New Worlds #112, Vol. 38 (November 1961)

# NEW WORLDS SCIENCE FICTION, November 1961

This issue of the British monthly (edited by John Carnell) collects several science fiction stories set in a technologically advanced future civilization called Rathvane, dating events to "1562 A.S." The lead serial, "The Golden Age" Part One by Rupert Clinton, follows an archaeological expedition in the Demming Desert discovering a peculiar globe made of an unknown material called "plastic." The artifact, apparently two million years old, depicts Earth with drastically different geography—land concentrated on one hemisphere, water on the other—contradicting the known world map. Tension mounts among the expedition team, including the skeptical Torrence and more open-minded Mulvers, as they investigate implications. Other contents include J.G. Ballard's "Billenium," George Whitley's "All Laced Up," Philip E. High's "The Martian Hunters," and Lee Harding's novelette "Echo." John Rackham contributes a guest editorial attacking both purist positions in contemporary science fiction debates, arguing that all fiction conveys values and messages whether acknowledged or not.