The Best of Cordwainer Smith - Cordwainer Smith(1), ebook, Temp
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THE BEST OFCORDWAINER SMITHEDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BYJ. J. PIERCENELSON DOUBLEDAY, INC.Garden City, New YorknmoDocmoN OOPVMCHT (c) 1975 BY j. j. mootACKNOWLEDGMENTS"Scanners Live in Vain," copyright 1950 by Fantasy Publishing Co. Inc. forFantasy Book. Copyright 1963 t>y Cordwainer Smith. "The Lady Who Sailed The Soul," copyright 1960 by Galaxy Publishing Co. forGalaxy Magazine, Copyright 1963 by Cordwainer Smith. "The Game of Rat and Dragon," copyright 1955 by Galaxy Publishing Co. forGalaxy Science Fiction. Copyright 1963 by Cordwainer Smith. "The Burning of the Brain," copyright 1958 by Quinn Publishing Co. for If. Copyright 1963 by Cordwainer Smith. "Golden the Ship Was-Oh! Oh! Oh!," copyright 1959 by Ziff-Davis PublishingCo. for Amazing Science Fiction. Copyright 1963 by Cordwainer Smith. "The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal," copyright 1964 by Ziff-DavisPublishing Co. for Amazing Stories. Copyright 1971 by Mrs. Genevieve Line-barger."The Dead Lady of Clown Town," copyright 1964 by Galaxy Publishing Corporation for Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1964. Copyright 1965 by Cordwainer Smith."Under Old Earth," copyright 1966 by Galaxy Publishing Corporation for Galaxy Science Fiction. Copyright 1971 by Mrs. Genevieve Linebarger."Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons," copyright 1961 by Galaxy Publishing Corporation for Galaxy Science Fiction, June 1961. Copyright 1965 by Cordwainer Smith."Alpha Ralpha Boulevard," copyright 1961 by Mercury Press, Inc. for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Copyright 1963 by Cordwainer Smith."The Ballad of Lost Cmell," copyright 1962 by Galaxy Publishing Corp. for Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1962. Copyright 1965 by Cordwainer Smith."A Planet Named Shayol," copyright 1961 by Galaxy Publishing Corp. for Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1961. Copyright 1965 by Cordwainer Smith.All rights reserved under International Pan-American Copyright Conventions.Printed in the United States of AmericaCONTENTSCordwainer Smith: The Shaper of Myths i ]. J. PierceScanners Live in Vain <jThe Lady Who Sailed The Soul 43The Game of Rat and Dragon 67The Burning of the Brain 83Golden the Ship Was-Oh! Oh! Oh! 93 The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal 101The Dead Lady of Clown Town 117Under Old Earth 193Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons 235Alpha Ralpha Boulevard 259The Ballad of Lost C'mell 287A Planet Named Shayol 307THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF MANKIND*A.D.1,0003,000STORIESNo, No, Not Rogov War No. 8i-Q4,000 Queen of the Afternoon5,000 Mark Elf6,OOO SCANNERS LIVE UST VAINTHE LADY WHO SAILED TheSoul7,000 When the People Fell8,000 Think Blue, Count TwoThe Colonel Came Back from Nothing at Allp.OOO THE GAME OF HAT ANDDRAGON THE BURNING OF THE BRAIN10,000 From Gustible's PlanetH,ooo12,000 Himself in Anachron (?)I3,OOO THE CRIME AND THE GLORY OF COMMANDER SUZDALGOLDEN THE SHIP OH! OH! OH!WAS -SURROUNDING EVENTSForgotten first Age of Space.The Ancient Wars, culminating in the collapse of all nations save China. Retreat of the true men into isolated cities, with most of Earth left to Beasts, manshonyaggers and Unforgiven.Advent of the Vomacts and the return of vitality to mankind. Rule of the Jwindz succeeded by that of the Instrumentality.Second Age of Space. Earth re-populated. Expansion to the nearer stars. Survivors of old Paradise VII colony settle Old Nordi Australia. Discovery of stroon.Fall of China.Early planoforming.Settlement of thousands of worlds, compared to two hundred by sail-ship.Stabilization of Utopia. Life spans standardized at four hundred years. Programming of embryos, growing use of robots, underpeo-ple.Possible appearance of Daimoni. Adaptation of men to strange worlds like Viola Siderea.Ascendancy of the Bright Empire and other potential rivals to the Instrumentality. D'joan martyred-rebirth of die Old Strong Religion. Jestocost line founded.14,000 TM DIAD LADT OF CLOWN TOWNIJ.OOO UNDER OLD BARTHDrunkboat 16,000 MOTHER HITTON'S LITTULKITTONSALPHA RALPHA BOULEVARDTHE BALLAD OF LOST C'MELLNORSTRILIAA PLANET NAMED SHAYOLThe Cashier O'Neill series: On the Gem Planet On the Storm Planet On the Sand Planet Three to a Given StarProjected series: The Lords of the AfternoonAppearance of Lady Alice More. Spaceg and its visions. The seventh Lord Jestocost and the Rediscovery of Man. The Holy Insurgency.Civil rights for underpeople. Odyssey of Rod McBan. Spread of Rediscovery of Man.Embargo on religion.Common destiny of men and underpeople; religious climax.