Born of Man and Woman, a 1950 short story by Richard Matheson, is about a young child, apparently a monstrosity, who is kept chained in the basement by its parents and frequently beaten.

Non-spoiler summary

This extremely short story is told by the main protagonist, the young child himself, in the form of a personal diary written in broken English. It gives us a brief look into the every day life of an abused child who really doesn’t know what it is to be a child. He is kept chained in the basement by his parents, and frequently beaten. Nevertheless, he remains curious. He is able to pull his chain out of the wall and is able to observe what happens outside, in the real world, through a little basement window.

At one point during the story, the child relates an incident where his young sister (which he refers to as a “little mother”) comes to see him in the basement with her pet. When the pet smells him and attacks him, he crushes it to death.

The last journal entry takes place after a beating from his father. As the child is going over the events in his mind, we learn that he knocked the stick from his father’s hand and made some noises. Then, he begins to ponder over some tactics to use if his parents do not treat him better in the future.

My thoughts on this story

• The first few sentences of the story are intriguing; I found myself hooked right away.
• Matheson brilliantly depicted the passing of days in his story, from a child’s viewpoint, by using unique analogies, such as “This day it had water falling from upstairs” and “This day it had goldness in the upstairs.”
• The last sentences of the diary, along with the fact that he bleeds green blood, provide a clear hint as to why this short story belongs to the science fiction genre.

Interesting tidbits

• Word count: 1,239
• This short story was written by Matheson when he was in his early twenties. It was his first professional sale. It became the title piece in his first short story collection published in 1954.
• “Born of Man and Woman” was nominated for a 1951 Retro Hugo Award in the Best Short Story category.
• Famous author Stephen King said that Richard Matheson influenced him the most as a writer.

Where to find the story

• This short story was first published in 1950 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
• It was also published in Richard Matheson’s first short collection, Born of Man and Woman (1954).
• You can also find it in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 1: 1929-1964.

Author bio and blog

Martin Dugas is a civil engineer. Fluent in both English and French, he writes in both languages. He is a science fiction junkie and blogs at http://martindugas.wordpress.com.

One Dream Job Coming Right Up!

This story evokes a setting that I would die for: being one of the first explorers on a newly discovered planet! Honestly, how cool would that be? It would be rough, but it would still be my dream life. This is a very cool story with descriptions that reminded me of both Hyperion and Chasm City – and that is a good thing indeed!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Cord is a teen-aged boy with the Colonial Team on the outback world of Sutang. There is a lot of work to do and very few people to do it, which is why Cord often gets in trouble for doing some exploring on his own. In fact, Cord’s local leader wants to send him back to his home world, but Cord doesn’t like that idea at all. Lucky for him the Planetary Regent is coming to visit, and she wants Cord to accompany them while riding a local life form. This is Cord’s big chance to impress the people who control his destiny – but can he be both chivalrous and safe at the same time? He is about to find out… because a big test is heading his way!

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 8,935 (15 pages)
• Special thanks to Tinkoo at Variety SF for recommending this great story!

Where To Find Grandpa

• This short story was first published in the February 1955 edition of Astounding Science Fiction.
• You can read a free online version of “Grandpa” at Baen eBooks.
• It is also included in the anthology Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked “Grandpa” then you may also enjoy “The World That Couldn’t Be” by Clifford D. Simak – about a farmer who tries to save his crops by hunting a very dangerous alien beast.

Most people know of Philip K. Dick’s great science fiction novels, but despite having multiple short stories adapted into feature films, a lot of people aren’t as aware of his large proliferation of short stories. The fact of the matter is that Dick wrote around 121 shot stories, many of which appeared in science fiction magazines. While I haven’t had the joy of reading all of them, I recently came across one that was available online for free titled “Beyond the Door.”

Synopsis

What I really like about this story is that it demonstrates just how much of a natural Dick was at crafting unreal situations and humanizing them with clever insights. The story itself doesn’t even seem that heavily drenched in science fiction. Essentially, a husband named Larry gives his wife Doris a cuckoo clock.

