Today I want to look at two writers who did much to advance the field of science fiction. John W. Campbell, Jr. (1910-1971) is best remembered as an editor, but before he became an editor, he was first a writer.  Kate Wilhelm was one of the strongest female voices in science fiction. Her work should not be forgotten.

For today’s post I read “Forgetfulness”. This story was published under his Don A. Stuart pen name. Campbell wrote a mix of super science and rigorous (for the time) hard science and space opera under his own name. As Don A. Stuart, his work was more atmospheric and moody. By far the best known story published under the Stuart byline is “Who Goes There?”

It was Campbell’s skill as a writer that got him the job of editorial assistant and later editor of Astounding. He was already having a major influence on the genre when he took control of the editorial reigns of the magazine. It’s a shame that it’s become so fashionable to attack him these days. I’d rather read Campbell’s science fiction than most of what his detractors are publishing. Campbell at least knew to keep his preaching out of his fiction and restricted it to his editorials. Some of which were written more to get a reaction, if some of the writers who wrote for him are to be believed.

“Forgetfulness” was originally published in the June 1937 issue of Astounding Stories.  I first read it in the SFBC edition of The Best of John W. Campbell when I was a freshman in high school. I had no memory of it, not having read the story since. For this reading, I read it in The Astounding-Analog Reader Volume 1, which incorrectly gave the year of publication as 1932.

The story is set in the far future when explorers arrive on the first planet they’ve ever visited outside their solar system, a planet the inhabitants call Rhth. The visitors have a legend of having been given the gifts of fire and the wheel and the bow and arrow by gods who came from space. They have found their benefactors, their gods.

Only their gods appear to have fallen. The inhabitant of Rhth who shows them around and guides them through the remains of an ancient city that has almost been covered by the changing landscape, doesn’t remember or can’t explain how many of the wonders he shows them work.  Turns out there’s a very good and logical reason for that the visitors don’t think of until it’s too late.

The first part of the story has a feeling of sadness and loss. In some ways it reminded me of Leigh Brackett’s “The Last Days of Shandakor”, with its dying Martian city.  The visitors think they can colonize Rhth and loot its lost science. They view the inhabitants as degenerates who have fallen from a great height. They have no problem with removing the people of Rhth if they get in the way.

It won’t be that simple.

I really enjoyed “Forgetfulness” on this reading. I’m not sure I picked up on some of the nuance about colonization and primitive peoples in high school. Since I don’t remember the story, it must not have made a strong impression on me, certainly not as strong as it did on this reading. I remember some of the other stories in the book even today.

“Forgetfulness” is available in A New Dawn: The Complete Don A. Stuart Stories from NESFA.  If that volume is a bit pricey for you, you can read it in ebook in Cloak of Aesir. I’ve got A New Dawn, and I hope I can read more of it later this year. I’ve only read a couple of the stories in it. It’s been a while since I read Campbell under either of his bylines, and I enjoyed “Forgetfulness” enough to want to read more.

Kate Wilhelm has a champion in her corner, and that champion’s name is Jerad Walters of Centipede Press. Earlier this year he published the two volume Masters of Science Fiction Kate Wilhelm.  I read the first volume earlier this year, shortly after everything went into lockdown.  It was a delight. I would read a story, or part of story (there are novellas in the book) before going to bed. It was a great way to relax. Highlights include “Naming the Flowers”, “Forever Yours, Anna”, “The Winter Beach”, “The Girl Who Fell Into the Sky”, “With Thimbles, With Forks, and Hope”. And then there was “Bloodletting”, as story about a virus that hit a little close to home. I haven’t had a chance to read the second volume yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

Kate Wilhelm was able to blend strong characters with cutting edge science at both short story and novel lengths, as well as all lengths in between. In the last years of her life she turned to writing legal thrillers and suspense novels. I’ve not read any of those, but if they are half as good as her science fiction, then they’re worth reading.

Centipede Press books aren’t for the casual reader. They cater to the collectible market and hard core fans of the writers they publish. Fortunately, Kate Wilhelm’s work is available in a number of inexpensive editions in both print and electronic formats.