Review of "Science Fiction Adventures Magazine," December 1956

Review of

Science Fiction Adventures Magazine, December 1956

Five out of five stars

 While we like to think that the humans that travel between the stars will have nobler aims, the reality is that the negative traits of Earthbound humans will be with them no matter what star system they are in. Jealousy, greed, spite, anger, revenge, lust for power and hatred will follow humanity to the stars and be a constant danger in most operations. Fortunately, science fiction stories that express these traits will be largely timeless and that is the case with the three novels in this issue.

 
“The Starcombers” is about a small band of space scavengers that move around the universe looking for scrap that they can acquire, process and sell for a profit. They will remove anything, even the artifacts of ancient civilizations. There are internal divisions based on lying and manipulation and the group is in danger of simply falling apart. This story is a bit different in that the band is not solely composed of men, there are wives and children in the group as well. In many ways, they are the science fiction equivalent of gypsies.

 “Secret of the Green Invaders” is based on the idea that the human species is essentially ungovernable by humans, but easily governed by aliens that are reasonably benign. Ruled for hundreds of years by aliens, it is suddenly announced that there will be a change in government, as the current rulers have lost control of Earth to another species. This introduces a period of self-rule that goes very badly, the planetary government is quickly reduced to a travesty as Earth is fragmented into increasingly small fiefdoms. It is necessary for the human government to engage in an elaborate sham so that humanity will slowly learn to govern itself.

“Battle for the Thousand Suns” is about the lust for political power and the rightful ruler plotting a revenge that will take years to reach fruition. Due to an odd mutation, some people develop the mental power to drive others mad and even kill them. The  genes for this power breed true, albeit recessively and they are part of the Y chromosome, so only men have the power. The men with this power, along with their allies, rapidly rose to being the aristocracy of the universe, everyone else were considered commoners. Dane Regan was the rightful Emperor, but he was usurped by another and he works his way up the political hierarchy in an attempt to overthrow the pretender. If you change some of the context, this is a story that could have been written hundreds of years ago.

 These stories read true today, because they are about timeless aspects of humanity. From the failures of government, the lust for power and to people that travel where they can looking to make some kind of living.