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The Wall Around the World
Pyramid Books, later printing of 1962 Pyramid paperback original. Collects ten previously published science fiction stories. Introductions by Anthony Boucher and Frederik Pohl and these The Masters (1954); The Specter General (1952); Wolfie (1954); Emergency Rations (1953); The Burning (1960); Thimgs (1958); Test Area (1955); Prisoner of Love (1962); Invasion Report (1954); The Wall Around the World (1953).
160 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1962
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About the author
Theodore R. Cogswell
77 books9 followersTheodore Rose Cogswell was an American science fiction author.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 25, 2014
Read this for my job - we're preparing an e-book version - and all my comments both personal and general (re: sci-fi) I made in my review of The Third Eye apply here as well. Note - I did not read the longest story here, "The Specter General", as we'd already digitally converted it.
Interesting duel introductions from Frederick Pohl and Anthony Boucher try to wrestle with the problem of genre classifications re: fantasy vs. science fiction, what is one and what is the other. Of course, this is a sly way of letting the audience know that not everything here is hard sci-fi, and there are demons and sorcerers afoot as well.
So, a bunch of fun, goofy, idea stories. Some are disposable, like the time-travel/evolution experiments of "Test Area" (wherein Martian super scientists screw with prehistoric earth evolution, then screw with it again when things go badly, making it worse) or "Emergency Rations" (in which a cunning alien plan to stealthily infiltrate a strategic Earth space station goes awry because the cook on the station is scared of lobsters - *cue laughing trumpet*). There's a bit of easy-going comedy fantasy here: "Wolfie" is an ironic twist on the werewolf tale (I liked that the helpful sorcerer absolutely keeps *insisting* that the big boss is not "Satan", and must be some kind of other-dimensional being, even with the clouds of brimstone, etc.), "Thimgs" (which has shout-outs to Theodore Sturgeon's "Shottle Bop" AND opens with narration from radio horror host "The Ghoul", obviously patterned on Raymond of INNER SANCTUM fame) has a very technical/scientific conception of the afterlife and heaven (bureaucratic office, life-tapes and editing, you see), all in service of the usual "ironic one-wish" twist, and "Prisoner of Love" gives us bumbling warlocks, love spells and a beautiful but ruthless woman with determined plans to use black-magic to benefit herself financially. "The Burning", more sci-fi and slightly more serious, features a post-apocalyptic, cannibalistic matriarchal culture.
Of note, then, are three stories ("Specter General" notwithstanding): "The Masters" revolves around that conceit so common to the time - treating horror fiction tropes through a science fiction lens - as the last survivor on Earth of an alien apocalypse proves to be harder to dispatch than expected (hint: he lives in Transylvania). "Invasion Report" is a charming children's sci-fi story set in a future where heroic, adventurous, humanity-challenging space travel has fallen by the wayside with the discovery of teleportation and the discovery that there is likely no alien life anywhere. So a bunch of precocious kids commandeer an old space-vessel to play at spaceman and accidentally engage the first aliens to contact Earth. Cute and whimsical (I imagine J.G. Ballard would have made something quite different of the set-up and circumstances). Finally, the title story, "Wall Around The World" features a precocious young troublemaker in an enclosed world full of magic-wielding wizards (where everyone goes to school on broomsticks - sound familiar?) - a troublemaker because young Porgie just *has* to know what lies on the other side of the enormous wall that separates this world from... what? ... and so he dreams of forbidden machines and high-altitude flight (beyond the abilities of said broomsticks). Quite nice and would really stick in the mind of a child reader, as it's all about questioning authority and boundaries.
Interesting duel introductions from Frederick Pohl and Anthony Boucher try to wrestle with the problem of genre classifications re: fantasy vs. science fiction, what is one and what is the other. Of course, this is a sly way of letting the audience know that not everything here is hard sci-fi, and there are demons and sorcerers afoot as well.
So, a bunch of fun, goofy, idea stories. Some are disposable, like the time-travel/evolution experiments of "Test Area" (wherein Martian super scientists screw with prehistoric earth evolution, then screw with it again when things go badly, making it worse) or "Emergency Rations" (in which a cunning alien plan to stealthily infiltrate a strategic Earth space station goes awry because the cook on the station is scared of lobsters - *cue laughing trumpet*). There's a bit of easy-going comedy fantasy here: "Wolfie" is an ironic twist on the werewolf tale (I liked that the helpful sorcerer absolutely keeps *insisting* that the big boss is not "Satan", and must be some kind of other-dimensional being, even with the clouds of brimstone, etc.), "Thimgs" (which has shout-outs to Theodore Sturgeon's "Shottle Bop" AND opens with narration from radio horror host "The Ghoul", obviously patterned on Raymond of INNER SANCTUM fame) has a very technical/scientific conception of the afterlife and heaven (bureaucratic office, life-tapes and editing, you see), all in service of the usual "ironic one-wish" twist, and "Prisoner of Love" gives us bumbling warlocks, love spells and a beautiful but ruthless woman with determined plans to use black-magic to benefit herself financially. "The Burning", more sci-fi and slightly more serious, features a post-apocalyptic, cannibalistic matriarchal culture.
