Exile from Space

by Judith Merril

"They" worried about the impression she'd make. Who could imagine that she'd fall in love, passionately, the way others of her blood must have done? Who was this strange girl who had been born in this place—and still it wasn't her home?...

Genres: Science Fiction

48 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 6, 2010

About the author

Josephine Juliet Grossman

aka Cyril Judd (with C.M. Kornbluth)

Judith Josephine Grossman (Boston, Massachusetts, January 21, 1923 - Toronto, Ontario, September 12, 1997), who took the pen-name Judith Merril about 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist.

Although Judith Merril's first paid writing was in other genres, in her first few years of writing published science fiction she wrote her three novels (all but the first in collaboration with C.M. Kornbluth) and some stories. Her roughly four decades in that genre also included writing 26 published short stories, and editing a similar number of anthologies.

Reviews

[Star · Rating 1 out of 5]

You don't find out what the 'They' did in order to have a human girl living among them to then leave her back on Earth till the very end. The why and the fallout from it is just poor writing. This was incredibly boring. This is a lot like a slice of life anime that goes nowhere. It's like it is the first part of a novel but instead of a climax, we get a crammed ending that says nothing. We're told of dangers from the law, and the 'They' breaking their own law, and we get none of the outcome that should have been in the story. We just get the human girl who has no idea how to human who then succeeds at everything, gets insta-loved and a husband and child and it's terribly boring.

[Sara Light-Waller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judith Merril is new to me. And I liked this late pulp-era story, it had a remarkably fresh and modern feel. The main character is, for me, a believable woman. It's hard to judge how speculative this story was in 1956, when it was first published. Today, it seems a tale that has been told many times before. But back then? Not sure. It's entirely possible that "Exile from Space" was ground-breaking in its day, especially with a female protagonist. If true, it'd make a nice addition to this review. But even with that as an unknown, I'd still recommend the story. It's an enjoyable ride.

[Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exile from Space, by Judith Merril is a rather fun but otherwise slight read. In fact, you can listen to it on line for free in less than 2 hours. Otherwise, something you might pick if you plan to soak in the hot tub. Worth noting is that this is Sci Fi from that golden era of the 1950’s and written by and starring a woman.

No doubt a lot of readers will want to suggest that this is important because of the cold war issues that were so very real at the time of publication. How little would an infiltrator need to pass or how disinterested Americans are in the authentic person behind the person we just met or to whom we sell a car. Ok fine, make this hard. Your choice.

Our central character is a young woman, human and with some history that connects her to this place in America. Raised not by wolves but by advanced outer space type aliens. Whatever the motives of these ‘parents’ she is returned to her home land and left to make do, get by or otherwise figure out her way. Or signal for a return to them.

She is a mix of book learning, television schooling and fairly good logic. Then she meets ‘her’ man.

For me the ending was a bit rushed, canned and needlessly clouded. I enjoyed my time with author Judieth Merril. I can recommend the story but with the understanding that it is best if you just let it tell itself. Read into it if you have to, better if you do not.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pulpy, 1950's sci-fi that reads like it very well could have influenced many later writers, such as the writers of '3rd Rock from the Sun' with lines like:

These people are pretty bright mechanically. You'd think anybody who could build an automobile - let alone an atom bomb - could drive one easily enough. Especially with a lifetime to learn. Maybe they just liked to live dangerously.

Seeing everyday life from 'alien' eyes can be used various ways - here there is both humor and drama as the main character tries to figure out how to interact with these weird Earthlings. One in particular gives her more problems to navigate then she could have ever planned for.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining space listening 🎶🔰

Another will written fantasy Sci-Fi space adventure thriller short story by Judith Merril about a female coming to earth 🌎 falling in love 💘 and getting pregnant and staying on earth. I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy Sci-Fi novels 👍🔰. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of health issues. 2022 👒😊💑🏡

[Kubek · Rating 1 out of 5]

Born sexy yesterday taken to the level of wanting to be impregnated by a dude know for three days. No backstory whatsoever, except for a few sentences, including the "twist", because who cares, I guess. If it wasn't a free audio book I posed as background noise, I would not survive. It hardly felt like a book at all.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great little novella.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read more Judith Merril since Helen Merrick's Secret Feminist Cabal, since Merril features pretty prominently in the early years. The lady wrote "That only a Mother could love" - a seriously amazing piece of fiction that I'm sure Russ would have dismissed as 'galactic suburbia' but I think is staggering in its suggestion about life for the ordinary woman in The Future.

Anyway, "Exile from Space" - the basic story is young woman going to the city for the first time, but there's clearly something a bit odd about this young woman because of how she talks about her education, and about other people... and it quickly becomes apparent that she has not been living with other humans, at least for her teen years. So although she herself is human and passes for human, she has to deal with all these weird things like eating, and shopping, and interacting with humans - such that she might as well be an alien. Oh, the many levels of 'alien'. And then, of course, there's a man...

Merril's writing is delightful and elegant, and conveys the sheer weirdness of human existence simply and clearly. So many things we take for granted.... This story makes me wish I could find more of Merril's work, but I keep coming up with nothing wherever I look. I got this story from The Gutenberg Project.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tina goes to Colorado Springs for the first time since being born there. She didn't know much about it, nor indeed much about Earth of the 'Mechanical age'.

All she did know had been learnt from watching the Television shows on the spaceship. (Most of us have learned all we know the same way!) Tina is being sent down with a job to do. Then she meets Larry.

Judith Merril was that rarest a writers - a female science fiction author from the 'Golden Age' of the 1940s & 50s (and my lord, how those boys could have done with some more women to talk to!).

Exile from Space is no great shakes as a short story, though I liked the menacing little coda at the end.