Analog 2

Analog #2

by John W. Campbell Jr.

Collection of stories from Analog Magazine 1962-1964. Authors include Theodore L. Thomas, Mack Reynolds, Allen Kim Lang, William Lee, James H. Schmitz, John T. Phillifent, Christopher Anvil, R.C. FitzPatrick.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction (later called Analog Science Fiction and Fact), from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.

Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely."

As a writer, Campbell published super-science space opera under his own name and moody, less pulpish stories as Don A. Stuart. He stopped writing fiction after he became editor of Astounding.

Known Pseudonyms/Alternate Names:

Don A. Stuart
Karl van Campen
John Campbell
J. W. C., Jr.
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell

Reviews

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A so so collection from the great magazine. Never heard of any of the authors previously.

Here's a break down:

#1 The Weather Man by Theodore L.Thomas The Weather Bureau are able to control the weather on any part of the planet, but an aging Councillor has one very daring challenge... 3.5/5

#2 Good Indian by Mack Reynolds Very short comical story about attempt by last Indians to get a treaty with the US 100 years after ethnic repatriation.Funny 4/5

#3 Blind Man's Lantern by Allen Kim Lang. 30+ page story about an Amish couple who relocate to a planet populated by pagans.. 3.5/5

#4 Junior Achievement by William Lee. A so so story about a bunch of junior inventors cum entrepreneurs. 2.5/5

#5 Novice by James H. Schmitz A tale of a young girl on an alien planet and her strange cat-like pet,a bit reminiscent of Foster's Pip and Flinx books. 3.5/5

#6 The Ethical Quotient by John T Philliphent Psionics and ethics in a long galactic federation story somewhat like Asimov's Foundation stories. A man wakes aboard a space ferry and is thrust into a world where people use psi powers on a daily basis. Unbeknown to them our man also has these powers but keeps it quiet. 3/5

#7 Philosopher's Stone by Christopher Anvil An interstellar courier is carrying a vital piece of information, but due to space travel time is distorted, so a year passes in 6 weeks, enabling him and his crew to witness socio-economic changes, and formulate a plan to prevent them from being left behind on a global scale. 3.5/5

#8 The Circuit Riders by R.C. Fitzpatrick A story of big brother where emotions are monitored by the police. Once a person's level of anger reaches a certain level on the circuit the police home. A lot less exciting than the title led me to think it was! Good writing tho. 3.5/5

[Michael Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up at a yard sale recently; within two pages, knew I'd read it before long ago in personal deep time ( mid-1960's). Here's my read on this anthology many decades later, grown-up pants on. No spoilers where avoidable.

The Weather Man' by Theodore L. Thomas--- B+

Fair-to-middling. Thomas was one of the first SF writers to recognize that global weather control---should it ever be possible---would eventually and necessarily be run by politicians rather than scientists, and looked at how those politics may work. A bit idealistic, perhaps, but when this was written, World War 2 was still pretty fresh in people's bruised minds, and many idealistic people still had high hopes for the UN. Such charming naiveté.

It's a three-parter; first part political; second, scientific; third, implementation. First section good, a plausible political nuts-'n-bolts; second section the best of the three, imho, showcasing the collaborative nature of scientific work and, rarely, for the era, having a successful woman lead character; the third section, implementation, somehow is the weakest of the three.

Good Indian by Mack Reynolds. F-.
-- the entire basis of this story is the combination of two tropes: 'the only good Indian--', and 'drunken Indian--' stereotypes. Definitely not my cup of sassafras.

Blind Man's Lantern by Allen Kim Lang. A-.
-- Aside from the spaceship at the beginning with a necessary bit of unexpectedly smart exposition, no other SF element; otherwise, a well-written, heart-warming anthrop story. I'd definitely like to read more by this guy.

Junior Achievement. B.
A lightweight, amusing small-time SF story. I admired the casual little off-hand sting early in the story.

Novice. by James H. Schmitz. B+.
A Telzy Amberson ''telepath' story. How her pet/partner, Tik-Tok, was more than---etc. YA wish fulfillment kinda story. Fun, though.

Ethical Quotient. by John T. Philliphent. D-.
-- A pretentious discussion on ethics in various political contexts in a drecky, formulaic 1930's pulp-style telepathy story. This piece of hackwork grunt occupies a third of the entire antho, which could otherwise have been given over to two or three far better stories.

Philosopher's Stone. B-.
-- An interesting lead-in on scientific innovation leading to what seems to me a rushed, enigmatic ending. But maybe I'm being a bit thick about the ending; be interesting to see other readers' takes, and I'm always willing to admit to an error.

The Circuit Riders. by R. C. Fitzpatrick. A+.
-- Star of the show. At only 20 pages, an economical dialogue-driven, well-paced, competent police-procedural: think Ed McBain 87th Precinct plus hot future tech as just some schlub's day job.

Overall anthology rating : 3.75.

[Robin Rader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am weeding out a lot of my books but keeping this old tattered paperback, which includes "Blind man's lantern", a study in anthropology.

[Patrick]

"Good Indian"(1962) by Mack Reynolds

[Kevin Driskill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very nice collection of sci-fi