The Ultimate Weapon

by John W. Campbell Jr.

The star Mira was unpredictably variable. Sometimes it was blazing, brilliant and hot. Other times it was oddly dim, cool, shedding little warmth on its many planets. Gresth Gkae, leader of the Mirans, was seeking a better star, one to which his "people" could migrate. That star had to be steady, reliable, with a good planetary system. And in his astronomical searching, he found Sol. With hundreds of ships, each larger than whole Terrestrial spaceports, and traveling faster than the speed of light, the Mirans set out to move in to Solar regions and take over. And on Earth there was nothing which would be capable of beating off this incredible armada-until Buck Kendall stumbled upon THE ULTIMATE WEAPON."John Wood Campbell, Jr. as an influential figure in American science fiction, editor of Astounding Science Fiction and generally credited with shaping Golden Age of Science Fiction. Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

123 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction (later called Analog Science Fiction and Fact), from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.

Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely."

As a writer, Campbell published super-science space opera under his own name and moody, less pulpish stories as Don A. Stuart. He stopped writing fiction after he became editor of Astounding.

Known Pseudonyms/Alternate Names:

Don A. Stuart
Karl van Campen
John Campbell
J. W. C., Jr.
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a story from the outer edge of the golden age of science fiction written by, arguably, the father of the golden age.

This is a reason to read it, but sadly for me about the only reason. There is no characterization to mention, the author loses himself in wordy explanations.of how neutron weaponry works while deep space communication is by morse code.

Paraffin blocks turn out to be a good way of stopping neutron rays.

So here we are with a story set centuries into the future reliant on stuff that would be outmoded 30 odd years after the story was published. It is further hampered by everything being denoted in dollars and huge wealth / expense being around the 100 million mark. The movie true lies cost that in the 1990s.

The plot is stretched pretty thin because of the speed at which new science has to be created to keep up with the alien threat. A few days and a couple of second rate boffin's around a table and things are solved in unlikely ways described in a manner to complex while at the same time to simplistic to hold my interest.

In essence there was no point at which my imagination was allowed to play a part or my belief suspended crushed as they were between the unintelligible future and the outdated past.

[Karthik · Rating 1 out of 5]

The simplest way to summarise the story is thus. Big boy hits small boy, small boy gets a stick and hits big boy, big boy gets a knife and hurts small boy, small boy gets a gun and they decide the compromise. All this with an inter galactic background.

The biggest problem with any science fiction story is to stand the test of time. The safest way to do it is to not get into the details of the science but to focus on the fiction keep the science very minimal. But the author exactly gets into that trap and gets let down. Considering there is nothing much in terms of a storyline, this let down brings down the novel considerably.

[Mark Rabideau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I both read and listened to this novel. The listening component was from Librivox and the reading component from Gutenberg. The novel is a bit hokey, but enjoyable. There really is nothing quite as entertaining as 70 year old 'futuristic' science fiction. As a formerly young person I can certainly appreciate that. If you are up for a brief, and uniquely 'peculiar' adventure, this might be just what you are looking for.

btw. the reader on Librivox to listen to is Phil Chenevert.

[Sotiris Makrygiannis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just wrapped up The Ultimate Weapon by John W. Campbell Jr., and wow—considering it was written in 1936, the tech concepts are mind-blowing.

Campbell dives into ideas like faster-than-light travel, advanced energy sources, and magnetic field manipulation. He introduces a fictional element called "element-90," which plays a crucial role in the development of advanced weaponry. The story also discusses the use of proton beams as a form of weaponry, delivering destructive energy to targets—an early conceptualization of directed-energy weapons. Manipulation of magnetic fields is depicted as a means of defense and propulsion, reflecting an understanding of electromagnetic principles. Additionally, the novel features the development and deployment of neutron-based weapons, which cause destruction through neutron radiation, predating real-world discussions of such weapons.

What's impressive is how Campbell explains these complex scientific ideas in a way that's easy to grasp, using clear explanations and relatable analogies. It's not just sci-fi; it's a pioneering work that demystifies complex scientific ideas, making them accessible and engaging. Definitely worth a read if you're into science fiction that challenges and expands your understanding of technology.

