Month: February 2026

Generation Ship Short Stories: Mari Wolf’s “The First Day of Spring” (1954) and Francis G. Rayer’s “Continuity Man” (1959)

/ Joachim Boaz / 14 Comments

This is the 22nd post in my series of vintage generation ship short fiction reviews. While I have dabbled in the more esoteric as of late due the rapidly decreasing number of available choices, thanks go out to all who have joined some part of my read-through already. I’ve also compiled an extensive index of generation ship SF–expanded from a monograph by Simone Caroti–if you wish to track down my earlier reviews on the topic and any that you might want to read on your own.1

Previously: George Hay’s Flight of the “Hesper” (1952)

Next Up: TBD

  • Kenn Fagg’s cover for If, ed. James L. Quinn (June 1954)

2.75/5 (Below Average)

Mari Wolf’s “The First Day of Spring” first appeared in If, ed. James L. Quinn (June 1954). You can read it online here.

As I mentioned in my only other review of Mari Wolf’s work, she’s best known for her contributions to fandom including the Fandora’s Box column (1951-1956) in Imagination. In addition, Mari Wolf (1926-) published seven short stories between 1952 and 1954, six of which appeared in If. Unfortunately, after her divorce in 1955 from fellow SF author Rog Phillips (1909-1966), she stopped publishing SF. Here is a brief bibliographic blurb on her life, career, and SF endeavors. Ted White wrote an article about her in the fanzine e*I*5 (Vol. 1 No. 5) December 2002 (here). The issue also includes Wolf’s short story “Prejudice” (1953), which only received a fanzine publication.

The Nature of the Generational Voyage

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Book Review: William Tenn’s Time in Advance (1958)

/ Joachim Boaz / 16 Comments
  • Mitchell Hooks’ cover for the 1st edition

3.5/5 (collated rating: Good)

Over the years, I’ve slowly made my way through a substantial portion of William Tenn’s output: I’ve reviewed his only SF novel Of Men and Monsters (1968), two short story collections–The Human Angle (1956) and Of All Possible Worlds (1955), and three additional short stories “Bernie the Faust” (1963), “Eastward Ho!” (1958), and “Generation of Noah” (1951). I’ve found him an effective satirist with a penchant for often self-defeating twist endings. At his best, Tenn challenges grand narratives of American progress and exceptionalism, 50s consumerist culture and gender roles, and renders an absurdist spin on Cold War conflict. I imagine his reluctance to write novels relegates his often brilliant ouvre to the fringes of contemporary interest in 50s SF.

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