Le cronistorie: LA SAGA DEL RIM – Seconda parte: Rimworlds e The Empress Irene di A. Bertram Chandler

Data la lunghezza, la cronistoria viene divisa in due parti composti da quattro specifici capitoli: (In questa seconda parte Rimworlds e The Empress Irene segnati in rosso) La prima parte la trovate QUI

1 – The Early Grimes.

2 – The Middle Grimes.

3 – The Late Grimes.

4 – Rimworlds e The Empress Irene, osservazioni e note finali.

Eccovi la Seconda parte:

The Rim. Rimworlds (The Rim Worlds)

1 – The Rim of Space – Novel: Avalon Books, 1961; $2.95; pg. 220.

Two chapters (4 and 5) included in the original Avalon edition of this story have been removed from the subsequent Ace and Priory editions. These chapters are included in the CD ROM edition.

“A long time ago the first of the Rim Worlds novels, The Rim of Space (my title was To Run The Rim) was published in hard cover by Avalon. Very shortly thereafter it was published, in paperback, by Ace. In those days Ace had a limit of 40,000 words. The book was episodic, so Ace merely excised one chapter without any effect upon continuity. Unluckily the artist responsible for the Ace cover read the book in hard cover before doing his pretty painting. And, of course, he just had to illustrate the hacked—out chapter.” A. Bertram Chandler.

Ace Edition del Marzo 1962; Ace Books (Ace Double #F-133); $0.40; pg. 128+127. Il secondo racconto Secret Agent of Terra è di John Brunner.

Tradotto in Tedesco, Portoghese, Russo e Italiano:

I fuorilegge dell’Universo – I romanzi del Cosmo n. 110 del 31 Ottobre1962, Cosmo Ponzoni; I Capolavori della Fantascienza n. 54 dell’Agosto 1966, Ponzoni (contiene pure il romanzo La notte del nero orrore di Victor Norwood).

Derek Calver touches down on Lorn and is determined to join the Rim Runners to explore desolate planets.
He joins the crew of Lorn Lady and sets forth for Mellise, inhabited by intelligent amphibians; for Groller, where the natives have just qualified as humanoids; for Stree with its tea loving lizards; and Tharn, home of a pre-industrial civilization.

Originalissimo romanzo che ci trasporta in un mondo dove i personaggi vivono ai margini della legge. E’ questo il destino di Derek Calver, che abbandona la Compagnia Interstellare, non soltanto perché il contratto non lo soddisfa, ma soprattutto perché il suo spirito anela ad altro genere di avventure. L’opportunità di crearsi una nuova vita gli si presenta con l’imbarco su un’astronave, il cui equipaggio corre il rischio di avventurarsi fino all’«Orlo», dove si trovano pianeti e strane popolazioni che attendono gli audaci che osano raggiungerli.

2 – Beyond the Galactic Rim – Novel: Ace Books (Ace Double #F-237), 1963; $0.40; pg. 114+108.

Tradotto in Russo.

L’altro romanzo è ‘The Ship from Outside’, sempre di Bertram Chandler e sempre della saga.

Questi sono i racconti compresi nella Collection:

2/1 – The Ship from Outside – Novel: 1963; Prima pubblicazione su questo volume.

The reward for rescuing Thermopylae is finally paid, and Calver and his shipmates from Lorn Lady purchase a ship and rename her The Outsider. Two years are spent as a charter to Rim Runners, then six months tramping, before Sonya Verrill reappears and engineers a charter from the Federation Survey Service to look for an alien derelict. She accompanies Outsider, but proves very disruptive to Jane Calver.

2/2 – Forbidden Planet – Shortfiction: Fantastic Universe, July 1959; ed. Hans Stefan Santesson; ed. Hans Stefan Santesson; $0.35; pg. 132.

There was a reason why they called this proscribed planet Elbis. Going there was like coming very close to hell…

2/3 – Wet Paint – Racconto: Amazing Science Fiction Stories, May 1959; ed. Cele Goldsmith; Ziff-Davis Publishing Company; $0.40; pg. 132.

You’re liable to find anything – or anybody – out on the gloomy, lonely Rim Worlds. But when the Survey Group on unihabited Kinsolving found a cave painting with the paint still wet…well…

2/4 – The Man Who Could Not Stop – Shortfiction: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1959; ed. Robert P. Mills; Mercury Press, Inc.; $0.40; pg. 132.

Clavering was on the run. He had dodged and bribed and stowed away, and he had made it all the way to the Rim Worlds, on the outermost edge of the galaxy. Man could go no further, which was torture to Clavering, The Man Who Could Not Stop.

2/5 – The Key – Shortfiction: Fantastic, July 1959; ed. Cele Goldsmith; Ziff-Davis Publishing Company; $0.35; pg. 148

Many writers have tried to answer the question: What is our galaxy? Here is an answer that will first shock you, then horrify you, then repel you — then make you think.

3 – Rendezvous on a Last World – aka When the Dream Dies (1961-1981); Novel: Amazing Stories, February 1961; ed. Cele Goldsmith; Ziff-Davis Publishing Company; $0.35; pg. 148.

