Status Updates From The Science Fiction Roll of...

“Dog Star” by Arthur C. Clarke (1962). Short. Sweet. Dogs are humans’ best friends, even humans living on the moon.

“Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell — what a treat to stumble across the story that The Thing (the movie) is based upon without knowing ahead of time that was the case! The movie is much better. The story is mostly talking and actually white boring. 😆

“Daybroke” by Robert Bloch (1958) is a post-nuclear war survival story. Who wins in a nuclear war? The last line reveals the answer.

“The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov, and “How Beautiful with Banners” by James Blish, are two very different stories. One spans nearly an infinity of time and obsessed with the question, “can entropy be reversed?“ The other lasts but a minute or less and ponders the question, “did my virus bubble spacesuit just have an affair with a native Titanian?” What the…?

“Kings Who Die” by Poul Anderson is a fun tale of a rescue of an adrift spaceman by his enemy, and subsequent discussion between him and the big bad boss, who tries to convince him to agree to a rather fascinating plan, with an unexpected ending!

The Introduction, by Fredrick Pohl, was a delightful history of early American science fiction and science fiction conventions. Some interesting facts and tidbits!