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McIlvaine's Star
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28 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 1952
About the author
August Derleth
839 books311 followersAugust William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Cosmic Horror genre, as well as his founding of the publisher Arkham House (which did much to bring supernatural fiction into print in hardcover in the US that had only been readily available in the UK), Derleth was a leading American regional writer of his day, as well as prolific in several other genres, including historical fiction, poetry, detective fiction, science fiction, and biography
A 1938 Guggenheim Fellow, Derleth considered his most serious work to be the ambitious Sac Prairie Saga, a series of fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and non-fiction naturalist works designed to memorialize life in the Wisconsin he knew. Derleth can also be considered a pioneering naturalist and conservationist in his writing
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augus...]
A 1938 Guggenheim Fellow, Derleth considered his most serious work to be the ambitious Sac Prairie Saga, a series of fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and non-fiction naturalist works designed to memorialize life in the Wisconsin he knew. Derleth can also be considered a pioneering naturalist and conservationist in his writing
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augus...]
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 12, 2022
Think Twice Before You Allow Yourself to Be Rejuvenated
This does not go for rejuvenation via plastic surgery, of course, in which cases you ought to at least think thrice but solely for rejuvenation at the hands of the extraterrestrials that live on McIlvaine’s star. Okay, while the word “plastic” can be taken at face value, the expression “at the hands of” can’t because we don’t really know whether those extraterrestrials actually have hands or not. For all I know, the odds are against it.
August Derleth’s highly ironical tale McIlvaine’s Star gives us the story of an old man, the eponymous McIlvaine, who watches the skies and discovers a new planet. His three cronies, whom he regularly meets in a pub, like McIlvaine but still they cannot refrain from making fun of his enthusiasm and his obsession with his hobby – all the more so since he claims that “his” planet is peopled with intelligent beings and that he has established a means of getting into contact with them. Friendships often come with the bitter edge of ensuring a friend’s conformity, which can be both wholesome and restricting. McIlvaine patiently bears the mockery by his friends – both his legs being equipped with proverbial bells – and continues giving them detailed accounts of his conversations with the extraterrestrials, who are quite unlike humans in spirit as well as in their physical appearance. According to McIlvaine, those beings have practically vanquished death by a process of rejuvenation, which they offer to try on him as their contact person on Earth. The result, however, is not quite as they and McIlvaine expected because what works with the aliens need not necessarily work the same way with us humans.
McIlvaine’s Star is a story whose tragic irony will resonate with its readers for a long time because what could be sadder but
It is quite easy to regard this story as a caveat against pipe dreams of technological progress, which may have side effects that throw us back on the whole. Ironically, this story seems to imply that for all the technological advances we may make, we will have to play the same old comédie humaine over and over again. How sad, in a way.
This does not go for rejuvenation via plastic surgery, of course, in which cases you ought to at least think thrice but solely for rejuvenation at the hands of the extraterrestrials that live on McIlvaine’s star. Okay, while the word “plastic” can be taken at face value, the expression “at the hands of” can’t because we don’t really know whether those extraterrestrials actually have hands or not. For all I know, the odds are against it.
August Derleth’s highly ironical tale McIlvaine’s Star gives us the story of an old man, the eponymous McIlvaine, who watches the skies and discovers a new planet. His three cronies, whom he regularly meets in a pub, like McIlvaine but still they cannot refrain from making fun of his enthusiasm and his obsession with his hobby – all the more so since he claims that “his” planet is peopled with intelligent beings and that he has established a means of getting into contact with them. Friendships often come with the bitter edge of ensuring a friend’s conformity, which can be both wholesome and restricting. McIlvaine patiently bears the mockery by his friends – both his legs being equipped with proverbial bells – and continues giving them detailed accounts of his conversations with the extraterrestrials, who are quite unlike humans in spirit as well as in their physical appearance. According to McIlvaine, those beings have practically vanquished death by a process of rejuvenation, which they offer to try on him as their contact person on Earth. The result, however, is not quite as they and McIlvaine expected because what works with the aliens need not necessarily work the same way with us humans.
McIlvaine’s Star is a story whose tragic irony will resonate with its readers for a long time because what could be sadder but
It is quite easy to regard this story as a caveat against pipe dreams of technological progress, which may have side effects that throw us back on the whole. Ironically, this story seems to imply that for all the technological advances we may make, we will have to play the same old comédie humaine over and over again. How sad, in a way.
August 6, 2015
Slightly amusing yet underwhelming sci-fi shaggy dog story from the caretaker of Cthulhu, August Derleth.
Thaddeus McIlvaine is an amateur astronomer who discovers a dark star seemingly headed towards Earth. His cronies at the local bar are dubious at first, then incredulous when he claims to have communicated with an alien life form who promises to reward with a special gift.
