"Reaching for the Moon: by S. A. Lombino (Science Fiction Quarterly, November 1951; reprinted in American Science Fiction #12.1953; reprinted in Black Cat Weekly #102, 2023)
As per the FictionMags Index, this is most likely the author's first published story, several years before he legally changed his name to Evan Hunter, and before he began publishing the 87th Precinct novels as "Ed McBain."
As befits a first story, this one is short -- a mere three pages ending in a gimmicky and somewhat hoary twist that might work well for The Twilight Zone.
And there is clunky writing, beginning with the first two sentences: "The laboratory was brightly lit, and four men in business suits surrounded the large table. They stared down at the blueprints on the table, some scratching their heads, others rubbing their chins in speculation."
Scientist Dr. Saunders has come up with a rocket that can take mankind to the moon; all he needs now is the funding. He meets the four richest men in the country but they poo-poo the idea as too fantastic. There is no financial advantage to reaching the moon. Earth is overpopulated as it is and the way to handle that problem is through war -- something that these men heavily finance. Now, maybe if Saunders can fit a warhead on the rocket... But as it stands, there is just no profit in going to the moon.
Half the people reading this review have probably already figured out the twist ending.
An interesting, albeit slight, little tale. Today's businessmen may not differ much from those the author imagined almost seventy-five years ago.
The November 1951 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly can be found on the internet for those interested.
Lombino/Hunter never got completely past clunky and pat writing, alas, but thanks for pointing out this likely First Story!
ReplyDeleteThe scenario the story presents became the basis for dozens of SF stories from that era. It seemed like most of the SF magazines in the 1950s featured a rocket headed to the Moon.
ReplyDeleteWell, it was in pop science magazines, newspaper columns, and films such as DESTINATION MOON fairly frequently...hence probably part of the rationale for all the magazine publishers who tried to launch sf magazines in the '50s to do so, particularly when those efforts were shots in the dark...
DeleteA well-meaning reporter wondered, on the day of the Apollo 11 landing, what sf writers would write about now that the Moon was visited, and one replied with some asperity, "For Christ's sake, lady, no one has written a trip to the Moon story for at least ten years..."
DeleteI had read somewhere that Ed McBain had written some science fiction; glad you reminded me of that.
ReplyDeleteAnd most of his sf was published under an informal version (Sol Lombino) of his birth name (Salvatore L), rather than the name he had it legally changed to (Evan Hunter)...up through mid-Century, people such as my mother certainly met with a lot of chauvinistic static against being Italian-American (even if she was only half so, but had a Very Italian birthname), and apparently Salvatore Lombino felt it pretty damned hard.
DeleteHunter wrote for whatever market he could sell to, crime, suspense, westerns, war,, science fiction, and general fiction, Tracy. At least four of his books overtly science fiction, including his first, the juvenile FIND THE FEATHERED SERPENT. Early on, he wrote two /SF juveniles as "Richard Masten" ) (DANGER: DINOSAURS! and ROCKET TO THE MOON). The same year he began the 87th Precinct series, he published TOMORROW and TOMORROW by "Hunt Collins (also published as TOMORROW'S WORLD by "Collins," and as SPHERE by "McBain"), a pitifully bad novel by any standards. Most of his SF short stories (under a variety of pseudonyms can be found by checking out the FictionMags Index and then seeking the individual magazines on Internet Archive or Luminist Archives. Try not to be too disappointed, though; science fiction was not his true metier.
DeleteTodd, Hunter supposedly changed his name legally in 1952 after an editor told him that his novels would sell better as Evan Hunter than as S. A. Lombino. Although he would deny it throughout his entire life, the Evan Hunter name was probably derived from two schools he attended: Evander Childs High School and Hunter College; he did admit, however, that the pen name Hunt Collins came from Hunter College.
DeleteBTW, Jerry, what happened to your Auto-House image that used to be your header?
ReplyDeleteTodd, that image just vanished one day. Don't know why, don't know how. I just never got around to replacing it.
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