The Call From Beyond

by Clifford D. Simak, John Betancourt (Introduction)

Alone, accursed, he set out on the long, dark voyage to the forbidden gateway to worlds beyond life itself—restless forever with an ultimate knowledge, possessing which no man could die!

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction

45 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 8, 2022

About the author

"He was honored by fans with three Hugo awards and by colleagues with one Nebula award and was named the third Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 1977." (Wikipedia)

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford...

Reviews

[WafflingCozmonaught · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very blunt, expository prose style that is so dry and uninteresting. I got to give it props for the ending though. That was real clever.

4/10

[Phil Giunta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shunned as a mutant, Frederick West leaves Earth and journeys to Pluto, a planet banned ever since a threatening message was sent to Earth by a group of scientists stationed there. Along the way, West pays a visit to one of Pluto’s moons and encounters renown biologist Walter Darling living in exile and drinking himself to death. When West reveals his ultimate destination, Darling gives him a small animal named Annabelle and asks him to take her to Pluto. With his dying words, Darling tells West to ask one of the scientists, Louis Nevin, about his “painting.”

Upon reaching Pluto, West encounters not only the scientists but a female alien nicknamed Rosie who has a sister on Earth known only as “the white singer.” She is one of the most celebrated talents on the planet. However, unlike her sister, Rosie’s face has not been altered to appear human. West soon learns that Rosie and her altered twin are pawns in a game orchestrated by the scientists to remake human civilization… but how does Nevin’s painting play into it?

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff except for the mutation fallacy. Humans haven’t evolved from savagery at all. In fact, the ancients who were much wiser than ourselves (they were all autodidacts) believed that man had degenerated vis-à-vis a previous “Golden Age”.

[Anna Welch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh