Four in One
By Damon Knight
1953
First Published
4.23
Average Rating
48
Number of Pages
As Frederik Pohl noted in an essay decades after this story was published, much of GALAXY’s contents contained stories which were not really about their nominal subject. As editor of GALAXY magazine, Horace Gold’s editorial interest was always tilted toward satire and social commentary, which in the main interested him far more than technological extrapolation. These interests put his magazine at the outset in a different place than John W. Campbell’s at least ostensibly rigorous ASTOUNDING. In regard to the commentary, Pohl wrote, "There were only a few places in the 1950’s in which the real condition of the Republic could be examined. One of them was the science fiction magazines," and GALAXY was the most oriented in that direction. FOUR IN ONE (February 1953) reads as if it were a study of alien menace and its interface with the human organism as Knight’s shipwrecked colonists, seeking physical preservation, amalgamate with an alien being which can absorb their brains intact and respond to signals. It is an horrific speculation and Knight works it through with a fair amount of rigor. Damon Knight was an established contributor when this novelette was published, and Robert Silverberg’s long introductory essay accompanying the work testifies to its influence upon him and his great admiration.
Avg Rating
4.23
Number of Ratings
30
5 STARS
43%
4 STARS
40%
3 STARS
13%
2 STARS
3%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads
Author
Damon Knight
Author · 35 books
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. Knight's first professional sale was a cartoon drawing to a science-fiction magazine, Amazing Stories. His first story, "Resilience", was published in 1941. He is best known as the author of "To Serve Man", which was adapted for The Twilight Zone. He was a recipient of the Hugo Award, founder of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), cofounder of the National Fantasy Fan Federation, cofounder of the Milford Writer's Workshop, and cofounder of the Clarion Writers Workshop. Knight lived in Eugene, Oregon, with his wife Kate Wilhelm.