Told through the framing device of a journalist's recall, the conclusion is intentionally open-ended enough to make you doubt whether old McIlvaine was quite so crazy as his drinking buddies presumed.
A very quick read available on the Gutenberg site.
Thaddeus McIlvaine is an amateur astronomer who discovers a dark star seemingly headed towards Earth. His cronies at the local bar are dubious at first, then incredulous when he claims to have communicated with an alien life form who promises to reward with a special gift.
Told through the framing device of a journalist's recall, the conclusion is intentionally open-ended enough to make you doubt whether old McIlvaine was quite so crazy as his drinking buddies presumed.
A very quick read available on the Gutenberg site.
June 6, 2016
Alien contact
Typical August Derleth sci-fi which isn't a bad thing. Derleth was a prolific author in several genres, an anthologist and a publisher. He founded Arkham House to publish the stories of his friend H. P. Lovecraft.
McIlvaine's Star was published in the July 1952 issue of IF magazine. Even though this is an older story, it does not suffer from a lot of dated science. Alien contact and misunderstanding form the framework for the plot.
Typical August Derleth sci-fi which isn't a bad thing. Derleth was a prolific author in several genres, an anthologist and a publisher. He founded Arkham House to publish the stories of his friend H. P. Lovecraft.
McIlvaine's Star was published in the July 1952 issue of IF magazine. Even though this is an older story, it does not suffer from a lot of dated science. Alien contact and misunderstanding form the framework for the plot.
August 18, 2013
The story has a interesting plot with good character interaction. The ending is unexpected.
The narrator is well spoken and conveys emotion well. The recording is clear with no background noise, there is a slight echo.
The narrator is well spoken and conveys emotion well. The recording is clear with no background noise, there is a slight echo.
October 9, 2018
A bit of soul searching in the cosmos, found through alien contact on a dark star. I was expecting a Lovecraftian horror twist, but instead it was actually a tame story about a misunderstood man finding his place in the universe. A nice change of pace.
September 6, 2026
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to rejuvenate yourself? Take twenty-five years off your age?
In McIlvaine's Star, August Derleth imagines what it would be like to be suddenly rejuvenated. Lead character Thaddeus McIlvaine discovers a dark star, a distant plane that is drifting closer and closer to earth. His friends think him a nutcase and largely ignore his talk of his discovery. That is, until it is recognized by an official astronomy agency.
Eventually Thaddeus starts communicating with the aliens of this planet and the leader, Guru, offers to rejuvenate him, make the old man twenty-five again. Thaddeus agrees and next thing you know he's a young man living in the old man's house. Of course, there are a number of unanswered questions and since he can't admit what really happens all of his friends take him for Thaddeus' nephew.
A captivating short sci-fi story that explores the loneliness of growing old and the problems associated with eternal youth.
In McIlvaine's Star, August Derleth imagines what it would be like to be suddenly rejuvenated. Lead character Thaddeus McIlvaine discovers a dark star, a distant plane that is drifting closer and closer to earth. His friends think him a nutcase and largely ignore his talk of his discovery. That is, until it is recognized by an official astronomy agency.
Eventually Thaddeus starts communicating with the aliens of this planet and the leader, Guru, offers to rejuvenate him, make the old man twenty-five again. Thaddeus agrees and next thing you know he's a young man living in the old man's house. Of course, there are a number of unanswered questions and since he can't admit what really happens all of his friends take him for Thaddeus' nephew.
A captivating short sci-fi story that explores the loneliness of growing old and the problems associated with eternal youth.
February 26, 2025
🖊 “Old Thaddeus McIlvaine discovered a dark star and took it for his own. Thus he inherited a dark destiny—or did he? . . . [he] sat down to his machine, turned the complex knobs, and a message flamed across the void.”
What is rejuvenation? Why would a person want to rejuvenate himself? This was a fun short science fiction story about hubris from The Golden Age of Science Fiction. The writing style is clear and intelligent, and the plot is smooth.
📕Published — If Worlds of Science Fiction, Vol. 1, No. 3, July 1952.
🎨Illustrated.
જ⁀🟢Read on Project Gutenberg.
જ⁀🟣 Kindle.
༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺
What is rejuvenation? Why would a person want to rejuvenate himself? This was a fun short science fiction story about hubris from The Golden Age of Science Fiction. The writing style is clear and intelligent, and the plot is smooth.
📕Published — If Worlds of Science Fiction, Vol. 1, No. 3, July 1952.
🎨Illustrated.
જ⁀🟢Read on Project Gutenberg.
જ⁀🟣 Kindle.
༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺
June 3, 2018
An amateur inventor apparently makes contact with an alien intelligence, using a home-made gadget. August Derleth is not as brilliantly inventive as his more famous friend HP Lovecraft, but this is a good, well-written story, with a surprisingly sad and poignant ending.
September 20, 2017
Not bad but really just not quite there.
July 10, 2018
A fast read, very reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode, with a bit of cosmic horror thrown in for good measure.
March 25, 2020
Okay story.
February 14, 2021
An exciting story, full of mystery and dread.
October 23, 2023
Interesting take on the end of things
January 28, 2024
Derleth should have stuck to Cthulhu mythos dreck.
November 19, 2025
Weird, scifi, Mid-West, short story, by a master
November 24, 2025
1. McIlvaine's Star - 4 stars
I quite like this. It's moody, gloomy and tenebrous. It's dark and trepidatious like any good sci-fi story dealing with concepts just beyond human comprehension should be.
It has a more realistic feel to it than most pulpy sci-fi which tends to come off....ah....pulpy.
It's dark, forboding aspect is reminiscent of the mythic narratives of many an ancient culture. Ones usually preserved only in empty burial chambers, and bits of indecipherable letters scratched on scattered parchment made from human skin.
In this story, everybody ends up on the loosing side, or should I say, the side of loss. Even the aliens end up getting the short end of the probe.
2. A Traveler in Time - 5 stars
'So how do you time travel?'
"'Look,' he said, 'time is a dimension like space. You can go up or down this ruler,' he snatched a steel ruler and waved it in front of me, 'from any given point. But you move. In the dimension of time, you only seem to move. You stand still; time moves. Do you get it?'
"I had to confess that I didn't.
A Fun little Time Travel that's a Bit Nasty but Wickedly Funny. One that made me Laugh because...well...it's a Bit Nasty. And has a Wicked Sense of Humour.
If You could be Young Again, would you want to Start your Life Over Again and Do If Right This Time.....?
If You knew that 30 years in the Future that the World would be Annihilated in a Nuclear Holocaust, would You Escape into the Past.....?
It's one of the Only Time Travel stories I can think of that deals with the Cocept of whether You Become Older or Regress in Age as You Travel Back and Forth in Time. And it becomes a Plot Point the story revolves around but that's all I will say about that.
It reminds me a bit of the Star Trek TOS episode "All Our Tomorrows" (season 3, episode 23) where Kirk, Spock and McCoy, Travel Back in Time and Spock Eats Animal Flesh and makes out with a Sexy Cavewoman (Mariette Hartley).
A lot of fun and a Recommended Read for those who Time Travel Stuff like I do.
I quite like this. It's moody, gloomy and tenebrous. It's dark and trepidatious like any good sci-fi story dealing with concepts just beyond human comprehension should be.
It has a more realistic feel to it than most pulpy sci-fi which tends to come off....ah....pulpy.
It's dark, forboding aspect is reminiscent of the mythic narratives of many an ancient culture. Ones usually preserved only in empty burial chambers, and bits of indecipherable letters scratched on scattered parchment made from human skin.
In this story, everybody ends up on the loosing side, or should I say, the side of loss. Even the aliens end up getting the short end of the probe.
2. A Traveler in Time - 5 stars
'So how do you time travel?'
"'Look,' he said, 'time is a dimension like space. You can go up or down this ruler,' he snatched a steel ruler and waved it in front of me, 'from any given point. But you move. In the dimension of time, you only seem to move. You stand still; time moves. Do you get it?'
"I had to confess that I didn't.
A Fun little Time Travel that's a Bit Nasty but Wickedly Funny. One that made me Laugh because...well...it's a Bit Nasty. And has a Wicked Sense of Humour.
If You could be Young Again, would you want to Start your Life Over Again and Do If Right This Time.....?
If You knew that 30 years in the Future that the World would be Annihilated in a Nuclear Holocaust, would You Escape into the Past.....?
It's one of the Only Time Travel stories I can think of that deals with the Cocept of whether You Become Older or Regress in Age as You Travel Back and Forth in Time. And it becomes a Plot Point the story revolves around but that's all I will say about that.
It reminds me a bit of the Star Trek TOS episode "All Our Tomorrows" (season 3, episode 23) where Kirk, Spock and McCoy, Travel Back in Time and Spock Eats Animal Flesh and makes out with a Sexy Cavewoman (Mariette Hartley).
A lot of fun and a Recommended Read for those who Time Travel Stuff like I do.
November 8, 2012
This is a fascinating short story with a uncertain ending, as the reader wrestles with ideas about conviction, suspicion and embrace of the strange, and the risks of pursuing the new at the expense of the known. It is for the most part humorous but nevertheless has a dark and brooding sense that is mildly unsettling.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews