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1947 - Year in SF&F: Reviews



THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

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Francis Flagg & Weaver Wright
"Strangers in a Strange Time"
(also as "The Time Twister")
© Thrilling Wonder Stories, Oct 1947
--/ cool sf story

Two funny scientists (possibly drunk, or even worse, ridiculously sober) get all excited about time travel, quickly make some impressive-looking machine and hop in, only to discover that they were hit by a twister - creating all kinds of chaos around, but none time-travel-related. A bummer.

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Philip K. Dick
"Stability"

© written in 1947
Beyond Lies The Wub, 1987
--/ cool sf story

First, unpublished story - quite rough around the edges, of course. Ideas of man against the government, machines, flying free, talking cars - elements used in future stories.
review: 04-Jul-06 (read in 2006)

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A. E. Van Vogt
"The Barbarian"
(Clane / Empire of the Atom series)
© Astounding, Dec 1947
Empire of the Atom, 1957
The Book of A.E.Van Vogt, 1972
--/ cool sf novella

Different in mood from the rest of "Empire of the Atom" bunch, this one broadens the interplanetary intrigue and gives more sense of scale and wonder. The barbaric tribes (devolving after earthlings abandoned its outer planet colonies) still use high-tech machinery and space travel, which gives an amusing and at times paradoxical atmosphere to this story. Very popular "retrograde technology evolution" idea has been widely used in the other pulps (try Alfred Coppel's "Rebel of Valkyr" where the barbarians ply the insterstellar lanes inside highly sophisticated spaceships - relics of the Empire). Pure "Planet Stories" material.
review: 27-Jul-06 (read in 1990)

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"SF&F Reading Experience" is part of "Dark Roasted Blend / Thrilling Wonder" family of sites. We try to highlight the most entertaining and rewarding science fiction and fantasy, with emphasis on memorable reader experience, not necessarily general acceptance by the critics. Have fun, and delve into our extensive ratings and reviews!

Most reviews are written by Avi Abrams, unless otherwise noted. Reviews also appear on our unique historical retrospective page Wonder Timeline of Science Fiction. Feel free to submit your own review, if a particular story is not listed here.


All major OFFICIAL AWARDS are highlighted in BLUE
("winner" has a letter "W" by it, otherwise it is a runner-up only)

Our PERSONAL AWARDS (ratings) are highlighted in RED and PURPLE:
--/ first place :
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--/ cool : (equal to fifth place)
ALL "BEST OF" LISTS ARE LOCATED HERE

These awards are given in the following categories:
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- novella :
- story :
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Also, there are our personal STYLE / GENRE SPECIFIC AWARDS. These reflect the story's content and the lasting impression on the reader:

--/ wonder award
sense-of-wonder, "visual intensity" and inventiveness

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