybe I can at least listen to it. This little piece I received today, which I had to use a lot of leader to bind to a reel for enough time to play it, is a delight!

129 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Dec. 6, 1963] Are you ready to live the Miller High Life?

130 SF or Not SF? That Is the Question They Came from the Mainstream, 1963 Edition

December 7, 1963

by Victoria Silverwolf

A raft of non-SF SF

Readers of this column with long memories will recall that, at the end of 1962, we looked at major science fiction and fantasy novels and collections published as mainstream fiction. The most important such work this year was Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle, already discussed in detail by our own Vicki Lucas. Another was The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis, best known for his novel The Hustler, adapted into a major film a couple of years ago. Once again, Ms. Lucas has provided a fine analysis of this book.

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The novel is obviously about the game of pool.

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The movie poster doesn’t seem to have much to do with pool.

133 December 7, 1963

Here are two more books I think should be checked out by SF fans who might have missed them:

Planet of the Apes, by Pierre Boulle

A French import offers another example of the blurred lines between sci- ence fiction and the literary mainstream. Pierre Boulle is famous for Le Pont de la Rivière Kwaï (translated into English as The Bridge over the River Kwai, and source of an award-winning movie, with a slight change in the title.)

Don’t ask me how over turned into on

This year the author ventured into outer space, with his novel La Planète des singes, known in the United States as Planet of the Apes.

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(My sources in the publishing world tell me that the book will be available in the United Kingdom next year, under the title Monkey Planet.) Boulle’s novel begins in the far future, with a couple traveling among the stars. They discover an old manuscript. This takes us into a flashback, set in the relatively near future. Three men journey to an Earth-like planet orbiting the star Betelgeuse. They discover that intelligent, civilized apes inhabit the world, along with naked, speechless human beings treated as lower animals. Gorillas are police and military; orangutans are priests and politicians; chimpanzees are scientists and technicians. The apes are at the same technological level as Twentieth Century Earth, with cities, automo- biles, and firearms. They even smoke tobacco. The three astronauts meet different fates. It all leads up to a twist ending. The author’s intent is sa- tiric, showing the reader how little difference there is between people and other primates. The story may not be very plausible, but it captures the reader’s imagination. Special notice should go to Xan Fielding, who trans- lated both of Boulle’s novels into very readable English. Three stars.

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Glide Path, by Arthur C. Clarke

We’ve seen how mainstream authors venture into science fiction, some- times successfully. It doesn’t often happen the other way around. This year Arthur C. Clarke proved he is just as comfortable writing about the past as he is about the future, with his novel Glide Path. The story takes place in England during the Second World War. The protagonist is a young officer in the Royal Air Force. He is a technician, working on a program known as Ground Controlled Descent. GCD al- lows a pilot to land in heavy fog. Using radar, a controller on the ground talks the pilot down. The plot is episodic, involving both the new technol- ogy and daily life in the RAF. The author creates a convincing portrait of the time and place, based on his own experiences. Unlike most war nov- els, the book lacks scenes of battle. This may disappoint readers looking

136 GalacticJourney.org for thrilling action. The most dramatic sequence happens late in the story, when huge amounts of fuel fill the night sky with towering flames, in an attempt to burn off the fog. Three stars.

Boulle’s science fiction novel is likely to be marketed to readers of main- stream fiction, just as Clarke’s war story is likely to be promoted to science fiction fans. Let us avoid relying solely on arbitrary divisions in literature, and instead keep our eyes open for good reading, no matter how it might be labelled.

137 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Dec. 7, 1963] Recognition across the Pond? The British band, the Beatles, get a spot on the CBS evening news.

138 Count Every Star 1963’s Galactic Stars

December 11, 1963

by Gideon Marcus

[Time is running out to get your Worldcon membership! Register here to be able to vote for the Hugos.]

Goodness, is it the end of the year already? 1963 may go down in the his- tory books as the most eventful year of the 1960s. The Mercury program wrapped up, the Soviets launched the first woman in space, we lost our President to a sniper’s gun, we made progress in the march toward civil equality, Harvard Business School is finally letting women into its MBA program…

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What could possibly top the last twelve months? In any event, it’s now December, a time for reflection. Specifically, re- flection on which book, stories, artists, creators, films and TV shows stood out from all the rest. Yes, folks—it’s time for the 1963 edition of The Galactic Stars!

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Best Poetry

Lullaby: 1990, by Sheri S. Eberhart (Galaxy) Eberhart’s song for a post-atomic baby is beautiful and chilling.

