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First Flight: Maiden Voyages in Space and Time By
Collects the first published story of ten of the greatest names in the science fiction field.
Mass Market Paperback
Published January 1, 1963
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July 3, 2024
*First Flight*, a collection of famous SF authors' debut stories, has one of the best anthology concepts I've ever seen. It's been done a handful of times since Damon Knight edited this one (including *First Voyages*, a Martin H. Greenberg-spearheaded extension of this very book), but I figured I should pay my dues to the first book to collect the firsts and read this one after finding a nice Lancer mass market paperback at a large Wisconsin antique mall. The stories present did ultimately feel a little incomplete - as one expects debuts, especially debut short stories, to feel - but it was still an enjoyable walk through science fiction history, and I recommend you track down a copy of this book and read it regardless of if you read through the next ten story-centric paragraphs or not.
--Our first first is "The Isolinguals" by L. Sprague de Camp, which is typically described as an unorthodox time travel story. In it, a bunch of people burst out in fits of strange and irrational behavior which goes back to them thinking that they're someone from a different part of history; for example, your husband could suddenly think he's a Roman warrior, a transformation which could spark some problems under the structure of society. Our main character is a scientist and he and his scientist buddies reason out that probably because our main character is rather passive, and as usual, that makes for a less interesting and intense story. Still, it's a fun story with a cool idea in it, and I like even de Camp's earliest prose, so I'll give it a 7/10.
--"The Faithful" by Lester del Rey is an early example of both animal-uplift fiction and post-apocalyptic fiction, two of the earliest conceptual motifs in SF. Del Rey looks at them through the lens of , and while it wasn't terribly memorable, it was charming at the time even if I doubt the charm latent in the concepts really originated with del Rey. 7.25/10.
--The only story here I really disliked with A. E. van Vogt's debut "The Black Destroyer," which is a shame not only because it became part of his influential fix-up novel *The Voyage of the Space Beagle* but also because this story's initial publication marks the start of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. I just couldn't connect with it, similar to how I couldn't connect with van Vogt's fix-up novel *The Weapon Shops of Isher.* There's just something in his prose which prevents me from getting involved or even understanding what's going on. It's not objectively worse prose than most of the other stories in this book and it's not a complicated story - it's about a space crew encountering this black, cat-like alien which may present a danger to the crew - but it still can't scrape past a 5/10 in my book because I just couldn't bring myself to hold onto anything inside of it.
--"Life-Line," Robert A. Heinlein's debut about a man who invents a machine to predict when someone will die, was rather refreshing after "The Black Destroyer." It's a sad story about the impact that such an invention has on both the inventor and some of society's financial institutions (like the "poor" life insurance companies) with a dour yet hope-inspiring ending. Probably one of the best anthologized here despite not being memorable enough for a 7.5 and being relegated to a 7.25/10.
--"Ether Breather" by Theodore Sturgeon is a great example of science fiction about emergent technology and the troubles that it can bring. Sure, the explanation for why broadcasts sent and received in full color (!!!) end up more violent and mean-spirited than the original broadcast seems a bit fantastical (), but that fact that it looks at color television as an invention that's over two hundred years away is classic and mind-boggling all the same. This just feels like a classic golden age tale of speculative technology to me, and I love that. Even if the story only gets 7.5/10, I can still love the ethos.
--Arthur C. Clarke's "Loophole" kicks off with a group of aliens from Mars discussing how best to deal with the problem of humans encroaching into space with their filthy rockets and lets the humans know that more spaceflight will results in their doom. In response, humanity . It's fun and clever, while lacking that solidity that Clarke's later stories (and all of these authors' future stories) have which makes them the forces to be reckoned with that they are. Still, a nice and clever plot can still get you a 7.25/10 in my book.
