New Worlds Science Fiction, Volume 7, Number 21

About this issue

This British science fiction magazine features six short stories. "Ride the Twilight Rail" by E.R. James, illustrated by Quinn, depicts maintenance technicians servicing radio booster stations on Mercury's twilight zone every 44 Earth-days, accompanied by enigmatic silicon-based Mercurian natives. Sergeant Caleb Myers, a 10-year Mercury veteran, learns that Signalman Mercer is incapacitated by mercury-specific dermatitis and must recruit young replacement Signalman Fleet for the upcoming rail expedition. Fleet displays unsettling intensity while reading about previous Mercury expeditions. Other credited contributions include stories by Lara Wright, E.C. Tubb, Alan Barclay, Francis G. Payer, and James White, plus editorial commentary and book reviews. Editor John Carnell discusses format changes and the magazine's fourth-place ranking in reader popularity polls.