Natives of Space

by Hal Clement, Dean Ellis (Illustrator)

Ballantine Books, 1970. Second printing, paperback. First published in 1965, this is a collection of three tales by a master of "hard" science fiction: Assumption Unjustified (1946); Technical Error (1944); Impediment (1942).

Genres: Science Fiction, Collections, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy

156 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1965

About the author

Harry Clement Stubbs better known by the pen name Hal Clement , was an American science fiction writer and a leader of the hard science fiction subgenre.

Further details at Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Anastasija · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three standalone SF narratives that highlight creativity and scientific exploration. It's a good choice for those who enjoy classic science fiction with a focus on solving puzzles and exploring unique scientific concepts.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three novelettes with aliens (or alien ship) and humans written in the 1940s.

One story has "telepathic" aliens - they can detect / decode another's brain activity at fairly close distances. However, unlike stories in which this works the same between species, in this case, it is only with much effort that a professional communicator among the aliens can find a way to communicate (within limits) with one human.

In another story, two aliens on a personal interstellar trip must stop on Earth. Using limited (and dated) information about Earth, they try to "re-supply" while obeying alien rules against making themselves known to humans.

In the other story, humans stranded on an asteroid find an abandoned alien starship. They try to make sense of the alien design and consider clues about what happened to the aliens.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book collects three novellas that all originally appeared in John Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction magazine in the early 1940's, quite early in Clements career, perhaps before he really found his comfortable narrative stride. Clements strength was hard science, and he excelled at writing novels that created and explored alien worlds and races in great depth, and in short stories where he could provide a puzzle-problem and have the protagonist solve it by application of scientific and engineering principles. These three are all interesting and thought-provoking, but are at the in-between length that left me either wanting a shorter conclusion or a longer exploration.

[Adam Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 / 5 for 'Natives Of Space' by Hal Clement

I've read 'Cycle Of Fire' by Hal Clement, and I have a fair few of his other books on my TBR list. He's one of those 1940s / 1950s American Sci-Fi authors that contributed to what is now regarded as the Golden Age of Science Fiction (1930s-1950s). 'Natives Of Space' is a short (156pgs) collection of three sci-fi novellas, all three originally written in the 1940s.

Just like in 'Cycle Of Fire', Clement excels in the art of creating a scientific quandary (or three quandaries, one for each story), that need to be mulled over and attacked from different directions before the problems are solved. His work as a scientist shines through in his writing and the sheer volume of technobabble on display, but Clement still manages to keep all of this technical stuff interesting.

The characterisation is approached oddly in this book, as the aliens get a lot of characterisation, but the humans get almost none at all. Dialogue is Clements usual stuffy and sometimes overly formal affair, with attempts at anger or humour sounding somewhat cheesy, yet endearing. Of course, the book is old-fashioned in terms of representation, with the men being tough as steel and quick-thinking, and the only female in the whole book is an alien, but still feels soft and submissive, all the same...but, this was written in the 1940s, so this can't really be seen as a negative, more a product of and a comment on the time it was written.

Of the three stories, Assumption Unjustified was my favourite, detailing a married pair of aliens who have landed on Earth covertly to merge human blood with their own, for the health benefits this brings. It's quite fun to see how they go about stalking their prey, and the guilt and shame they feel when one of the young men they use for blood collection ends up poorly afterwards. As mentioned, the dialogue sounds very stuffy and sometimes a little condescending, but it's a great novella and a wonderful alien point-of-view story.

The shortest story, Technical Error, was the weakest, detailing the plight of the all-male crew of a crashed spacecraft attempting to figure out how to work an ancient alien craft, as it may be their only means of escape, from the asteroid on which they have crashed. Lots of 1940s male tough-talking and lots of descriptive sections detailing the spacecraft, but the ending feels rushed and somewhat anti-climactic.

The final story, Impediment, is a really interesting study on how an insectoid alien that communicates telepathically learns to communicate with a young man, on a break from university. The backstory and attitudes and descriptions of the aliens, as well as the effects of Earths gravity on the aliens physiology, are all handled excellently, as are the initial meetings between the alien and the human. As the story reaches its end, the tension seems to evaporate and the twisty bit which allows the human to gain the upper hand on the alien feels forced and overplayed. But, up until the very end, it really is engrossing.

Overall this is a very enjoyable, if short, collection of sci-fi stories from one of the greats of the Golden Age. Yes, it's old fashioned and stuffy and sometimes a touch condescending, but we forgive Hal Clement these issues, because he writes such wonderfully inventive sci-fi.

