ORBIT – Otherworldly Reads, Bold Ideas, and Tales. SF & F Short Stories and Novelettes discussion

The podcast by Scott Miller https://lostscifi.com/
over 450 episodes/stories

The Hanging Stranger (Science Fiction Adventures Magazine December 1953) by Philip K. Dick a man walks the streets of his hometown and sees a hanging man. He points him to others (it is a small town, everyone knows everyone), but the others are "so what?" Then he sees that insect-like aliens drop on the roof of the City Council and understands - this is an invasion and only he sees the truth. A great paranoid story. 5*
Text version https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41562...

The Water Eater (Galaxy Science Fiction June 1953) by Winston Marks a narrator helps a widow of (his?) uncle to clean up an oil stove. After mixing a few cleaning solutions, he ends up with a jelly-like substance that actively (!) seeks water to consume. The semi-punchline in the end. 4*
Text version https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

A side note: at one point, the protagonist gets a burn and covers it with lard. I just rechecked and it isn't recommended. I'm surprised that this ineffective folk remedy ended up in a serious SF magazine in the 50s

Death Star (Planet Stories September 1953) by James McKimmy Jr. Two pilots on a rocket ship on a standard route. The older, Hurtz, has 20 years of experience and is planning to retire at his farm on Mars after this mission. For the younger, Jones, this is the first landing. They land badly, Jones is more injured than Hurtz and while Hurtz tries to save them, Jones accuses him of the fall, his internal bleeding and tries to shoot him in revenge. Total reverse of Space Cadet, which I read recently. The finale is quite interesting and unexpected (view spoiler)[Hurtz decides to settle on that planet, who needs Mars if there is a great place and how he hasn't seen it during all his years of service (hide spoiler)] 3.25*
text version https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

The Mind Digger (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy April 1958) by Winston Marks narrator is a literary agent who buys a good play. It turns out that the author is a 19-years-old hilbilly boy. The boy, Hillary Hardy, tries to get a perfect memory - among other things, his solid writing is due to memorizing 38 books on how to write plays as well as "memorizing plays, novels, poetry and history since I was 13". The play is a success, the agent begs for a new one and because for experiments with total recall Hardy needs money, he writes even better ones... a solid SF from the 50s. 4*
text version https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

The Martians and The Coys (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy June 1951) by Mack Reynolds a humorous piece: Martians just before the invasion test their weapons and plans on an Earthling. The test subject in question is Lem, a 'simple' young man. None of their sophisticated weapons it seems does not work on Lem. This is a story of its time, to show a person with developmental issues to laugh at I hope is a thing of the past. However, there are funny moments. 3.5*
text version: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

Breeder Reaction (If Worlds of Science Fiction April 1954) by Winston Marks, the narrator heads the advertisement department of a beauty products company. A young woman, who is a protege of the directors, suggests a new product: a new dusting powder with "Atummion" added, to be called, "Atummyc Afterbath Dusting Powder"—"Atummyc", of course, being a far-fetched play on the word "atomic". What delighted her especially was that the intimate, meaningful word "tummy" occurred in her coined trade name, and this was supposed to do wonders in stimulating the imaginations of the young females of man-catching-age. It contains some kind of unharmful (?) radioactive material that makes people glow with health and beauty. The product is a hit, but then a problem with it is found (view spoiler)[users get pregnant. And the punchline - including men (hide spoiler)] A silly but nice story. 3.5*
text version: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

Planet of Dreams (If Worlds of Science Fiction September 1953) by James McKimmy Jr. a character named Loveral is a supervisor of a perfect extraterrastial colony. However, as he walks across immaculate streets and observes hard-working robots, he rarely sees a smiling face. He goes to the house of Atkinson, who probably once again commits a crime - he works! A good 'best wishes lead to hell' kind of story. 3.5*
text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

And All The Girls Were Nude (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy December 1954) by Richard Magruder the only story of this author recorded by ISFDB. The story follows one Nathanial Evergood, a dirty old man. He was a connoisseur of femininity, which means that he had a lot of semi-nude and nude photos of women, filling all the walls in his bachelor's flat. Unsatisfied with what he had, he invented the contraption, an addition to his camera, which renders all photographed nude. After using it and enjoying the results, he ups the ante and creates eyeglasses with the same quality and this will lead to his downfall. This unusual, risque story was podcasted slightly censored. As a novelty it gets 3.5*
text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

