In this bi-weekly series reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy books, Alan Brown looks at the front lines and frontiers of the field; books about soldiers and spacers, scientists and engineers, explorers and adventurers. Stories full of what Shakespeare used to refer to as “alarums and excursions”: battles, chases, clashes, and the stuff of excitement.
Today we’re going to take a look at a science fiction author Katherine MacLean, who is not as well remembered today as she deserves, but was a widely respected writer in the middle of the 20th century. The book I selected, Missing Man, is the combination and expansion of three stories that appeared in Analog in the early 1970s, stories that followed the adventures of the fictional New York City Rescue Squad.
In addition to revisiting my favorite old books in this column, I often look at older works that I missed along the way. In this case, I had been unfamiliar with MacLean’s work, which was only recently was brought to my attention in columns written by James Davis Nicoll, a Reactor author whose contributions never fail to be interesting and informative. He cited MacLean as a frequent contributor to Analog and Galaxy, both magazines I read in my youth, but for some reason, her name didn’t ring a bell. But unlike my dad, who read every story in every magazine he subscribed to, I tended to focus on the stories I liked, which often dealt with action or adventure, and skipped the rest. And by the time the Rescue Squad stories appeared in Analog, I had a paper route, and my reading had shifted from my father’s books and magazines to books that I purchased myself (and even though the job only paid five dollars a week, that could go a long way in the days when a paperback cost fifty cents).
I googled MacLean, and the novel Missing Man looked the most interesting to me, so I found a copy available from a used book distributor—a hardback book club edition, published by Berkley in 1975, with a nice abstract cover painting by Richard Powers.
My first impression of the book was that it reminded me of the work of Spider Robinson, a writer who was emerging just as MacLean was writing her Rescue Squad stories. As MacLean was already a well-established author, it was probably her that influenced him, although it could simply be that both authors were tapping into the zeitgeist of the early 1970s. The idea that communes would become a larger part of American society, of shaping human brains through electrical impulses, of telepathic powers based in empathy, and the use of New York City as a setting is common to the work of both authors. They also dipped into the internal lives of their characters to create compelling and sympathetic protagonists. And both of them incorporated the slang of the 1970s into their writing, and seem to have a similar approach to language (although MacLean didn’t succumb to using puns the way Robinson did).
About the Author
Katherine MacLean (1925-2019) was a pioneering American science fiction author whose speculation on technological issues was notably prescient, especially in stories involving advances in computers and communications. She was also known for bringing hard science-based rigor to stories of the softer or social sciences, or to stories on topics like paranormal powers. She is not widely remembered today, probably because most of her work was at shorter lengths. She only wrote three novels, and three collections gathered some of her shorter work. She was published in magazines including Astounding/Analog, Galaxy, Thrilling Wonder Stories, and Planet Stories. She won a Nebula Award in 1971 for her novella “The Missing Man,” a story that was later combined with two other related stories to form the novel Missing Man. She was later designated as a Science Fiction Writers of America Author Emeritus, and honored with the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award. A few of her stories are available to read for free at Project Gutenberg.
The World of the Missing Man
It is often a curious experience to read a science fiction book that is decades old, especially one that describes the world at a future date that has already come and gone. When you are re-reading an old favorite, you remember the first time you read it, and that helps put it in context. When reading an older book for the first time, however, you can’t help but notice all the things that didn’t turn out the way the author predicted. There are events and advances that didn’t come to pass, and worst of all, the anachronisms—things that changed when the author expected them to stay the same.
One way to put those issues aside is to treat the stories as if they are set in an alternate universe, like Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy tales, which take place in a world where magical powers received the rigorous development that mechanical devices did in our own world. And that turned out to be a good way to approach the version of New York City that appears in Missing Man.
The story is set in 1999, 28 years from when it was first written in 1971. It describes a city that has been transformed in many interesting ways. The society is neither utopian nor dystopian, but is instead a mix of elements that fit in both categories, and MacLean presents many of these developments simply as things that have evolved, without passing value judgements. Personal vehicles are banned, and the streets have been turned into greenways. The city has expanded into undersea domes. People have been allowed to establish self-governing communes and enclaves that are divided along philosophical, religious, or ethnic lines.
There are a number of technological advances on display: In addition to undersea domes, there are jetpacks and wrist radios. Helicopters are frequently used by the authorities, both by police and as ambulances. The authorities use statistical analysis in real time, both to apprehend criminals and to prevent crimes or disasters. On the other hand, there are still phone booths, telephone and switchboard operators, and computers provide paper printouts.
