Stephen Marlowe 1 hr 18 min read

Earth can get along without Targoff, the galaxy would hardly notice if its sun vanished tomorrow, but a certain Ambassador from Targoff is a problem no one can make disappear.

Stephen Marlowe's 1955 story mines wry comedy and social-SF intrigue from an unwanted alien envoy and the bureaucrats desperate to be rid of him. Sharp, witty golden-age SF. Read it for a clever tale (its Berkeleyan title a hint) about perception, diplomacy, and a guest who won't leave.

In its time

Published in 1955, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

1 hr 18 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).

Illustrated by

W. E. Terry