Never Gut-Shoot A Wampus (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy February 1955) by Winston Marks the narrator is a wealthly man, but his friend Major Daphne owns "more planets than I do golf balls". He is a sebarite and a big-game hunter. He likes to hunt 'wampus' - any fast moving game (usually predators) that wears its skeleton on the inside. They decide to go hunting on author's planet. Daphne gets with him his wife and six nieces, modern-day geishas. It turns out that Daphne's wife Annellica doesn't allow him to consumate their marriage... (view spoiler)[They hunt, Daphne uses one of his nices as a bait, Annellica gives him a rifle with blanks and then does what the title says not to do, so the wounded beast kills Daphne. The narrator marries her. The story made me feel unclean on many levels: Daphne is a serial killer, but the narrator doesn't care; his wife fells in love with the narrator, because is is just a good man (according to him), does all the dirty work... (hide spoiler)] 2.5*
text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

I’m not familiar with Marks, but there is a cheap Megapack collection of his stories.

Stephen wrote: "I’m not familiar with Marks, but there is a cheap Megapack collection of his stories."

I liked the first two stories I reviewed here but the third was bad. I guess the narrator has more works by him, so I'll check them first

Three Spacemen Left To Die! (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy September 1954) by Russ Winterbotham Three last Earthmen on a space ship. One is ill with a disease that destroyed Earth - the Quinnies, with its main symptom "shooting sparks like fireworks". The commander goes to kill the diseased one before they reach another habitable world, while his deputy asks him not to do it - they are the last Earthmen and maybe people (extremely human-like aliens, but who aren't colonists) are immune to this illness. (view spoiler)[The captain kills the third, but upon return, finds out that he is infected. Ask the remaining one to shoot him. The deputy disagrees, the captain shoots him and destroys the ship (hide spoiler)] 3*
text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

Leave Earthmen or Die! (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy January 1954) by John Massie Davis a team of three Earthmen, despite warnings, lands on a planet and prepares to keep their position, but each sees his individual important one and runs to them... The idea was in Ray Bradbury's Mars Is Heaven! (1948) that became part of The Martian Chronicles as The Third Expedition and was executed way better. 2.75*
text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

The Fugitives (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy September 1953) by Malcolm B. Morehart Jr. a private eye Jeff Engel follows a man who dropped a fountain pen. Suddenly, he is hit by something invisible and ends up in another world - and a policeman in a strange uniform arrests him. He is delivered to the police station, and later to Alien Detection, where he is informed that he saw an alien infiltrator and in gratitude that he helped to detect him, Jeff is taken for a hunt. (view spoiler)[The 'hunting' policeman is a bit deranged and Jeff helps the suspect to hide (hide spoiler)] 3*
text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

The Voyage of Vanishing Men (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy April 1955) by Stanley Mullen this a story of Braun, who goes from bar to bar, facing people who dislike him to start a fight. After one of the brawls, he tells his story: he was in a crew of the Fourth Intergalactic Survey on the spaceship Venture IV. They wandered further than any ship before them and he was the only one who returned. At the edge of space, they met (view spoiler)[the exact copy of their ship. Braun visited it and there was the same crew, so he assumed that accidentally he returned. However, next time, when he flies carefully, so no round trips, he finds an empty ship (hide spoiler)] 3*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

it is funny that the was a story by Soviet author Kir Bulychev with the same idea in terms of a meeting

A Zloor For Your Trouble (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy January 1954) by Mack Reynolds a narrator is a hunter named Napoleon or Nap. He is hired plus makes a wager that he will deliver zloor from Mars. When he reaches Mars, there are his fellow hunters, also hired to deliver zloor. Nap tries to shoot a zloor, a herbivore looking like a placid rabbit - no reaction. He approaches it and tries to move it - no luck because it weighs like five tonnes. Indirect approach helps. 3.5*

text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

Danger in the Void (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy August 1954) by Charles E. Fritch Silvia and George is a couple on a spaceship on a route to Arcturus. She is to put it mildly, bitchy, while he avoids any conflict. Silvia wants to divorce him on Arcturus and a man sits next to her and informs her that he works for a collective, which can kill her husband, so that she gets his insurance and wealth. She preliminary agrees and then recalls their happier past. It turns out that George is an android (artificially born), the fact he hides, for even now a lot of people think that androids aren't human. The killers start executing their plan and she reconsiders... this is largely a non-SF story with SF elements 2.75*

text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

A Matter of Ethics (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy April 1955) by R.R. Winterbotham Homer is a chemistry teacher and a lifelong bachelor. He was minding his business when a guest appeared, a striking woman in tights. She informs him matter-of-factly: "I like this place," she said. "Do you want to move, or will you share it with me?" As you can guess, she is an alien with limited awareness of Earth customs. I enjoyed his light, humorous piece with a surprising end. 4*

