Short Story Reviews: Harlan Ellison’s “Night Vigil” (variant title: “Yellow Streak Hero”) (1955) and “Life Hutch” (1956)

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The following reviews serve as the 38th installment of my series searching for “SF short stories that are critical in some capacity of space agencies, astronauts, and the culture which produced them.” Some stories I’ll review in this series might not fit or are poor quality. And that is okay. I relish the act of literary archaeology. I’ve previously covered two Harlan Ellison short stories for this series: “Psycho at Mid-Point” (1956) and “The Discarded” (variant title: “The Abnormals”) (1959). As always, if you know of any others that might fit, let me know. I’ve compiled an extensive list but like all lists it’s incomplete.

Thank you Richard, “Friend of the Site,” for these recommendations all the way back in 2022. I didn’t forget.

Previously: Clifford D. Simak’s “Madness from Mars” (1939)

Up Next: TBD

Let’s get to the stories!

  • Ed Valigursky’s cover for the Amazing Stories, ed. Paul W. Fairman (May 1957)

3/5 (Average)

Harlan Ellison’s “Night Vigil” (variant title: “Yellow Streak Hero”) first appeared in the fanzine Peon, ed. Charles Lee Riddle (May 1955). It was reprinted in Amazing Stories, ed. Paul W. Fairman (May 1957). You can read it online here in Peon and here in Amazing Stories.

Futuristic Press Gangs

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Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCLI (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Philip K. Dick, Howard L. Cory, Ward Moore and Avram Davidson, and Muriel Jaeger)

/ Joachim Boaz / 37 Comments

Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

1. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s Roadside Picnic (1972, trans. Olena Bormashenko, 2012)

  • Dominic Harman’s cover for the 2012 edition

From the back cover: “Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those misfits who are compelled, in spite of the extreme danger, to venture illegally into the Zone to collect the mysterious artefacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the place and the thriving black market in the the alien products. Even the nature of his mutant daughter has been determined by the Zone. And it is for her that he makes his last, tragic foray into the hazardous and hostile territory.”

Initial Thoughts: One of those obvious holes in my SF knowledge… I certainly have read about the writing pair but I’ve only read a story here and there–for example “Wanderers and Travellers” (1963, trans. 1966)–and one novel that I never managed to review. My father has been pushing me to read more of their work. And yes, Andrei Tarkovsky’s adaptation Stalker (1979) remains one of my favorite movies. I took a History of Russian Film class in college and wrote my term paper on Tarkovsky’s use of color.

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Short Story Reviews: David Ely’s “Court of Judgment” (1961), “The Last Friday in August” (1961), and “The Wizard of Light” (1962)

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In 2019, I reviewed and adored David Ely’s science fiction thriller Seconds (1963), the source material for John Frankenheimer’s similarly brilliant 1966 film. I did not know that Ely got his start in genre magazines under the editorship of Cele Goldsmith Lalli (1933-2002), known for “discovering” SF luminaries like Ursula K. Le Guin, Thomas M. Disch, Keith Laumer, Sonya Dorman, and Roger Zelazny (among others).1 Before his writing career, Ely served in the Navy (1945-1946) and Army (1950-1952) and as a reporter in St. Louis (until 1956) before entering the corporate world as an “administrative assistant” for the nebulously named Cold War organization Development and Resources Corporation in New York (1956-1959).2

After a handful of short stories in genre magazines, Ely moved to far more lucrative venues like Playboy and Cosmopolitan. I’ve had my eyes on his collection–containing additional SF tales–Time Out (1968) for years. Unfortunately, prices rarely drop below $70 with shipping. Science fiction seems to have been close to his heart as he returned to the genre with his novel Journal of the Flood Year (1992).

Let’s get to the stories!

  • Alex Schomburg’s cover for Fantastic Stories of Imagination, ed. Cele Goldsmith (October 1961)

3/5 (Average)

“Court of Judgment” (1961) first appeared in Fantastic Stories of Imagination, ed. Cele Goldsmith (October 1961). You can read it online here. Received an Honorable Mention at the 1962 Hugo Award for Best Short Fiction.

