Review: The Sargasso of Space - Edmond Hamilton

I was in the mood for some classic, old-style science fiction, so I read “The Sargasso of Space”, a novelette by Edmond Hamilton first published in the September 1931 issue of ASTOUNDING STORIES, when it was still a Clayton pulp. The cover of that issue is by H.W. Wessolowski. I’ve never been a big fan of Wesso’s work, but I like this cover quite a bit. It’s taken right from Hamilton’s story, which is available on Amazon in an inexpensive e-book edition.

This is a near-space story, set entirely in our solar system, and it’s small in scope for a Hamilton yarn. No galaxy-busting epic here. The crew of the space freighter Pallas find themselves in dire straits indeed: due to a leak that wasn’t discovered until it was too late, the ship has lost its fuel and is adrift. It’s headed into the so-called Sargasso of Space, where the gravitational pull of all the bodies in the solar system is exactly equal, so powerless ships are stuck there. In fact, as our intrepid spacemen soon discover, thousands of dead ships have clumped together there, and the Pallas is soon added to this grim monument to gravitational forces.

But they also soon discover they’re not the only ones alive in this graveyard of spaceships. The stalwart second officer has come up with a plan that might save all of them, especially if they team up with the survivors of previously trapped ships. The question on which all their lives ride is—can those survivors be trusted?

I don’t think you’ll have much trouble figuring out what’s going to happen in this story. What matters is how much entertainment value Hamilton generates from it. Some of the reviews I’ve read online complain about the science. Hamilton makes it sound plausible, and it works for the story he wants to tell, and the story was published nearly a hundred years ago, so what do I care if the science is accurate? As Neal Barrett once said to me, “Who do I look like? Mr. Wizard?” (Those of you of a certain age will understand that reference.) Other reviewers point out the lack of characterization. Yeah, there’s not much, but I doubt if the readers of ASTOUNDING STORIES in 1931 cared about that. The wooden dialogue probably didn’t bother them much, either.

But what you get instead is a graveyard of wrecked spaceships! And guys in spacesuits fighting! And a beautiful girl to be saved! Did I want anything else when I sat down to read this story? No. No, I did not. I wanted action, adventure, and a sense of wonder, and that’s exactly whe I got. If you’re ever in the mood for the same things, you could do a lot worse than “The Sargasso of Space”.