DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |
Publication
New York : Avon books, 1958.
Original publication date
1950
Description
Don't count out the underdog... Two classic short novels by Robert A. Heinlein, science fiction's Grand Master. Waldo North Power Air is in trouble. Their aircraft are crashing at an alarming rate and no one can figure out the cause. Desperate for an answer, they turn to Waldo, a crippled misanthropic genius who lives in a home in orbit around Earth, where the absence of gravity means that his feeble muscle strength does not confine him helplessly in a wheelchair. But Waldo has little reason to want to help the rest of humanity -- until he learns that the solution to Earth's problems also holds the key to his own. Magic, Inc. In a world where almost everything is done by magic spells, Magic, Inc., under the guise of an agency for magicians, is systematically squeezing the small independent magicians out of business. Then one businessman stood firm. And with the help of an Oxford-educated African shaman and a little old lady adept at black magic, he was willing to take on all the demons of Hell to resolve the problem -- once and for all.… (more)
Status
Available
Call number
Collection
User reviews
LibraryThing member antao
(Original Review, 1980-08-21)
My chief objection to models which suggest we will be much better off with satellites beaming down power to the ground comes in several pieces:
1. I have been told that solar flux in the bands used by solar cells is no more than twice as high in orbit as in, for
2. The question of the effects of the huge amounts of microwaves has never been adequately dealt with. What kind of leakage would there be from a beam carrying a useful amount of energy? (Would you believe Heinlein also considered this ~30 years ago? See WALDO (in book form as WALDO & MAGIC, INC.).) Presumably safeguards would cause the beam to shut down at once if directional control were lost, and air traffic could be rerouted (which would put a greater strain on an already
fouled-up air traffic control system) to avoid the receiver sites;
3. The energy that will be beamed down is ~90% energy that otherwise would not have been captured by the Earth at all. No matter how the energy is used, most of it will end up as waste heat. I do not know of anyone who has calculated what the effect would be of continually supplying a significantly greater amount of energy to the earth's surface/ than it would otherwise receive but I have severe misgivings, especially considering that there are meteorologists who say that we are nearing the end of a period of optimally equable climate. If Phoenix becomes uninhabitable, we'll survive; if Los Angeles has to be evacuated (a far from impossible prospect, given its water dependence) we may have problems.
These are inquiries from a relatively lay perspective; I suspect anyone with direct experience and without a stake in the matter could find others. I would also be interested in hearing what answers
to this come from knowledgeable people who again have no stake in the matter. I'm not unbiased myself; I confess to an enchantment with the devices Jesco von Putkamer has proposed to build the satellites, and I share the opinion of many SF writers and fans that it was foolish to go straight for the moon rather than building intermediate space stations, but there are questions which I just don't think have been asked [2018 EDIT: Little did I know back then...].
[2018 EDIT: This review was written at the time as I was running my own personal BBS server. Much of the language of this and other reviews written in 1980 reflect a very particular kind of language: what I call now in retrospect a “BBS language”.]
My chief objection to models which suggest we will be much better off with satellites beaming down power to the ground comes in several pieces:
1. I have been told that solar flux in the bands used by solar cells is no more than twice as high in orbit as in, for
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instance, the American Southwest. Granted, there is some advantage to having the power available for longer periods but even a synchronous satellite would be shadowed for ~2.3 hours a day which would not be at the minimum demand time;2. The question of the effects of the huge amounts of microwaves has never been adequately dealt with. What kind of leakage would there be from a beam carrying a useful amount of energy? (Would you believe Heinlein also considered this ~30 years ago? See WALDO (in book form as WALDO & MAGIC, INC.).) Presumably safeguards would cause the beam to shut down at once if directional control were lost, and air traffic could be rerouted (which would put a greater strain on an already
fouled-up air traffic control system) to avoid the receiver sites;
3. The energy that will be beamed down is ~90% energy that otherwise would not have been captured by the Earth at all. No matter how the energy is used, most of it will end up as waste heat. I do not know of anyone who has calculated what the effect would be of continually supplying a significantly greater amount of energy to the earth's surface/ than it would otherwise receive but I have severe misgivings, especially considering that there are meteorologists who say that we are nearing the end of a period of optimally equable climate. If Phoenix becomes uninhabitable, we'll survive; if Los Angeles has to be evacuated (a far from impossible prospect, given its water dependence) we may have problems.
