Astounding Science Fiction, British Edition, December 1955

About this issue

This issue contains three short stories and the conclusion of a serial. "In Clouds of Glory" by Algis Budrys (illustrated by Freas) opens with Thaddeus Demaris, a restless man of action attending a formal party, growing contemptuous of drawing-room intellectuals debating ancient military history. The narrative reveals Demaris's frustration with Earth's stagnant frontier—limited by alien Vilks to Pluto despite having interstellar drive technology a century ago. A second story, "The Waitabits" by Eric Frank Russell, and "Rat Race" by Frank Herbert round out fiction. Poul Anderson's "The Long Way Home" concludes its serialization. Roy Malcolm contributes an article, "Is Bode's Law a Coincidence?" The issue includes regular departments for reader correspondence and science fiction discussion.