When the Dream Dies – August 1981; Allison & Busby; ISBN 0-85031-361-9; £5.95; pg. 128 Honorable Mentions: Best Novel Hugo 1962.

Tradotto in Francese, Spagnolo, Tedesco, Russo e Italiano.

Appuntamento su un mondo perduto – Urania n. 619 del Maggio1973; Le Vie della Frontiera, Biblioteca di Urania n. 4 del Settembre 1979.

Ai limiti della Galassia dove il buio è interrotto solo di tanto in tanto da qualche stella solitaria e le astronavi viaggiano per mesi senza incontrare un solo pianeta, quattro irregolari dello spazio, quattro desperados finiti nella Compagnia Trasporti di Frontiera, realizzano il loro vecchio sogno: mettersi per proprio conto, comprando una vecchia e scassata astronave e rimettendola in efficienza.

His was a dream few spaceman ever saw come true. In a second-hand, obsolete space ship, Kemp and his three comrades took off determined to set up a shuttle service between the planets at the rim of the galaxy.

But trouble – in the form of two lost colonies, one inhabited by giant mechanical insects and the other by the descendants of a murderous pirate – threatened. Kemps crew began to wonder: just how much will one man sacrifice to realize a dream?

4 – Catch the Star Winds – Novel: June 1969; Lancer Books; #74-533; $0.75; pg. 222. (The Lancer edtion also includes the short story Zoological Specimen).

Tradotto in Tedesco, Russo e Giapponese.

Unable to exceed the speed of light, he found ways around the law of nature, twisting space and time to his bidding. But the lure of FTL speeds could would not be forgotten…and the crew of the Flying Cloud – casts-offs from the great civilisations of the galaxy- found themselves breaking through the barriers of the past to discover new worlds – worlds from which they could never return!

5 – The Deep Reaches of Spaces – Novel: 1964; Herbert Jenkins; pg. 190. Expansion/revision of the Novella “Special Knowledge” – Astounding, February 1946; Ed. John W. Campbell Jr.; Street & Smith Publications, Inc.; $0.25; pg. 180.

Traduzione in Tedesco, Spagnolo e Italiano.

Nelle immense profondità spaziali – I Romanzi del Cosmo n. 170 del Giugno 1965; Cosmo I Capolavori della Fantascienza n. 76 del 1° Dicembre 1967. Editore Ponzoni.

Chi è lui? George Whitley scrittore di fantascienza del XX secolo oppure Peter Quinn, il Secondo Ufficiale dell’astronave Lode Maiden? Una iniezione di acido lisergico e Whitley si trova.., in quale mondo e in quale epoca del tempo? Il suo corpo è oramai quello di Quinn, ma la mente è sempre quella di Whitley. Un fortunale magnetico fa uscire la Lode Maiden dalla sua traiettoria costringendola ad atterrare su uno scoglio di un pianeta sconosciuto, nelle immense profondità dello spazio. Durante l’atterraggio l’astronave subisce avarie irreparabili, ma Whitley, con l’esperienza di Quinn, riesce a portare in salvo l’equipaggio ed i passeggeri della sfortunata astronave, nonostante gli attacchi degli abitatori dei pianeta.

6 – To Run the Rim – Astounding Science Fiction, January 1959; Health Knowledge, Inc.; Street & Smith Publications, Inc.; $0.35; pg. 164.

Many writers have tried to answer the question: What is our galaxy? Here is an answer that will first shock you, then horrify you, then repel you — then make you think.

7 – Rimghosts – Famous Science Fiction, Spring 1967; March 1967; ed. Robert A. W. Lowndes; Health Knowledge, Inc.; $0.50; pg. 132.

In the Psionic Officer’s room, the tissue of dog brain was radiating stark fear … and the they saw the other ship, almost touching them…

8 – The Winds of If – Amazing Stories, September 1963; ed. Cele Goldsmith; Ziff-Davis Publishing Company; $0.50; pg. 132. Nominations Below Cutoff 1964 for Hugo Best Novel.

Things are bleak enough at the Edge of Darkness without looking for trouble. But this ship found trouble time and time again. And not the least of the problems was: which Time was it in? Another provacative saga of the men and women of The Rim Worlds.

Empress Irene

1 – Empress of Outer Space – Novel: Ace Books (Ace Double #M-129), 1965; $0.45; pg.127 +129; volume doppio: il secondo romanzo, The Alternate Martians, non ha niente a che fare con la saga.

Tradotto in Tedesco e Giapponese. Niente in Italiano.

Her Imperial Highness Empress Irene is in trouble. She needs to prevent the take over of the universe by the power hungry Mortimer Jones.

2 – Space Mercenaries – Novel: Ace Books (Ace Double #M-133), 1965; $0.45; pg. 125.131; volume doppio: il secondo romanzo (The Caves of Mars) non ha niente a che fare con la saga.

Tradotto in Tedesco, Russo e Giapponese. Niente in Italiano.

