Nebula Science Fiction, Number 27

Issue No. 27, February 1958

This issue of Nebula science-fiction magazine features "The Hired Help" by John Brunner, a novelette depicting post-war Britain transformed into a vast continental factory built by mysterious alien visitors. The protagonist, a new recruit, arrives at the enormous grey plastic structure stretching across Britain from Hull to Cardiff, conceived and constructed by the extraterrestrial "Visitors" to employ millions of British workers. The narrative explores the factory's scale, organizational discipline, and the paradoxical satisfaction work provides to a war-ravaged population. Also included are Kenneth Bulmer's novel "The Great Game" about cosmic chess played by financial empires, short stories by Philip E. High, Johnathan Burke, and W. T. Webb, plus articles on astronomy and science-fiction cinema by Forrest J. Ackerman, with editorial commentary by Peter Hamilton criticizing low-quality film adaptations of the genre.