Transcribe
Translate
Scientifictionist, vol. 1, issue 5, June-July 1946
Page 10
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
the same time -- i.e., the object collides with itself. Perhaps a method of circumventing this difficulty would be the idea suggested by Norman L. Knight in BOMBARDMENT IN REVERSE (Feb. 40 ASF), where the turning point is right-angle time -- a time stream which, to normal time, is instantaneous. Thus, the Nyandrians were enabled to attack the Estragonians from the future, by equipping their shells with time drives. But perhaps the most ambitious tale in the entire series of reverse-time narration-attempts is Anthony Bocher's (William Anthony Parker White's) THE CHRONO-KINESIS OF JONATHAN HULL (June 46 ASF -- the 10th anniversary of Schachner's REVERSE UNIVERSE). And even it suffers horribly from illogicallity: The temporally reversed were stared at just before the starers noticed them. (Here, the effect is correct but the wording Anthony Boucher used is inaccurate.) In their first experience with eating, they find that things they hold reverse in time but return to normal upon release. Here, the author gets into a lot of trouble -- for instance, considering from normal time, Hull drops a frying pan and four eggs, but notices neither as he returns the frying pan to its place and takes the four eggs to the refrigerator. Then he goes over to the stove, a frying pan appears in his hand and stays on the stove, in spite of the fact that he disengages the pan from itself and returns it to the floor where another waits. The two pans coalesce, Hull releases them and they disappear. But not once does he notice the broken eggs, and in spite of the fact there is a frying pan on the stove, he has to go get the one he will have dropped, in order for there to be one there. Many cases like this pop up in the story to either prove the author didn't check his continuity, or that the author was presenting a method of producing branches in time and forgot to mention the fact. Even the statement on p. 129 where he mentions objects leaving him on another time stream as they are released, does not indicate a time-branch, however -- but merely normal time. Then again, the author seems to have overlooked his doubling-in-time process when Hull writes in Breen's notebook. Another doubtful bit is where Hull develops the ability to partially understand things spoken in a normal manner, but never, in all of 30 years, learns to speak in reverse and so make himself understood. It can be done. But why go on, trying to pick faults? The story has a very nice idea and if it has only been polished up a bit more, and checked on continuity, it would be really have been something. -------------------------- EDITORIAL RAMBLINGS Thursday, the 20th of June, your editor spent a very enjoyable and stfictional day in New York City. We had lunch and an interesting discussion, mostly sociological, with well-known fan and pro-editor Donald Wollheim; met Sam Merwin, alias Sgt. Saturn and discussed SS and TWS; saw Howard Scott, Director-in-Chief of Technocracy, Inc.; and visited the Museum of Science and Industry in the RCA Building. We thought some of the information picked up might be of interest to Scientifictionist's readers, and decided to pass it along. From Sam Merwin, a very affable and fan-minded editor, came news that should gladden the heart of every scientifictionist. First of all, Sgt. Saturn is definitely on the way out. Sam said he was getting tired of writing the stuff and he imagined the Readers were getting tired of reading it. The question is whether Sarge will be done away with all at once, or the "space-lingo" gradually fade out. You may have no- (continued on page 12) -------------------------- Scientifictionist is edited and published by Henry Elsner Jr., at 13618 Cedar Grove, Detroit 5, Michigan. Assistant editor: Walter Coslet, Box 6, Helena, Montana. Contributing editors: Lynn Bridges, Harold Bertram, Phil Schumann. Subscription rates: 10c per copy, 3/25c. Published as nearly bi-monthly as material will allow. Vol. 1, No. 5, June-July 1946. An "X" here indicates your subscription has expired. Scientifictionist is a frontier publication of which the others are: Psycho, Googol, T////////, and Metamorphosis. Sorry, no advertisements accepted. page 10
Saving...
prev
next
the same time -- i.e., the object collides with itself. Perhaps a method of circumventing this difficulty would be the idea suggested by Norman L. Knight in BOMBARDMENT IN REVERSE (Feb. 40 ASF), where the turning point is right-angle time -- a time stream which, to normal time, is instantaneous. Thus, the Nyandrians were enabled to attack the Estragonians from the future, by equipping their shells with time drives. But perhaps the most ambitious tale in the entire series of reverse-time narration-attempts is Anthony Bocher's (William Anthony Parker White's) THE CHRONO-KINESIS OF JONATHAN HULL (June 46 ASF -- the 10th anniversary of Schachner's REVERSE UNIVERSE). And even it suffers horribly from illogicallity: The temporally reversed were stared at just before the starers noticed them. (Here, the effect is correct but the wording Anthony Boucher used is inaccurate.) In their first experience with eating, they find that things they hold reverse in time but return to normal upon release. Here, the author gets into a lot of trouble -- for instance, considering from normal time, Hull drops a frying pan and four eggs, but notices neither as he returns the frying pan to its place and takes the four eggs to the refrigerator. Then he goes over to the stove, a frying pan appears in his hand and stays on the stove, in spite of the fact that he disengages the pan from itself and returns it to the floor where another waits. The two pans coalesce, Hull releases them and they disappear. But not once does he notice the broken eggs, and in spite of the fact there is a frying pan on the stove, he has to go get the one he will have dropped, in order for there to be one there. Many cases like this pop up in the story to either prove the author didn't check his continuity, or that the author was presenting a method of producing branches in time and forgot to mention the fact. Even the statement on p. 129 where he mentions objects leaving him on another time stream as they are released, does not indicate a time-branch, however -- but merely normal time. Then again, the author seems to have overlooked his doubling-in-time process when Hull writes in Breen's notebook. Another doubtful bit is where Hull develops the ability to partially understand things spoken in a normal manner, but never, in all of 30 years, learns to speak in reverse and so make himself understood. It can be done. But why go on, trying to pick faults? The story has a very nice idea and if it has only been polished up a bit more, and checked on continuity, it would be really have been something. -------------------------- EDITORIAL RAMBLINGS Thursday, the 20th of June, your editor spent a very enjoyable and stfictional day in New York City. We had lunch and an interesting discussion, mostly sociological, with well-known fan and pro-editor Donald Wollheim; met Sam Merwin, alias Sgt. Saturn and discussed SS and TWS; saw Howard Scott, Director-in-Chief of Technocracy, Inc.; and visited the Museum of Science and Industry in the RCA Building. We thought some of the information picked up might be of interest to Scientifictionist's readers, and decided to pass it along. From Sam Merwin, a very affable and fan-minded editor, came news that should gladden the heart of every scientifictionist. First of all, Sgt. Saturn is definitely on the way out. Sam said he was getting tired of writing the stuff and he imagined the Readers were getting tired of reading it. The question is whether Sarge will be done away with all at once, or the "space-lingo" gradually fade out. You may have no- (continued on page 12) -------------------------- Scientifictionist is edited and published by Henry Elsner Jr., at 13618 Cedar Grove, Detroit 5, Michigan. Assistant editor: Walter Coslet, Box 6, Helena, Montana. Contributing editors: Lynn Bridges, Harold Bertram, Phil Schumann. Subscription rates: 10c per copy, 3/25c. Published as nearly bi-monthly as material will allow. Vol. 1, No. 5, June-July 1946. An "X" here indicates your subscription has expired. Scientifictionist is a frontier publication of which the others are: Psycho, Googol, T////////, and Metamorphosis. Sorry, no advertisements accepted. page 10
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