The former Empress of Outer Space becomes a mercenary for the Galactic League for the Abolition of Suppression and Slavery.

3 – Nebula Alert – Novel: Ace Books (Ace Double #G-632), 1967; $0.50; pg. 121+132; volume doppio: il secondo romanzo, The Rival Rigerians, niente a che fare con la saga.

Tradotto in Tedesco e Giapponese, niente in Italiano.

The Iralians were humanoid and techically free citizens of the Galactic Empire. But as slaves they were prized above all others, for they had the unique capacity to transmit acquired knowledge through heredity. And so when the space mercenary Wanderer was hired by GLASS (Galactic League for the Abolition and Supression of Slavery) to take a cargo of Iralians home it was going to be a simple task!

Osservazioni finali:

1 – Sono stato aiutato da un amico per il reperimento di quasi tutti gli e-books, amico che mi aveva spedito questa osservazione: Il Ciclo di Grimes, per quel poco che ho potuto leggere, mi ha piacevolmente sorpreso e appassionato. Una SF “vecchia maniera” con qualche punta di umorismo che non guasta mai. A riguardo delle sconclusionate pubblicazioni temporali di Urania, va detto che anche Chandler ci ha messo del suo, perché l’ordine di pubblicazione non rispetta assolutamente quello interno corrispondente allo sviluppo del personaggio. Dalle mie prime letture sembra che il ciclo meriti… sperando che Urania pubblichi i restanti volumi. Cosa che non si è mai avverata.

2 – In questa cronistoria sono state incluse pure le opere che non vedono protagonista il nostro Guardiamarina/Comandante/Commodoro John Grimes, ma che sono riferite comunque a quella zona dello spazio conosciuta come RIM.

3 – Non sono riuscito a reperire alcune covers delle traduzioni. Molti riferimenti a romanzi o racconti sono in inglese perché non sono mai stati pubblicati in italiano.

4 – Sono in totale 64, tra romanzi e racconti, così suddivisi: The Early Grimes 13, The Middle Grimes 11, The Late Grimes 25, The Rimworlds 12, The Empress Irene 3.

s.e.&o.

A completare la saga aggiungo queste due ultime chicche:

1 – John Grimes – Autobiographical Notes.

Vedi il file allegato al LINK 

2 – Poesia indirizzata a una poetessa sua amica che voleva sapere cos’era la fantascienza, essendosi innamorata di uno scrittore di fantascienza.

Sing not of love, of stars above
That light the way to bliss,
Of yellow moon that sets too soon
Before the farewell kiss;
And do not hymn past ages dim–
Rebellion, Restoration–
There’s been enough high-colored guff
On the history of the nation.
Do not look back, as many a hack
Has done to seek his drama–
The days of sail, the hunted whale,
The Wild West with its glamor
Are trite and tame in an age of flame
Whose frightened people stammer
Of the death that comes with the Doomsday Bombs,
Of Sickle and of Hammer.
So look ahead, though skies be red,
To the way that lies before us;
A questing heart shall be the chart,
And vision our pelorus;
The course is laid, departure made,
Ahead the stars are bright–
And as we stare we see the flare
Of rockets through the night!
To our new land, a motley band,
The merry Mutants come–
Strange fruit of extra-Terran love,
The Children of the Bomb;
To fight we’re fain — to fight is vain–
He lives who fastest runs;
Outnumbered we in artillery–
Four hands can fire four guns!
But Man is rough, and Man is tough
And fights them on the beaches,
From Mercury’s pyre of Solar fire
To trans-Neptunian reaches;
Out-stations fall, down goes each wall,
No citadel remains,
And the Mutant flag, that loathly rag,
Waves over Pluto’s plains.
Man’s day is done and his setting sun
Goes down in a last eclipse. . . .
But its dying beams strike rosy gleams
From the interstellar ships;
Though Earth be lost at untold cost
Survivors lick their scars,
Escape alive from the Mutant drive–
Push out to the distant Stars!
And some are there who do not care
For Einstein or Lorentz,
When the Drive runs hot they don’t know what
It means in terms of tense;
And the warp of Space brings them face to face
With themselves as they come in,
And a passing poke ain’t any joke
As reversed, backfiring sin.
But look! A spark affronts the Dark
Whose flames wax high and higher,
Whose legions bright fight back the Night
With pale, atomic fire,
Whose glories grow and wildly blow
Like flags of flame unfurled. . . .
Some silly cow has parked his scow
On a contra—terrene world!
On, on, we run past the farthest sun
Where untold mysteries be,
Where Men and Mutants fight with Fate–
And Aliens fight the three;
While the mists close in and the shadows win
And the suns grow cold at last,
And the worlds are dead, and life is fled,
And an age of strife is past. . . .
When the gods that be bind cunningly
All things with iron bars. . . .
But loud and strong there comes the song
Of men against the stars!
*
Sing not of love, of stars above
That light the way to bliss,
That yellow moon that sets too soon
Before the farewell kiss. . . .
Or, if you must, transfer your lust
To Alpha Draconis.

A. Bertram Chandler

Ferdinando Temporin