4 / 5

[Jeff Greason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Hal Clement and these stories are in his unmistakable style, but the book is a collection of three novellas or long short stories rather than a novel, and so instead of the usual collection of clever worldbuilding, each one rests more upon a single concept, and with the barest bit of story to hang that concept on. I don't think these are among his best work.

[2Due · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again Hal Clement hasn't failed to amaze me with his writing, although in this little collection I found a few issues.

"Assumption unjustified" is an interesting one. The aliens were fun to follow around and interesting to hear out why they were on Earth, despite the weirdness of the situation, and reading how humans weren't aware of them at all made it a mix of hilarious and creepy at the same time. Quite entertaining short and I just love how the aliens just yeeted themselves out of orbit after fucking up and almost killing a kid.
There's though a thing I didn't appreciate much. This story has the very first female character I've met so far in Clement's work and it felt off. The husband was quite condescending towards her and it was underlined how she was "not of age yet". They might be aliens, they might be different, but it felt wrong. I hope it's just a product of its time...

"Technical error" is the weakest and I honestly didn't really enjoy it. The setting was indeed fascinating with this crew stuck on an asteroid after their ship pretty much exploded and they had to desperately find a way to call for help, but it all fell flat.
The 7 men were pretty much identical, no character, no differentiation from one another, didn't even bother to remember their names... The exploration of the second ship at first was intriguing, but after more than half of the length of the story (which is already very short) just describing intricate mechanisms it just lost me, I found it a bit boring and the end felt rushed.

"Inpediment" is the best in my opinion. I was wondering why the cover represented a huge moth with a man, found out it's an illustration about this short. I'm a sucker for when creatures try to communicate with one another having to learn how to do so for being so different and this short hit all the spots for me. Also the conflict between Talker and Boss was hilarious.
The interactions between human and alien are done so naturally and believable, you really feel the struggle they go through to find a way to communicate. By the end the nature of each side come down to clash due to many factors and the way the human flips the situation is so satisfying!

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three longish stories from the "Golden Age" of science fiction, meaning they were each published in the 1940s in, I'm betting, ASTOUNDING Magazine. They seem like the kind of thing that would have flipped editor John W. Campbell's slide rule in those olden days. Each story features Clement's theme of bridging the gap in understanding between "native" and "alien" in a science fiction setting. The concept is fine and the sense of imagination and wonder are here but are buried in a prose style that makes the reading a chore. Maybe it's just me, but I had a hard time visualizing many of the scenes from the way Clement described them. The story "Technical Error" for example. A group of space travelers (?) explore an alien ship on a small asteroid in the hope that they could use it to send out a message for rescue. We're not given any backstory; just here's some guys stranded on an asteroid and there's a ship to explore. It sounds okay but in Clement's effort to describe the interior of the abandoned alien space ship he left out any emotional tension for the reader to latch on to. So essentially you're reading about strangers trying to figure out a puzzle that's rendered in a way that's hard to visualize. So, not bad stories, not particularly classics either. Just so-so stories that are interesting antiques. I like my old pulp with a lot more "whiz bang" or at least a pretty gal to kiss. For fans of vintage sci-fi pulp only.

And with that, this is probably my last review of 2024 on GR. I hope everyone has a nice holiday and a New Year filled with good books.

[Ian Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hal Clement has a lively, interesting style and he is very easy to read. All three of these stories contain an interesting plot and interesting, although somewhat 2-dimensional, characters. In the hands of a lesser writer they may have seemed made of cardboard. However, he falls into the trap of many SF writers of the same period: there is an absolute boatload of exposition and authorial interruption to get the point across. These are fairly early examples of his work and the faults I’ve listed are less of an issue in his longer work, which may be part of an explanation for them, but they are also fun and undemanding reads that pass a few minutes quite nicely.

[rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read Technical Error, but couldn't find the rest anywhere. It was very interesting, but also very confusing since I think I imagined it all very differently from the author. Like how the spaceship was lying and how the interior was configured. Even what the cockpit chair looked like! But it left me with a lot of questions, like what did happen with the two spaceships, what was the rings for, did the shape of the chair have any relevance in the story? I'm going to read more Hal Clement books.