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Exploration Log 15: Clifford D. Simak’s fanzine article “The Future of Science Fiction” (1941)

/ Joachim Boaz / 13 Comments
  • Cover image from The FANAC Fan History Project. Clifford D. Simak is the second from the left in the back

Clifford D. Simak’s “The Future of Science Fiction” appeared in the fanzine Fantasite, No. 2, ed. Phil Bronson (February 1941). You can read it online here. As the quality of the scan at the link is quite poor and close to unreadable in spots, I’ve transcribed the entire article below. In a few instances I have guessed based on vague letter shapes. If you spot an error, let me know!

The fanzine Fantasite, comprised of twelve issues between 1940 and 1944, was the official organ of the Minneapolis Fantasy Society. For more on the fanzine and its creator, consult the Fancyclopedia entries. The MFS was formed when when Simak arrived in Minneapolis and joined with the old Minneapolis Science Fiction League (Hugo Gernsback’s SF clubs). The second meeting happened at Simak’s house. As members went off to WWII, the group became less formal and eventually dissipated. Simak helped briefly resurrect the club after WWII, joined by Poul Anderson and others. Other SF authors who were members included Theodore R. Cogswell, Noel Loomis, Oliver Saari, and Gordon R. Dickson. For a fan history of the organization, check out Jim Young’s fanzine Rune 17 issue.

This is a fascinating, if a bit vague and imprecise, look at Simak’s early views on the evolution and potentiality of science fiction. Unfortunately, as his professional life as a newspaper reporter ramped up he paired back his fan activities. These three points stood out: 1) Simak believes that the science fiction of the 1930s (in particular 1933 and 1934) transformed the genre by departing from “wooden men” who stalk through “wooden plots.” 2) he speculates that science fiction will diversify even further with “new ideas and new ways of presenting them” 3) he emphasizes the importance of “careful delineation in character” with “superb plotting.” Even from Simak’s earliest fannish writings, he shows an interest in a genre without clear boundaries — a genre that grows and expands and explores new things. For a more overt statement on his toleration for a diverse genre, check out his 1971 Worldcon Guest of Honor Speech given in the middle of the New Wave movement.

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What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Update No. XXIX

/ Joachim Boaz / 45 Comments

What pre-1985 science fiction adventures have you started this summer? Any great reads? Disappointing ones? Intriguing discoveries? Here’s the April installment of this column.

  • A selection of read volumes from my shelves

In a conversation on Blueksy, someone asked for my history of science fiction recommendations (including a few general surveys). I scoured my shelves and came up with an all-too-large pile (with some notable volumes I wanted to include but could not find) of favorite histories of science fiction. See photo below. I tried to include monographs that were not studies of single authors.

As I am a historian by training and trade who holds on to some of my disciplinary ticks and hangups, I also included works by trained academics with two major exceptions 1) Mike Ashley’s multi-volume study of science fiction magazines (but no other recent works exist and they’re really good for the nuts and bolts of genre magazines) and 2) Alec Nevala-Lee’s approachable and well-researched group biography  Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction (2018). Both should be read.

  • A photo of a few of my history of science fiction recommendations

I deliberately avoided works by science fiction authors like Damon Knight, Brian W. Aldiss, and Frederik Pohl. They’re great sources and I own and have read many of them but…. they are not histories by trained scholars. I do not mean for this to come off as elitist. Rather, my personal remit for my list—I needed to winnow down the hundreds and hundreds I own–was deliberately narrow! I read and use sources widely. Remember, these are my favorites — they might not be the best but they got me thinking and reading and writing. And that’s what we all should be doing, reading what makes us happy.

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Exploration Log 14: Anti-Racism in Chandler Davis’ “Stereotypes Are Dangerous” (1950)

/ Joachim Boaz / 7 Comments
  • John Grossman’s cover for vol. 1 of the fanzine Futurist, ed. Redd Boggs (Spring 1950)

“Write a story that will give a few bigots the jolt they need. Write a story that will open the eyes of the unconsciously bigoted” (8).

Chandler Davis (1926-2022) strikes a fascinating figure. He was a communist activist, science fiction author, fanzine editor, a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Michigan, and political prisoner. He was fired from the University of Michigan in 1954 and imprisoned for six months in 1960 on charges of contempt of Congress leveled by HUAC.1 Between 1946 and 1970, he published 12 short stories. One additional story, a casualty of Harlan Ellison’s infamous unpublished Last Dangerous Visions, appeared in 1994.2 I reviewed three of his 1940s short stories on the theme of nuclear war back in 2023: “The Nightmare” (1946), “To Still the Drums” (1946), and “The Aristocrat” (1949). He’s certainly an author I need to return to on the merits of his article “Stereotypes Are Dangerous” (1950).

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Short Fiction Review: Clifford D. Simak’s “Madness from Mars” (1939) and “Hermit of Mars” (1939)

/ Joachim Boaz / 8 Comments

The following review is the 37th installment of my series searching for “SF short stories that are critical in some capacity of space agencies, astronauts, and the culture which produced them.” Some stories I’ll review in this series might not fit or are poor quality. And that is okay. I relish the act of literary archaeology. I’ve added an extra Simak story to round out the post.

I’m on another Clifford D. Simak binge!

Previously: John Wyndham’s “The Man From Beyond” (variant title: “The Man from Earth”) (1934)

Up Next: Harlan Ellison’s “Night Vigil” (variant title: “Yellow Streak Hero”) (1955) and “Life Hutch” (1956)

  • Howard V. Brown’s cover for Thrilling Wonder Stories, ed. Mort Weisinger (April 1939)

3/5 (Average)

Clifford D. Simak’s “Madness from Mars” first appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, ed. Mort Weisinger (April 1939). You can read it online here.

In the 1941 article “The Future of Science Fiction,” Clifford D. Simak described the transformative effect of Stanley G. Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey” (1934) (and a handful of other stories) on the development of science fiction.1 He uses the story to explain how SF has achieved “realism” by moving beyond “wooden plots” plot by incorporating a “scientific basis of the story.” I’d suggest “Madness from Mars” is Simak’s attempt to craft a scientifically-grounded and truly alien alien in the Weinbaum mold. I will feature Simak’s early commentary on the genre in a future Exploration Log post. 2

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Book Review: Clifford D. Simak’s The Worlds of Clifford Simak (1960)

/ Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments
  • Richard Powers’ cover for the 1961 paperback edition

3.25/5 (collated rating: Above Average)

At this point in my reading adventure, I approach Clifford D. Simak’s science fiction with a clear intention to expand my understanding of his economic, political, and technological critiques of American society. This culminated in 2024 with my article “’We Must Start Over Again and Find Some Other Way of Life’: The Role of Organized Labor in the 1940s and ’50s Science Fiction of Clifford D. Simak.” Since then, albeit at a slower pace, I’ve continued to cover his science fiction, speeches, and additional interviews I’ve been able to track down. I find him a deeply fascinating author who’s often pigeonholed as “bucolic” or “pastoral” with no real attempt to read beyond his tendency to set a few of his narratives in a rural simulacrum of his childhood corner of America.

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Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCL(Jack Vance, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Thom Keyes, and Kenneth Bulmer)

/ Joachim Boaz / 20 Comments

Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

1. Jack Vance’s Galactic Effectuator (1980)

  • David Mattingly’s cover for the 1981 edition

From the back cover: “Meet Miro Hetzel, Galactic Effectuator. He’s part gentlemen, part detective, part fraud, and his trail of exploits cuts through some of the more improbably civilizations in the universe. Join him in a trip to the planet Maz, whose natives are so fierce that they’ll fight three battle before lunch and then dine on the enemy–a planet that only a man with Miro Hetzel’s steely nerve would dare to visit at all.”

Initial Thoughts: This is a fix-up novel containing “The Dogtown Tourist Agency” (1975) and “Freitzke’s Turn” (1977). I previously reviewed “Freitzke’s Turn” (1977) and did not classify it amongst Vance’s best. As many know, I’ve soured a bit on Vance in the last decade. That said, I still think novels like Wyst: Alastor, 1716 (1978) and Emphyrio (1969) are worth the read.

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