Astounding Science Fiction (British Edition)

About this issue

This issue of Astounding Science-Fiction (May 1945, British Edition, Vol. IV No. 10) contains four works. The lead story is Theodore Sturgeon's novella "Killdozer!", which opens with a prehistorical framing device: an intelligent electron-being, sole survivor of an ancient alien war, has lain dormant within a neutronium shell on a Pacific island for eons. The narrative then shifts to the present, following a small crew of heavy-equipment operators—including foreman Tom Jaeger, mechanic Peebles, and operators Kelly, Dennis, and Rivera—who arrive to construct an airfield using experimental production-line techniques. The text establishes the crew dynamics and introduces the sophisticated machinery: dozers, shovels, and dump trucks that will drive the plot. Also included are Lewis Padgett's novelette "When the Bough Breaks," A.E. van Vogt's "The Harmonizer," and Malcolm Jameson's "Alien Envoy," though details are not fully legible in the provided OCR.