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Joachim Boaz's avatar

Thank you for this review. I reviewed Curtis' first three published short stories -- “Divine Right” (1950), “The Old Ones” (1950), and “The Protector” (1951) -- in my ongoing series covering early work by female authors I need to know more about. Like you, I can't say I was super impressed, unfortunately, with Curtis. I am interested in reading her Hugo-nominated short story “The Steiger Effect” (1968).

The substantive part of my assessment: "“The Protector” reads like a tentative condemnation of colonization that resorts to a simplistic violence solves everything message i.e. if only those who feel no physical pain inflict physical pain on others then the evil colonizer can be defeated. Of course, an external savior is needed to convince the natives to resist. There are deceptively powerful moments that lay bare the exploitive impact of external culture on the Anesthons: “I see one Anesthon girl — a real looker she is, too — dance fourteen hours before she gives out, just for a bottle of perfume and one of them Venusian fur lounge robes” (76).

Perhaps a scholar interested in 50s SF’s response to the first stages of post-WWII decolonization or lesser known female authors in the renaissance of the 50s might find Curtis’ tale of value for a larger historical argument. I’m glad I read it (immediately thinks of larger projects half formed). All other readers will be disappointed."

If I may, here's the link to the full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2022/12/03/short-story-reviews-betsy-curtis-divine-right-1950-the-old-ones-1950-and-the-protector-1951/

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Cory Panshin's avatar

I adore the Hogben stories because they changed my way of viewing the world. They were the first stories I’d ever encountered in which superpowers are the prerogative of the despised and downtrodden and not the intellectual elite. Given that Kuttner and Moore’s Baldie stories were the major source of Marvel’s X-Men, there’s something deeply significant there.

I’ve never read Farmer in the Sky, but I believe it’s the Heinlein novel in which there are microwave ovens but they’re only used to prepare a meal of steak and potatoes. Given that Heinlein first came to notice for stories which argued that changes in technology would inevitably bring about sweeping changes in society, he had a real blind spot when it came to using futuristic gadgets as window dressing but never considering their effect on the lives of people who used them.

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