A Son of the Rock

(Cover price 1/9 – an increase of 75% over 69 months.)

This is the issue I bought at an antique fair last year along with the corresponding magazine issue from July 1952. The dimensions had by this time shrunk to 8 x 5½ inch. As well as the fiction there is an editorial, an article, some book reviews and a puff for the next issue. The cover illustration is by Kelly Freas. The seventeen interior illustrations are by Freas and van Dongen. The layout is in single columns.

The Gentle Earth by Christopher Anvil
Invaders from another planet land in the central US as a first step. Their knowledge of conditions on Earth – climatic and social – isn’t adequate. The story is meant to be humorous and is diverting enough but it’s a throwaway.

The Shrines of Earth by Robert Silverberg
Earth is a rural backwater, peopled by flute players. It is under threat from the Hrossai and the locals hatch a plan to inveigle help from former colony worlds to protect the ancient shrines of Earth.

Article: Science Fiction in a Robot’s Eye by Jack Williamson
This comments on a “recent” study of stories from 3 SF magazines over the years 1951-3 where statistical techniques were used for analysis. Bug-eyed monsters were rare, predictive type stories over-represented and minorities treated better than in other magazine fiction of the time.

One Per Cent Inspiration by Edward Wellen
A tale about how a Montana farmer one day in 1998 invented the teleportation drive.
This had one linguistic term I don’t remember seeing before, “stacks of timothy.” Apparently timothy is a kind of grass used for hay.

Citizen of the Galaxy, part 3 of 4 by Robert A Heinlein
Since I’m never likely to come across parts 1, 2 and 4, I didn’t bother with this.