The Road to Fame
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Road to Fame |
| Author(s): | D.R. Smith |
| Date(s): | March 1941-July 1942 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | Crossover |
| Fandom: | Science Fiction |
| External Links: | |
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The Road to Fame was a multi-part story in The Fantast whose first part was printed in March of 1941. It was supposed to be a round robin where each writer ended their part by making it as awkward to continue as they could, but D.R. Smith ended up continuing alone after making the first part too complicated. The story ended at part 6 when The Fantast folded.
Featured Characters
- Captain Kettle and McTodd (C. J. Cutliffe Hyne)
- Professors Challenger and Summerlee, Edward D. Malone and Lord John Roxton (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
- Dick Seaton and DuQuesne (Skylark series) / Roderick Kinnison (Lensman) (E. E. Smith)
- Arcot, Morey and Wade (The Black Star series) / Aarn Munro (The Mightiest Machine) / Jimmy Atkill, Cossar and Clarence (Beyond the End of Space) (John W. Campbell)
- Tarzan and John Carter (Edgar Rice Burroughs)
- Dr. Bird (S.P. Meek)
- Commander John Hanson (Sewell Peaslee Wright)
- Hawk Carse, Friday and Ku Sui (Anthony Gilmore)
- Gregg Haljan (Ray Cummings)
- Sergeant Walpole (Murray Leinster)
- Johnny Black (L. Sprague de Camp)
Summary
Part 1: The Fantast #9 pp 10-14
Part 2: The Fantast #10 pp 13-17
Part 3: The Fantast #11 pp 8-13
Part 4: The Fantast #12 pp 18-21
Part 5: The Fantast #13 pp 8-12
Part 6: The Fantast #14 pp 19-23
The story was a between a number of science fiction series of the day, and styled after Pilgrim's Progress. Many famous characters sit in the City of Waiting, where C. J. Cutliffe Hyne's Captain Kettle and McTodd are sent to ask them to make a pilgrimage to the Hall of Immortal Fame. They travel through the Impassable Precipice of Public Ridicule, the Mountains of Contempt (filled with the High Wind of Carping Criticism), the Bog of Apathy and the Plain of Mediocrity (filled with the Wild Wolves of Fierce Competition).
Professor Challenger of The Lost World takes charge and leads the group through their first challenge. Dr. Bird is the first one taken out by the Wind of Criticism, and is believed dead, but was actually saved by a failed murder attempt from his arch-nemesis Saranoff. The group argues back and forth and comes to the Mountain of Contempt, which laughs at them. Several members collapse laughing themselves, but the party eventually moves on. Arcot, Wade and Morey meet Johnny Black, a talking bear, but no one believes them.
They pass through the Maze of Possible Plots and are attacked by the Monster of Good Taste, which knocks Tarzan high into the air. Clarence and Jimmy Atkill manage to tame the Monster peacefully before the crew can charge it in a suicide mission. Commander John Hanson, unfamiliar with the concept of bogs, sinks into one and is barely saved before drowning.
Crossing the Plain of Mediocrity, Clarence and Atkill form a suicide pact and fall into each other's arms after Kinnison manages to dissuade them. The rest of the party is embarrassed and Kinnison regrets saving them after he finds them a comfortable tuffet to sleep on and they fall asleep, ignoring him even when it starts raining. Everyone begins to hate Clarence and Atkill for their weakness, but they remain carefree. The party is attacked by two packs of Wolves of Fierce Competition.
A sinister man of mixed race named September waits in a place called Yoshiwara, plotting to distract the Pilgrims with worldly pleasures. Clarence, Atkill and Sergeant Walpole are immediately waylaid by alcohol, and the party forgets about their journey to the Hall of Immortal Fame. Eventually the trio drunkenly realizes that Yoshiwara is a trap, and they drunkenly insult September so badly that the whole group is unceremoniously dumped by the side of a road near the Hall of Immortal Fame. Kinnison nearly attacks Clarence.
The Fantast stopped publishing after issue 14, leaving the adventurers just outside their goal.
Reviews
The Road to Fame starts out colossally, with my favorite characters well represented.Milton A. Rothman: letter printed in The Fantast #9 pg. 19 (Apr. 1941)
"The Road to Fame" is a commendable thought, and DRSmith's rendition merits a 7 rating. I particularly enjoyed that episode concerning "fifteen stone", because the intervals at which I look it up space out the time when I never, never contrive to remember what a stone is. Only an Englishman can master this arcane art! Clarence is also a good thought, right away becomes my favorite character.Louis Russell Chauvenet: letter printed in The Fantast #10 pg. 22 (Apr. 1941)
"The Road to Fame" (8) Here is another characteristic story by our young author, which has to do with what we may call the humorous type of "scientifiction". There are some very pleasant bits of description in which the open-air life is depicted. The writer has some personal experience of this.Sid Birchby: letter printed in The Fantast #11 pg. 22 (Nov 1941)