Today, October 21, is the birthday of Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977).  He’s a favorite around these here parts. In observance of his birthday, I’m going to look at two stories from What’s It Like Out There?. I snagged a copy in great condition for a song last weekend, so this was the book I went to. This is a break from my usual practice of reviewing stories that are easily available. Copies of What’s It Like Out There? aren’t too hard to come by, though.

The back cover copy of What’s It Like Out There? says this is a collection of Hamilton’s best stories. The publication date is 1974, and the publisher was Ace, so this collection predates the Ballantine collection The Best of Edmond Hamilton by roughly three years.  It’s interesting to note that What’s It Like Out There? has a dozen stories from the 1940s and 1950s, with one story from the early 60s, with the majority from the 40s. The Best of Edmond Hamilton has 21, from the 1920s to the late 60s. The title story of the Ace collection, “What’s It Like Out There?”, is the only duplication between them.

Hamilton is best remembered as a science fiction writer, but he wrote his share of fantasy and weird tales. In fact both of the stories we’ll look at are from Weird Tales. Neither are major works, but they are both entertaining.

The first story is “The Inn Outside the World” from the July 1945 issue of Weird Tales. Narrated by an American soldier guarding a Balkan diplomat just after WWII, it’s an idea that has been dealt with before. Basically the diplomat is a member of a secret organization whose membership consists of famous figures throughout history, the movers and shakers who made a difference. Julius Caesar, Socrates, Anknahton, Francis Bacon. Guys like that. And they aren’t limited to the history of the 20th Century. There are members from what we would consider the far future.

Worried that he won’t be able to unite his country now that the war is over, he goes to seek aid from the other members of this organization. The soldier walks in on him and gets transported along with him.

There wasn’t a lot of action in this story. There was quite a bit of talk, but it was interesting and moved the story along.

The second story was “The Watcher of the Ages”. It was published in the September 1948 issue of Weird Tales. This one was more what you would expect from Hamilton. Narrated by a geologist, it concerns an expedition in the jungles of Brazil looking for radioactive ore in and around an ancient city, long abandoned.

The narrator has had experience with the Indians in that part of the jungle, so he’s hired for his local knowledge along with his geological expertise. The story opens with him reading an inscription on a stone in the ruins. It tells of a man who was able to create artificial life through what turns out to be radiation. But the rest of the city’s inhabitants wanted to use his discovery for evil, so he destroyed them and left a guardian to prevent anyone from repeating his work after he died.

You know that the leaders of the expedition who scoff at the inscription as superstition are going to regret their attitude. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a story.

While much of this story will be familiar to most readers, it was well told, and there was a nice twist near the end that in hindsight was a logical thing to have happen.

These stories served as a good example of Hamilton’s range, something he’s not always given due credit for.

I first read What’s It Like Out There? when I was in high school, way back in [REDACTED]. It’s been so long, I have little to no memory of any of the stories exact the title story, so I may try to work my way through the rest of the collection.