First Contact and Exploration Team by Murray Leinster, read by David Warner
Dercum, Unabridged Audio
Published: 1998
ISBN: 1556561954

To me, First Contact is probably the best Science Fiction story ever written. Murray Leinster creates a wonderful story expressing post WWII sensibilities. When America was incubating the Cold War, Leinster captured the voice of the Astounding Science Fiction reader perfectly. Science Fiction readers in those days were middle class, educated men with a technical background. They probably had a college degree and worked as engineers. (Sound familiar?) This is quite a bit different from today where the handful of young readers of SF found there way to the printed word by way of bad movies or video games.

Leinster, whose real name was William Fitzgerald Jenkins, wrote in a clear voice that appealed to the technical readers of the day. Readers were more practiced in those days. They were better readers. Today a Leinster story would be rejected by editors for too much Tell instead of Show and for not having the quick hook in the first paragraph. His plots would be criticized for being too intricate or too technical. His conclusions might be too much fun or trite or superficial. I want to write just like the man.

I just wrote a short story called Channeling Murray Leinster which is not SF at all, but outlines the problems that I have focusing on my job and life while also trying to work out plots and characters for my Science Fiction stories. I continually ask myself “What would Murray Leinster have done?” Of course this doesn’t help me in real life.

I bought this recording because of the story and the fact that I considering calling my anthology Channeling Murray Leinster (this has been vetoed by Erica – for the time being).

When I first started listening to the tapes the reader, David Warner, sounded very young. However, I soon accepted him as the voice of the young communications officer. Leinster uses an omniscient voice whose viewpoint is just off stage in order to set the scene and describe the voyage of the earth ship, but the communications officer quickly assumes the main viewpoint. (A modern editor would insist on a very strongly defined viewpoint – damn Clarion workshops!)

I truly appreciate the problems of First Contact the way Leinster has described it. He succeeded in creating truly alien Aliens, but gave them beautifully human characteristics. If we find aliens in the reaches of space, we will know that we can deal with them if they have a sense of humor. I am not sure that humor will be as universal as Leinster might indicate in the story, but it does make for a great plot element.

If you don’t know Leinster, I suggest that you pick up The Essential Murray Leinster or a copy of the Murray Leinster Omnibus. I have a bunch of old Astoundings and Analogs with stories by Leinster.

I bought First Contact and Exploration Team quite cheaply ($6.95) from one of the Amazon shops. It is two tapes and is three hours worth of listening. I haven’t listened to Exploration Team, yet. I am sure that I must have read it more than once, but I don’t recall what it is about.

I can’t recommend this tape and any story by Murray Leinster highly enough.