And Then the Town Took Off

Description

One of the best examples of satirical scientific fiction written during the Golden Age of the genre, Richard Wilson’s and Then the Town Took Off is an excellent and entertaining piece, a light-weight story that will make the reader laugh out loud with its simple-minded characters and the absurd situations they get into.

The town referenced by the title is called Superior and it is in Ohio. In the beginning, nothing seems to be superior about the settlement, but then all of a sudden the place just picks itself up and rises some two miles above the surface of the Earth. The news of the rise is featured in the radio as well, but not even that alarms the town’s humble inhabitants. It is only after a certain amount spent floating high up that a man called Don Cort realizes there is something wrong, namely that the professor who has caused the town to rise has, in fact, no idea how to get the town back down on the surface and safely anchored again. The second part of the novel is about Cort’s quest to find a way either to anchor the town or to get it to settle, thus preventing Superior from becoming the tiniest planet to orbit Earth.

The story was first published in 1960, in Ace-Double, one of the most popular science fiction magazines of the time. It was positively received by readers, partly because of the entertaining style and the great, funny situations that the citizens of Superior, including Cort and the professor go through, partly because the story does not feature any weapons or violence, therefore it is suitable for both young and adult readers as well. All in all, And Then the Town Took Off is a funny, old-fashioned story based on a creative idea that is explored by the author to the fullest – an excellent read, indeed.
[amz_corss_sell asin=”1776662709″]