Astounding Science Fiction (UK Edition)

About this issue

This Street & Smith pulp magazine contains four science-fiction stories. "Blind Man's Buff" by Malcolm Jameson (novelette, p. 2) follows competing spacecraft attempting to land on Venus and survey territory for claims. Travis and Hartley pilot a ship equipped with advanced "magnar" technology—a magnetron-based detection device superior to standard radar—hoping to outmaneuver the larger Farrington-Driscoll corporation's fleet. The rules demand precise topographic maps for valid territorial claims. The story depicts intense competition, cascading ship crashes in Venus's hostile atmosphere, and the crew's attempts to navigate through frozen cirrus layers and mysterious ionospheric phenomena revealed by their equipment. Also included: "Beam Pirate" by George O. Smith, "The Wedge" by Isaac Asimov, "Kindness" by Lester del Rey, and "The Iron Standard" by Lewis Padgett.