Evelyn E. Smith 1 hr 30 min read

Sub-Archivist Clarey checks in at Classification Center out of habit more than hope, and stops cold at the card in his hand: report to Room 33 for reclassification, which never, ever means up.

Evelyn E. Smith's 1961 story is a witty social-SF space opera of a nobody swept into intrigue. Fun, clever golden-age SF. Read it for a genial tale where a mild file clerk's unexpected promotion pitches him straight into the kind of adventure he'd only ever watched on the tri-di.

In its time

Published in 1961, during the 1960s, new wave revolutionizes the genre.

Reading it

1 hr 30 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).

Illustrated by

Bob Ritter