Call Him Lord

Last updated
"Call Him Lord"
Short story by Gordon R. Dickson
CountryUSA
Genre(s) Science fiction
Publication
Published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Publication typePeriodical
Media typePrint
Publication dateMay 1966

"Call Him Lord" is a novelette by the American writer Gordon R. Dickson. It was first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in May 1966. [1] In the story, the heir to a galactic empire tours a museum-like Earth, accompanied by a bodyguard who is a resident. Through ensuing events and conversations they judge each other.

Contents

Story summary

In the far future, Earth is preserved as it was before there was a galactic empire. In Kentucky, Kyle Arnam, whose ancestors were bodyguards to the Emperor's ancestors "back in the wars of conquest against the aliens", is required to accompany the Emperor's eldest son, who is visiting Earth and traveling incognito.

The Prince is callow, arrogant and patronizing, and has little respect for Earth; he says that his tutor "belongs to the school of old men who still think your Earth is something precious and vital"; he is here only to please his father.

They ride through the countryside on horses, and find a beer garden. They have refreshments at a table near a dance floor, and the Prince insists that he should dance with the waitress who served them. A busboy, noticing his arrogant behavior, takes hold of his arm; the Prince is scandalized and attacks him. Kyle persuades the Prince to abandon the argument, and they leave.

"The only way to keep a race and culture preserved is to keep it alive," Kyle says in the bar of a roadside inn. The Earth is "a living example for the Younger Worlds to check themselves against." The Prince is more interested in the waitress. While Kyle goes out to check the horses, the Prince disappears. When he later finds him, he learns that the Prince has been in the waitress's room. Asked by Kyle why he did it, he says, "You see I've seen through you. I know whose bodyguard you are. You're theirs!"

They leave the inn and find a bar at a fishing resort. The Prince says, "I've seen you people, now. You don't outclass us, out on the Younger Worlds.... I can do what I want here, and no one on this planet is good enough to stop me. Watch." He starts to talk to the waitress, interrupting a man nearby; the man throws the Prince's beer in his face. The bartender tells them to go outside to fight.

The Prince, aware that the man would win the fight, takes Kyle's gun and backs out of the bar; Kyle follows him. The Prince refuses to give him back the gun. Kyle realizes the Prince, a coward, has failed the test set by the Emperor, and he takes action.

Reception

"Call Him Lord" was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1967. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 1967, and was included in Nebula Award Stories Two ; [1] in the introduction to the story, the editors wrote: "His Emperor has the ring of a true emperor, and behind him we are aware of that star-spanning empire and of the problems it must present."

The story was described, in an obituary by David Langford, as "a short, unflinching parable of power and responsibility". [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Aldiss</span> British science fiction writer (1925–2017)

Brian Wilson Aldiss was an English writer, artist and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for occasional pseudonyms during the mid-1960s.

<i>Foundation</i> (book series) Science-fiction books by Isaac Asimov

The Foundation series is a science fiction book series written by American author Isaac Asimov. First published as a series of short stories and novellas in 1942–50, and subsequently in three books in 1951–53, for nearly thirty years the series was widely known as The Foundation Trilogy: Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), and Second Foundation (1953). It won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. Asimov later added new volumes, with two sequels, Foundation's Edge (1982) and Foundation and Earth (1986), and two prequels, Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1993).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon R. Dickson</span> American science fiction writer (1923–2001)

Gordon Rupert Dickson was an American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Silverberg</span> Prolific American science fiction writer and editor (born 1935)

Robert Silverberg is a prolific American science fiction author and editor. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand Master of SF since 2004.

<i>Foundation</i> (Asimov novel) 1951 science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov

Foundation is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is the first book in the Foundation Trilogy. Foundation is a cycle of five interrelated short stories, first published as a single book by Gnome Press in 1951. Collectively they tell the early story of the Foundation, an institute founded by psychohistorian Hari Seldon to preserve the best of galactic civilization after the collapse of the Galactic Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Chiang</span> American science fiction writer (born 1967)

Ted Chiang is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and six Locus awards. He has published the short story collections Stories of Your Life and Others (2002) and Exhalation: Stories (2019). His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). He was an artist in residence at the University of Notre Dame in 2020–2021. Chiang is also a frequent non-fiction contributor to the New Yorker Magazine, most recently on topics related to computer technology, such as artificial intelligence.

