December 01, 2006
'Without companionship he knew that he could not endure'
It is difficult for me to know what to say about Phyllis MacLennans atmospheric short story "Thus Love Betrays Us". It is a story about being marooned, it is a first contact story, and it is one of those classsic SF puzzle stories that gives the reader just enough information to put together the judisciously chosen pieces placed throughout the tale.
This is a story hedged in by death, the constant threat of death inherent in the storys vision of space travel. (It was published five years after the first, and for a long time the only, NASA fatalities.) Its protagonist is the lone biologist sent to do an initial survey of a far-flung planet .... and it less about the alien world it is set upon and more about being human and the longing for connection. I wish I could be less vague about it, but I will not spoil the moment of putting all the pieces together. (I had to read the story twice to get from 'a nagging sense that something odd is going on' to seeing each piece fit together.)
Ive seen no discussion of this story online and Id love to talk about it, or any of the stories in this anthology, here.
"Thus Love" is MacLennans second published short story in her 17 year publishing career, which included six short stories and one novel (the out of print Turned Loose on Irdra.) Since that novel was published before this anthology, I have to guess that the editor's introduction refers to research on a second never-published, novel. As with T. J. Bass I hope this slight output is not the result of discouragement and disillusionment, the world of this short story alone could support a novel - it is both evocative and concrete. (i.e. There is no more information than the reader needs, yet one believes it holds further possbilities and wider vistas.)
There are some mythological references in this story: the planets name Deirdre fits with the storys title, the survey ships name is Latin for mage or wizard, and the name of Deirdres sun, Selina, brings to mind Greek mythologys Seline, and another tale of love and mortality.
(While the anthology spells the author's name with an 'o', most online sources spell it with an 'a'.)
This finishes The 1973 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald Wollheim with Arthur Saha. (The anthology was dedicated to the memory of John 'Ted' Carnell, the British SF author and editor who had died the year before.) Next time Ill begin reading an anthologies of stories and essays called Daughters of Earth: Feminish Fiction in the 20th Century.
-LV
Posted by lisav at 09:33 PM