New Worlds Science Fiction No. 54

About this issue

This issue of the science fiction monthly New Worlds features a profile of author J.G. Ballard alongside substantial fiction content. The magazine includes the short story "The Executioner" by Alan Barclay, set on the Moon at Base One, where Colonel Burton arrives to oversee a dangerous pilot volunteer program—the moral implications of who decides when military tests become fatal. Also included: J.G. Ballard's "Escapement," Isaac Asimov's "The Message," Richard Wilson's "Double Take," and Dan Morgan's "The Whole Armour." The serial "Tourist Planet" by James White concludes, and Kenneth Johns contributes the article "The Little Neutral." Editor John Cornell's editorial details his recent New York World Convention attendance, discussing the planned 1957 London convention and charter flight arrangements for American attendees. The Ballard profile notes his Shanghai birthplace, RAF service, and creative debt to surrealist visual art rather than conventional science fiction approaches.