Time: X

by Wilson Tucker

Ten sci-fi short stories (Bantam #1400)

What if...

- A Time Traveler from the past and future were tampering with today's history?
- A man from Mars suddenly appeared in a midwest suburb, asking directions to the next planet?
-A science fiction writer was betraying atomic secrets he didn't know he had?

What if...

There are the words that turn the wheels and spin the story . . . words that open the way to limitless adventures, with utterly believable characters who are living in worlds that transcend the barriers of space and time.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

140 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1954

About the author

Arthur Wilson "Bob" Tucker was an American mystery, action adventure, and science fiction writer, who wrote as Wilson Tucker.

He was also a prominent member of science fiction fandom, who wrote extensively for fanzines under the name Bob Tucker, a family nickname bestowed in childhood.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Science-Fiction Subtreasury was Tucker's first collection of short fiction. It contains ten stories; the earliest two are from true pulp magazines Astonishing Stories (Exit from 1943) and Science Fiction Quarterly (Gentlemen- The Queen! from 1942), one is original to the collection, two are from fanzines (science fiction fans used to publish their own magazines in those pre-internet days, with varying levels of professionalism; Tucker himself had of the most renowned, Le Zombie, which he produced for over fifty years), The Wayfaring Strangers (from Fantastic Worlds in 1952) and The Mountaineer (from Fiendetta in 1953), two are from The Magazine of F & SF digest, and the other three are from digests published by Raymond Palmer, Universe and Other Worlds. One of my favorites is the original, The Street Walker, which is much more like Ray Bradbury's The Pedestrian than about anyone of loose moral character. Tucker was very active in science fiction fandom, as I said earlier, and referenced it frequently in his work. (In fact, his name is still used: a "Tuckerization" is writing a recursive reference to a professional writer or fan into a fictional story. Pros frequently used to auction Tuckerizations to raise money for charity.) In Able to Zebra he lists the authors whose works are on display in a bookstore window: "Heinlein, Bradbury, Marlowe, Mudgett, Shaver, Byrdbatthe..." The bookstore is named Mahaffey's Rocket Shop, after Bea Mahaffey, who was the editor of Other Worlds and Universe magazine, and one of the most pivotal characters is H.G. Wells. Another fun fannish in-joke can be found in Gentlemen- The Queen!, which contains the line, "Yngvi was a louse, anyway." That's something that fans used to say to one another back in the 1940s and '50s, referencing a L. Sprague de Camp/Fletcher Pratt story. Tucker wrote good stories and didn't hide the fact that he was having fun with them. There are a couple of stories here which he proudly labeled shaggy-dog tales, but for the most part he wrote serious stories that frequently ended up in a much darker place than you would expect. I enjoyed these very much, but you have to remember that they're from an earlier time with different assumptions and values than we now have. One thing that always puzzled me was the title of the book. Why the Science Fiction Subtreasury? What does that mean? It's a one-author book, so what is it subject -to-? When Bantam released the book in mass-market format in 1955, they changed the title to Time:X, which is less weird but sounds like a watch advertisement. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Tucker at a convention many years ago (it was March 18, 1989; I know because he signed some of his books for me and wrote the date in) and asked him. He was very funny and friendly and garrulous and gathered a few of us to sit with him and chat for an hour or so, and he called us "Smooooooth!" (his catchphrase), and he told stories and asked questions, and it was just a fine and fun time... but he just chuckled and didn't answer the question... I'll probably never know.

[Janne Wass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilson Tucker was a name only vaguely familiar to me before reading this wonderful short story collection. Although he sold over 20 novels and both edited and wrote extensively for science fiction magazines and fanzines, Tucker (1914–2006) made his living as a movie projectionist and theatre electrician. He was one of the early superfans walking in the footsteps of Forry Ackerman, contributing greatly to the development of science fiction criticism and vocabulary – he may be best known for coining the term “space opera”.

This collection, originally titled “The Science-Fiction Subtreaty” was released when “serious” SF was starting to break into the mainstream with writers like Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke. In his stories, Tucker takes aim at many of the tropes prevalent in much of the early SF published in the emerging days of the pulp magazine; “heavy-handed and machine-bound [...] The hero wore form-fitting shorts [while] the maiden was always lush”.

The ten stories within are almost all written with a sharp intellect, a stinging satire and a beautiful, precise prose somewhat reminiscent of the best of the hard-boiled detective stories. Some are laugh-out-loud funny in the style of Henry Kuttner or Fredric Brown, while others are more serious in tone, but always written with a wry, mischievous smile. My favourites are “The Street Walker”, set in a future Chicago where walking is outlawed, “Home is Where the Wreck Is”, a satirical take on the “space ranger” subgenre, featuring a completely inept hero and a Leia Organa prototype as princess, as well as “Exit”, a superbly contained little story about four death row inmates trying to escape through the law of infinite probability: that at some point in the history of the universe, the atoms of a prison wall will align with those of a human being, letting one slip through the wall. Few stories have happy endings, at least in a traditional sense.

[Dirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat dated, but competent stories -for their days. They don't publish them like that anymore.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up.

[SciFiOne · Rating 4 out of 5]

1983 grade B

short stories

[Del · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very humorous collection of science fiction short stories.