C. M. Kornbluth (1923–1958)

I'm giving 1951's 'The Marching Morons' five stars not because I like the story, but because it's stuck in my mind for decades -- thanks to that copy of 1973's The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two I got from the Science Fiction Book Club.

This is a similar dystopian future Earth to the one in 'The Little Black Bag'. Instead of a doctor's bag from the future arriving in the present, a 20th century real estate developer named 'Honest' John Barlow is awakened from accidental suspended show more animation in the future.

The 3 million brilliant humans are vastly outnumbered by 5 billion humans with an average IQ of 45, which means they are moderately mentally disabled. They keep breeding and breeding, and the so-called brilliant humans haven't figured out mass birth control that doesn't require the stupid to do anything. The smarties hope that John Barlow can help them with the population problem.

John Barlow does. As he demands, he becomes World Dictator. The problem is solved and John Barlow has his reward.

There are some bits demonstrating what entertains the stupid masses that were interesting. The intelligent people are not all white, which is nice -- although it gives us an opportunity to see that Barlow is a bigot. Probably the nicest thing one may say about Barlow is that he seems genuinely sorry to have outlived his second wife, Verna.

Notes: Marshall Field's was a department store in Chicago from 1852 until it, and its other stores, were taken over by Macy's in 2006. As for Jack Ketch, he was an infamous 17th century English executioner known for botching his work. show less

I really enjoyed this cynical and satirical sci fi novel. It's about Mitchell Courtenay, a high ranking ad exec in a futuristic American society dominated by advertising. Indeed, it's virtually un-patriotic to not adhere to advertising's role in society. Mitch is given the assignment of leading his firm's intention of colonizing Venus, even though it's not remotely habitable, by making American suckers go there based on his expertise in advertising. The book starts taking some bizarre twists show more at that stage, leading to his being essentially kidnapped and put to work as a "crumb," a common consumer, his escape, his workings with the Consies, or conservations, a Greenpeace-like group which attempts to overcome America's fixation with rampant consumerism and its negative impact on the world, and more.

This book was written 60 years ago, but it was seriously ahead of its time. To quote another Goodreads member, Nancy Oakes wrote:

"Awesome book! Hard to believe this was written like 50+ years ago, because it is so incredibly relevant to our modern times. For example: it takes a look at the dangers of imperialistic corporations & greed, the plight of workers and the ungodly conditions under which some of them have to work, the clear and unmistakeable division of class in society, the total lack of concern for the environment and the treatment of those who care about it and want change."

This book is frighteningly applicable to our current times. Pohl (the book was co-written with CM Kornbluth) was a true visionary. The satire is witty and funny. One scene that had me laughing was Mitch's dissing of Moby Dick due to its lack of advertising. LOL! My only complaint, and the reason I'm only giving it four out of five stars, is that the scene transitions are often lacking. You're in a scene and then, boom, something happens in the course of a sentence to radically change the plot and you're left picking up the pieces, trying to figure out what just happened. This occurs several times in the book and I found it very distracting. Nonetheless, it was a good, quick read and I heartily recommend this book. show less

This repulsively occluded crystal of a book is not about werewolves of the transform-into-canine sort, but about human wolves who are a bane almost 300 years into a future earth rent from the solar system on which humans have devolved not into savagery but into an ultra-civilized society, the formalities of which would make Genji's court look like yahoos. The climax is near perfect, the ending a disagreeable muddle.

A rocketing, sensational exposé of sin in space: a story about a drug deadlier than heroin, more vicious than morphine, this was the Martian narcotic that drenched a planet in crime and perversion.

This was the blurb that screamed from the back cover of the Galaxy re-publication of the novel written by husband and wife writing team Cyril M. Kornbluth and Judith Merril which was originally serialised in 1951. The blurb in this case is totally misleading as I have rarely read such a 'grown show more up' thoughtful novel from this era of pulp fiction.

Sin in Space was the 1961 reprint, but the original story had the title of Mars child, then [Outpost Mars]. The story starts with a difficult birth of a child in a struggling close knit human colony on the planet Mars: not so many science fiction books would have started with a birth scene. Tony Hellman is the doctor in attendance and he is also part of the democratically elected ruling committee of the community of Sun Lake. It is a community that prides itself on its complete sexual equality and is desperately trying to be self sufficient so that it can loosen its ties with an overcrowded and corrupt planet earth. The birth of a child is a big event in the colony which relies on drugs to enable them to breathe a rarefied atmosphere. The community receives a visit from the nearby Brenner Pharmaceutical corporation: an industrial concern that manufacture the addictive drug Marcaine. Brenner accuses the community of stealing a shipment of his drugs and demands that a search be carried out for the guilty culprit. Brenner knows that such a search would cause the release of radioactive material which could destroy the colony. The arrival in the twice yearly rocket supply ship from earth of journalist Douglas Graham, who is planning a feature book on the life of the planet, becomes a focal point for the struggle between the colony and the industrialists.

This is a well written story that also describes the hard grind of a relatively new colony trying to forge its own future on a planet where life is difficult, but whose participants have sacrificed everything to escape from planet earth. The birth of the Mars child proves to be a significant event in the life of the community and in accordance with the aims of the community the novel provides equal opportunity for both women and men to play significant roles. It is pulp fiction, but still a refreshingly good read and so 4 stars. show less