Back in the 1960s, one of my favorite Science Fiction writers was Murray Leinster (aka, William Fitzgerald Jenkins). In those days, I read every Murray Leinster short story or novel I could get my hands on. Luckily, Leinster was a prolific SF writer so there was plenty to read.
FIRST CONTACTS: THE ESSENTIAL MURRAY LEINSTER edited by Joe Rico could easily be titled The Best of Murray Leinster. In his informative Introduction, fellow SF writer and friend Hal Clement writes about Murray Leinster’s long and successful career. Editor Jo Rico also describes the arc of Murray Leinster’s career and the changing interests of one of the SF genre’s best writers.
The first story in this collection is “A Logic Named Joe” from 1946 that pretty much describes what we consider today to be computer. I’m a big fan of Leinster’s “First Contact” which burst on the SF scene in 1945 and created a whole new sub-genre of human/alien interaction. “The Strange Case of John Kingman” will haunt you. “Proxima Centauri,” told from the aliens’ perspective, leaves you with a new sense of our place in the Universe.
My favorite story in FIRST CONTACTS: THE ESSENTIAL MURRAY LEINSTER is “Exploration Team.” “Exploration Team” is a science fiction novelette, originally published in the March 1956 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1956. It predicts how planets might be explored. “Exploration Team” is one of the works in Leinster’s “Colonial Survey” series. It is also one of the four novelettes that were re-written and included in Leinster’s fix-up novel Colonial Survey, where it appears as a chapter titled “Combat Team”. When I first read “Exploration Team,” I was floored by the concepts and the writing. Later, when I read Colonial Survey I was floored again by Leinster’s attention to detail and his ability to make something as potentially routine as exploring a planet so exciting.
If you haven’t read Murray Leinster’s work, FIRST CONTACTS: THE ESSENTIAL MURRAY LEINSTER would be a great place to begin! GRADE: A
Table of Contents:
- Will by Hal Clement — 13
- Editor’s Introduction by Joe Rico — 17
- A Logic Named Joe — 19
- If You Was a Globulin — 33
- The Ethical Equations — 49
- Keyhole — 63
- Doomsday Deferred — 77
- First Contact — 85
- Nobody Saw the Ship — 109
- Pipeline to Pluto — 123
- The Lonely Planet — 133
- De Profundis — 157
- The Power — 167
- The Castaway — 181
- The Strange Case of John Kingman — 201
- Proxima Centauri — 213
- The Fourth-Dimensional Demonstrator — 251
- Sam, This Is You — 261
- Sidewise in Time — 277
- Scrimshaw — 315
- Symbiosis — 327
- Cure for a Ylith — 339
- Plague on Kryder II — 353
- Exploration Team — 385
- Introduction to the Unpublished Stories by Joe Rico — 419
- The Great Catastrophe — 421
- To All Fat Policemen — 461
Read many of these stories back in the 60’s and enjoyed them. Tried rereading Exploration Team a few years back and found the dialogue cringe worthy to my disappointment.
Steve, you’re right about the dialogue. But, the audience for “Exploration Team” was male teenagers who probably don’t care about sophisticated dialogue.
Disagree this time, Steve. I reread it in 2018 and liked it as much as when I first read it in Astounding.
I got hooked on Leinster with MONSTER AT THE EARTH’S END as a reliably readable and often exciting pulpster. His Westerns are also fun, often with motifs from his SF.
Dan, I have a couple copies of Jenkins’ westerns, but I have yet to read them. I enjoyed MONSTER AT EARTH’S END as a kid, too!
Like you, I am a big fan of Miurray Leinster’s SF. I’ve read most of his books in the genre, as well as many of his westerns and mysteries. I have yet to read any of his romance short stories and novels written as “Louisa Carter Lee,” but I hope to get to them soon. Leinster/Fitzgerald had a surprisingly rare talent of making his stories, clear, concise, and entertaining. His versatiliy was amazing.
Jerry, I share your admiration for Murray Leinster’s versatility. It seems that he could write well in any genre!
I’ve read one of his collections and some other stories. This looks good and I like the cover.
Jeff, I like that wrap-around cover by Hannibal King, too!
It’s like the door for entering this world is too heavy for me to push.
Patti, the audience for much of this early SF was teenage boys. That might explain why the door to early SF is so heavy for you.
Patti, these stories are easy and light. You should try a couple.
Patti, you should probably try the writers closest to the writers you’ve already enjoyed…
Todd, I’m always willing to try new writers.
I have this excellent book, published by NESFA, and agree that it’s very good. It’s pricey but worth it.
Rick, you get what you pay for. I’m a big fan of NESFA books and own many of them.
Sounds good! I’m currently reading a s-f collection of Fredric Brown stories and enjoying them immensely!
Bob, I’m a big Fredric Brown fan. He could write SF and mysteries with the same level of quality!
This sounds good. I got an ebook copy. I will try out some stories and if I like them, look for a hard copy.
Tracy, I think you would enjoy many of these stories by Murray Leinster.
Dan, THE MONSTER FROM EARTH’S END was ingloriously filmes as “The Navy vs. Night Monsters” in 1966. It was a vehicle for aging sex kitten Mamie Van Doren and featured Anthony Eisley (HAWAIIAN EYE), Billy Gray (FATHER KNOWS BEST), singer/actor Bobby Van, actress/writer Pamela Mason (wife of James), and — in a blink and you might miss it roll — Biff Elliot (Mike Hammer in I, THE JURY). As an “All-Devouring Cannibal Trees That Move on Their Own Roots” flick, this one is about average..
Jerry, you are truly a fount of information!
As a “late” teenager I also was fascinated by Leinster’s stories – but now I don’t remember any of them, would have to look again. But the books are in the other house, 500 miles away …
Now if I started to reread all the stories that George recommends my wife would probably be angry – no time to help her or even join her for lunch etc …
Wolf, who are you going to listen to? George, or your wife?
Wolf, I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble with your wife!
Thanks, Jerry and George!
My wife is a SF fan too so she accepts some time lost in reading. We have a clear demarcation – when it gets dark we both read and use the internet, sometimes even watch TV. There is a National Geographic channel in Hungarian – wildlife, wonderful.
But during the day I have to help her with cooking etc – btw she’s a fantastic cook!
Not only all the traditional Hungarian dishes bit she also learned German, Italian, Spanish and even Mexican dishes (with my help).
And of course filling up and emptying all machines – the dish washer, the dryer and the washing machine is my job.
Today we’re making “Pogacsa” – a mixture of cooked potatoes, grated cheese and flour with spices gets baked, looks like little vegetarian burgers …
Wolf, there’s an old saying: Good wife, Good Life.