The science fiction elements of the story revolve around the cuckoo clock which, unlike cuckoo clocks in reality, had a live bird living inside of it that tweeted every hour. What made this concept even richer was the fact that the cuckoo bird seemed to have feelings and dispositions. He liked Doris and came out of the cuckoo clock doors up to four times an hour for her; however, he didn’t seem to like Larry as much, and their relationship worsened as Larry became more irritated that the bird didn’t come out of the clock.

The story also revolves around a dramatic scenario involving Doris in what the reader can only assume is an affair with a man named Bob. She wanted to show Bob the cuckoo clock, but in the process, she and Bob were discovered by Larry in a compromising situation (Doris was in her bathrobe). After that point, Larry kicked out Doris and kept the clock for himself.

In the final scene, Larry becomes increasingly frustrated with the cuckoo bird’s lack of presence and commitment to the clock’s purpose. He takes a hammer and threatens the bird to come out. Unexpectedly, the bird darts out of the clock, causing Larry to fall over a chair and break his neck.

Analysis

The ending of this story brings up some interesting ideas and concepts. If objects that we depend on like clocks were to have feelings and dispositions, how would our relationships with these objects change? Did the bird intentionally scare Larry into falling over and having a terrible accident? Was it out of spite or self-preservation? All of these questions become all the more real as more of our modern devices appear more conscious (for instance, the new iPhone’s Siri).

By-line:

Alvina Lopez is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id:alvina.lopez @gmail.com.

Definitely from 1953!

Ok, there are some strange parts in this story which definitely give away its age. The parts about not knowing what would happen to men psychologically as they journey into space, or how computers can’t think for themselves but only follow directions, and especially how a man tries to spank his younger female assistant! Anyway, all this quirkiness aside, it turned out to be a pretty cool story. Just hang in there because the ending is really cool!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Ever since the war, when Knight served under his childhood friend Captain Cullin, the two have not gotten along. A big reason for the rift is that Cullin believes men are better soldiers when they obey orders absolutely and show no initiative for themselves. Knight disagrees, and after he is out of the military he goes to work on the smartest computer in the world. Well, guess who thinks that it would make a pretty darn good soldier? Yep, Captain Cullin – who is so obsessed with the fact that he makes some very drastic choices to secure the perfect soldier. But will he change his mind when he sees the end results? Perhaps.

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 21,682 (47 pages)
• Author Tom Godwin wrote a bunch of science fiction stories and novels during the 1950s and 1960s. You can learn more about this author at Wikipedia.

Where To Find The Gulf Between

• This story first appeared in the October 1953 edition of Astounding Science Fiction.
• You can read "The Gulf Between" for free online at Webscription.
• It is also included in the excellent Baen collection The Cold Equations.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "The Gulf Between" then be sure to check out Tom Godwin’s ultra-famous story “The Cold Equations” – about a pilot who finds a stowaway girl on his Emergency Dispatch Ship.

Non-Spoiler Summary

Jon Hall is a wanted man. He and his 19 brothers were very effective soldiers in the war on the planet Grismet, but now that the war is over they are being hunted down because they are so dangerous. Jon’s space flight to Earth is being followed by Tom Jordan, an agent of the Commission who is certain that Jon’s unique characteristics will give him away – things like his extraordinary mass, radiation signature and the fact that he stutters. Jon is off to a good start on Earth, but the more he interacts with people the more suspicious they become. Will he be able to express his message of innocence to the people of Earth, or will they clamor for his death – regardless of how cruel it is? One little Earth boy holds the answer to that question, and the end results are quite amazing.

Tidbits About This Story

• Word count: 9,991 (20 pages)
• I couldn’t find much information about author R. R. Merliss – do any of you know anything about him?
• Special thanks to Variety SF for recommending this story!

Where To Find The Stutterer

• This story first appeared in the April 1955 edition of Astounding Science Fiction.
• You can read "The Stutterer" online for free at Project Gutenberg.
• It is also included in the 2011 anthology Robot Tales: Eleven Short Science Fiction Stories About Robots

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "The Stutterer" then you might also enjoy “Scanners Live in Vain” by Cordwainer Smith – about a sensory deprived man who tries to stop his Scanner brothers from killing a human who has just made a great scientific breakthrough.