* With Smith's own notebooks lost, chronology is largely a matter of guessvrork, based on internal evidence. But the order of stories and surrounding events can be fairly well established.Compiled by J. J. PierceTHE BEST OF CORDWAINER SMITHCORDWAINER SMITH: THE SHAPER OF MYTHSIN AN OBSCURE and short-lived magazine called Fantasy Book, there appeared in 1950 a story called "Scanners Live in Vain."No one had ever heard of the author, Cbrdwainer Smith. And it appeared for a time that he would never be heard from again in the world of science fiction.But "Scanners Live in Vain" was a story that refused to die, and its republication in two anthologies encouraged the elusive Smith to begin submitting to other SF markets.Today, he is recognized as one of the most creative SF writers of modern times. But, paradoxically, he is one of the least known or understood. Until shortly before his death, his very identity was a closely guarded secret.Not that Dr. Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (1913-66) was ashamed of science fiction. He was proud of the field, and had even boasted once to the Baltimore Sun that SF had attracted more Ph.D.'s than any other branch of fiction.But he was a sensitive, emotional writer-and reluctant to become involved with his readers-to be forced to "explain" himself in a way that might destroy the spontaneity of his work.Beyond that, he probably enjoyed being a man of mystery, as elusive as some of the allusions in his stories. Smith was a mythmaker in science fiction, and perhaps it takes a somewhat mythical figure to create true myths.A new acquaintance unsure of the number of syllables in Dr. Line-barger's name would be answered by a significant gesture to the three Chinese characters on his tie. Only later would he learn the characters stood for Lin Bah Loh, or "Forest of Incandescent Bliss"-the name given him as godson to Sun Yat Sen, founder of the Chinese Republic.Dr. Linebarger's life was certainly several cuts above the ordinary.At the age of seventeen, he negotiated a silver loan for China on behalf of his father-Sun's legal advisor and one of the financiers of the Revolution of 1911. He later became a colonel in U.S. Army Intelligence, despite partial blindness and general ill health-he once shocked guests at a dinner party by downing a "cocktail" of hydrochloric acid to aid his digestion.Although born in Milwaukee-his father wanted to be sure that as a natural-born citizen his son would be eligible for the presidency-Line-barger spent his formative years in Japan, China, France and Germany. By the time he grew up, he knew six languages and had become intimate with several cultures, both Oriental and Occidental.He was only twenty-three when he earned his Ph.D. in political science at Johns Hopkins University, where he was later Professor of Asiatic politics for many years. Shortly thereafter, he graduated from editing his father's books to publishing his own highly regarded works on Far Eastern affairs.When World War II broke out, he used his position on the Operations Planning and Intelligence Board to draft a set of qualifications for an intelligence operative in China that only he could meet-so off he went to Chungking as an Army lieutenant. By war's end, he was a major.Dr. Linebarger turned his wartime experiences into Psychological Warfare, still regarded as the most authoritative text in the field. As a colonel, he was advisor to the British forces in Malaya and to the U. S. Eighth Army in Korea. But this self-styled "visitor to small wars" passed up Vietnam, feeling American involvement there was a mistake.Travels around the world took him to Australia, Greece, Egypt and many other countries; and his expertise was sufficiently valued that he became a leading member of the Foreign Policy Association and an advisor to President Kennedy.But even in childhood, his thoughts had turned to fiction-including science fiction. Like many budding SF writers, he discovered the genre at an early age. Since he was living in Germany at the time, he added to the familiar classics of Veme, Wells, Doyle and others such works as Alfred Doblin's Giganten to his list of favorites.He was only fifteen when his first SF story, 'War No. 8i-Q," was published. But unfortunately, no one seems to remember where. According to his widow, Genevieve, the story was bylined Anthony Bearden-a pseudonym later used for poetry published in little maga-zines. Two examples of this poetry appear in Norstrilia, also published by Ballantine.During the 19305, Dr. Linebarger began keeping a secret notebook -part personal diary, part story ideas. Then in 1937, he began writing serious stories, mostly set in ancient or modern China, or in contemporary locales elsewhere. None were ever published, but their range-some use the same Chinese narrative techniques that later turn up in SF works like "The Dead Lady of Clown Town"-is remarkable.While back in China, he took on the name Felix C. Forrest-a pun on his Chinese name-for two psychological novels mailed home in ins...
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