--Poul Anderson and little-known F. N. Waldrop (who would never publish again as far as I can tell) wrote "Tomorrow's Children," a post-apocalyptic tale of rebuilding a national community that was published solely under the former's name. It resonated with me on some level - I think I just like the idea of piecing back North America after a period of doom-and-gloom, and it reminds me of the well-known post-apocalyptic books that I've read (like the wonderful *A Canticle for Leibowtiz*) and need to (like *Earth Abides*) - and the exploration of mutant children and what duty we might hold to them really elevates the story beyond just another pulpy one, unless, of course, these themes were more common than I think. Either way, it hit me in a way worthy of a 7.5/10.
--Judith Merill, with her story "That Only a Mother," is the only woman featured in the book; one-out-of-ten ain't bad for this time period, I suppose. The story itself is another riff on . This tale of motherhood is a really good example of how male and female writers are different and like to write about different things, and as Merill shows when stacked up against other first-time writers, both can be rather effective, even though this story seemed to be missing some kind of gut-punch at the end. That being said, the paradigm shift at the end deserves a 7.25/10; this would be the third-best story here if it wasn't for the next one.
--"Walk to the World" by Algis Budrys focuses on the young son of a settled-down military man whose father still wistfully talks about "the world" that he saw when he was a young soldier. The boy's mother seems to fear her son having the same aspirations as her father, and even though there is some plot progress when one of father's old commanding officers shows up with a proposition, that's pretty much the whole plot and point of the book. More special yet, it works! It made me feel some of those wistful emotions. I don't think it would seem as well-constructed as I remember if it was stacked up against later-career stories, though, so I think it's the right call to settle with another... you know, I think it was a 7.5/10. Sorry, Judith.
--We end with Brian Aldiss' debut, "T", a relatively early look at the concept of time wars. The main character is, , which is an awesome piece of conceptual history even if I had to read the crucial bits several times over because the writing wasn't really clear. it definitely could've been more direct or beautiful or just... meaningful. Still, a great concept to seen done so early, and an indication on how heady of a writer Aldiss would become. 7.25/10.
The thing about these stories is that they seem better when compared with each other than when compared with these authors' more developed work or even other work from the time by more developed authors. Still, there aren't any objective duds here (even though I think there is a subjective one), and it was relatively impressive. I don't think I can give the book a 7.5/10 overall because the stories aren't quite good enough, and I don't do quarter-ratings, but I can give it a solid 7/10 and a hearty recommendation for anyone who enjoys reading science fiction and wants to brush up on their history in a serious, hands-on manner. I hope you can look past the authors' fame and picture these stories coming out at a time when no one in the bookshop would recognize their names...
--Our first first is "The Isolinguals" by L. Sprague de Camp, which is typically described as an unorthodox time travel story. In it, a bunch of people burst out in fits of strange and irrational behavior which goes back to them thinking that they're someone from a different part of history; for example, your husband could suddenly think he's a Roman warrior, a transformation which could spark some problems under the structure of society. Our main character is a scientist and he and his scientist buddies reason out that probably because our main character is rather passive, and as usual, that makes for a less interesting and intense story. Still, it's a fun story with a cool idea in it, and I like even de Camp's earliest prose, so I'll give it a 7/10.
--"The Faithful" by Lester del Rey is an early example of both animal-uplift fiction and post-apocalyptic fiction, two of the earliest conceptual motifs in SF. Del Rey looks at them through the lens of , and while it wasn't terribly memorable, it was charming at the time even if I doubt the charm latent in the concepts really originated with del Rey. 7.25/10.
--The only story here I really disliked with A. E. van Vogt's debut "The Black Destroyer," which is a shame not only because it became part of his influential fix-up novel *The Voyage of the Space Beagle* but also because this story's initial publication marks the start of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. I just couldn't connect with it, similar to how I couldn't connect with van Vogt's fix-up novel *The Weapon Shops of Isher.* There's just something in his prose which prevents me from getting involved or even understanding what's going on. It's not objectively worse prose than most of the other stories in this book and it's not a complicated story - it's about a space crew encountering this black, cat-like alien which may present a danger to the crew - but it still can't scrape past a 5/10 in my book because I just couldn't bring myself to hold onto anything inside of it.
