Sat 26 Mar 2022
Diary Review: IF SCIENCE FICTION – February 1967.
Posted by Steve under Diary Reviews , Science Fiction & Fantasy[4] Comments
IF SCIENCE FICTION. February 1967. Editor: Frederick Pohl. Cover art: [Paul E.] Wenzel. Overall rating: 3 stars.
LARRY NIVEN “The Soft Weapon.†[Known Space series #14.] Novella. Two humans and a puppeteer have stolen from them a strange weapon from the past. Corresponding to each setting the weapon takes on a new shape and purpose. Much too long [43 pages]; not until the second half does there seem to be any story at all. (2)
[Collected in Neutron Star (Ballantine, paperback original, 1968), and Playgrounds of the Mind (Tor, 1991).]
BRUCE McALLISTER “Gods of the Dark and Light.†A contrast between religions as settlers invade an isolated planet, and what religions become. (4)
[Although this story has never been reprinted or collected, Bruce McAllister has written a long list of short fiction, and as of last year was still adding to that list.]
KEITH LAUMER “Forest in the Sky.†[Retief.] Novelette. On a planet where the inhabitants are forced to live in he sky to avoid the ferocity of their children on the ground, Retief again saves the diplomatic staff from the Grocci. Quite funny. (3)
[First collected in Retief: Ambassador to Space (Doubleday, 1969 / Berkley, 1970.) The long running series of Retief adventures were a big hit back in the day.]
ALGIS BUDRYS “The Iron Thorn.†Serial, part 2 of 4. To be reviewed in its entirety at a later date.
ROBERT RAY “Confession.†A priest in North Australia receives an alien with a message of deep religious significance. Overdone. (2)
[This was the author’s only published science fiction story.]
RICHARD WILSON “The Evil Ones.†Novelette. A murderer committed to a rest-home redeems himself by aiding aliens to repair their ship and leave Earth. Sentimental at the end, but effective. (4)
[First collected in The Story Writer and Other Stories (Ramble House, 2011.) Wilson wrote only two novels, but was well known for a long list of short fiction.]
MATHER H. WALKER “The Dangers of Deepspace.†Glamorous space reality isn’t. (3)
[The second “one shot wonder†in this issue.]
C. C. MacAPP “A Beachhead for Gree.†[Gree series.] Novelette. The battle against the Gree continues, this time on a planet of pacifists. From page 149: “It appears … you are as fanatical as those you fight.†A good point, but the evil of Gree overcomes. (3)
[Never reprinted or collected. The last of nine stories about the long fought battle against the Gree.]
March 26th, 2022 at 4:03 pm
Unless I missed one, I believe that all of these stories take place either in outer space or involve aliens on Earth. Other than perhaps time travel stories, this is my favorite kind of science fiction story.
This is probably just another sign of getting old, but they just don’t write this kind of SF any more. At least not enough of it!
March 26th, 2022 at 6:26 pm
They were being encouraged to write it for IF, too, as it hadn’t too many other champions at that point…and that was largely the reason that IF managed to get by the “Big Three” prejudice that fans tend to self-inflict and become the first magazine, aside from a tie for NEW WORLDS at the first Brit WorldCon, to win a Hugo Award that wasn’t F&SF, GALAXY or ASF. Algis Budrys noted in his GALAXY review of (iirc) THE IF READER OF SF that everything was also an adventure story, including the item by J. G. Ballard.
March 26th, 2022 at 6:41 pm
I don’t know how I’d react to reading the stories in this particular of IF again now, but given its Hugo award around the same time, it’s nice to know I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed it back then.
March 26th, 2022 at 7:47 pm
Niven, Budrys, and Laumer would be enough to get my money and I have some fondness for Wilson and McApp too. IF was never a favorite, but I did enjoy it.
There is a good run of IF at Internet Archive’s Pulp Collection.