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Science Fiction Forward, v. 1, issue 1, September 1940

Page 12

Page 12     SCIENCE FICTION FORWARD

THE INDEX EXPURGATORIUS

NOTE: This column ill endeavor to point out particularly revolting examples of ANTI-SCIENCE, and will continue as a monthly feature of the SCIENCE FICTION FORWARD.

              -o-

"Jalu of Radiant Valley" by F. Orlin Tremaine. FANTASTIC ADVENTURES, March 1940.

     Beside being ANTI-SCIENTIFIC, this yarn was poorly written, and whatever life could have possible animated the Methusalaic plot wasn't there. It tells the story of how a man with high ideals is about to perfect plans to turn a little, unknown valley in the Andes into a Utopia, when he meets opposition from, of all people, a group of scientists who from time to time had wandered into the valley and had not been allowed to leave. So thesebirds, all in a dither to let the world know of the undiscovered civilization, begin to set traps for the hero and generally make themselves public nuisances. Of course, it was made plain that if these "scientists" made known to the outer world the secret of Radiant Valley, it would bring the armies whooping down upon them in a gloriously useless conquest.
     The inference that a band of intelligent men, with no other provocation but their scientific interest, would block the formation of an Utopian state and thereafter to wipe out a race, is deception of the vilest sort. "Jalu of Radiant Valley" is a warning, in plain English, that science is inhumane, Noronian, and to be throttled at any cost.

"The Little People" by Eando Binder. FANTASTIC ADVENTURES, March 1940.

     This story is an excellent example of how effective and easy-to-take ANTI-SCIENCE can be. We cannot complain here of flatulent writing, for Binder did a good job. Here is a neatly-turned story, ingeniously integrated, and with good writing. Your sympathies are adroitly directed into the proper channels from t he start, and when comes the climax, you're all primed to swallow almost anything. And what Binder tries to stuff down your throat is an ANTI-SCIENTIFIC statement of the first Magnitude.
     We have the little people, leading a life we would all like to live, and we are told that one of the menaces they have been taught to fight is the human race. Then things narrow down; all the menace of the story is centered in a scientist. Just as soon as this scientist has an inkling that the little people exist, he immediately lays plans for their enslavement and the ruin of their idyllic existence.
     Action progresses rapidly to a climax, wherein the noble hero and heroine appeal to the scientist's better nature (something which you are told that no scientist possesses) to have done with his infamous plan, spouting in this process an enormous mass of moral verities, and then---. Out pops the skeleton, as innocent as Benito Mussolini!

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Page 12 SCIENCE FICTION FORWARD THE INDEX EXPURGATORIUS NOTE: This column ill endeavor to point out particularly revolting examples of ANTI-SCIENCE, and will continue as a monthly feature of the SCIENCE FICTION FORWARD. -o- "Jalu of Radiant Valley" by F. Orlin Tremaine. FANTASTIC ADVENTURES, March 1940. Beside being ANTI-SCIENTIFIC, this yarn was poorly written, and whatever life could have possible animated the Methusalaic plot wasn't there. It tells the story of how a man with high ideals is about to perfect plans to turn a little, unknown valley in the Andes into a Utopia, when he meets opposition from, of all people, a group of scientists who from time to time had wandered into the valley and had not been allowed to leave. So thesebirds, all in a dither to let the world know of the undiscovered civilization, begin to set traps for the hero and generally make themselves public nuisances. Of course, it was made plain that if these "scientists" made known to the outer world the secret of Radiant Valley, it would bring the armies whooping down upon them in a gloriously useless conquest. The inference that a band of intelligent men, with no other provocation but their scientific interest, would block the formation of an Utopian state and thereafter to wipe out a race, is deception of the vilest sort. "Jalu of Radiant Valley" is a warning, in plain English, that science is inhumane, Noronian, and to be throttled at any cost. "The Little People" by Eando Binder. FANTASTIC ADVENTURES, March 1940. This story is an excellent example of how effective and easy-to-take ANTI-SCIENCE can be. We cannot complain here of flatulent writing, for Binder did a good job. Here is a neatly-turned story, ingeniously integrated, and with good writing. Your sympathies are adroitly directed into the proper channels from t he start, and when comes the climax, you're all primed to swallow almost anything. And what Binder tries to stuff down your throat is an ANTI-SCIENTIFIC statement of the first Magnitude. We have the little people, leading a life we would all like to live, and we are told that one of the menaces they have been taught to fight is the human race. Then things narrow down; all the menace of the story is centered in a scientist. Just as soon as this scientist has an inkling that the little people exist, he immediately lays plans for their enslavement and the ruin of their idyllic existence. Action progresses rapidly to a climax, wherein the noble hero and heroine appeal to the scientist's better nature (something which you are told that no scientist possesses) to have done with his infamous plan, spouting in this process an enormous mass of moral verities, and then---. Out pops the skeleton, as innocent as Benito Mussolini!