Tue 12 Feb 2019
SF Stories I’m Reading: GORDON EKLUND “Underbelly.”
Posted by Steve under Science Fiction & Fantasy , Stories I'm Reading[4] Comments
LESTER del REY, Editor – Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Second Annual Edition. E. P. Dutton, hardcover. 1973. Ace, paperback, December 1975.
#3. GORDON EKLUND “Underbelly.” Short story. First published in Worlds of If, September-October, 1972. First collected in Retro Man: Selected Stories, Volume Two (Ramble House, trade paperback, 2016).
Author Gordon Eklund broke into the the ranks of professional science fiction writers in a big way. From his Wikipedia page:
Between 1971 and 1980 he had some 16 novels published, then except for one novel in 1989, he and his writing virtually disappeared from view. I really shouldn’t speculate in print, but in cases such as this, it is often that contracts dried up and/or he decided to keep his day job.
As for “Underbelly,” it reads like the first chapter of a much longer book. Why Gabriel Solar, living in an vaguely established post-apocalyptic village, is chosen to be the subject of a b experiment designed to enhance the physical powers of living beings conducted by two scientists with two differing approaches, working in a well-guarded compound nearby is only partially referred to.
Even less clear is what will happen to Gabriel once he’s been given the gift of physical perfection. Can he return to his home where he’s now superior to everyone, making the rest of his life a very uncertain one?
Which of course is the point. I’d like to read the rest of the story, though — the part that follows this one. My first reaction was that it could have been a lot more interesting than the snippet we’re given here — but then again perhaps not. Thinking about it later, I decided that just maybe what Eklund gives us in “Underbelly” is all we need, allowing us to fill out the rest of the story on our own.
Conclusion: While not perfect by any means, this is a better story than I thought it was when I first read it.
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Previously from the del Rey anthology: ROBERT SILVERBERG “When We Went to See the End of the World.â€
February 12th, 2019 at 9:57 pm
I know contracts do dry up, but I always wondered where Eklund went, he was doing fairly well and then nothing.
Hopefully someone will know the story and enlighten us.
February 12th, 2019 at 10:36 pm
I have found this sentence toward the end of his Wikipedia entry. It might be relevant.
“Eklund has retired from a long career with the U.S. Postal Service, and is considering writing full-time again.”
February 15th, 2019 at 12:14 pm
He released an unpublished novel a year or so ago didn’t he?
February 15th, 2019 at 9:02 pm
Paul
What I see on ISFDb, are the following as his most recent novels:
Cosmic Fusion (2016)
Wooden Starships (2018)
The first of these was definitely written much earlier. The second was from Wildside Press, so while there’s a possibility that it’s new, I think you’re right. There’s a good chance it’s also been sitting in a trunk all this time.