A New Life for Brion

1985 cover by Robert Petillo

I like a good alternate history story, so after reading this commentary on the old tale "Worlds of the Imperium" by John Laumer, I dug out that story as originally published in 1961. I have a weakness for wish fulfillment fiction in which the protagonist ends up on the world that is best suited for him/her. For example, the protagonist in Assignment Nor'Dyren ends up on a planet that exactly suits his talents and temperament. 

 

In the case of "Worlds of the Imperium", Miss Barbro (a beautiful woman of the Imperium universe) and the protagonist, Brion Bayard, are brought together 💘 by SuperDuper™ technology (the Maxoni-Cocini field generator) that allows for humans to travel between parallel universes. Barbro and Brion fall in love and Brion is not at all unhappy about never being allowed to return to the vastly inferior version of Earth that exists in his home universe.

interior art by Dan Adkins

Having been ripped out of his original universe and removed from his version of Earth (which is apparently our version of Earth, about 1960), Brion arrives in an alternate universe and discovers this new version of Earth is slightly different than the world as we know it. In this Earth of the Imperium, Brion gets to attend stately Balls, dance with the fetching Miss Barbro and have missions to weird worlds that are scattered across the Multiverse. No longer does Biron plug away at the dead-end, dreary job that he had while living on our world.

Is it science fiction?

After introducing the magical machine that allows people to move between parallel universes ("shuttles" equipped with an M-C drive), the science content of "Worlds of the Imperium" is very thin. 

 

1962 cover by Edward Valigursky

 Contrived

For "Worlds of the Imperium", Laumer wanted a Multiverse that would not be over-run by tourists. Out of the gazillion alternate versions of Earth that exist, each in their own parallel universe, it seems that only one (the world of the titular Imperium) successfully develops the fantastic technology that allows for controlled movement between parallel universes. 

One thing that is guaranteed to annoy me when I see it in a science fiction story is the miraculous invention, crafted by a scientific genius in his basement, that discovery never to again be made by ANYONE, ever. This is not the way science works and we really should describe stories that deploy this plot device as anti-science fiction. Does "Worlds of the Imperium" fall into this category of stories with anti-scientific magical technology development?

 

in the Ekcolir Reality

In this case, I'll let Laumer off on a technicality. We are told that just about any version of Earth is likely to discover the multiverse, but in order to turn the multiverse-jumping technology into a practical way to move between universes, some tricky technical fine-tuning of the equipment is required. If you make just one mistake with this technology then BOOM, a vast amount of energy is released and Earth is either blasted to bits or incinerated. So, only by luck did just one version of Earth (that of the Imperium) successfully develop the technology. Gazillions of other Earth's that started working on multiverse-jumping technology were destroyed. Our Earth is one of the very rare versions of our planet where scientists studied nuclear physics and went down the safer path of making atomic bombs rather than discovering the multiverse.

cover art by Howard Chaykin

Before you even ask if the Imperium version of Earth is a center of Hi Tek™ wizardry, the answer is NO. They never even discover nuclear physics. And this suits Brion just fine. Who wants to worry about nuclear armageddon when you could live in a quaint world with Royal Balls and old-fashioned dueling? 

 

Yes, on his first day in the Imperium, Brion not only gets to dance waltzes with Miss Barbro at the Ball, but he also must fight a duel with pistols against the Imperium's top intelligence officer. 

 

Lost in Space

There are many guns in "Worlds of the Imperium" and even a few atom bombs. I'm not a big fan of military science fiction, so I'm not amused by the shoot-outs and ticking bombs, but I understand that in 1961 people were on edge and expecting the worst from saber-rattlers like Khrushchev.

interior art by Dan Adkins

"Worlds of the Imperium" was originally published in three parts, spread out in three issues of Fantastic magazine starting in February 1961. My advice is that you read the first part of the story in the February issue and then skip to the third part in the April issue. Read the introductory summary that recaps the first two parts and then skip ahead to page 96 in the April issue. There is a loooong middle part of the story (set on a dismal version of Earth) that is worth avoiding. Nothing interesting happens for page after page after page and there is no need to read it.

cover art by Robert Petillo

The Thrilling Conclusion

The ending of "Worlds of the Imperium" is rather like a James Bond movie with the evil mastermind's atomic bomb about to explode and the hero risking all to make sure that the atomic bomb does not destroy Washington D.C. and kill the president. Since we know that Brion and Barbro return in "The Other Side of Time" and since Laumer was totally invested in Brion and Barbro as his dashing wish-fulfillment couple, there is no suspense at the end of the story. The evil mastermind's motivation is revealed to be the standard Hollywood "I want to rule the world" megalomania, which saves Laumer for having to think of a reason why any member of the ruling oligarchy would dislike the utopian society of the Imperium.

 

more Imperium

    Going Ape

I'm a complete sucker for time travel stories, so I also read Laumer's follow-on Imperium story, "The other Side of Time". I like to imagine that in an alternate Reality, the science fiction genre itself developed along different paths. But what if Neanderthals were the dominant ape of Earth?

 

Related Reading: the other side of Brion

Next: part 7 of "The Alastor Network"

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