International Science Fiction 2 – Page 2 – Larque Press | The Digest Enthusiast

Reviews August 21, 2018

Gust Gils’ Hot Kosmonaut

From International Science Fiction No. 2 (June 1968):

Perhaps a last minute filler, absent from the contents page, “Der Heisse Kosmonaut” by Gust Gils, of The Netherlands, is a two-page romp about an astronaut conditioned  to tolerate the heat of the Sun.

Eventually he was able to take a liquid steel shower.

The Kosmonaut completes his mission to land on the Sun, but the heat goes to his head and he refuses to conduct any research, let alone return to Earth.

Gust Gils (1924–2002) was a poet, artist and writer. He was one of the founders of the avant-garde magazine Gard Sivik in 1955. “Der Heisse Kosmonaut” is the only story I found by him in the FictionMags Index.

Reviews August 18, 2018

John R. Isaac on Andromeda

From International Science Fiction No. 2 (June 1968):

“The Coming of Age of Soviet Science Fiction,” an essay by John R. Isaac, credits Ivan Yefremov’s Andromeda with his article’s premise.

In this single book, Yefremov has developed a Weltanschauung into a detailed future society and has thrown out enough ideas for a hundred stories, a service that should prove as beneficial for the Soviets as Well’s work has for the English-speaking world.

The article details key aspects of Andromeda’s utopian future society where happiness is derived from one’s work, followed by an overview of the novel’s plot. If it sounds like the Andromeda’s world is communist propaganda, it is. “For the dreamers of the world, whether Russian or American, Occidental or Oriential, the vision of Andromeda is a tempting one.”

Reviews August 8, 2018

Parnov & Yemtsew’s Last Door

From International Science Fiction No. 2 (June 1968):

We head back to the U.S.S.R. for the opening story in ISF #2, “The Last Door” by E. Parnov and M. Yemtsew, translated by Mirra Ginsburg. The story’s pace begins slowly, with plenty of detail to transport the reader into a fictive future where Sashok Yegorov visits his friend and colleague Vasily Nechiporenko in Musikovla.

Nechiporenko has recently returned from an expedition to Mars. He describes the surface of the planet as fairly level. The Martian’s giant cities are concealed deep underground.

“Dead cities. Not a single Martian is left; we found only billions of strange dry shells. Perhaps the chitin coating of insects, or some sort of clothing.
“The only interesting conclusion we obtained is that the Martians were preparing to leave for Aiya. But what is Aiya? And how were two billion Martians transported there?”

In addition to the larger mystery of the Martian’s fate, a smaller mystery develops when several deaths are revealed during and after the expedition. When an Official appears at the house to make an arrest, something alien brings his investigation and the story to a satisfying conclusion.

Reviews August 1, 2018

Lester del Rey’s Balance of Ideas

From International Science Fiction No. 2 (June 1968):

The second issue of ISF opens with an editorial, “The Balance of Ideas,” by Lester del Rey, that illustrates the importance of ideas from a global perspective (expressed in tongues other than English) and therefore ISF’s importance as an access point.

Public opinion on the Vietnam War was hot and passionate in 1968. A two-page ad with a list of science fiction luminaries appeared on opposing pages of this edition; those supporting the war on one side and those against it on the other. The same ad broke in the June 1968 issue of Galaxy where it was followed by an editorial by Frederik Pohl, who wasn’t happy about either side. In ISF, the ad ran without further comment.