Review of “Scrimshaw” (1955)
Murray Leinster (writer).
Read in 2024.
The only weirdo who can bear it labours on the surface of the Moon.
What a charming mix of opaque backstory, textured character psychology, and surprisingly solid science. The sun shines on the far side of the Moon, as it should. People live under the surface, as they should, albeit for the wrong reasons (to shield themselves from heat, not cosmic rays) and in the wrong geological feature (a diamond mine, not a lava tube). People also move realistically, and so on. It’s all impressive for 1955, except for the quality of the prose.