[Al Lock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely dated hard science-fiction. The millionaire scientist is the hero, of course, and humanity wins a war against an alien invader through their ability to overcome the science of the invader. The description of the alien species is unique and the ending (in the epilogue) is not exactly the typical ending for a war. Entertaining.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantasy reading 📚

A very will written fantasy Sci-Fi thriller novella with interesting characters. The story line is very complicated with lots of misdirection twist and turns leading to the violent conclusion. I would recommend this novella to anyone who is looking for a quick read. Enjoy reading 🔰2021 😤

[Gr1972 · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 out of 5

[Lee Belbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids own adventure stuff but good as an audiobook. A fast paced arms race.

[kathy pittenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ultimate weapon

This book is in the genre of the early sci-fi books. It is fun to read, entertaining. Great characterization of the hero versus villain.

[Sean O'Hara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Space patrol responds to a distress call on Pluto and finds a scout ship from an unknown alien race attacking the colony there. The patrol ship is destroyed but two of the crew survive -- who, thankfully, are sooper scientists who can deduce how the alien weapons work based on minimal evidence. They return to Earth and begin developing countermeasures for when the aliens return in force.

And inevitably, the aliens do return. After a little fine-tuning, the countermeasures do work, but the aliens adapt, and humans adapt to the adaptations. Rinse, repeat.

In concept, The Ultimate Weapon bears some similarity to Clarke's Superiority -- only without the irony, wit, and characterization. Which, let's face it, is what makes Superiority a classic of the genre. The Ultimate Weapon is, instead, filled with enough technobabble about magnetic fields, element-90, and proton beams to fill an entire season of Star Trek: Voyager. About 40,000 words worth of technobabble, to be exact. It's a wonder Campbell found room for any plot.

Nor is the technobabble scientific, even by the standards of the Campbell Era. There are more howlers in here than the monkey-house at the zoo. For example, Campbell comments that gravity on Deimos is so light that a man can move a 100,000 ton spaceship by himself. Ignoring for a moment that Campbell is ignorant of the difference between weight and mass, such a ship would still weigh 40 tons on Deimos.

And that's nothing compared to the ending, in which Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle allows the Earthicans to build an Infinite Improbability Drive.

[Trike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I imagine this was a crackerjack tale back in the days of yore. Nowadays it feels incredibly dated and clunky.

The physics are fairly ludicrous, even by 1936 standards, but I will say that I enjoyed the aliens themselves and the explanation of their evolution. I found it interesting that they have two eyes, one atop the other. The upper eye is larger and provides telescopic vision, while the lower, smaller eye provides microscopic vision. Coming from a world with extremes of weather and solar radiation, they are covered with tiny hairlike feather analogues, which offer them excellent protection against either heat or cold, but in comfortable temperatures move constantly to regulate body temps.

The overall plot is one of alien invasion repulsed eventually by good ol' human ingenuity. It does sort of remind me of certain actions during WWII, which is interesting since it was written a full five years before the US entered that war.

The characterization is extremely thin. The aliens are more fully fleshed-out than the humans are, and I can see the influence on later writers like Larry Niven.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a highly amusing story because of all the bad science and implausible plot lines. While John Campbell is *the* Editor in Chief of Sci Fi, he kinda flopped on this story. He spent a lot of time discussing the "science" behind all the technology that was designed in the book. That would be fine, but the science didn't agree with any science in the real world, even science known in 1966 when it was published. It sounded like he threw sciency words together to make it sound smart. There was little character development, and I started ignoring who was talking because it didn't matter much. Despite the gaping holes in the story, the space opera form still managed to draw me into the plot.

[James Cain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I approached reading "The Ultimate Weapon" by John Campbell with substantial enthusiasm. Many of my favorite science fiction writers were either hand picked and refined by him, or made their names writing as a reaction to how he shaped the industry.

Sadly, this book leaves me in the latter camp. It's hard to fault a book for being a cliche when its one of the original sources of it. I can definitely fault it for being boring and predictable.

I hope to see more creativity from his other well known works.

[Jonathan Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who enjoyed Campbell's Arcot-Morey series will probably enjoy this. It's a fun
space opera with marvelous planetary systems and threating alien conqerors and
large-scale spaceship battles. Like the Arcot series, it also, unfortunately, suffers
from technical descriptions which are both too lengthy and yet sometimes lacking in essential
details.
I actually read the Project Gutenberg US version of this work.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas, although I felt the characters were a little two dimensional and there was more focus on how the technology worked rather than the background and story.

[Wayne Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated SCFI concepts.

makes for a boring read for parts where they try to explain the science.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good example of Golden Age scifi. With all that entails.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, those plucky humans!