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Earthsmith
Nobody at the Interstellar Space School had ever heard of Earth so naturally they treated Smith with contempt—or was it an innate fear?...
- GenresShort Stories
43 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2010
2 people want to read
About the author
Milton Lesser
133 books3 followersMilton Lesser was an American author of science fiction, mystery novels, and fictional autobiographies of Christopher Columbus, Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, and Edgar Allan Poe. He is best known for his detective character Chester Drum, whom he created in the 1955 novel The Second Longest Night.
He was awarded the French Prix Gutenberg du Livre in 1988, and in 1997 he was awarded the "Life Achievement Award" by the Private Eye Writers of America. He lived with his wife Ann in Williamsburg, Virginia.
His pseudonyms include Adam Chase, Stephen Marlowe, Andrew Frazer, C.H. Thames, Jason Ridgway and Ellery Queen.
He was awarded the French Prix Gutenberg du Livre in 1988, and in 1997 he was awarded the "Life Achievement Award" by the Private Eye Writers of America. He lived with his wife Ann in Williamsburg, Virginia.
His pseudonyms include Adam Chase, Stephen Marlowe, Andrew Frazer, C.H. Thames, Jason Ridgway and Ellery Queen.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 21, 2022
A Parable on Prejudice
When Smith, of Earth, comes to a renowned galactic school, he immediately finds himself the laughingstock of everyone else, with the possible exception of Geria, of Bortinot, because in these latter days when the sun is a big red, bloated star the Earth, although actually the starting point of all interplanetary colonialism, and therefore the cradle of every other civilization, is now regarded as some kind of hillbilly backwater hardly worth mentioning. Smith is made fun of because of his outward appearance, his alleged lack of knowledge and his inability to use psi-powers. Only Geria takes some genuine human interest in him, but even she tends to look down on him – but eventually, Smith will put both his foot down and everyone else into their right place and decide that he does not want to be part of a civilization that is egocentric in its core and also decadent in its admiration of qualities that have long been discarded as harmful on Earth.
The message of the short story Earthsmith by Milton Lesser is quite obvious, but despite its laudability, it is marred by a love story that does not really make a whole lot of sense and by a dénouement that is far too optimistic in the light of all the suffering the victims of discrimination and racism have to undergo: Smith can go back to Earth, knowing that it is not worth his while to be part of a society that looks down on him and his fellow-Terrans, but in many ways, this is neither possible nor desirable with regard to people who are discriminated against in our present-day world because modern societies are based on diversity and a withdrawal of certain groups, ethnic, religious or gender-defined, must be seen as a defeat of reason and humanity.
All in all, this makes Earthsmith a rather dissatisfying and puerile story.
When Smith, of Earth, comes to a renowned galactic school, he immediately finds himself the laughingstock of everyone else, with the possible exception of Geria, of Bortinot, because in these latter days when the sun is a big red, bloated star the Earth, although actually the starting point of all interplanetary colonialism, and therefore the cradle of every other civilization, is now regarded as some kind of hillbilly backwater hardly worth mentioning. Smith is made fun of because of his outward appearance, his alleged lack of knowledge and his inability to use psi-powers. Only Geria takes some genuine human interest in him, but even she tends to look down on him – but eventually, Smith will put both his foot down and everyone else into their right place and decide that he does not want to be part of a civilization that is egocentric in its core and also decadent in its admiration of qualities that have long been discarded as harmful on Earth.
The message of the short story Earthsmith by Milton Lesser is quite obvious, but despite its laudability, it is marred by a love story that does not really make a whole lot of sense and by a dénouement that is far too optimistic in the light of all the suffering the victims of discrimination and racism have to undergo: Smith can go back to Earth, knowing that it is not worth his while to be part of a society that looks down on him and his fellow-Terrans, but in many ways, this is neither possible nor desirable with regard to people who are discriminated against in our present-day world because modern societies are based on diversity and a withdrawal of certain groups, ethnic, religious or gender-defined, must be seen as a defeat of reason and humanity.
All in all, this makes Earthsmith a rather dissatisfying and puerile story.
September 21, 2018
This short story, if read for the observations of the prejudice in people, is good. Conversely, the possible romance subplot is hokey.
📌 Discovered this on Archive.org.
📌 Discovered this on Archive.org.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews