3 to the Highest Power

My copy is an Avon paperback from February 1968 that includes three novelettes. Back in 1968 this would have been a very handy book because the editor has included an index (bibliography) for each author detailing their fantasy and science fiction stories and novels and when and where they were published up through 1967 in the case of Ray Bradbury. He also writes a very nice, sometimes respectful, sometimes funny multi-page introduction for each author and story. Books can work as time machines and this one took me back to the late 40's 50's and 60's. The included stories are:

The Lost City of Mars • (1967) • novelette by Ray Bradbury originally published in Playboy
One Foot and the Grave • (1949) • novelette by Theodore Sturgeon show more originally published in Weird Tales
The Marginal Man • (1958) • novelette by Chad Oliver originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Several hours of enjoyment here. Ray Bradbury and Theodore Sturgeon of course are giants in the field. I was unfamiliar with Chad Oliver but in checking I see I have some of his stories in magazines and anthologies, primarily shorter stories in the 1950's.

I was initially quite interested in Bradbury's story because it is described as an extension of The Martian Chronicles. The story hasn't aged terribly well after 47 years. It was readable and it has all the elements and styling of a Bradbury tale, but it didn't quite make the jump to very good.

Sturgeon's piece is also recognizably his sort of thing - a darkish fantasy that is really a little twisted. The start had me momentarily off balance until I remembered that this was Sturgeon and of course it was going to be weird with "a touch of strange." Enjoyable in a warped way. If you have a fear of cloven hooves going click click you might beware. The eternities old war between good and evil rages on.

Chad Oliver's story I enjoyed most of all. Besides being a writer, he was an anthropologist, and the novella here is an anthropological science fiction story. On a world many light years away a survey ship lands with two men. It is a first contact and the hunting society they expected to find there is something very different. I felt like I was exploring and seeing this as the spacemen did and shared their wonder as the story played out. Quite enjoyable. show less

This book has interesting biographical prefaces to each of the three stories, and a goodreads-style bibliography for each author, too. Thank Chandler for digitizing millions of author's pages and all the volunteer librarians for making so many of them so accurate... but back in the day those pages alone would have made this book worth the price for many fans.

Bradbury's story is, not surprisingly, sexist and racist. As he admits for the preface by the editor, he is a big fan of but 'baffled by science' and doesn't see a problem with putting people from his home in 1928 onto Mars in the future, never guessing that we might not be as sexist or into hunting or given the wigglies by ghosts or even using different slang.

Sturgeon's is a show more paranormal, more like a dark 'fairytale' or even horror. Not my thing. I read until the end, but promptly forgot most of it.

But I chose this book for the Chad Oliver story and it did not disappoint. My rating is for this story alone. Now, I am not an anthropologist, but I have read much written by OwnVoices against anthropologists and it seems to me that Oliver pretty much got things right. There's a bit of a perspective that some might diss as 'noble savage' trope, but a careful reading reveals that Oliver was just emphasizing that the indigenous "People" had a valid, successful culture and did not need the 'gifts' our MC and his team-mate brought. Also, I was glad to see that women, not just men, go through the solitary fasting 'vision quest' experience on this planet. A thoughtful and fascinating story that does not seem dated to me. show less

Novelettes by Ray Bradbury, Chad Oliver, Theodore Sturgeon

F/SF

Indeholder "William F. Nolan: Ray Bradbury", "Ray Bradbury: The Lost City of Mars", "A Ray Bradbury SF/Fantasy Index", "William F. Nolan: Theodore Sturgeon", "Theodore Sturgeon: One Foot and the Grave", "A Theodore Sturgeon SF/Fantasy Index", "William F. Nolan: Chad Oliver", "Chad Oliver: The Marginal Man", "A Chad Oliver SF/Fantasy Index".

"William F. Nolan: Ray Bradbury" handler om at Ray faktisk havde en onkel Einar som barn. Og i skrivende stund er han 47. Mange af historierne fra Mars rummer elementer fra Illinois anno 1930. The Lost City of Mars er fra 1967 og det første stykke Mars-fiktion, han har fået publiceret siden 1954.
"Ray Bradbury: The Lost City of Mars" handler om kaptajn John Wilder, der er på Mars og tager en tur på show more den sidste kanal, der bliver fyldt med vand. Alle har ledt over hele Mars for at finde den legendariske forsvundne by Dia-Sao. Men nu finder selskabet den ved at sejle under et bjerg. Det viser sig at være hult og indeni er der den forsvundne by, som er fuldautomatisk og stadig virker. Rigmanden I. V. Aaronson har arrangeret turen. Sam Parkhill, skuespilleren Beaumont, storvildtjægeren Aikens, digteren Harry Harpwell og hans kone Megan Harpwell, Cara Carelli og hendes tjenestepige er med i Aaronsons yacht og går ind i byen, hvor de bliver opslugt af deres drømme. Byen lukker sig om dem og kun Aaronson, Wilder og Harpwell slipper ud.
"A Ray Bradbury SF/Fantasy Index" handler om ca 150 historier, Ray Bradbury har skrevet som kan klassificeres som Science Fiction eller som Fantasy. Der er selvfølgelig mindst hundrede, som ikke er i de to kategorier, men dem må man finde et andet sted.
"William F. Nolan: Theodore Sturgeon" handler om ???
"Theodore Sturgeon: One Foot and the Grave" handler om ???
"A Theodore Sturgeon SF/Fantasy Index" handler om ???
"William F. Nolan: Chad Oliver" handler om ???
"Chad Oliver: The Marginal Man" handler om ???
"A Chad Oliver SF/Fantasy Index" handler om ???

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