Text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

The Addicts (Galaxy Science Fiction January 1952) by William Morrison Palmer is a lighthouse keeper, living on a lighthouse between Earth and Mars (a strange contraption, why use beacons there, but it's just for the solitude) with his wife. He is constantly happy, because he uses drug named marak, which supposedly doesn't affect cognition but puts users into a mild bliss. His wife wants him to be sober, because there are strange aliens nearby, but he is carefree and, moreover, plans to make his wife happy as well. The solution is another unscientific hndwavering, but within a whatifstory it works. 3.5*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

Slay-Ride (Planet Stories November 1953) by Winston Marks Frane Lewis is a sadistic serial killer, hired to capture a spaceship (killing its crew). He has to sit in a spacesuit because he expelled all the air. But before his death, an engineer tells him that he wore the suit wrong and why he thinks he'll be paid. A horror piece, where a character worries to his own death. 3*

text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

The Queen of Space (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy August 1954) by Joseph Slotkin takes place on Venus, where our narrator meets a guy, who is hunted down by a local rogue, Luigi. The guy is Timothy J. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., M.A. and A.B., a psychiatrist. He tells his story - a local burlesque girl, Miss Helen LaTour, visited him for a session some time ago. Her problem is that during her newest act, at some moment (exactly with her skirt up), she shifts in time and space. And now Luigi hunts the doctor because Helen vanished... a strange mix of prudishness and risque, how it works, who cares... 3*

text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

The Gun (Planet Stories, September 1952) by Philip K. Dick a spaceship visits a planet destroyed by war - they found out that there can be a developed sentient life by observing an atomic fission. When they investigate a fragment of the planet, they are shot at. The ship hides while two members of the crew go to investigate. They find out that there is an automatic gun that, like a dragon, protects the treasures. A solid sad story. 4*
text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

The Fifty-fourth Of July (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy March 1954) by Alan E. Nourse The year is 1995 and there is a launch facility with a rocket, the first of its kind, to launch a man into space. The facility is protected by the military and the protection is essential because all resources went on the space race and oil ran out (more specifically: We predicted the crash almost to the day. We said the 30th of July, 1995. We had no way of predicting the Iranian oil decision, which happened last April. That precipitated the crisis by a month, so it came on the first of July instead of the thirtieth. But socio-mathematics were far beyond the blather stage then. We hope we can still salvage something from the country now) and the president was lynched by a mob. It is a-ok story, but readers should keep in mind - it was published before The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome's Project on the Predicament of Mankind and the space race, which led to:
"I can't pay no doctor bills
But whitey's on the moon
Ten years from now I'll be payin' still
While whitey's on the moon"
Therefore, maybe 4*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

So They Baked a Cake (Dynamic Science Fiction January 1954) by Winston Marks the narrator, a life-long reporter, who is tired from his particular prostitution was to transform their [rich and famous] peccadilloes into virtues, their stubbed toes into tragedies and their fornications into romance., even if he got a Nobel for his work. He joins a crew to test a new space drive, so that they pass a parsec in just a year of their time, while 42 will pass on Earth. It turns out that their local time will be even shorter, but all the crew are moody because they think of their loved ones on Earth growing old. As they approached the system of their destination, they got a signal from a planet (view spoiler)[I predicted the twist - their loved ones on even faster drives reached the planet first) (hide spoiler)] 2.75*

Text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...

Unwelcomed Visitor (Worlds of If Science Fiction, October 1954) by William Morrison after a long voyage, alien Xhanph reaches the Earth. He expected a lot of publicity and accolades, but people just pass by as if he isn't there. After some time, he finally meets an old man, who speaks to him and tells him why no one cares (view spoiler)[SF told people of every possible type of alien and every outcome, so people got used to the fictional ones to care for the real ones. (hide spoiler)] An easy, humorous piece. 4*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/58721...