NON SPOILER SUMMARY

Brent is excited to get his hands dirty in the vast green wilderness that, according to all the current start charts, has never been explored. He sets out into the dense, rolling jungle and encounters a wide variety of life. Plants, animals, birds, all foreign to his eye. And just as he is congratulating himself on being the first person to set foot there, he sees something very disturbing… a house.

MY THOUGHTS

Philip K. Dick is very adept at making the reader feel the emotions of the characters in his stories. I love getting into a character’s head, to see what they see, hear what they hear, touch what they touch. While all stories have a setting, I think it takes a talented writer to make you feel like YOU are the character. I enjoyed Strange Eden, being in a wild and beautiful place, feeling the shock of discovering I wasn’t the first one there, and the pure delight at meeting the other inhabitant of this world.

INTERESTING TIDBITS

• Page Count: 11
• About the Author: Did you know Philip K. Dick published 44 novels and 121 short stories? Read more about him at Wikipedia.

WHERE TO FIND THIS STORY

• Strange Eden is included in the collection of short stories The Philip K. Dick Reader.

Non-Spoiler Summary

Mary is a typical teenaged girl, but she is quickly approaching the time when she will get “the Transformation” that will make her beautiful and perfect in every way – you know, just like everyone else. There is a little problem though, Mary doesn’t want to do it. What?! That’s right, she is the only person who has ever refused to get the Transformation. And what is her reasoning you may ask? Simple: she likes herself as she is. Well, all the beautiful people of the society just can’t fathom that someone would want to stay natural and imperfect, so they make a big stink about it. They are using every tool available to them – including legal ones – to force her to go through with it. Will Mary do it? Or will she be allowed to keep her natural looks?

Some Juicy Tidbits About This Story

• Word count: 5,590 (16 pages)
• Did you know that Charles Beaumont was the writer of several classic Twilight Zone episodes? Yep. Learn more about this fascinating author at Wikipedia.
• Special thanks to QuasarDragon for pointing me towards this great story.

Where To Find The Beautiful People

• This short story first appeared in the September 1952 issue of If Worlds of Science Fiction.
• You can download or read "The Beautiful People" online for free courtesy of the good people over at Project Gutenberg.
• It is also included in the collection Twilight Zone: The Original Stories.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "The Beautiful People" then you might also enjoy “Thy Name Is Woman” by Bryce Walton – about a man who travels to Mars to find out why all of Earth’s women moved there.

“Flowers for Algernon”, a 1959 short story by Daniel Keyes, is about a human test subject whose intelligence significantly increases after undergoing a special surgery.

Summary

Charlie Gordon, the main protagonist, is a sweet-tempered and mentally disabled man. He has an I.Q. of 68 and works a menial job. He is selected to undergo an experimental surgical technique to increase his intelligence. This technique has already been successfully tested on Algernon, a laboratory mouse. The surgery on Charlie proves to be a success as well; his I.Q. triples. He surpasses everybody intellectually, including the scientists who performed the surgery on him. But as his intelligence increases, he becomes unable to relate to others who were once smarter than him.

The story is told through a series of journal entries written by Charlie.

My thoughts on this story

This is one of my favourite stories. The use of progress reports written by Charlie is very effective to tell the story. I also like the fact that some important themes are explored in the story: the treatment of the mentally disabled and the conflict between intellect and emotion or happiness.

Here are a few lines that struck me:

Interesting tidbits

• Word count: 11,745
• In 1958, on submitting the story to Galaxy Science Fiction magazine, the editor suggested changing the ending. Keyes refused to make the change and sold the story to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
• It won a Hugo award for best short story in 1960.
• It was voted third out of 132 nominees for a Nebula award in the late 1960s (when SFWA decided to give Nebula Awards retroactively).
• In 1961, it was adapted for television in the drama The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon.
• It was expanded into a full novel and was published in 1966 by Harcourt Brace.
• In 1968, it was adapted into a movie: Charly.
• In 1978, it was adapted into a Broadway musical called Charlie and Algernon.
• It was adapted into a television drama in 2000.
• Both in its short-story format and its full-length novel, it is part of many school curriculums.

Where to find the story

• Flowers for Algernon was published for the first time in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1959.
• It was reprinted several times in different magazines during the subsequent years.
• You can read it online here.
• You can also read it in the book The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One published in 1970.

