The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast - Vintage Sci-Fi Short Stories

A desperate war rages between sky-borne colonists and unseen creatures that rule the stone beneath their feet. One accidental visitor from another age may decide whether an alien civilization survives or is erased from history. Against the Stone Beasts by James Blish. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Author James Blish became one of science fiction’s most respected writers and critics. He began publishing fiction in the 1940s and went on to write the celebrated Cities in Flight series, along with the Hugo Award-winning novel A Case of Conscience. Blish was also among the earliest writers to adapt Star Trek episodes into books, introducing those stories to countless readers. He died in 1975 at the age of 54, leaving behind a remarkably influential body of science fiction.

Our story was published in the Fall 1948 issue of Planet Stories, on page 74, Against the Stone Beasts by James Blish…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Three ancient aliens awaken aboard a human freighter, and neither species can understand what the other intends. With the crew helpless and the ship racing through hyperspace, someone must find a way to turn two terrified enemies into something else. Milk Run by Robert Donald Locke.

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A fortune stands just out of reach, and one beautifully crafted Martian necklace seems capable of removing the only person standing in the way. But a perfect murder requires more than the perfect weapon when someone else knows exactly what that necklace can do. Murderer’s Chain by Wenzell Brown. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Wenzell Brown was an American author and educator born in Portland, Maine, in 1911. He earned his master’s degree from Columbia University and taught in Puerto Rico and China, where he was caught up in the Second World War and interned after the fall of Hong Kong.

Those experiences inspired his 1943 book Hong Kong Aftermath. Brown went on to write crime novels, true crime, mysteries, and short fiction, winning an Edgar Award for They Died in the Chair. He also ventured into science fiction, with 1 novel and six short stories including today’s tale, published on page 10 in Fantastic Universe in March 1960, Murderer’s Chain by Wenzell Brown…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A desperate war rages between sky-borne colonists and unseen creatures that rule the stone beneath their feet. One accidental visitor from another age may decide whether an alien civilization survives or is erased from history. Against the Stone Beasts by James Blish.

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$25 Fintan Quigley, Curious Jon, David Bell, Steve, Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener

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Captain Hannah has found people who can reshape a spaceship with their minds, but their astonishing powers come with the judgment of ordinary kids. When a helpful teenager starts “giffling” with the Delta Crucis, Hannah realizes that getting home may be easier than surviving the repairs. When You Giffle… by Joseph Wesley. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

When You Giffle… appeared under author Joseph Wesley’s pseudonym, L. J. Stecher Jr. Wesley used that name for stories in Galaxy Science Fiction and Worlds of Tomorrow, while A Matter of Taste appeared in If under his real name.

And if Captain Hannah sounds familiar, there’s a reason. Wesley had already put Hannah and his ship, the Delta Crucis, through another wonderfully ridiculous adventure in An Elephant for the Prinkip and Cakewalk to Gloryanna.

This time Hannah encounters children who can swim through space, walk through solid objects, and alter matter with their minds. They’re incredibly powerful—but they’re still kids.

From the December 1963 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow on page 103, When You Giffle… by Joseph Wesley.

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A fortune stands just out of reach, and one beautifully crafted Martian necklace seems capable of removing the only person standing in the way. But a perfect murder requires more than the perfect weapon when someone else knows exactly what that necklace can do. Murderer’s Chain by Wenzell Brown.

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A brilliant scientist creates a mechanical mind capable of reasoning beyond its maker, then discovers it has begun building for itself. When towering machines march against entire cities, one man must find a way to destroy an intelligence that can outthink every human opponent. The Metal Giants by Edmond Hamilton. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

I’ve been searching through old issues of Weird Tales, looking for great stories for our new podcast, Weird Tales Reborn, when I came across this story by Edmond Hamilton. And with all the talk lately about artificial intelligence, robots building robots, and whether machines might someday pose a threat to humanity, I knew instantly that I had to narrate The Metal Giants.

What makes it even more fascinating is when this story was written.

Let’s go back almost 100 years to the December 1926 issue of Weird Tales. The Metal Giants was the cover story and the very first story in that issue, beginning on page 724. Now, I know—page 724 doesn’t make much sense for the first story in a magazine, but that’s the way Weird Tales numbered the pages back then.

From the December 1926 issue of Weird Tales, here is The Metal Giants by Edmond Hamilton.

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Captain Hannah has found people who can reshape a spaceship with their minds, but their astonishing powers come with the judgment of ordinary kids. When a helpful teenager starts “giffling” with the Delta Crucis, Hannah realizes that getting home may be easier than surviving the repairs. When You Giffle… by Joseph Wesley.

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Gummitch knows he was meant for more than the ordinary life of a house cat, but finding an outlet for his restless imagination isn’t easy. When his baffled humans finally discover what he has been doing in the kitchen, they realize their cat may be creating something they never thought an animal could make. Kreativity For Kats by Fritz Leiber. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Fritz Leiber wrote some wonderfully zany science fiction. Nice Girl With 5 Husbands, Later Than You Think, The Last Letter, and my personal favorite among his humorously strange tales, What’s He Doing in There? Leiber had a knack for taking a ridiculous idea completely seriously—and somehow making it work.

And then there’s Gummitch.

Gummitch is a cat, but calling him a cat doesn’t really do him justice. He thinks about other dimensions, studies the strange worlds inside mirrors, remembers when he dreamed of becoming a man and traveling into space, and has some very definite ideas about what constitutes a worthwhile life. Unfortunately, his humans have absolutely no idea what’s going on inside his head.

Kreativity For Kats appeared in the April 1961 issue of Galaxy Magazine, three years after Leiber first introduced Gummitch in Space-Time for Springers. This time Gummitch is restless, frustrated, and looking for something that will put his considerable imagination to work.

What he comes up with leaves his humans scratching their heads—and might make you look a little differently at the next mess your cat makes on the floor.

Kreativity For Kats by Fritz Leiber.

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A brilliant scientist creates a mechanical mind capable of reasoning beyond its maker, then discovers it has begun building for itself. When towering machines march against entire cities, one man must find a way to destroy an intelligence that can outthink every human opponent. The Metal Giants by Edmond Hamilton.

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$25 Fintan Quigley, Curious Jon, David Bell, Steve, Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener

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Listen without commercials and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/

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