--"Life-Line," Robert A. Heinlein's debut about a man who invents a machine to predict when someone will die, was rather refreshing after "The Black Destroyer." It's a sad story about the impact that such an invention has on both the inventor and some of society's financial institutions (like the "poor" life insurance companies) with a dour yet hope-inspiring ending. Probably one of the best anthologized here despite not being memorable enough for a 7.5 and being relegated to a 7.25/10.
--"Ether Breather" by Theodore Sturgeon is a great example of science fiction about emergent technology and the troubles that it can bring. Sure, the explanation for why broadcasts sent and received in full color (!!!) end up more violent and mean-spirited than the original broadcast seems a bit fantastical (), but that fact that it looks at color television as an invention that's over two hundred years away is classic and mind-boggling all the same. This just feels like a classic golden age tale of speculative technology to me, and I love that. Even if the story only gets 7.5/10, I can still love the ethos.
--Arthur C. Clarke's "Loophole" kicks off with a group of aliens from Mars discussing how best to deal with the problem of humans encroaching into space with their filthy rockets and lets the humans know that more spaceflight will results in their doom. In response, humanity . It's fun and clever, while lacking that solidity that Clarke's later stories (and all of these authors' future stories) have which makes them the forces to be reckoned with that they are. Still, a nice and clever plot can still get you a 7.25/10 in my book.
--Poul Anderson and little-known F. N. Waldrop (who would never publish again as far as I can tell) wrote "Tomorrow's Children," a post-apocalyptic tale of rebuilding a national community that was published solely under the former's name. It resonated with me on some level - I think I just like the idea of piecing back North America after a period of doom-and-gloom, and it reminds me of the well-known post-apocalyptic books that I've read (like the wonderful *A Canticle for Leibowtiz*) and need to (like *Earth Abides*) - and the exploration of mutant children and what duty we might hold to them really elevates the story beyond just another pulpy one, unless, of course, these themes were more common than I think. Either way, it hit me in a way worthy of a 7.5/10.
--Judith Merill, with her story "That Only a Mother," is the only woman featured in the book; one-out-of-ten ain't bad for this time period, I suppose. The story itself is another riff on . This tale of motherhood is a really good example of how male and female writers are different and like to write about different things, and as Merill shows when stacked up against other first-time writers, both can be rather effective, even though this story seemed to be missing some kind of gut-punch at the end. That being said, the paradigm shift at the end deserves a 7.25/10; this would be the third-best story here if it wasn't for the next one.
--"Walk to the World" by Algis Budrys focuses on the young son of a settled-down military man whose father still wistfully talks about "the world" that he saw when he was a young soldier. The boy's mother seems to fear her son having the same aspirations as her father, and even though there is some plot progress when one of father's old commanding officers shows up with a proposition, that's pretty much the whole plot and point of the book. More special yet, it works! It made me feel some of those wistful emotions. I don't think it would seem as well-constructed as I remember if it was stacked up against later-career stories, though, so I think it's the right call to settle with another... you know, I think it was a 7.5/10. Sorry, Judith.
--We end with Brian Aldiss' debut, "T", a relatively early look at the concept of time wars. The main character is, , which is an awesome piece of conceptual history even if I had to read the crucial bits several times over because the writing wasn't really clear. it definitely could've been more direct or beautiful or just... meaningful. Still, a great concept to seen done so early, and an indication on how heady of a writer Aldiss would become. 7.25/10.
The thing about these stories is that they seem better when compared with each other than when compared with these authors' more developed work or even other work from the time by more developed authors. Still, there aren't any objective duds here (even though I think there is a subjective one), and it was relatively impressive. I don't think I can give the book a 7.5/10 overall because the stories aren't quite good enough, and I don't do quarter-ratings, but I can give it a solid 7/10 and a hearty recommendation for anyone who enjoys reading science fiction and wants to brush up on their history in a serious, hands-on manner. I hope you can look past the authors' fame and picture these stories coming out at a time when no one in the bookshop would recognize their names...
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