"Lulungomeena" by Gordon R. Dickson

Page Count: 24

The story

The setting is Frontier Station 563 just beyond Sirius. But the title is named after another place: Lulungomeena on the planet Tarsus, the native home of Clay Harbank. The conflict is between Clay and The Kid. Clay is a reformed gambler; and The Kid, an active gambler, wants his considerable savings. The story is from the perspective of Mort, a Dorsai warrior on an odd assignment who observes The Kid’s relentless needling of Clay. All the characters are aboard Frontier Station for a contract of 10 years, working and living together on the back side of, literally, nowhere. The story develops in the presence of a Hixabrod, an unerringly truthful species, settling a bet on a question of sentiment … with all-or-nothing stakes.

Excerpt

My take

I find this story deeply moving, illustrating as it does the bond of male friendship and the casual confidence that comes with age. Certainly Mort is a born warrior and Clay is a recovering gambler, but they both have their impulses under control and out of that strength emerges a mutual respect and a mutual disdain of youthful arrogance and impetuosity. This story could have happened on any outpost, not only in space, but on Earth, in some remote place where people are thrown together and forced to play out their relational skills in a pressure cooker. Anyone who has ever worked in such an environment recognizes the dynamic immediately.

This story introduced Dickson’s Dorsai culture, predating the Hugo nominated book Dorsai! by years. It does not fit neatly into the Childe Cycle he developed in conjunction with the writing of Dorsai!, but it maintains, for the most part, a consistency with the philosophy of the framework. Mort comes across as the kind of warrior one expects from the Dorsai: big, strong, controlled, experienced, with an inexplicable aura of unconquerable command. The only sharp contrast I can find between the story and the books is in the universal assumptions of life. Where “Lulungomeena” presents us with alien races, especially the Hixabrod, the rest of the Childe Cycle seems to ignore the possibility of alien life.

The Good:

Read Lululomeenga for the relative gentility of the story. It lacks overt violence, though the possibility lies just below the surface and bubbles up a couple of times. I love it when strength can be demonstrated in character and without a bloodbath. Also, the feeling (I am told) of “home” is universal. Most people will be able to identify with Clay and even, in this way, with the alien Hixabrod.

The Bad … ish:

Ok, not so bad, but the characters do have a strong resemblance to some classic wild-western stereotypes. That’s ok when you remember when the story was written and the type of audience forming the story’s primary readership. It’s also ok, because those characters can be fun.

Hunt for the Story

This story is relatively hard to find. It was originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1954. It was anthologized by Robert Silverberg in Deep Space (1973); paperback 1977.

Luckily, for posterity, it was dramatized for the 1950s radio drama X minus One and is available for free download. The dramatization is reasonably faithful to the original. You will note that X minus One spelled the title of the story differently than Dickson.

If you like this story…

…you’ll love the Dickson story “Warrior” which is much more readily available in Lost Dorsai. Also “Brothers” is available in The Spirit of Dorsai. Both can be found in The Dorsai Companion. The Award winning and nominated books Tactics of Mistake and, of course, Dorsai! are both part of the same SF framework.

Thanks to Tim for this providing this article. You can read more of Tim’s stuff on his blog: The Darling Virtual Mind.

NON SPOILER SUMMARY

Professor Anthony Douglas is a brilliant nuclear physicist. Although he is getting a little older and thick around the middle, he is a down to earth guy. One day while he is relaxing in his favorite chair, he sees a giant eyeball looking at him through the window. Scared out of his wits, but determined to form an objective opinion, he enlists his friends to help him think of reasonable scientific possibilities as to why he might have seen such a thing.

MY THOUGHTS

Fair Game was a fun and quick read. I don’t think it was written to be humorous, but I found myself chuckling at the odd situation and the things that Douglas was seeing. And as reasonable as Douglas tries to be, the end of the story proves to be a surprise to more than just it’s main character!

INTERESTING TIDBITS

• Page Count: 12
• Fair Game was written in 1953, and was first published in 1959 in If Magazine.
• Read more about Philip K. Dick at his official website.

WHERE TO FIND THIS STORY

• I read it in The Philip K. Dick Reader.
• I found a free PDF version online at Univeros.