Fritz Leiber 49 min read

Two invisible aliens judge an ordinary bachelor, Ernie Meeker, worthy to receive the Gifts of Galaxy Center, and everything he touches begins to change.

Fritz Leiber's 1958 story watches negatively-massed beings assess a median specimen of humanity and bestow powers he never asked for and can barely survive. Witty, inventive social SF about being the accidental representative of the whole species. Read it for a funny, sharp golden-age tale that asks whether you'd want to answer for humanity.

In its time

Published in 1958, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

49 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

Diane Dillon