Monthly Archives: March 2020

About Chad Oliver, “Of Course”

Leave a reply

Chad Oliver, summer of 1959

Yesterday, March 30, was the birthday of Chad Oliver (1928-1993). I got my wires crossed and thought it was today.  Oliver wrote anthropological science fiction. Not surprising, really, considering he was a professional anthropologist,  spending most of his career at the University of Texas.  Howard Waldrop once said something to the effect that most of the science fiction writers in Texas got together when he and Chad met for a beer.  That was in the early 90s, and I don’t remember his exact words Howard was referring to years prior to when he made the statement, too.

I had the privilege of meeting him at least once, at an Armadillocon a year or two before his death.  He was friendly and outgoing, and I looked forward to getting to know him at future conventions. And then he passed away. Fortunately his writing has lived on.

Oliver started his writing career while in graduate school in California.  It was there he fell in with the likes of Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, William F. Nolan, Charles Beaumont, and others of what became known as the California School.  While not a major figure in that group, he is considered one of them by association, although his writing moved in a different direction from theirs.Ma

I read several of Chad’s short stories earlier this evening for this post, but the one I want to focus on is “Of Course”, from the May 1954 issue of Astounding.  (Yes, another combined birthday/90th Anniversary post.)

This is a short, punchy story with a nice twist. A large cigar shaped spacecraft appears over Earth and tells every government that they will choose one representative of the most advanced civilization to take back with them to study.  They’ll bring him back in a hundred years, and in the meantime that representative’s civilization will get one thing they want to make their lives easier.

All the major nations, such as the US, the USSR (remember, this was written in the 50s at the height of the Cold War), and others are sure it will be them but are afraid it will be one of their enemies.  You can probably guess it’s not them. Nor is it their enemies.

I won’t say who the person the aliens chose represents.  It won’t matter, anyway, once you read the last page of the story and find out what the aliens are really up to.  Poor humans, they never had a chance. 🙂

The volume I perused tonight was Far From This Earth, Selected Stories of Chad Oliver Volume 2.  NESFA Press published two volumes of Chad’s stories, plus an omnibus of novels about fifteen years ago.  Fortunately, they are available in electronic editions for only three bucks.

The last story in the book was “A Lake of Summer”.  It was a tribute to his friend Ray Bradbury, a gentle fantasy that was very much a Bradbury kind of story.  It was originally published in The Bradbury Chronicles: Stories in Honor of Ray Bradbury back in 1991, making it the last story Chad published before he died.

If you’ve not read Chad, give him a try.  His work is full of warmth and humor, and there really isn’t anyone writing like him today that I’m aware of.

Killing Giants with A. Bertram Chandler

1 Reply

A. Bertram Chandler

A. Bertram Chandler (1912-1984) was born on this date, March 28, in England. He emigrated to Australia in 1956 and is generally considered to be an Australian author.  He has fallen into a bit of obscurity today, although he is still remembered for his stories and novels of John Grimes.  This space opera series follows Grimes through his career as a cadet, officer, pirate, and independent trader.  I’ve only read a few of the stories, but what I have read, I’ve enjoyed. The entire Grimes series is available in six omnibus editions from Baen.  Depending on how much free time this work from home situation leaves me, I might give that series a go from the beginning.

Chandler spent his life in the merchant marines, and this experience is reflected in his fiction.  I’ve heard the Grimes books described as nautical novels set in space.

Chandler started his writing career in the mid-1940s, with many of his first stories appearing in Campbell’s Astounding.  While a few of these stories have been reprinted, there has never been a career retrospective of his non-Grimes work. The closest thing was the NESFA volume Up to the Sky in Ships.

In addition to being a birthday post, this is also an Astounding 90th anniversary post.  “The Cage” is arguably Chandler’s best known story that doesn’t concern Grimes.  The other one that’s well-known is his fourth published story, “Giant Killer”, from the October 1945 issue of Astounding.  That’s what we’re going to look at today.  There will be spoilers. Continue reading →

Piper’s “Omnilingual”

3 Replies

So as I was writing yesterday’s post on Raymond Z. Gallun and his story “Old Faithful”, I couldn’t help but think of H. Beam Piper’s “Omnilingual”. Both stories concern communication between Earth and Mars. Gallun dealt  with two living species trying to find common ground for communication.  Piper ups the ante by having a group of archaeologists, or rather one archaeologist in particular, try to find common ground and read the writings left behind by a long dead race.

H. Beam Piper

After posting that review, I checked the ISFDB to see if there were any birthdays of note today. Lo and behold, whose name did I see but H. Beam Piper’s? Talk about good timing.  (The universe made up for it this today.)

Henry Beam Piper was born on March 23, 1904. He has been forgotten by many readers, especially younger readers, and that’s a shame. He was one of the best writers the field produced in the middle of the last century. If he had lived longer (he died in 1964), perhaps he would be better known today.

Piper published most of his stories in Astounding, so this post also counts at a 90th Anniversary post for Astounding. “Omnilingual” first appeared in the February 1957 issue.

This review is going to contain spoilers.  If you want to read the story first, it’s currently available in The Rise of the Terran Federation, edited by John F. Carr or in the H.Beam Piper Megapack, which contains some of his nonfiction. Continue reading →

Being Faithful to Old Raymond Z. Gallun

2 Replies

Raymond Z. Gallun

Raymond Z. Gallun (rhymes with “balloon”; his family was Dutch) was born on this date, January 22, in 1911.  Gallun passed away in 1994.)

This post is going to serve triple duty.  First, it’s a birthday post. Second, it’s going to be a 90th Anniversary of Astounding post. Third, it’s also a pre-Campbell SF post.

Gallun  is largely forgotten now, but he was pretty prolific from 1929 through the early fifties. If he is remembered at all, it’s for his story “Old Faithful”, which was first published in the December 1934 issue of Astounding. Continue reading →