Such stories, at least potentially, combine speculation about extra-solar civilizations with criticism of the current state of Earth. Who in their right minds would want to have contact with us?
For example, in a very short Asimov story called "Silly Asses," a galactic bureaucrat, hearing that Terrestrials have recently met Federation membership criteria by splitting the atom and landing on their Moon but that they are testing atomic weapons in their own atmosphere instead of in space, crumples up the Federation membership paperwork for Earth and throws it in his wastepaper basket, remarking, "Silly asses!" (I know that this is in an Asimov collection although I do not have the reference to hand.) This Asimov story is purely a comment on the arms race, not a speculation that the galaxy is administered by bureaucrats with paperwork and wastepaper baskets.
Anderson's "Details," on which I commented recently, is a Galactic Federation story in this sense although its federation is called the League and, impossibly, is entirely composed of human beings of different sizes and colors whereas the Federation in "Peek! I See You!" encompasses many bizarre organisms like:
yet another centauroid, in this case one who has gills and sound-sensitive areas alternating down his long neck and an elephantine trunk dividing into two arms and who shrugs by jerking his tail;
another hexapod-descended sophont whose three pairs of limbs have become respectively legs, arms and wings.
Anderson's imagination is, as ever, unbounded.
8 comments:
Hi, Paul!
Ummm, I think you meant to say in your last sentence that "ANDERSON'S imagination is, as ever, unbounded." And I agree, Anderson was far more imaginative and interesting than Asimov.
Sean
Thank you. Error corrected.
Asimov also wrote a trilogy of short stories with the same premise (humanity being considered for membership in a galactic federation), beginning with "Homo Sol", published in 1940.
I found it rather entertaining, and it's also noteworthy because the idea of psychology as a hard science that can be applied reliably to large populations first appear in this short story - a precursor to the "psychohistory" of the Foundation stories.
Asimov was somewhat uncomfortable with the representation of humanity as warlike demigods, alone able to potentially threaten the combined civilizations of the Galactic Federation. It had apparently been insisted upon by the editor of Astounding, John W. Campbell. Although the aliens in this story finally tame the humans through the use of psychology, this might have contributed to his later decision to not have any aliens at all in his Foundation or Robot stories, which was very atypical for the sf of the time.
While I would agree Poul Anderson is the better writer of the two, I like Asimov a lot too, although my appreciation of him has waned somewhat with age. I'd still place him with PA and Robert Heinlein as my favourite sf writers of all times.
Johan,
Asimov stated that he disagreed with Campbell over Civil Rights and also over Campbell's preference for human superiority in sf and that he, Asimov, avoided conflict with Campbell by leaving aliens out of most of his interstellar sf.
Paul.
Blish and Niven are better than Asimov.
Kaor, Johan!
I'm glad you left another comment on the PA blog! Yes, basically, Asimov came to have disagreements with Campbell, which contributed to him eventually stop submitting work to his magazine. I am not sure of the JUSTICE of any complaints Asimov had for Campbell, tho. I recall Poul Anderson saying Campbell often "advocated" controversial ideas simply to inspire new stories from his writers, and not necessarily because Campbell himself BELIEVED those ideas.
We do see Asimov sometimes writing other stories with aliens in them. Including even one story set in the FOUNDATION timeline, "Blind Alley." Which I thought an interesting story despite me eventually being dissatisfied with having those aliens emigrate from the Galactic Empire to the Magellanic Clouds. Which I thought a cop out.
Eventually, however, I came to be dissatisfied with Asimov's novels (his short stories were better). By 1975 I more and more thought his novels too flat, colorless, plain, with thin, unconvincing characters. E.g., the most interesting characters in the FOUNDATION books were "villains" like Bel Riose, Cleon II, and esp. the Mule.
I hope we see more comments by you in this blog!
Ad astra! Sean
Hi Paul and Sean,
Thank you for your comments!
There might well be something to what Poul Anderson had to say about Cambell's motives for pushing controversial ideas for the stories. In the case of "Homo Sol", I'd say the story wouldn't have worked at all without the potential for humans becoming a galactic menace. If they hadn't been so dangerous, then there would have been little reason for the Federation to do more than shrug at the human refusal to join, and indeed, the reader would have had little sympathy for a Federation that coerced a small, harmless species to join the Federation against their will.
But as it's written the protagonist Tan Porus, Arcturian psychologist extraordinaire, prevents a horrific and needless interstellar war. Every short story needs its bear on the beach.
I would agree with you Sean that Asimov's stories became less intresting later on. I'm fully prepared to agree that there are many objectively better sf writers, as far as one can be objective about such things. But I read the Foundation trilogy at a relatively young age and was enthralled. Together with Dune and Lord of the Rings it ranks among the sf/fantasy books iv'e enjoyed the most.
Kaor, Johan!
Thanks for writing again! Thinking about "Homo Sol" has now made me doubt the plausibility of its premise: the unique danger posed by the human race to the Galactic Federation. Surely mankind can't be the only aggressive and warlike race in the galaxy!
And I too first read the original FOUNDATION books at a very young age, probably 13. And I was enthralled by those books for years. And I did read DUNE and THE LORD OF THE RINGS with great pleasure.
Ad astra! Sean
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