Search Worlds Without End

FROM THE HUGO WINNING NOVELIST Not long after the colonists landed on the uninhabited planet every human made artifact - ship communicators, tools--disappeared! Even their clothes! Here is an enthralling science alien planet puzzle from the man writer, critic and Nebula award winner Barry Maltzberg calls "One of the twelve most influential science fiction writers." When, Eden--the Earth colony eleven light years goes silent and fails to answer any communications from the mother planet, Earth's government goes into a panic. Has something tragic happened on a world already proven to have no intelligent, dangerous lifeforms? Or, are the colonists purposely disregarding the messages for some reason of their own? What could be the real explanation for the mysterious silence of a disciplined, scientific colony? /p>

To learn the answer, Earth's leaders turn to the Extrapolators- the honored group of men and women with an almost superhuman ability to see to the core of any problem. Soon the Es assign a probationary Extrapolator, Calvin Gray, to the hazardous journey to Eden, where he will win full admission into the ranks to the Extrapolators if he solves whatever problems he finds there. But, even with his special Extrapolator training, Grey is not prepared for the extent ort nature of the disaster that has struck the colony Eden--thrown back to an almost subhuman state of existence without houses, tools, equipment, or clothing.

Here is a suspenseful science fiction from Mark Clifton, who, with his collaborator, Frank Riley, won the 1955 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel of the year for, They'd Rather Be Right. Galaxy magazine's editors called Clifton's work: "Full of excitement. Richly rewarding. Genuinely mature philosophy tinged with gentle irony."

There is no past or future, the children said; it all just is! They had every reason to know!

This novelette appears in the collections:

• Second Galaxy Reader of Science Fiction, edited by H. L. Gold (1954)
• Tomorrow's Children, edited by Isaac Asimov (1974)
• The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton, by Mark Clifton (1980)
• What Have I Done?, The Stories of Mark Clifton, by Mark Clifton (1980)

This novelette originally appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction, July 1952 available free on Project Gutenberg.

Edited by Barry N. Malzberg and Martin H. Greenberg.

The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton collects 11 of the 20 short stories Mark Clifton published. Clifton's technique: use a first person narrator to establish trust with an audience, then write on some of the most far-fetched, implausible themes possible, such as poltergeists, alien beings, ESP, and travel through space and time without a space ship. One of the reasons Clifton's work is so believable is that he appears (from his correspondence with Judith Merril, some of which is reproduced in the introduction) to have held a serious and sincere belief in the possibility of what he was writing about, particularly that a race of humans with telekinetic powers would soon emerge and replace homo sapiens.

Table of Contents:

• Memoir and Appreciation by Judith Merril
• What Have I Done?
• Star, Bright
• Crazy Joey (with Alex Apostolides)
• What Thin Partitions (with Aex Apostolides)
• Sense from Thought Divide
• How Allied
• Remembrance and Reflection
• Hide! Hide! Witch! (with Alex Apostolides)
• Clerical Error
• What Now, Little Man?
• Hang Head, Vandal!
• Afterword by Barry N. Malzberg
• Bibliography

When you've finished this bitter little piece, you might decide for yourself whether Clifton's point is valid. But you won't like it!

This short story appears in the collections:

• The Great SF Stories #14 (1952), edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg (1986)
• Invasions, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, Charles G. Waugh (1990
• The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton, by Mark Clifton (1980)
• What Have I Done?: The Stories of Mark Clifton, by Mark Clifton (1980)

Originally appeared in Astounding Science-Fiction, May 1952 available free on Internet Archives.

Winner of the 2010 Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award for unjust obscurity

One of the most literary and innovative science-fiction writers of the early 1950s, Mark Clifton introduced sophisticated psychological insights into the characters who populated his tales of alien encounters, expanding technology, revolution against political theocracy, and space colonization. No matter how fantastic the setting or premise, Clifton provided a narrative voice that made the unlikeliest events seem credible.

The title tale of this collection, centering on a psychologist who uncovers a hidden colony of otherworldly invaders and attempts to orchestrate their doom, is accompanied by seven other perceptive and witty stories. Selections include "Sense from Thought Divide," involving a search for poltergeists; "Clerical Error," recounting a doctor's battle against bureaucracy to rescue a patient from a lobotomy; "Star, Bright," in which a father counsels a daughter to protect herself by hiding her intelligence; and other captivating stories.

Table of Contents:

• What Have I Done? - (1952) - short story
• Star, Bright - (1952) - novelette
• Sense from Thought Divide - [Ralph Kennedy] - (1955) - novelette
• How Allied - [Ralph Kennedy] - (1957) - novelette
• Remembrance and Reflection - [Ralph Kennedy] - (1958) - novelette
• Clerical Error - (1956) - novelette
• What Now, Little Man? - (1959) - novelette
• Hang Head, Vandal! - (1962) - short story

This is an abbreviated version of the 1980 collection The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton by Southern Illinois University Press.

CLASSIC HUMOROUS SF FROM A HUGO WINNING AUTHOR!

Ralph Kennedy, unassuming personnel psychologist, thought he had headaches when he was faced with clients who had psychic talents they couldn't control. (What Thin Partitions Renaissance E Books 2003). Now, through a case of mistaken identity, Kennedy is pressed into service by Space Navy, as an expert in extraterrestial psychology. The Space Navy doesn't have any aliens--or anything for Kennedy to do--they just want to be prepared. When his attempts to clear up the confusion bog down due to a mirthful mix-up of records, Kennedy has somehow convinced the thick-headed bureaucrats running the Navy that he is their man.

But just as boredom sets in and he is dreaming of suicide, a mysterious Black Fleet of alien saucers appears over Washington and demands the Earth government surrender to it or the entire planet will be destroyed. Kennedy finds everyone turning to him for advice he doesn't have. Then he and the world are saved--or are they?--by the intervention of a squadron of glowing, globe-like ships which beat off the Black Fleet.

But when the rescuing aliens from the globes emerge from their ships, Kennedy faces the biggest challenge of his life. For their appearance raises more problems than it solves: The aliens are god-like human beings in white suites and white hats. Earth is so grateful at being rescued, Kennedy finds he is the only one who is troubled by the alien's providential arrival and appearance.

Here is humorous science fiction with a point by the co-author of the Hugo winning novel, They'd Rather Be Right.

The government ordered it built: a thinking machine that could foresee catastrophe and eliminate human error. Research trainee Joe Carter sees another possibility--create a machine that will make ordinary people telepathic--and immortal.

This Galaxy Novel is available for free on the Internet Archives.