Here’s Sport Indeed Ib Melchior’s twist on The Bard is greater than the sum of its parts.

The Jazz Machine If a man can bleed into a saxophone, Richard Matheson’s caught the scent.

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Best Vignette (1-9 pages):

The Putnam Tradition, by S. Dorman (Amazing) Hybrid vigor revitalizes a family of witches.

The Time of Cold, by Mary Carlson (IF) Heatstroked astronaut and freezing alien need each other to survive.

The Last of the Romany, by Norman Spinrad (Analog) If the Romany didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent them.

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Honorable Mention: Black Cat Weather, by David R. Bunch (Fantastic) The Voyage of the “Deborah Pratt”, by Miriam Allen DeFord (F&SF) Countdown, by Julian T. Grow (IF)

Of significance is that three of the six winners in this category are women. For some reason, when women are published, it tends to be shorter length stuff. Best Short Story (10-19 pages):

Castaway, by Charles E. Fritch (Gamma) An immortal soul outlasts the mortal form.

To See the Invisible Man, by Robert Silverberg (Worlds of Tomorrow) The worst punishment is to be rendered invisible to society.

On the Fourth Planet, by J. F. Bone (Galaxy) Mariner 15 almost destroys Martian civilization, but all’s well that ends well.

Honorable Mention: Cornie on the Walls, by Sydney van Scyoc (Fantastic) Green Magic, by Jack Vance (F&SF) Fortress Ship and Goodlife, two “Beserker” series stories by Fred Sa- berhagen (IF and Worlds of Tomorrow)

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Best Novelette (20-45 pages)

Counter Security, by James White (F&SF) The late-night department store terror isn’t what it seems…

Hunter, Come Home, by Richard McKenna (F&SF) Confounding a human-borne ecological catastrophe on a sentient planet.

The Totally Rich, by John Brunner (Worlds of Tomorrow) Absolute power breeds…

Honorable Mention: The Encounter, by J.G. Ballard (Amazing) Down to the Worlds of Men, by Alexei Panshin (IF) Bazaar of the Bizarre, by Fritz Leiber (Fantastic) End Game, by J.G. Ballard (New Worlds)

Unlike last year, which had several seminal stories, this year’s winners feel less outstanding. Not a bad crop, but nothing that will be remembered in a few decades.

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Best Novella (46+ pages)

No Truce with Kings, by Poul Anderson (F&SF) Integrity and cunning pre- serve a post-apocalyptic Califor- nian republic.

No Great Magic, by Fritz Leiber (Galaxy) A shellshocked young woman takes refuge in a Manhattan act- ing troupe that just happens to be making The Big Time.

Let the Spacemen Beware, by Poul Anderson (Ace Books) I didn’t finish this short novel until last week (on the plane to Washington D.C., no less) so this is the first time you’re seeing it. Nevertheless, this is a love triangle set thousands of years from now. Divergent evolution has fundamentally changed humanity, culturally and physically, on the various fragments of a shattered interstellar empire. A fascinating and sensitive read. Five stars.

Honorable Mention: Night of the Trolls, by Keith Laumer (Worlds of Tomorrow) The Visitor at the Zoo, by Damon Knight (Galaxy) Chocky!, by John Wyndham (Amazing)

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Best Novel/Serial

Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston) A tangle of doomsday, off-beat religion, and satire from an SF writer who composes for the masses.

All the Colors of Darkness, by Lloyd Biggle Jr. This one slipped under the radar, only getting completed in the last few days. Thus, I didn’t have time to give it a proper review (I’ll be better in 1964, I promise). In brief, the first transcontinental teleporter service is opened up in New York in 1986, sending Americans to big cities on both sides of the Atlantic. Soon after Universal Transmitting Company’s in-

146 GalacticJourney.org auguration, passengers start disappearing mid-transit. Enter Jan Darzek, detective extraordinaire, who is hired by the Board of Directors to find out what or who is causing the vanishings. Suffice it to say, this story doesn’t go where you’d expect it to, and a good half of the book is devoted to some of the best First Contact and alien biology/ethics exploration I’ve seen in science fiction. Sure, the human dialogue seems right out of Burke’s Law (though that kind of slick banter has its charm, too), but the other stuff is beautiful. Four and a half stars, and probably sleeper of the year.

All we Marsmen, by Philip K. Dick (Worlds of Tomorrow) Dysfunction and altered perception in a masterfully written soap op- era on the Red Planet.

Honorable Mention: Here Gather the Stars, by Cliff Simak (Galaxy) People of the Sea, by Arthur C. Clarke (Worlds of Tomorrow) Sign of the Labrys, by Margaret St. Clair (Bantam) The Game-Players of Titan, by Philip K, Dick (Ace) (no review; recommended by Gwyn Conaway) Science Fact

Just Mooning Around, by Isaac Asimov (F&SF)

Welcome Stranger, by Isaac Asimov (F&SF)

Dr. A. now stands pretty much alone. Willy Ley is phoning them in at Galaxy, Ted Sturgeon’s column in (IF) is trivial, and Analog‘s round robin of bad writ- ers is a joke. Only Ben Bova at Amaz- ing shows much promise. Maybe next year.

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Best Magazine

Galaxy (3.12 stars; best story of the month, twice) Worlds of Tomorrow (3.04 stars; best story of the month, zero (not count- ing serials)) New Worlds (3.02 stars; best story of the month, zero) IF (2.9 stars; best story of the month, twice) Fantastic (2.82 stars; best story of the month, twice) Fantasy and Science Fiction (2.78 stars; best story of the month, thrice) Analog (2.78 stars; best story of the month, once (not counting seri- als)) Amazing (2.68 stars; best story of the month, twice) and Gamma, with only two issues (3.35, once)

Goodness! Nine magazines, and that doesn’t count Science-Fantasy, which yet eludes our coverage. Fine stuff in all of them at one point or another, though Gamma stands out when it has an issue. F&SF still tends to feature

148 GalacticJourney.org the most women (even if that’s just a pitiful one per month sometimes), but Pohl’s and Goldsmith’s magazines also do, on occasion. And Gamma. But never Analog, which is almost entirely a stag operation these days.

Best Author(s)

Philip K. Dick Dick came back in a big way last year, and his output, while a bit variable in qual- ity, is generally welcome.

Poul Anderson Another variable star, but his good work is excellent.

Honorable Mention: John Brunner J.G. Ballard A pair of British authors.

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Best Artist

Ed Emshwiller

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Virgil Finlay

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George Schelling

These three are household names, though this is the first time Schelling has made our list. EMSH is best known for his covers, Finlay for his inte- riors. Schelling goes both ways.

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Best Dramatic Presentation

(These are) The Damned Horror and radiation in an underground community of unusual chil- dren.

The Birds Hitchcock’s avian horror.

The Man with the X-Ray Eyes As it says on the tin, but a couple of steps up from your typical Drive- In shocker.

The Outer Limits Turning into a fine new anthology show.

Astro Boy (in its Japanese form, Tetsuwan Atomu)

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Honorable Mention: The Day Mars Invaded Earth La Jetée Jason and the Argonauts (review coming soon!) Scotland Yard jagt Dr. Mabuse (Scotland Yard vs. Dr. Mabuse) Der kleine dicke Ritter (The little fat knight)

—— I’ve heard complaints that this year’s batch of SF movies was no great shakes. I’m looking forward to the cinema version of Failsafenext year.

Best Fanzine

Starspinkle A chatty little rag, but it comes out often and usually entertains.

Science Fiction Times Still the gold standard and invaluable for its published books list- ings.

Galactic Journey Well, we can’t actually nominate ourselves for a star, but Galactic Jour- ney was a finalist for the Hugo! Please help put us over the top next year!

——

And that’s that! Do let us know if we missed any of your favorites. Even with a dozen writers interpolating their tastes, decisions still must be based on subjective sensibilities.

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Until next year…

155 Galactic Journey @journeygalactic

[Dec. 29, 1963] Goodness! Electronics have shrunk in half again. Pretty soon, transistor radios will fit in a wallet.

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About the Journey Who We Are

GIDEON MARCUS, FOUNDER

Since October 21, 1958…er, 2013, Gideon Marcus has helmed the Journey. A prominent Space Historian and member of the American Astronautical Society’s History Committee, he combines engaging prose with an ency- clopedic knowledge of the era to create the most singular time machine in existence. His scintillating public speaking skills make him a coveted performer at conventions across the country. About the Journey

JANICE MARCUS, EDITOR

The editorial backbone of Galactic Journey, Jan- ice ensures that 95% of typos and grammatical errors get trapped before being released into the wild. The other 5% are completely the result of spontaneous generation similar to the fash- ion in which Fred Hoyle predicts that matter is constantly created as our universe expands. Janice also moderates the Galactic Journey panels when the column hits the road.

TAMMI BOZICH, CURATOR

Ms. Bozich is the Journey’s intrepid curator, ensuring that all works featured on the Jour- ney have been cleared for distribution. It is thanks to her that so many of these fine works are available for your perusal.