The social justice system is horrifying. Criminals can be sentenced to having their personalities wiped by electrical currents, with new personalities replacing the old. If you require public assistance, you are sterilized and exported to a location outside the city. The authorities use people with telepathic powers to guide police, raising questions about privacy and due process.
The most striking element of this world, however, is the presence of people with paranormal powers, including precognition, the ability to read the emotions of others, telepathy, what passes for extreme luckiness, and other powers as well. The presence of these powers, and how they emerged over the relatively short period of a few decades, is not explained. The presence of paranormal abilities was the biggest reason I began thinking of the world of Missing Man as an alternate universe, one more advanced than ours in some ways, but less advanced in others.
Missing Man
George Sanford, a young man in his early twenties, is at the end of his rope. While his friends from school in New York City are all starting careers, he finds himself unable to hold a job, or even complete employment forms. He is an orphan, with holes in his memory—holes that seem to be tied with childhood traumas. He is now out of money, sleeping in a commune that offers a roof for the homeless, and subsisting on hot water and charity. He was heavyset in his younger years, but is now down to skin, bones, and muscle. If he accepts any aid from the government, it involves agreeing to be exiled from the city that is the only home he’s ever known, and being sterilized. George does, however, have unique abilities to stumble into solving mysteries, and to develop empathic connections with other people, even if they are total strangers.
George runs into his old friend Ahmed, now a badge-carrying member of Rescue Squad, an organization that uses data analytics and paranormal abilities to prevent and respond to crimes and disasters. George and Ahmed are an interesting pair, and the affection they formed as gang members in their youth is evident from the start. George is gifted but chaotic, while Ahmed is focused and organized. George could not possibly pass the exams required to join the Squad, but because of his abilities, Ahmed convinces his boss to bring George in as an independent contractor.
They have some initial successes that prove George’s worth, and soon they are on to a bigger case. Carl Hodges, a computer engineer whose knowledge helps the city operate, but could also be used to destroy it, has been kidnapped, and they fear his knowledge will be used to commit terrorist acts. And soon, two underwater apartment domes are destroyed, with deaths in the thousands. Ingeniously, they were destroyed by teaching young people how to override safety systems, and then creating a panic. (A modern reader will be struck by how the destruction of the domes foreshadows disasters like the terror attacks of 9/11). The gang behind the terror attacks is led by Larry Rubashov, an amoral 15-year-old genius, who sees flaws in society that others take for granted, and wants to bring the system down so it can be rebuilt. George finds him abhorrent, but is fascinated by Larry’s insights and persuasive powers.
Then Ahmed is kidnapped while attempting to infiltrate an Arab enclave, using forgotten tunnels that his gang explored in their youth. The embittered occupants of the Arab enclave are among many who emigrated to other countries after Israeli attacks destroyed their homes in the Middle East (another element where the narrative seems to parallel more recent tensions, although of course the original novella was written between the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War). George uses his shared experiences with Ahmed to find his friend and rescue him.
The pair must then rescue people from a neo-Aztec enclave where the inhabitants have been recreating the custom of ritual sacrifices; one of the people they rescue is the head of the Arab enclave, who was turned over to the Aztecs by Larry Rubashov in an attempt to create conflict between the cultural enclaves. There is a rather muddy section of the narrative where George seeks out Larry to discuss politics with him, and seemingly (and improbably) joins his gang, only then to be portrayed as a drugged prisoner of the gang. I was not sure what was going on, as it seemed unlikely that George would willingly ally himself with someone who had committed multiple mass casualty atrocities. And if it was dangerous for the engineer Carl Hodges to fall into the hands of terrorists, it is even more dangerous for George, with his telepathic powers, to be the missing man.
The narrative at the end of the book, however, snaps back into focus, as George works to foil Larry’s plans, while at the same time dealing with a mysterious group of telepaths who have been haunting his dreams, and at the same time grappling with resurfacing memories that reveal the traumas of his youth. MacLean is pulling together a lot of threads as the book heads toward its conclusion, but she does so adroitly. While this book brings an end to the written adventures of the Rescue Squad, MacLean definitely left me wanting more, as I found her version of a futuristic New York City a fascinating setting, and the team of George and Ahmed very appealing.
Final Thoughts
Missing Man is a fascinating novel. Like other “fix-up” novels, it does feel a bit disjointed at times, but it is full of interesting technological and sociological speculation, and presents some fascinating characters. As I visit used bookstores, I’m going to keep my eyes open for more works by Katherine MacLean, an author whose work still deserves attention from today’s readers.
If you’ve read Missing Man, or other works by Katherine MacLean, I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you have enjoyed other works set in a futuristic New York City, I’d be eager to hear about them as well.
