Murray Leinster (1896–1975)

What happens when the Irish colonize a distant planet? Why, shenanigans, of course!

On the planet Eire, metal-eating creatures called dinies have all but destroyed homes, tools, and farm equipment, but the chairman overseeing the colony from Earth, Sean O'Donohue, won't have it. The colony's inadequate progress must be due to its worthless, lazy inhabitants and, you guessed it, their shenanigans!

Just wait until he learns about the snakes that the colonists use to keep the dinies under show more control. You know, the snakes that Saint Patrick drove out of Ireland back on Earth. On Eire, it was another Patrick who brought the snakes to the grateful colonists, but don't tell that to O'Donohue.

An amusing little SF comedy that proves the luck of the Irish extends across the cosmos. show less

Murray Leinster (William Fitzgerald Jenkins) is one of the great names in early Science Fiction, but he also tried his hand at westerns and mysteries, eventually writing hundreds of radio scripts and more than a dozen movie screenplays. He goes so far back that a few of his great stories, such as The Runaway Skyscraper, didn’t even appear in the pulp magazines — because they hadn’t yet been invented!

The Other Now is a later story from the great Leinster, first appearing in Galaxy show more Magazine in 1951. It’s less that twenty pages, but it will absolutely blow you away. It’s enthralling from the first sentence, and once you realize what may be happening, it’s even more compelling. You have to remember that it wasn’t until 1952 in Dublin that Erwin Schrödinger joked with an audience that his Nobel equations actually were describing alternative realities happening simultaneously. And it wasn’t until 1957 that American Hugh Everett III put forth what would become known as the many worlds theory. Leinster had, of course, dealt with similar themes much earlier, in Sidewise, but here, it was right on the cutting edge of quantum physics.

Jimmy and Jane Patterson loved each other very much, and then tragedy struck, and she was taken from him. Three months later, still lamenting the tragedy, he comes home and something strange happens. Didn’t he already open the door, and shut the door? Finally, he takes a photo, and it shows two doors. But it isn’t until he finds Jane’s diary, and is shocked to discover an entry dated after her death, and the sorrow filled within the entry as she laments his death in the car accident, that he begins to believe.

He tells his friend Haynes, an attorney, what has been happening. Haynes feels for Jimmy, but believes his friend may be going mad — at first. To reveal more would ruin this wonderful experience. Anyone with a romantic bone in their body will love this story, as will anyone who loves the genre, or just a well-written and enthralling short story. I consider this a minor masterpiece. It might seem too sentimental for the harsh world in which we find ourselves trapped nowadays, making it all the more wonderful. Though I picked this up on Kindle, it is available for FREE on Gutenberg, and I highly recommend you rush - don't dawdle - over there as quickly as your fingertips can carry you and download it. You’ll never think of the next drop of rain in quite the same way. show less

The Pirates of Ersatz, a.k.a. The Pirates of Zan, first published in Astounding, was nominated for a Hugo in 1960. Leinster was up against some tough competition, including Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan, and Dickson’s Dorsai!

Leinster knew his market, and Pirates is a novel designed to appeal to Astounding’s editor, John W. Campbell. Campbell liked engineer protagonists who could use their creativity to respond heroically to any challenge. Bron Hoddan show more is exactly that kind of guy, though he doesn’t know it. An electrical engineer who grew up on a hardscrabble planet whose principal industry was piracy, he is thrust back into the family business when he is falsely accused of inventing a death ray. He is living on the conservative middle-class planet of Walden—whose name is perhaps an ironic tribute to Henry David Thoreau, the author of “Civil Disobedience.” Hoddan seems the perfect citizen whose goals are simple: “(a) to achieve splendid things as an electronic engineer, (b) to grow satisfactorily rich, (c) to marry a delightful girl, and (d) end his life a great man.” Leinster’s droll humor shows us that conformity and creativity are not a good match. Hoddan turns out to be a creative nonconformist, even among pirates. show less

A signal from outer space reaches Earth and is broadcast over the radio, interrupting Joe Burke just as he is about to propose to his secretary and longtime friend, Sandy Lund. As it turns out, the signal is comprised of sounds resembling those of a flute. They are eerily familiar to Burke from a recurring dream he had as a child after his uncle gifted him with a number of relics found in a Cro-Magnon cave.

Though disappointed, Sandy returns to Burke's engineering office where he plays a show more recording he made of the sounds years before and they are an exact match to those from space. Soon after, astronomers identify the source of the signal as an asteroid on a course that will bring it close to Earth.

Without sufficient evidence, the United States and Russia interpret the signals as a threat. The two major powers compete, and fail, to send a craft to the meet the aliens. However, Burke designs and constructs a small ship with the assistance of a yacht builder named Holmes and a taciturn electronics expert named Keller. Sandy's sister Pam joins the team to assist with tracking orders and receiving shipments.

Early in their testing of a reactionless drive, an explosive mishap draws the attention of a reporter, two government agents, and the police. Burke tries to persuade them that he is building an advanced bomb shelter. They are not convinced and suspect Burke and company of conspiring with the aliens. A few days later, the police return to arrest them, but Burke launches the ship with Holmes, Keller, and the Lund sisters aboard.

A week and a half later, they reach the asteroid and fly the ship through a tunnel, which closes behind them. Lights, breathable air, and an artifcial gravity system are activated, allowing the intrepid voyagers to leave the ship. To their dismay, they find the asteroid devoid of life.

Burke and his team explore the interior and learn that it is a garrison, long abandoned by its troops. They also interpret the flute-like signal as a beacon ordering the ancient soldiers to return in order to defend against an approaching enemy. Who were the soldiers and where did they go? More importantly, can Burke and company learn how to operate the garrison in time to defend Earth against this powerful and unknown threat from interstellar space?

If you can ignore Leinster's cardboard characterizations—such as the whiny and emotionally clueless Burke and the stereotypical capricious, husband-hunting women—The Wailing Asteroid is an enjoyable light-hearted adventure with a healthy dose of plausible 1960s science and engineering. show less