Allamagoosa

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Allamagoosa is a Hugo Award winning satirical science fiction short story by Eric Frank Russell from 1955. In it Russell describes the weaknesses of people and the weaknesses of systems.

Publications

Allamagoosa was first published in the science fiction magazine Astounding in March 1955 and received the Hugo Award for best short story that same year . In 1961 the first book was published as part of the Russell Ferne Sterne collection . In the following decades, Allamagoosa was included in many anthologies such as Isaac Asimov's The Hugo Award Winners (1962), Starships: Stories Beyond the Boundaries of the Universe (1995) and Out of this World (1972).

action

A ship in the fleet needs to prepare for an inspection. The crew of the ship is not enthusiastic, especially when they discover that they are missing an "offund". In order not to have to explain where it went and since they have no idea what an “offund” is supposed to be (the cook claims that an “offund” is definitely not a kitchen appliance), they unceremoniously decide on a flashing thing "Allamagoosa" - to be built in order to deceive the inspector, who also does not know what it should be.

The inspection goes to satisfaction. In order to explain the loss of the "offund" before calling at the next port (it is assumed that there are experts there) one writes a loss report and claims that the "offund" malfunctioned and broke due to a gravity anomaly. A little later, panic breaks out at the fleet command and all ships are stopped. Then comes the urgent request to explain what is meant by the fact that the "official dog" ("Offund" was the misprint for "Off. Dog") suffered a malfunction. At the end of the day, the team and the captain are in greater difficulty and need explanations than before.

expenditure

  • First print: Astounding Science Fiction , May 1955.
  • UK first edition in: Far Stars. Dennis Dobson, 1961.
  • US first edition in: Isaac Asimov (Ed.): The Hugo Winners. Doubleday, 1962.
  • Hardcover in: Major Ingredients: The Selected Short Stories of Eric Frank Russell. NESFA Press, 2003, ISBN 1-886778-10-8 .
  • E-Book: John Ringo , Brian M. Thomsen (Eds.): Citizens. Baen, 2010, ISBN 978-1-61824-764-3 .
  • Translations:
    • The offund. Probably translated by Walter Ernsting . In: Distant stars. 1962.
    • Technical bluff. Translated by Joachim Körber . In: The Best Stories by Eric Frank Russell. 1980.
    • Allamagoosa. Translated by Irene Holicki. In: Isaac Asimov (ed.): The research team. Heyne (Library of Science Fiction Literature # 13), 1982, ISBN 3-453-30804-2 .
    • Transmission error. Translated by Uwe Anton . In: Charles G. Waugh, Martin Harry Greenberg , Isaac Asimov (eds.): Sternenschiffe (2). Ullstein Science Fiction & Fantasy # 31145, 1987, ISBN 3-548-31145-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heiko Langhans: Clark Darlton: The man who brought the future. Pabel-Moewig, 2000, ISBN 3-8118-2098-2 , pp. 93 f ..