Pulp Science Fiction at its Best

John W. Campbell, Jr.: The Black Star Passes (Fantasy Press, 1953)

A lot of my reading in 2004 was pre-Golden Age and Golden Age science fiction. What can I say? I have a admitted fondness for the pulps, for space opera, for the stories that appeared in Astounding Science Fiction and other magazines.

Probably no better example of the pulps and space opera can be found in the early stories of John W. Campbell, Jr. Known widely as an editor that helped launch the careers of a thousand Golden Age authors (either by bringing them into the fold at Astounding Science Fiction or by guiding them to maturity, a short sample of names would include Isaac Asimov, Theodore Sturgeon, Clifford Simak, Robert A. Heinlein and many, many others!)

Campbell had two other careers as a writer, before he had his career as an editor. In the second, he wrote stories under the pseudonym of Don A. Stuart. In these stories, he aimed for mood and scene. Among the classics to be found under that moniker are The Cloak of Aesir and the very scary Who Goes There?

Campbell's first writing career was the author of galaxy-spanning space operas. Stories filled with parsec-eating spaceships, hurtling planets, inventions crowding one upon another...trying to out do E.E. "Doc" Smith, Edmond Hamilton and the other practioners of the art. The Black Star Passes is made up of three stories about the famous inventing trio of Arcot, Wade and Morey: Piracy Preferred, Solarite and The Black Star Passes.

Of the three, the first is probably the weakest, mostly due to the plot. A deranged air pirate is attacking various cross-country airplanes, putting the passengers and crew asleep. He steals negotiable securities, bonds and the like and subsitutes shares in his company (hence the title). Aroct and Morey find a way of defeating the pirate and he is turned to good and becomes the third member of the trio (Wade). In the second tale, the trio turn their talents towards building a space ship and traveling to the planet Venus, where they discover (no surprise) a race of just-about-humans. In the third, the combined federation of Earth and Venus are invaded by the inhabitants (again, human) of the Black Star, which is (aha!) passing near our solar system. The Black Star is a dead star and the inhabitants are looking for something that's a bit warmer. After some super science battles, they retreat in defeat and the two solar systems do a swap, with us losing Pluto but gaining a couple of planets from the other solar system.

The stories are fast moving and light in terms of plot and character. The dialog, except where it bogs down in scientific mumbo-jumbo reminds me of a Howard Hawks film. Despite the creakniness brought on by the fact that so much of Campbell's science has proven to be wrong, I enjoyed reading these stories again after a multi-decade gap. In fact, I started off 2005 reading the second book of the series!

By the way, counts as three stories in the 2004 Short Story Project.