Of note, then, are three stories ("Specter General" notwithstanding): "The Masters" revolves around that conceit so common to the time - treating horror fiction tropes through a science fiction lens - as the last survivor on Earth of an alien apocalypse proves to be harder to dispatch than expected (hint: he lives in Transylvania). "Invasion Report" is a charming children's sci-fi story set in a future where heroic, adventurous, humanity-challenging space travel has fallen by the wayside with the discovery of teleportation and the discovery that there is likely no alien life anywhere. So a bunch of precocious kids commandeer an old space-vessel to play at spaceman and accidentally engage the first aliens to contact Earth. Cute and whimsical (I imagine J.G. Ballard would have made something quite different of the set-up and circumstances). Finally, the title story, "Wall Around The World" features a precocious young troublemaker in an enclosed world full of magic-wielding wizards (where everyone goes to school on broomsticks - sound familiar?) - a troublemaker because young Porgie just *has* to know what lies on the other side of the enormous wall that separates this world from... what? ... and so he dreams of forbidden machines and high-altitude flight (beyond the abilities of said broomsticks). Quite nice and would really stick in the mind of a child reader, as it's all about questioning authority and boundaries.
February 24, 2012
Good science fiction transcends the copyright date, and it's certainly true in this collection of short stories. Though this paperback was published in 1962 and has the wonderful smell of an old library, Cogswell's stories are imaginatively fresh and funny without a sense of being dated. They range in length from only a few pages to novelettes, each one with a twist at the end that can be delightful or even diabolical. But in a good way - i.e. the bad guy gets it! Two stories even feature children as the heroes. Also included are two introductions by notable science fiction writers Anthony Boucher and Frederik Pohl. They discuss their different views on the blurred line that separates fantasy from science fiction, and whether we should be such sticklers for defining that line.
January 29, 2014
Fans of Harry Potter would do well to seek out a copy of this book and read the title story. Just sayin' . . .
August 25, 2018
I came across this slim collection in one of Sheffield's hundreds of charity/second-hand shops. Not normally in my line, being first published in 1962, with some of the stories dating back ten years before that--and boy, does it show in the writing--but I first encountered the title story in one of those "Best SF Ever" collections back in the late 80's, and though I'd forgotten who wrote the thing, I still remembered much of the story itself. So... Mr Cogswell... entertain me?
The oldest story, The Specter General, is the ropiest, too long to effectively carry the gimmick. Of the others, all but The Wall Around the World itself are single-joke shaggy-dog stories. However I recognise that a lot of my own short stories also fall into this category, so I can't hold it against Cogswell. The narratives are hellishly dated though, with nearly all of the male characters speaking in the same jokey, colloquial tones. The female characters... well, at least there are female characters in some of these stories, but in two of them they are there only as buxom secretarial relief. It doesn't get very much better than that.
So we come to The Wall Around the World itself. After the rest of this collection, the passion and belief in Porgie's character stands out a mile, and Cogswell runs with it. It's the most well-developed of his worlds (and that only lightly) and anybody who reads it today will struggle to avoid comparisons with a certain bespectacled boy wizard, but plainly Cogswell covered this ground first and it's no surprise that this was the work that later got anthologised ahead of the others in this collection. Still a shaggy-dog story, especially with the final pay-off line, but the best of the lot.
The oldest story, The Specter General, is the ropiest, too long to effectively carry the gimmick. Of the others, all but The Wall Around the World itself are single-joke shaggy-dog stories. However I recognise that a lot of my own short stories also fall into this category, so I can't hold it against Cogswell. The narratives are hellishly dated though, with nearly all of the male characters speaking in the same jokey, colloquial tones. The female characters... well, at least there are female characters in some of these stories, but in two of them they are there only as buxom secretarial relief. It doesn't get very much better than that.
So we come to The Wall Around the World itself. After the rest of this collection, the passion and belief in Porgie's character stands out a mile, and Cogswell runs with it. It's the most well-developed of his worlds (and that only lightly) and anybody who reads it today will struggle to avoid comparisons with a certain bespectacled boy wizard, but plainly Cogswell covered this ground first and it's no surprise that this was the work that later got anthologised ahead of the others in this collection. Still a shaggy-dog story, especially with the final pay-off line, but the best of the lot.
March 3, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"n my quest to bring to light the esoteric, the worthwhile yet forgotten, and to re-examine unjustly maligned works of science fiction I’m unfortunately more likely find incredibly average works than if I were to stick to the more well-trod path. Theodore Cogswell’s short stories attempt unsuccessfully to wed clichéd fantasy [...]"
"n my quest to bring to light the esoteric, the worthwhile yet forgotten, and to re-examine unjustly maligned works of science fiction I’m unfortunately more likely find incredibly average works than if I were to stick to the more well-trod path. Theodore Cogswell’s short stories attempt unsuccessfully to wed clichéd fantasy [...]"
May 30, 2012
This collection includes "The Spectre General," Cogswell's most famous classic story, as well as interesting short introductions from Frederik Pohl and Anthony Boucher, and nine other stories. The title story is excellent, but all are fun and well worth-while.
June 10, 2010
A fine collection of stories by this author.
The Specter General is the centerpiece about a crumbling future space empire.
The Specter General is the centerpiece about a crumbling future space empire.
July 24, 2024
Not a review, really, just a brief note. I actually read this story In "The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus. However, Goodreads does not have an entry for just the story itself - aside from this ebook version.
October 22, 2020
The wall around the world is a coming of age / magic vs science short story. Simple but fun.
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January 8, 2025Fun short story anthology. I quite enjoy when a short story is a single-digit number of pages. A fun time capsule of old sci fi, nothing super crazy, but interesting seeing the common tropes that appear in these, several fable-type stories of cruel people getting their poetic justice.
October 20, 2011
do not hesitate if you see this - snap it up!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews