SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW SFR INTERVIEWS Sl.25 Geoige R^. Martin Robert Anton Wilson ALIEN THOUGHTS much of Earth's resources that it will the Asian Rim, still be too expensive. Will it be possible to abandon the hyp- The only chance for a space-adventur- ocrisy of saying it's okay for Ford and ing future for mankind, as I see it, is a Kissinger to bribe Sadat/Egypt to cut loose revolutionary energy breakthrough in sci- from the Russians and not make waves, while ence—nuclear fusion or anti-gravity—or pointing an outraged moral finger at U.S, foreign we' re. going tu be facing a time soon when corporations for bribing lower-level our mass-production civilization will break officials to sell goods and services? down because of shortages in key (and ob- Can the voters be eased into the eye- scure)resources and the vast organization opening and morally uncomfortable position anc' technology required fur a manned space of knowing clearly that their self-interest program will no longer be possible. lies in assassinations and expedition- It begins to look like space will not ary forces to exotic places?,. .that their be our new frontier. Space is probably a nice cars, stereos, long vacations, etc. In spite of the hopes of the space pro- dead end; an expensive ego-/military/-trip depend on looting (in a nice way) other gram optimists, I'm inclined to think the possible only for a temporarily wealthy, peoples' lands? U.S. space program, now in the scaled-down high technology few nations. doldrums, will be phased out even more Will we trade a son for a Caddy and a firmly in the next ten years. We'll have to wait for Godot—the trip to Vegas? us the the aliens—to come to us and give The motivation is gone. We beat Well ? Secret, On the other hand, once we pass Russians to the Moon, didn't we. We got the point of no return in resources and "Don't be in such a hurryl I'm think- men up there five or six times, set up all technology, the "flying saucers" may lose ing!" kinds of experiments to help justify the interest in us: they'll return tu trieir expense, and had an orgy of Superiority If the naked truth surfaces and refuses home planets and report, "Sorry, sir, the for a few years. Great stuff. to be repressed, the cynical and selfish natives of Sol III blew it. Where do we arguments will boil down to: Hell, if we But I can't think of anything, now, try next?” don't grab the iron and bauxite and nickel that would impell us to invest another The death of a space-travel future may and tungsten and oil in X, the Communists umpty-ump billions of bucks into another kill off science fiction as we know it. will! The rest of the under-developed manned program for bigger and better space- In fact, the souring of technology and mass- world will be plundered, sooner or later, craft, and space platforms and the nec- consumption may kill off science fiction so we might as well get it now—or we'll cesary advanced technology.... completely.. .leaving us with various forms have to fight like hell for it later. The voters are pissed off enough about of fantasy. But, not to worry, I'm sure 99^ of the taxes and welfare. They see space shots as citizenry will cower from such grim choices Of course we'll have spy satellites and a space industry boondoggle; just another and decisions. The old reliable lies of new generations of missiles for as long as welfare-for-engineers program. (And a cost- self-justification will suffice: we'll it is humanly possible to build and maintain plus subsidy for large corporations.) Like keep the peace and do good and be patriotic them. The military will always have first pyramid building. and hate the Evil enemy. priority. Where is the profit in space? Until The bloody handwriting on the wall will I might even point out that if the mili- Exxon can see a way to turn that trick I always be papered over,. ..except..,. hadn't seen the obvious benefits tu doubt the Congress will see a reason for tary space technology, the further vast expense. The "public sector" them in satellites and There is this growing counter-culture: dazzling sheepskin of the manned needs it more. glamorous, libertarianism, ecologyism, isolationism, space programs clothing the military wolf, the back-to-the-land movement, the pagan The most we can hope for is using the wouldn't have been funded by Congress and religions.... space shuttle to ferry radioactive wastes ' sold to the people. up and out, so that the nuclear power It'll be interesting to see how the - ' I see plants will be more acceptable to the en- Sg^_given the space-less future establishment is going to sell another vironmentalists. ahead of us, what are the "bottom-line" foreign adventure to the youth of this harsh truths we face? country. The young won't follow a Hubert In the meanwhile I can't think of a Humphrey or a Ford or a Reagan or a Jack- "free world" damn thing the Russians are capable of div- More and more nakedly, the son. They just might trust a Jerry Brown be in ing in space that would provoke another dominated by the United States, will or Jimmy Carter or Ted Kennedy. Commies" a a national pride-saving effort. an open struggle with the "Godless for the Third World resources. The world In the meantime, friends, buy a wood And without fear, or the national ego pie is shrinking, everyone's appetite is stove for back-up service when the oil is at stake, or tha lure of making a buck growing, and we'll have to give the geo- cut off again or goes to |1. a gallon, pay present, the space program in this country political davil its due and admit to our off your bouse, and insulate it to the appears wiped out. citizens that their standard of living de- hilt.. .so you can be warm as you read up on Did somebody mumble about mining the pends on our controlling (through "foreign home gardens and the tactics of fighting Moon? Too costly, of course. It's a aid" bribes, threats, CIA covert operations, off armed gangs of thieves. Catch-22 situation; by the time we will and "virtuous" military interventions) Ah, Doom-saying.. .a delicious, virtucus desperately need whatever oils or minerals South and Central America, and as much as Middle-East, and avocation. page 4 are in the Moon, we'll have used up so 2 possible of Africa, the ^^ontlnued on 2 ) , SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW R O. Box 11408 Formerly THE ALIEN CRITIC^ Portland, OR MAY 1976 COVER BY'STEPHER FAB IAH VOLUME FIVE, NUMBER TWO 97211 WHOLE NUMBER SEVENTEEN ALIEN THOUGHTS 2 PHONE (503) 282-0381 RICHARD E. GEIS AN INTERVIEW WITH Ed I tor & Pubi i sher GEORGE R. R. MARTIN ALL UNCREDITED WRITING IS Conducted by Darrell Schweitzer-6 BY THE EDITOR IN ONE GEIS REVIEWS OR ANOTHER PHILIP K. DICK: RAX 5 A PARALLAX VIEW KlULERBOWL Reviewed by George R R Martin- 10 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY By Terrence M. Green -1 NAMELESS PLACES Feb., May, Aug., Nov. 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