One of my favorite writers, C. L. Moore (1911-1987) was born on this date, January 24.

Moore needs no introduction to readers of this blog. She was not only one of the best female writers of science fiction and fantasy of the pulp era, she was one of the best of either sex of any era.

Today’s post continues my series of looking at the Northwest Smith stories in order. For those of you who may be new around these here parts, Northwest Smith is widely regarded to be the inspiration for Han Solo.  Only ol’ Han never had adventures like these. There will be spoilers.

“Lost Paradise”
Originally published in Weird Tales, July 1936

This one starts out a little differently. Rather than being set on one of the other worlds of the solar system, “Lost Paradise” opens and ends on Earth.

Northwest and his Venusian sidekick Yarol the Venusian are sitting at a table in a New York cafe having a few drinks. This isn’t a sidewalk cafe, but one on the side of a building next to an elevated walkway.

Yarol points out an unusual man to Smith and says the man is a member of a unique race. The man looks nervous and is carrying a small package under his arm. A second man in a uniform of some type with the insignia covered comes along and grabs the package as the man walking by Smith and Yarol’s table. The man asks for help in getting it back.

Yarol agrees  but only if he will swear by, and here Yarol whispers a name that Smith coesn’t catch, that he will do one thing for Yarol.  The man reluctantly agrees. Yarol jumps the rail and comes back after a short while with the package under his arm.

He them tells the man the price he must pay for the return of his package is to tell Yarol and Smith “The Secret”. Because of the oath the man took he reluctantly tells them. The man’s race once had an additional sense, one that the priests still have. It involves the ability to go back in time to a distant golden age and live a portion of another person’s life through their memories. There is a risk, though, because some have never returned. The man is able to send Smith and Yarol back in time.

Smith soon finds himself on the Moon, but in the distant past, a past so distant that the Moon has an atmosphere and supports life. He takes a ride on a man’s mind. There is a tearful parting from his lover, watching a colony rocket leave for Earth, and then the man whose memories Smith is living goes to a cavern. There he is confronted by three beings who have summoned him.

These three malevolent beings, it turns out, are the reason there is air and water and an ecosystem on the Moon. To keep it, every now an then one of the inhabitants must willingly sacrifice himself to them. If there is any resistance, they will removes whatever mechanism it is that keeps the atmosphere intact.

Of course Smith resists, even though he isn’t the one to sacrifice himself. He’s just along for the ride. Smith can’t affect things, he is only an observer. Until now. You can probably guess what is going to happen.

When Smith returns to his body, the man who sent Smith back in time realizes that he bears the responsibility of destroying his ancestors’ civilization. He tries to kill Smith, but Yarol shoots him first. He and Smith make a quick exit. The package Yarol had retrieved from the man is left behind.

I enjoyed the different setting of this one. There were a couple of things I found hard to swallow. First that no one on the Moon would have resisted the evil creatures who are demanding sacrifice before Smith comes along. The second is that Smith would leave the package behind at the end when he and Yarol flee.

On the flip side, though, by not revealing what is in the package or who the man in the uniform is who tries to steal it, she adds a level of mystery that in my opinion adds to the emotional impact of the story.

“Lost Paradise” isn’t the best of the Northwest Smith stories. But it does have its appeal.

There are three stories left and a vignette that I haven’t looked at yet. I’ve been doing roughly one a year on Moore’s birthday, but I might go ahead and make a push to finish up the series over the next few weeks.