P. Schuyler Miller (1912–1974)

In the pre-Internet past of the 1960's, I had three sources of information on published science fiction: the local library (mostly older books, very random), the local drugstore (a few paperbacks, even more random), and P Schuyler Miller's book reviews in Analog. It was Miller who said I should seek out Samuel Delaney and Cordwainer Smith, among many other post-golden age authors. So when I came across this collection of his own fiction from the 30's and 40's, I was curious to see what his roots were. To be honest, I expected a much weaker collection than this, considering the times in which he wrote and his current obscurity.

Meriting three stars: "Old Man Mulligan" -- A space patrol unit, looking for the kidnapped daughter of the governor of Venus, raid a seedy bar where a sloshed Old Man Mulligan is holding forth. Within 3 elliptical pages, they wake up naked on a tiny island, soon to be covered by high tide, surrounded by carnivorous sea creatures. Their survival depends on OMM, whose songs about the days of Moses are far more literal than it first appears. And when they finally find the daughter? Well, she's way more capable than anyone you'd expect to find in a tale this old. "Spawn" -- A horror tale from 1939 that reads like R A Lafferty. A portion of the ocean gels into a carnivorous blob. A Stalinesque ruler's dead corpse rises and rules again -- though still clearly dead. A South American gold mine transforms into a walking giant leading a revolution against the white powers. The only downside is the unnecessary denouement that attempts to explain all this. "Forgotten" from 1933 is a compelling survival tale of a man abandoned on Mars by his mining partners, and what follows. It could've easily appeared 2 decades later.

Two-and-half stars: "The Titan" Written in 1934, too racy (though not erotic) for publication, incompletely serialized, rewritten from the original manuscript for this collection. This has many of flaws of 30's SF, in weak characterization and shakey plot development, but it manages an interesting displacement at the halfway point that most authors would have used for a trick ending. It makes an interesting pair with "Forgotten."

Two stars: "As Never Was" is an OK time paradox story -- much in keeping with other stories the early 40's exploring that vein. "In the Good Old Summertime" likewise is a readable but unmemorable tale of evil undone by arrogance and ignorance.

One star: "Gleeps" is just silly and not very amusing any more, with one of those far-fetched theories at the end to explain otherwise inexplicable events on a spaceship. "The Arrhenius Horror" is one of two stories using Arrhenius' spore theory of interstellar life transmission -- if you've seen The Monolith Monsters, you get the idea.… (mehr)