Giant Killer (story)
| "Giant Killer" | |
|---|---|
 Cover Astounding Science Fiction October 1945 | |
| Author | A. Bertram Chandler |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Published in | Astounding Science Fiction |
| Publication type | Periodical |
| Publisher | Street & Smith |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | October 1945 |
"Giant Killer" is a science fiction short story by A. Bertram Chandler. It was first published in the October 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, and later included in many science fiction anthologies, including World of Wonder edited by Fletcher Pratt. In 1996 it was shortlisted for a Retro Hugo Award for Best Novella.[1]
Plot summary
Called a "pocket universe" story by The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction,[2] "Giant Killer" is told from the point-of-view of a colony of mutants living in a spaceship. Though they are eventually (in the final sentence) revealed to be rats, they are obviously sentient lifeforms: they have a culture, complete with marriage, seers, governmental structures, specialized safety equipment, and ritualized combat. They are illiterate, albeit: they marvel as the giants make black marks on "skin," which they perceive as some inscrutable form of "sorcery." The "giants" of the story's title are the humans crewing the spaceship. Much is made of the mutants' efforts to understand the giants' fascinating world, including such locales as the Place-of-Life-Which-Is-Not-Life, obviously the robotics laboratory.
Further publications
- World of Wonder edited by Fletcher Pratt (1951)
- Great Novels of SF edited by Robert Silverberg (1970)
- Novella : 3 edited by Ben Bova (1978)
- The Arbor House Treasury of Great Science Fiction Short Novels edited by Robert Silverberg and Martin H. Greenberg (1980)
- Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 7 (1945) edited by Isaac Asimov (1982)
- Isaac Asimov Presents the Golden Years of Science Fiction : Fourth Series edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg (1986)
- The Mammoth Book of Golden Age Science Fiction : Short Novels of the 1940s edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg (1989)
- From Sea to Shining Star by Bertram Chandler (1990)
See also
References
- ↑ "1946 Retro Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
- ↑ The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction - Chandler, A Bertram
External links
- "Giant Killer" title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- "Giant Killer" at the Internet Archive