These are inquiries from a relatively lay perspective; I suspect anyone with direct experience and without a stake in the matter could find others. I would also be interested in hearing what answers
to this come from knowledgeable people who again have no stake in the matter. I'm not unbiased myself; I confess to an enchantment with the devices Jesco von Putkamer has proposed to build the satellites, and I share the opinion of many SF writers and fans that it was foolish to go straight for the moon rather than building intermediate space stations, but there are questions which I just don't think have been asked [2018 EDIT: Little did I know back then...].
[2018 EDIT: This review was written at the time as I was running my own personal BBS server. Much of the language of this and other reviews written in 1980 reflect a very particular kind of language: what I call now in retrospect a “BBS language”.]
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LibraryThing member szarka
Magic, Inc. is an entertaining piece of satire, and it's a shame most folks will miss it hidden away in this out-of-print book. (Waldo is unremarkable, but still worth a read.)
LibraryThing member gbanville
Robotic hands for manipulating things at a distance have actually come to be called Waldoes after the first of the stories in this book.
Magic Inc. the second story in the book, is probably the most authentic treatment of myths about how magic was believed by some to work until Harry Potter.
Magic Inc. the second story in the book, is probably the most authentic treatment of myths about how magic was believed by some to work until Harry Potter.
LibraryThing member masyukun
These two Heinlein stories are well paired. Waldo is a science fiction classic, in which Heinlein imagines cybernetic devices capable of allowing remote manipulation of heavy loads. Waldo segues into Magic, Inc. by providing a "scientific" explanation of magic and the half-world through quantum
Magic, Inc. explores what the modern world could look like with the introduction of "commercial magic." Businesses of all kinds rely on it to make a profit... until the mysterious Magic, Inc. protection racket moves in.
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theory and an alternate time-space continuum corresponding point for point with our own space.Magic, Inc. explores what the modern world could look like with the introduction of "commercial magic." Businesses of all kinds rely on it to make a profit... until the mysterious Magic, Inc. protection racket moves in.
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LibraryThing member JKCollins
To this day I always refer to a non-operating piece of technology as being "waldo'ed".
LibraryThing member HenryGalvan
These are two stories.Waldo is about a her,it who lived in outer space, and uses magic to make machines work.Magic inc is about a magician who forms a union and goes to Satan to block a underground mafia from taking over
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
Waldo (1942) and Magic, Inc. (1940) are two (mostly) unrelated novellas that (mostly) wear their age well. The tenuous connection is that in both "magic is loose in the world" and there is talk of "laws" such as those of "sympathy," "contiguity" and "homeopathy" that rule magic, which is associated
Magic, Inc is quite different. This is more traditional fantasy, although there's something of the science-fiction spirit in how it's treated. Because this is magic taken for granted in what is recognizably our modern-day technological culture--but one where magic is routinely used in business. Only someone seems determined to corner the market. There are witches, witch doctors, and more than a smidgen of political satire to be had, but all-in-all it's quite light-hearted. I think it shows its age a bit more than Waldo. Let's just say the racial and sexual depictions aren't exactly PC. But it's still imaginative and enjoyable.
I wouldn't say name either story as one of Heinlein's best--but then Heinlein provides tough competition for the best-of sweepstakes. But both of these are fun, entertaining reads.
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with another world, an alternate universe as it were, called the "Other World" in Waldo and the "Half-World" in Magic, Inc.. Waldo is more a hybrid of science-fiction and fantasy, starting out as straightforward science fiction and in the end, there is still a scientific underpinning and rationale to the magic. And I liked the way Heinlein developed Waldo and his psychology. And how cool can you get that the real-life waldoes, remote robot manipulators are named after this fictional character? (Who in the story invented them and the device comes to be named after him.)Magic, Inc is quite different. This is more traditional fantasy, although there's something of the science-fiction spirit in how it's treated. Because this is magic taken for granted in what is recognizably our modern-day technological culture--but one where magic is routinely used in business. Only someone seems determined to corner the market. There are witches, witch doctors, and more than a smidgen of political satire to be had, but all-in-all it's quite light-hearted. I think it shows its age a bit more than Waldo. Let's just say the racial and sexual depictions aren't exactly PC. But it's still imaginative and enjoyable.
