Astounding British Edition, Vol. 14, No. 9

Astounding Science Fiction (British Edition), September 1958

This issue contains a novelette by Robert Silverberg titled "Heir Reluctant" and short stories by Stanley Mullen ("Space to Swing a Cat"), Randall Garrett ("No Connections"), Theodore L. Thomas ("The Law School"), and Hugh B. Brous, Jr. ("Murphy's Law"). A serial titled "Close to Critical" continues from a previous installment. The issue includes regular departments: The Editor's Page, The Analytical Laboratory, In Times to Come, and The Reference Library.

The editorial discusses Dr. Edward Teller's call for active science "fans" to support scientific advancement, arguing that true fans—like those in science fiction—critically evaluate their field rather than merely offering partisan support, and that science benefits from such independent perspectives and cross-checking of ideas.

Silverberg's novelette concerns David Kilross, a Terran Resident Protector on Dannon's World, who plans to grant the planet independence despite risks of dictatorship, betting on a local mathematician named Austin White to assume leadership. The narrative begins with Kilross discussing his strategy with a colleague and introduces White, a fifth-generation settler focused on mathematics, whose family political legacy others expect him to fulfill.