Synopsis

The trees had to be destroyed to make way for industrial expansion on the planet. But Thorson refused to be a party to murder!

History

First publication: Fantastic Adventures, November 1950

John Jakes’ first science fiction story published.

Review

Not sure if this was Jakes’ first sale overall, but it was his first SF work published. This has a strong idea and a lot of potential. For modern readers the idea and plot will have been ruined by the many TV episodes and movies that have made this plot cliche, but in 1950, I don’t know of anybody doing this story. Unfortunately, Jakes’ youth and inexperience show very plainly. The story just doesn’t get into any of it’s elements to enough depth to be satisfying. There’s a whole sentient alien species that could be developed in greater detail, their biology, their knowledge, their culture. Plus the world could be more than just an earth copy with strange trees. The characters could be developed in a lot more detail, working out stronger motivations and taking us through their development toward the end of the story. More development of the human government that is trying to destroy the trees. And giving the vents more time to realistically develop. The things that take place seem to happen much too quickly and characters change and react much too quickly. This story could easily have made a short novel and would have been much more compelling. But it wasn’t to be.