I wouldn't say name either story as one of Heinlein's best--but then Heinlein provides tough competition for the best-of sweepstakes. But both of these are fun, entertaining reads.
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LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
Waldo shows its age. It depends too much on technology that has gone in other directions. Magic, inc is good for what it is, but the magic has the feel of being invented as we go along.
LibraryThing member helver
Two short novellas. The first is Waldo, telling the story of a man beset by weakness from birth, who, by way of a mountain hex doctor figures out how to touch an alternate reality of limitless power. The second is a story about what happens when government attempts to regulate and control magic
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users at the behest of organized crime. Show Less
LibraryThing member raizel
What I remembered from "Magic, Inc." was the restaurant menu that had regular entrees and magic entrees with no calories. But, rereading it in 2015, it seems that actually the story is about people who battle immoral businessmen who try to take over an industry---magic in this case---by means both
What I remembered from "Waldo" was that complicated technical things, like airplanes, stop working if you don't believe in them anymore. (That's why I find flying so tiring---having to concentrate throughout the flight on keeping the plane in the air.) It's also a coming of age story about a resentful genius who lives isolated in space until he figures out how to save the world and himself.
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criminal and political. There is a lot of talking about the points Mr. Heinlein is upset about. The plot is clearly not important and only at the end of the story does the action get exciting. The story makes a better essay or article, but I suppose it would have a smaller audience if presented that way.What I remembered from "Waldo" was that complicated technical things, like airplanes, stop working if you don't believe in them anymore. (That's why I find flying so tiring---having to concentrate throughout the flight on keeping the plane in the air.) It's also a coming of age story about a resentful genius who lives isolated in space until he figures out how to save the world and himself.
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LibraryThing member gypsysmom
This book has two novellas written by Heinlein in 1950. In Waldo, he describes remote handling devices used in the "fantastic 1990's". Magic, Inc. is set in the 50's but "demons, witches, elemental spirits and magical spells are a part of the fast pace of American life." It's always fun to look at
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early SF and see what they predicted. Show Less
LibraryThing member NickHowes
Two short novels. In Waldo, a crippled, thoroughly unlikable genius, compensating for his infirmity with a weightless orbital home, seeks a solution to an impossible mechanical problem and finds an even more improbable solution. In the process Heinlein invents the "waldo" since used in laborato
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does as extensions of human hand functions. In Magic, a protection racket for magicians in a 1940s America where magic is real leads to a demon from hell. Both fun stories, an unusual foray into fantasy by the Dean of American Science Fiction. Recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
This book has two novellas written by Heinlein in 1950. In Waldo, he describes remote handling devices used in the "fantastic 1990's". Magic, Inc. is set in the 50's but "demons, witches, elemental spirits and magical spells are a part of the fast pace of American life." It's always fun to look at
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early SF and see what they predicted. Show Less
LibraryThing member fuzzi
I read the first half of this book, but found the characters only mildly interesting, the plot banal, and the added supernatural "magic" aspects poorly done. Not even close to a decent Heinlein imo.
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
In spite of its contribution to the world of robotics, neither Waldo, nor the commercialization of Magic in "Magic Inc." hold much interest for me...The stories were printed in the early 1950's and show their age.
LibraryThing member joeldinda
I originally read this book when I was a teenager and suspect I've not read it since. So, all these years later, I found that I vaguely remembered a bit about Waldo and absolutely nothing about Magic, Inc.
Waldo's an excellent story, even all these years after it was written, about a genius who
Waldo's an excellent story, even all these years after it was written, about a genius who
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happens to be handicapped. Magic's a well-crafted story--more about politics than magic--but I found it pretty dull. Show Less
Physical description
191 p.; 17 cm
Local notes
T-261