ERICA FRANK, ARCHIVIST

If you’ve ever wondered how the Journey dis- tributes its fine editions of the stories provided in this column, look no further. Ms. Frank has been an invaluable aid to our efforts, ensuring readable, easily transmitted tales. GalacticJourney.org

ROSEMARY BENTON, ASSOCIATE WRITER

While the Journey has attracted a number of avid time travelers, Ms. Benton has elected to become a full-time denizen of two eras: “to- day” and “55 years ago.” An expert on the early years of the Cold War, her insightful eloquence lends gravitas to the column. Expect a monthly entry from this most talented writer!

ASHLEY POLLARD, ASSOCIATE WRITER

The unusual first name betrays Ms. Pollard’s “mod- ern-day” provenance; she has also taken the plunge to become a regular Journey contributor. Not only is she a professional columnist, herself, she lives across the Pond in Merry Old England. Thus, the Journey now offers a fan’s perspective from both sides of the Atlantic.

VICTORIA SILVERWOLF, ASSOCIATE WRITER

Ms. Silverwolf has graced our letter column for almost four years. Aside from her incredible erudition, the most noteworthy thing about Victoria is the extreme alignment of her tastes with that of the Traveler. It’s no surprise that she has been put on the magazine beat, review- ing Fantastic on a monthly basis. About the Journey

LORELEI MARCUS, ASSOCIATE WRITER

The Young Traveler’s constant movie-going companion since the beginning. Now she co- writes the articles that cover material with which she has acquainted herself, mostly mov- ies and television shows. Don’t let her youth fool you — she is a successful writer in her own right, and a most welcome addition the Journey team!

JOHN BOSTON, ASSOCIATE WRITER

Mr. Boston has demonstrated considerable talent, writing for a number of fan outlets. He currently reviews the sf digest, Amazing, ev- ery month.

GWYN CONAWAY, FASHION COLUMNIST

The Journey has been fortunate enough to retain the writing talents of Ms. Conaway, a professional costumer in the film industry, to provide insight on the Space Age world of fashion. GalacticJourney.org

VICKI LUCAS, ASSOCIATE WRITER

Vicki started out (as many writers do) in the LetterCol. Her works possess a gravity and charm that belie the contributor’s youth. Look for more from her on a variety of esoteric top- ics.

MARK YON, ASSOCIATE WRITER

Mark Yon is our second British correspondent, specializing in the magazine New Worlds. He not only helps complete our coverage of monthly digests, but also provides an excel- lent complement to Ashley Pollard’s weather reports.

IDA MOYA, ASSOCIATE WRITER

The Journey is proud to have a bonafide en- gineer onboard — Ida Moya is a librarian at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, and as such, possesses a wealth of technical knowledge on computers, which she is more than happy to share. About the Journey

CORA BUHLERT, ASSOCIATE WRITER

Cora Buhlert was born and bred in Bremen, Northwest Germany, where she still lives to- day – after time spent in London, Singapore, Rotterdam and Mississippi. Cora holds an MA degree in English from the University of Bre- men and is currently working towards her PhD. Cora has been writing since she was a teen- ager, and has published stories, articles and po- etry in various international magazines. She is the author of the Silencer series of pulp style thrillers, the Shattered Empire space opera series, the In Love and War science fiction romance series, theHelen Shepherd Mys- teries and plenty of standalone stories in multiple genres. When Cora is not writing, she works as a translator and teacher. Find her at her own publishing house, or drop her a line.

MARGARITA MOSPANOVA, ASSOCIATE WRITER

Hailing out of Saint Petersburg, Russia, Mar- garita had first opened a fantasy book at the tender age of 6 and never went back since. She works as a translator for a small game compa- ny and in her spare time writes book reviews and compiles endless to-be-read lists. Her con- versance with Soviet culture and fiction makes her an invaluable addition to the Journey. GalacticJourney.org

JESSICA HOLMES, ASSOCIATE WRITER

A gifted writer and artist, Jessica provides cov- erage of Doctor Who and other things British.

JASON SACKS, ASSOCIATE WRITER

One of the most knowledgeable scholars on the history of comic books and a swell fellow to boot, Jason Sacks has published several books and countless articles on the illustrated page. Despite his eternal plumping for DC over Marvel comics, we are still very grateful and fortunate to have him on board the Journey.

NATALIE DEVITT, ASSOCIATE WRITER

A film school graduate with an encylopaedic knowledge of sci-fi and horror, Natalie Devitt is the Journey’s late-night television host, in- troducing episodes of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, as well as various lesser and greater budget endeavors.