ALGIS BUDRYS – The Iron Thorn. Serialized in If Science Fiction, January-April 1967, the latter issue of which was reviewed here. Published in book form as The Amsirs and the Iron Thorn (Gold Medal d1852, paperback original, 1967; cover art by Frank Frazetta).

   On a cold desert planet, later discovered to be Mars, two races live – men, and the Amsirs they hunt. Both colonies surround Thorn, metal towers which provide air and warmth within a small radius.

   Honor Jackson discovers that the Amsirs are intelligent, not vicious, and allows himself to be captured. In the Amsir settlement, he fins a spaceship and eventually the truth behind the experimental genetic colonization of Mars. Returning to Earth, he finds civilization has become sterile and the experiment forgotten.

   Three of the installments [in If SF] are exciting and well done, but the fourth is a distinct disappointment. Maybe Budrys has a point to make, but it doesn’t come through. Flat. Of characterization, the cybernetic spaceship and its robot doctor seemed the most real, and it was from the time of their destruction immediately upon bringing Jackson to Earth that the story faded fast.

   Jackson himself is sympathetically portrayed. Rugged and individualistic enough to escape Mars, but one wonders how he shall fare on the Earth of the future.

Rating: ****

–February 1968