Today, January 22, is the birthday of Katheirne MacLean (1925-2019). She was most active during the 1950s, although she continued to publish occasionally up through the late 1990s.
What’s that, you say? You didn’t know women wrote science fiction back in those days? I thought I’d dealt with that myth already.
I’ve not read much of her work, just a few stories in anthologies,mostly in high school or undergrad. She specialized in anthropological science fiction. Let’s look at one of her stories.
“The Trouble with You Earth People”
First published in Amazing Stories February 1968
Currently available in The Trouble with You Earth People
ebook $2.99
I’m not sure when “The Trouble with You Earth People” was actually written. This story couldn’t have been published in the 1950s. Portions of it are a little risque for that era.
The setup is simple and one we’ve seen a number of times, especially in the intervening decades since “The Trouble with You Earth People” first saw print. Two aliens have landed. They are anthropologists from another solar system. They look like bipedal dogs and speak perfect English, which they learned from watching television broadcasts.
You see where this is going, don’t you?
A lot anthropological science fiction is satirical in nature. I’m not a huge fan of satire, in part because it doesn’t always age well. That’s not entirely the case here, though.
The aliens have been watching westerns and spy shows that involve scientists. They plan their interactions with humans based on what they’ve seen on television. This results in a serious misunderstanding on the part of the aliens. It gets cleared up, which leads to an even bigger misunderstanding on the part of the humans. (This is the risque part.)
I wasn’t thrilled with this story, but I didn’t really dislike it, either. It was just a little bit slower than w hat I’m reading these days. I’ll read the rest of the collection because I want to give MacLean’s work an honest try. You can’t usually judge a writer’s output on the basis of one story.