[Tone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this to be interesting, if a bit outdated.
Suprisingly refreshing to read stories that focus mainly on engineering and
Men thinking about alternative technology, though…

[Joe Santoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

As you can see by the cover, this was a 60s printing.. the 3 novella within where among Clement's first works.

Assumption Unjustified(1946): To vacationing aliens stop on Earth for a 'refresher'... the need to mix in some alien blood to their own system to live longer... the trick is they can be seen by Earth. Luckily, they have a handy, dandy guide book to tell them about Earth, but when a plane flies overhead, it's clear at least some of the info within is incorrect.
It was pretty unique reading abou just a regular alien and his wife.. not a warrior or explorer, but a chemist that was really not very good at sneaking around and trying to get a blood sample. The end of the story was a bit predictable, but still fun.

Techincal Error(1943) : 7 astronauts crash their ship, and have about 100 hours to live. They find a derelict alien ship, and race against the clock to either get it in space or signal for help. The ship's engineer is the focus as he tries to figure out the alien tech... but it written like a word problem or a riddle... as if the reader is meant to try to figure it out along with the characters. Not my favorite narrative device (sorta like on little kid shows where they pause to let the 4 year old do something or yell at the screen), but I didn't see the end coming.

Impediment(1942) : Somewhat similar to the 1st story.. aliens (a ship full, this time) land on either to re-supply their arsenic so they will have a weapon. After hiding for a bit, they contact a local and try to communicate. It kinda reminded me of the TNG episode where the alien speaks in metaphor, as these aliens (moth-like ones that don't like our gravity) don't speak verbally. It turns out they're essentially pirates, and when the human (ironically named Kirk) figures it out, he decides not to help them. While it just a bit too similar to the first one to be in the same collection, it's a very good story, and the weapon their trying to refuel pretty unique (it's basically a space cannon... breaks through the hull, then lets loose poison gas.)

Overall, I think unlike many early sci-fi writers, Clement's style here seems more suited to a bit longer stories.. both alien ones left me wanting more details...I'll definitely try to get a novel or two of his at some point.

[Rafeeq O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Natives of Space is a 1965 repackaging of three 1940s Hal Clement novelettes from, it appears by the Street and Smith copyrights, Astounding Science-Fiction.

Assumption Unjustified of 1946 follows a pair of aquatic aliens who stop off on Earth to withdraw some blood--painlessly and carefully--from an unconscious Terran for use in a rejuvenation treatment. Mildly amusing attitudinal irony abounds, but the aliens' mistaken conclusion at the end is a whopper, and therefrom springs the title.

The 1943 Technical Error is one of those classic puzzle stories of the humans-must-figure-out-ancient-alien-technology variety. Here the only hope of spacemen marooned on an asteroid by the meltdown of their atomic motors is to make use of a seemingly inscrutable alien ship before their air runs out. It is good as far as it goes, but modern readers might the piece frustrating because the artifact, with its recognizable ion engines, electrical cables, and whatnot, simply isn't alien enough.

Impediment of 1942 returns to the third-person-alien point of view when telepathic moth-like creatures from a low-gravity planet must try to communicate with a human in hopes of finding on Earth the materials with which to replenish their ammunition supply so that they can return to their feudalistic, warring solar system. Clement's investigations on the biochemical nature of thought are interesting, but the notion that the human character, "like many people, involuntarily visualize[s] the written forms of the words he utter[s]" is a gimmick that seems completely divorced from reality...

So long as the reader understands that, despite its funky mid-1960s cover, Hal Clement's Natives of Space actually is a product of the simpler days of the pulp magazines circa 1942 to 1946, it can be considered a decent three- to four-star read. Rounding up a tad, I'll call it four.

[Dalen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third story in this set of 3 novelas finally delivers on the promise of the back cover -- exploring what it would be like for a human to encounter something truly alien, then positing how "communication" could occur. The first two stories aren't bad, but neither of them discusses the encounter. In all, the three stories explore different facets of the question of what alien life would really be like and how easily (or not) we would (or maybe on day will) be able to understand and co-exist with something as unfamiliar to us as it gets. A nice distracting, quick read.

[Dmadden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hal was known for trying to keep the science in his stories honest. Produces an interesting effect after 70 years. His ideas about biology now just seem weird. Fun though.

[The Final Song ❀ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad but the endings of all stories are a letdown.
the best is the third, the other two dont live to the expecations.

[Walt Trizna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three novellas where he tries to include too much of his science knowledge and not enough story.

[SciFiOne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade A-. Short novel.