Astounding Science Fiction (British edition)

About this issue

Astounding Science Fiction Vol. V, No. 5 (British Edition), July 1946, contains one novelette and two short stories. "Special Knowledge" by A. Bertram Chandler, the featured novelette, blends domestic drama with science fiction. George Whitley, a merchant marine officer on shore leave, dreams vividly of Quentin Dale, Second Pilot aboard the spaceship Martian Maid. During one vivid dream sequence, a V-2 bomb strikes Whitley's London home; simultaneously, an explosion occurs aboard the ship, damaging its converter. When Whitley-Dale enters the engine room to investigate, he's exposed to converter radiation. The experience breaks their connection—but leaves him trapped: he inhabits Dale's body while retaining his own mind, aware he's not dreaming, desperately hoping otherwise. Additional stories: "This Is the House" by Lawrence O'Donnell and "Huddling Place" by Clifford D. Simak.