Seetee

Seetee

by Jack Williamson

First time in one volume! SEETEE SHIP and its stunning sequel, SEETEE SHOCK

Genres: Science Fiction

448 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

John Stewart Williamson who wrote as Jack Williamson (and occasionally under the pseudonym Will Stewart) was a U.S. writer often referred to as the "Dean of Science Fiction".

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an omnibus volume containing two classic Williamson books, Seetee Ship and Seetee Shock, which were originally published in book form in 1950 (Seetee Ship by Simon & Shuster) and 1951 (Seetee Shock by Gnome Press), both appearing under the pseudonym Will Stewart. Seetee Ship is a fix-up of stories that were first printed in 1942 and 1943 in John W. Campbell's Astounding SF magazine, and Seetee Shock was serialized in ASF in 1949, all also under the Stewart nom de plume. My 1979 Jove edition proclaims, "First time in one volume!" on the cover, but that's not true: Lancer combined them in 1972, with a much better cover by Jeff Jones. Seetee is a phonetic for ContraTerrene, a now obsolete term for what's now called anti-matter. The stories are set in the far-future 22nd century in the asteroid belt, where colonists live in a post-war political system where their access to uranium is strictly controlled. The story follows the Drake family in their attempt to produce free power for all after the discovery of the titular material. There's a kind of clunky romance triangle (actually I guess it's a rectangle, so nobody gets left out), and the political systems kind of reflect the WWII-era powers. Some of the technology is really dated (they steer their spaceships with periscopes as I recall), but at the time it was a big-idea bonanza, far ahead of its time, with time travel and the first use of the word "terraforming" and all manner of speculation taking turns at point. The political and economic parts are a little slow, but the scientific bits are great. It was a sure five star in its day, probably a weak three now, so I'll split the difference.

[Scot Schieferstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently re-reading this book (actually two titles--one which was published as a series of short stories originally) as I had read it years ago while riding in a car from Indiana to New York as part vacation and part work for my dad.

I remember it was an early science fiction work that introduced me to the concept of "anti-matter" or "contra-terrene" (thus the SeeTee in the title). Of course, when Star Trek came along with its version of anti-matter as a power source Jack Williamson had explored the potential back story that would lead to Trek's use of it in Scotty's warp drive!

A wonderful read from one of science fictions early giants published in the shadow of the atom bomb and its destructive potential but offering us the hope of positive uses not only for the elusive anti-matter but certainly as a metaphor for how atomic power might be used to provide cheap (and certainly Mr. Williamson might have hoped free) energy.