Monday, March 8, 2021

Pulp Fantasy Library: Naturally

Gary Gygax's Appendix N serves two very useful purposes in my opinion. First, and most obviously, the list reveals the authors and works that "were of particular inspiration" to Gygax in creating his particular version of Dungeons & Dragons. Second, and just as important in my opinion, the list introduces younger readers – or those simply new to the genres of fantasy and science fiction – to the significant writers of earlier generations with whom they might otherwise be unfamiliar. I know I learned a great deal, not just about the literary origins of Gygaxian D&D, but also about literary history more generally by seeking out the names Gygax cited at my local library.

In a few cases, it was difficult, because, by even the early 1980s, these writers, who had been so prominent and influential in their day, had faded into obscurity. Such was the case of Fredric Brown, an author whose name meant nothing to me when I first came across it in Appendix N – though it should have. The eighteenth episode of the first season of the original Star Trek series is "Arena," written by Gene L. Coon, and it might have been inspired by Brown's 1944 short story, also entitled "Arena," leading to his being given a story credit and payment. The episode memorably features the reptilian Gorn and was a favorite of mine as a child, so it's quite likely I saw Brown's name in the credits many times and yet it would be years before I made the connection between him and Gygax's Appendix N.

Eventually, I was able to locate a collection of Brown's fiction called Honeymoon in Hell and devoured it. Though Brown did write several mystery and science fiction novels, his preferred medium was the short story – and by "short," I mean really short. Brown was the master of what was known at the time as "short short fiction" and is now often called "flash fiction." Many of his yarns are no more than three pages long, with a significant number being even shorter. This short format enabled Brown to refine his characters and ideas into their purest form, which led to fiction with remarkable bite. That his stories, regardless of their length, also included wry or black humor only added to the overall effect. It's little wonder, then, that Gygax regarded Brown so highly that he simply recommended him as an author in Appendix N rather than as an author of a particular work or works.

"Naturally" is a perfect example of Brown's skills as a writer. Originally appearing in the September 1954 issue of Beyond Fantasy Fiction, it tells the tale of Henry Blodgett, a college student who is so anxious over his upcoming geometry test that he is unable to sleep. Henry is terrible at all types of mathematics, including, it seems, geometry and fears failing the test. If he doesn't pass, the college will expel him and his dreams will turn to ashes. In desperation, Henry turns to magic as a solution.

The occult had always interested him. He had books on it and he’d often read the simple instructions on how to conjure up a demon and make it obey his will. Up to now, he’d always figured that it was a bit risky and so had never actually tried it. But this was an emergency and might be worth the slight risk. Only through black magic could he suddenly become an expert in a subject that had always been difficult for him.

From the shelf he quickly took out his best book on black magic, found the right page and refreshed his memory on the few simple things he had to do.

"Naturally" being a fantasy story, Henry's incantation works, summoning a demon into his dorm room, but things don't quite work out the way he had hoped. I won't say any more about the conclusion of this story consisting of only nine short paragraphs except that I laughed out loud, something I rarely do when reading, upon reaching its penultimate paragraph. It's a great story and I urge everyone who's never read it to seek it out. For that matter, seek out any of Brown's fiction you can find. He was an imaginative writer, with a keen sense of humor and it's a crime he's not more well known and celebrated today. In a world overrun with phonebooks masquerading as fantasy novels, we could use more of Brown's short short stories.

15 comments:

  1. Now I feel really old. Brown's Arena was required reading in 7th grade English for me - and that was 1978, so maybe not forgotten as soon as you think. Then again, our school's non-science books were pretty dated, like Bullard of the Space Patrol, for ex.

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  2. Just found it online... It is brief! But very funny too. Thanks

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  3. I met Brown in 7th grande, his "Sentry" was quote in its entirety as the sample for SF in my literature book.
    I really loved it.

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  4. “And may you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed cashing the checks for them!”

    Fredric Brown 1951. So ends his introduction to his first collection “Space On My Hands”

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  5. I've long felt Appendix N is best applied to settings. An Appendix N for Dark Sun and/or Ravenloft would certainly look different from each other and from the actual Appendix N.

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    1. Absolutely! In that respect, I think AD&D is, after a fashion, a setting, in as much as it represents Gary's own peculiar take on the game.

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    2. I know the original Eberron Campaign Setting had an "Appendix N" style movie list.

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  6. I appreciate the Arcana-Unearthing here. The older I get (7th grade in 1984) the more I can savor the heady region between Classic and Vintage. Thanks.

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  7. oh my god, I had no idea Brown did SF. I have read a ton of his mysteries. (I know you have been getting Weird Tales from the internet archive, but look for his work in the mystery pulps too)

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  8. "...and it might have been inspired by Brown's 1944 short story, also entitled "Arena..."

    Might have been? Have you read the story? It's practically a cut-and-paste job, from the motives of the cosmic aliens, to the way the hero eventually defeats the stronger, tougher antagonist. No might have been about it.

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    1. It's certainly a knock-off, but you're exaggerating the similarities enormously. The enemy Roller isn't particularly stronger or tougher than Our Hero, they're separated by a force field that prevents them from fighting directly until they work out how to get around it, and that winds up being to knock yourself unconscious, fall through the barrier, and wake up just in time to skewer your opponent with a flint knife. No cannons, no wrestling, and unlike Trek Our Hero isn't given a chance to ask for the aliens to be shown mercy, instead he wakes up back in the space fleet he started in and is informed the entire Roller fleet just exploded from the opening volley. It's a very, very different story and has a much less enlightened moral than the Trek episode does.

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  9. And Brown made it look so easy. What a writer!

    Thanks for the post.

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  10. Weird coincidence: this morning I picked up a sci-fi compilation that was my dad's, that I must've read through a hundred times as a kid but haven't cracked open in maybe two decades.

    Looked through the contents just now and there on p153: "Knock" by Frederic Brown.

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  11. I remember Brown from both Arena and one of my favorite stories of all time: Placet is a Crazy Place. I had to reread that one last night. Good stuff!

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  12. Honeymoon In Hell is a great collection. If memory serves, it also has what may be the best story ever written about making a deal with the Devil (and one of the best stories ever written about actually making the perfect wish) and another wonderful and terrible short-short that sets up a convoluted premise about a were-buck solely as an excuse for making a series of indelible and awful puns.

    Brown really was one of the best.

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