Oleksandr wrote: "Unwelcomed Visitor (Worlds of If Science Fiction, October 1954) by William Morrison after a long voyage, alien Xhanph reaches the Earth. He expected a lot of publicity and accolades, but people jus..."

That was a very good one! If a little strained, i mean, can you really imagine humanity ever losing curiosity? It's built into a child's instincts!

Andrew wrote: "That was a very good one! ."

Agreed. I've read one more story by the same author and decided I like him enough to dig more about him. It turns out that his true name is Joseph Samachson (October 13, 1906 – June 2, 1980) and among other things, in 1955, he created (with artist Joe Certa) the Martian Manhunter in the pages of Detective Comics #225

Task of Kayin (Planet Stories July 1953) by William Morrison a humanoid alien attempts to adopt in the mid-50s USA. He looks human enough, so no one suspects anything. He works at a construction site, where he learns that it'll be used to make use of cosmic rays to produce new medicine. However, he knows that it is very dangerous; it has already destroyed at least one planet. 3.25*

Text: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/64300...
Audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/task-of...

Beyond the Door (Fantastic Universe January 1954) by Philip K. Dick a man brings an antique cuckoo clock to his house, to please his wife. His wife is pleased, but the clock behaves strangely - it prefers to get out to be seen by the wife but not the husband. The wife invites a friend to show him the wonders of the clock, but the husband suddenly arrives, accuses her of infidelity and throws her away, remaining with the clock. I knew PKD as a SF writer; this is more of a horror, but a good one. 3*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/beyond-...

Shipping Clerk (Galaxy Science Fiction June 1952) by William Morrison Ollie Keith is a poor hungry guy, who knows very little. On his daily prowl to get food (and maybe some drink, which he started to enjoy) he finds a nut. He tries to crack it with his teeth, but gulps it instead. Then the hunger starts gnawing on him. He has a hit of luck, a free meal in a restaurant and later the egg-eating competition. Even after eating 300+ eggs he is still hungry and weighs less than before. Then we shift to aliens who lost the nut... another solid story. 4*

text https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
audio https://lostscifi.com/podcast/shippin...

Spoken For (Galaxy Science Fiction Fiction July 1955) by William Morrison a man comes to Ganymede colony. He searches for his wife and kids, but he has massive amnesia. Local young woman, Carol Marsh, instantly falls in love with him and takes him to her dad, maybe he will advise something useful. The story aged badly in terms of gender relations and attitudes and I guessed the final twist. Nevertheless, it is competently written. 3*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51121...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/spoken-...

Pariah (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy April 1954) by Milton Lesser Allerton is a crewmember of spaceship Eros, which, after a three-year delay, returns to Earth. The captain says to Allerton that he will likely return, but Allerton doubts it. He is met by reporters, who inform his that the ship and its crew were considered lost, so his wife re-married. He goes to visit her... a bit formulaic. 3*

text: https://readingroo.ms/6/6/3/2/66324/6...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/pariah-...

The Plagiarist from Rigel IV (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy March 1954) by Evan Hunter a narrator buys a typewriter in a pawn shop. It is Remington Noiseless, which costs new over $100 for just $5. However, when he tries to type his new story, he gets Poe instead. Moreover, the typewriter starts to 'talk' to him on the page! A nice SF story about SF writers. 4*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/the-pla...

Evan Hunter aka Ed McBain was a very famous writer, mainly of mysteries, if it’s the same guy.

Stephen wrote: "Evan Hunter aka Ed McBain was a very famous writer, mainly of mysteries, if it’s the same guy."

I don't recall ever reading anything by him before. I liked the story. I'll check if he is one and the same

And, yes, it is him: https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/hun...

His bibliography of SF: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?...

One of those old pro writers who worked in various genres before “specializing” and finding great success in one of them.

Beyond Lies the Wub (Planet Stories July 1952) by Philip Kindred Dick a spaceship crew runs short of supplies, so at one of the ports a crew member buys a pig-like creature, very cheap. Later, when the crew gathers to discuss what to do with it, it starts talking, showing a melancholic attitude and a lot of knowledge. A crewman tries to protect it from being eaten. 4*

I've read it before, so I knew the twist, but it is still a good one.
text: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28554...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/beyond-...

Journey For The Brave (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy April 1954) by Alan E. Nourse a man is preparing to the first human space flight (which should land him on Moon and take back) and while he shows a lot of courage to others, he knows deep inside that he is a coward. There are a few flashbacks from his past, when he was frozen with fear, and he thinks his front can drop at any moment... it is more about feelings and choices. (view spoiler)[During the launch, he lost too much fuel, so he could land on the Moon but not return. "Huston" tells him to abort the mission, but he continues (hide spoiler)]3*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/66313...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/journey...

Wanderlust (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy October 1952) by Alan E. Nourse, a conflict of fathers and sons. An eager 19-year-old Tom returns home after a meeting with a boy he knew, who is now part of the crew of the newest, slickest starship, Star King, which just landed. Tom is starry-eyed about joining the crew, but his parents are strongly against it, prefering that he stay on their farm or go to college. His dad, George, describes the drawbacks of such a career as a person who knows them from personal experience. Tom decides to go anyway. The final paragraphs make the reader rethink the story (view spoiler)[George was a spacer (as expected) and was blinded in an accident (hide spoiler)] 3.5*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/wanderl...

Export Commodity (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy July 1955) by By Irving Cox, Jr. Henig, a Fleet Lieutenant, is sent on a planet to study locals, who are described as "hairless bipeds", uncilivized and to be pushed aside, if the planet has valuable materials. The Fleet, of which Jenig is part, is run by (supposedly) error-free computers. Soon, readers find out that locals are human and that the computers erred. Earth has valuable oil but also another good to export (view spoiler)[human love and emotion (hide spoiler)] 3*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/export-...

Zurk (Planet Stories Winter 1941) by Richard O. Lewis The oldest story to date on the podcast and it feels. Guyard Marene is a man at a laboratory. He constantly tries to activate Zurk, a huge "war-machine of tubular steel muscles and blank, mechanical mind". It is paramount that Zurk protects him and his daughter from invaders, but the robot remains immobile. Even when (by accident) Guyard shifts his consciousness in Zurk's body, it still doesn't move an inch. Finally, the attackers are there and (by another accident) Zurk is free 2.5*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
audio: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4kng...

The Eyes Have It (Science Fiction Stories 1953) by Philip Kindred Dick a humorous vingette, a protagonist is frightened by the literal reading of phrases like "his eyes moved from person to person" and suspects an alien invasion of beings, who can detach their body parts. It is short and with a punchline. 4*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/31516...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/the-eye...

Wanted; One Sane Man (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy June 1955) by Frank M. Robinson two men came to an office of a job-matching company, which dominates US labor market. They ask a head of the company, Whiteford, to find them a man for the first piloted space flight around the Moon and back. Whiteford cannot find a candidate who fits all the requirements, so he volunteers. Alone on the ship, he slowly goes mad and almost destroys the ship but (view spoiler)[recalls that he has a company plus he has to prove that his choice of the pilot was correct (hide spoiler)] 3.25*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/wanted-...

The Pioneer (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy October 1955) by Irving Cox Jr. Victor Greg was an expert pilot, the first man on Mars, the pioneer of space exploration. Now he is forty and he visits Earth from Mars with a cargo of the Redearth of Mars, once an ultimate antibiotic. No one wants to buy it now and his skillset becomes obsolete - a new generation may teleport where they want (plus they read minds). Greg starts to suspect that in one of his travels, he returned with an advanced alien virus, so the kids aren't humans and should be destroyed, because they sent all adults and 'normal' kids to colonies and inherited the Earth. Not on my watch, decides Greg. I think it was quite unusual for the 1950s, so maybe 4*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/the-pio...

The Invisible Enemy (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy October 1954) by Arnold Castle a teen boy Tom with his parents arrives at DEPARTMENT OF PEACE. In the next scene, Tom is a soldier, even if his memories on why and whom they fight is vague. There are s ounds of atomic artillery... (view spoiler)[to end wars, all men at 18 should pass an immersive simulation of war to hate it and be frozen if they try to aggress (hide spoiler)] 3*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/the-inv...

The Beachcomber (Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy December 1952) by Damon Knight Maxwell's girl Alice calls his to try something new and visit another planet. Initially, he is reluctant ("It's ten hours even to Proxima; we'd have just time to turn around and get back on the liner.") but agrees. On a planet they visit, they meet Dai, whom Maxwell knows. Dai is from 3 million years in the future and he gave people volumes of new tech. He himself went native and works as a beachcomber on this planet. He tells his story and we find out why. 3.25*

text: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
audio: https://lostscifi.com/podcast/the-bea...