Short Story Genre Survey, Part 2

cover art by Alexander Leydenfrost

Sports

Adventure

Mystery

Horror

Science Fiction

Fantasy

Western

War

Last week, we looked at a Sports story. This week, we jump from the baseball diamond to the planet Vulcan.

No, not that Vulcan. During the 17th to 19th centuries, there was a theory that another planet, tentatively named Vulcan, was orbiting inside the orbit of Mercury. This was to explain some anomalies in Mercury's orbit that Newtonian physics couldn't explain. Eventually, Einstein's relativity theory did explain Mercury's orbit, eliminating the need for Vulcan.

It was only logical.

In her short story "Child of the Sun," Leigh Brackett (who was always making the Solar System more interesting than it is in real life) brought Vulcan back. In the story (published in the Spring 1942 issue of Planet Stories), three people are in a spaceship, fleeing the forces of the tyrant who rules the Solar System.

That tyrant uses a machine to make everyone "Happy"--content with his rule and without any desire to ever improve or advance. Those who refuse to be "Happy" are called the Unregenerates. Most of them are hidden in the outer rim of the system, slowly dying out from the harsh conditions there.

Paul Falken, a leader among the Unregenerates, and two companions are being chased by the tyrant's ships. They pull a dangerous maneuver to escape, skimming past Mercury and coming dangerously close to the sun. There, they stumble across the previously undiscovered planet Vulcan.

They land and explore. They see visions of creatures that could not possibly exist on this airless world. And then they discover a nearly immortal being who was literally born from the sun and who has incredible powers.

Will this child of the sun help them and the other Unregenerates? Or will it prove to be even more dangerous than the tyrant?

This is a great story. Brackett gives us strong characterizations among the three humans, takes the story in some unexpected directions, and creates an alien menace that is truly... well, alien. And she brings the tale to a satisfying resolution. Brackett's stories always gave us a satisfying combination of character, imagination and pure wonder. "Child of the Sun" is a prime example of her extraordinary skill as a storyteller.

Also, as I said, she made the Solar System so much more interesting than it is in real-life. Life on Mars, life on Venus, life on the moons of the outer planets. And now, life birthed in the sun!!! WHY ISN'T OUR SOLAR SYSTEM MORE LIKE THIS?

Click HERE to find the story online.