<i>The Stars, Like Dust</i> 1951 novel by Isaac Asimov

The Stars, Like Dust is a 1951 science fiction mystery book by American writer Isaac Asimov.

<i>Songmaster</i> 1980 novel by Orson Scott Card

Songmaster (1980) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. The story of the Songmaster occurs in a future human empire, and follows Ansset, a beautiful young boy whose perfect singing voice has the power of amplifying people's emotions, making him both a potential healer and destroyer. He is trained in the art of singing so beautifully that his songs can express ideas and emotions more truthfully than words. This novel was based on Card's short stories "Mikal's Songbird" and "Songhouse".

Gordon Eklund is an American science fiction author whose works include the "Lord Tedric" series and two of the earliest original novels based on the 1960s Star Trek TV series. He has written under the pen name Wendell Stewart, and in one instance under the name of the late E. E. "Doc" Smith.

<i>Nebula Winners Twelve</i> 1978 anthology edited by Gordon R. Dickson

Nebula Winners Twelve is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Gordon R. Dickson. It was first published in hardcover by Harper & Row in February 1978, and reprinted in December of the same year. A paperback edition followed from Bantam Books in April 1979.

"Fire Watch" is a science fiction novelette by American writer Connie Willis. The story, first published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in February 1982, involves a time-traveling historian who goes back to the Blitz in London, to participate in the fire lookout at St Paul's Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric James Stone</span> American novelist

Eric James Stone is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror author. He won the 2004 Writers of the Future contest, and has published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, InterGalactic Medicine Show, and Jim Baen's Universe. His 2010 novelette, "That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made," won the Nebula Award for Best Novelette and was a finalist for the Hugo Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alaya Dawn Johnson</span> American writer of speculative fiction

Alaya Dawn Johnson is an American writer of speculative fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poul Anderson bibliography</span>

Poul William Anderson was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until his death in 2001.

<i>Nebula Award Stories Two</i> 1967 anthology edited by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison

Nebula Award Stories Two is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in September 1967, with a Science Fiction Book Club edition following in November 1969. The first British edition was published by Gollancz in 1967, under the variant title Nebula Award Stories 1967. Paperback editions followed from Pocket Books in the U.S. in September 1968, and Panther in the U.K. in 1970. The Panther edition bore the variant title Nebula Award Stories 2. The book was more recently reissued by Stealth Press in hardcover in September 2001. It has also been published in German.

<i>Nebula Award Stories 1965</i> 1966 anthology edited by Damon Knight

Nebula Award Stories 1965 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by Damon Knight. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1966, with a Science Fiction Book Club edition following in October of the same year. The first British edition was published by Gollancz in 1967. Paperback editions followed from Pocket Books in the U.S. in November 1967, and New English Library in the U.K. in April 1969. The U.K. and paperback editions bore the variant title Nebula Award Stories 1. The book was more recently reissued by Stealth Press in hardcover in February 2001. It has also been published in German.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooke Bolander</span> American speculative fiction writer

Brooke Bolander is an American author of speculative fiction.

<i>Nebula Awards Showcase 2008</i> Science fiction anthology

Nebula Awards Showcase 2008 is an anthology of award winning science fiction short works edited by Ben Bova. It was first published in trade paperback by Roc/New American Library in April 2008.

<i>Nebula Awards Showcase 2014</i>

Nebula Awards Showcase 2014 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by Kij Johnson. It was first published in trade paperback by Pyr in May 2014.

<i>Nebula Awards Showcase 2019</i>

Nebula Awards Showcase 2019 is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy short works edited by Mexican-Canadian writer Silvia Moreno-Garcia, first published in trade paperback and ebook by Parvus Press in October 2019.

References

  1. 1 2 Call Him Lord title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Gordon Dickson" Obituary in The Guardian , February 14, 2001. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.