This short story is a humorous account of a young man who inherits a time machine capable of replicating matter from his uncle.
However, it was probably what most readers in the 1930s would have wanted. Apart from this, the relationship between humans and Centaurians is presented in a very black-and-white manner, and the deus-ex-machina finale does nothing to add sophistication to the story. Thus, when we are made to feel disgust at the unreasoning and destructive actions of the Centaurians, we might reflect on similar crimes perpetrated by avaricious humans. They value animal flesh as men crave wealth or gold. Their buildings and spaceships are not built but are grown from plant matter which is then held in stasis. The aliens are frequently described as 'fiends', but they are nevertheless interesting. That life on board is similar to that on an ocean-going vessel is probably due to the fact that when this novelette was written space travel was still a couple of decades in the future, so a limited amount was known about it.
On the positive side, there is interstellar travel (apparently at half the speed of light), which the author tries to make seem as real as possible. Prior to the 1970s, well-developed and realistic women are few and far between in science fiction. It is at the very least imaginative, even if the weak and weepy female character makes it feel dated. This story has been dismissed by some reviewers as pulp fiction having no merits, but I think that is extreme. It must be said that the story is repetitive and drags a little, but the concepts are fascinating. There is an interesting take on the possible nature of hyperspace. Beam Piper in the 1940s and 50s, and Richard C.
The idea is similar to that in Paratime written by H. This does not describe coventional time travel to the past or future, but rather alternate realities on parallel timelines.
In short, it was a hodgepodge of trash designed to gain publicity by means of the Earth broadcast for those who took part in it." and then a congratulatory address by an eminent politician. What do they get? Oh, basically the sort of thing that Yahoo calls news, and other useless info.: "The message was a 'cheer-up' program, which began with lusty singing by a popular quartet, continued with wisecracks. For example, a team has been out of touch from Earth for a long time and are looking forward to their first packet of news. Includes A Logic Named Joe in which 'logics' are PCs and Google and other popular applications are anticipated, as are some consequences related to their use, such as privacy concerns.Īlso includes other insights not explored by other SF writers of the time, at least that I've seen (and I have read a lot). but if you like older SF shorts this is entertaining and sometimes surprisingly thought-provoking. Sure, some science is probably wrong, and of course minor details of psychology and sociology. Stories' original copyrights from 1934 to 1956.
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