Judgment Day (short story)

This article is about the science fiction story. For the similarly-titled Gothic story, see Judgement Day (short story).

Short story by L. Sprague de Camp

"Judgment Day"

Short story by L. Sprague de Camp

Frank Kelly Freas's illustration of the
story in Astounding Science Fiction

Country| United States
Language| English
Genre(s)| Science fiction
Publication
Published in| Astounding Science Fiction
Publisher| Street & Smith Publications, Inc.
Media type| Print (Magazine)
Publication date| February, 1955

"Judgment Day" is an apocalyptic science fiction story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction for August, 1955,[1] and first appeared in book form in the anthology The Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels: 1956 (Frederick Fell, 1956). It later appeared in the de Camp collections A Gun for Dinosaur and Other Imaginative Tales (Doubleday, 1963),[2] and The Best of L. Sprague de Camp (Doubleday, 1978),[3] as well as the anthologies Great Science-Fiction (Three Star Books, 1965), A Science Fiction Argosy (Simon & Schuster, 1972),[4] and Masters of Darkness III (Tor Books, 1991).[5] The story has also been translated into German.[4]

## Plot summary

[edit]

The narrative is told in the first person as an interior monologue of the narrator. Physicist Wade Ormont has serendipitously stumbled on a hitherto unsuspected variety of nuclear fission involving iron that could "blow the entire crust [of the world] off with one big poof," a discovery he agonizes on whether to report. There is no danger of any other researcher beating him to the punch, as the find was accidental, based on a quirk of physics to which no current theory points, and is unlikely to be arrived at independently by someone else. Breaking the news would certainly make his reputation, even if, as he is sure would be the case, the government would attempt to suppress it.

There is powerful reason for him to maintain his silence. His discovery would make production of a weapon based on its principles so easy as to render universal holocaust inevitable, as at some point some petty country would be bound to engage in nuclear blackmail and destroy the world. In effect, Ormont holds the fate of mankind in his hands.

Ruminating over his choice, Ormont reflects on his past life. A weakling and loner, he had grown up bullied and abused by his peers despite, or perhaps because of, his brilliance. As a result, he became a friendless loner and outcast, so deficient in social skills even his wife eventually left him. He now cares so little for his fellow human beings that their future and his own short-term self-interest seem evenly balanced in his mind. After all, he would most likely be dead of natural causes before some lunatic blew up the Earth.

It is actions of a group of young neighborhood delinquents that tips the balance. After they maliciously vandalize his house, Ormont comes to the realization that he truly hates the human race, and these examples of it in particular, and can only be happy if they are made to pay. Publication would thus be an act of ultimate vengeance for all he has suffered, and on all who have made him suffer. He decides to write his report.

## Reception

[edit]

"Judgment Day," described by one reviewer as "the ultimate Revenge story,"[6] is a departure from de Camp's usually light and breezy work, a "disturbing story" both popular on initial publication and "presag[ing] by some forty-five plus years the Columbine High School massacre" and similar incidents.[6] Another commenter has seen parallels in its scenario to the dilemma of present-day software engineers uncovering security holes in software programs, in which publicizing the problem could encourage both speedier patching and hacker exploitation.[7]

P. Schuyler Miller noted that "[t]he scientist of 'Judgment Day,' who judges mankind as it has judged him, lives not very far away."[8] Avram Davidson, who had grown disappointed with de Camp's short stories on the grounds that they played great ideas for laughs, found this tale of "an embittered scientist who—with good reason—hates the whole human race" the "sole exception ... it is so authentic-sounding that one could scream."[9]

## Relation to other works

[edit]

De Camp also featured negative consequences of juvenile delinquency in other stories of this period. He dealt with the theme of teens disrupting interplanetary relations in "Let's Have Fun" (1957), in which the delinquents endanger the young of aliens, and "The Egg" (1956), in which youngsters are endangered by alien offspring rather than vice versa.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Laughlin, Charlotte, and Levack, Daniel J. H. De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco, Underwood/Miller, 1983, pages 194-195.
2. ^ Laughlin, Charlotte, and Levack, Daniel J. H. De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco, Underwood/Miller, 1983, page 62.
3. ^ Laughlin, Charlotte, and Levack, Daniel J. H. De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco, Underwood/Miller, 1983, page 28.
4. ^ a b Laughlin, Charlotte, and Levack, Daniel J. H. De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco, Underwood/Miller, 1983, page 195.
5. ^ ISFDB entry for "Judgment Day"
6. ^ a b Truesdale, Dave. "'Judgment Day' by L. Sprague de Camp," in Tangent, 22 March 2005
7. ^ Bray, Hiawatha. "When Computer Code Becomes a Moral Dilemma," in The Boston Globe, February 3, 2003.
8. ^ Miller, P. Schuyler. "The Reference Library", in Analog Science Fact - Science Fiction, v. 71, no. 5, July 1963, page 90.
9. ^ Davidson, Avram. "Books," in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, v. 25, no. 4, October 1963, pages 20-21.

## References

[edit]

* Judgment Day title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
* Laughlin, Charlotte; Daniel J. H. Levack (1983). De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller. pp. 28, 62, 194–195.

* v
* t
* e

L. Sprague de Camp

Viagens
Interplanetarias|

| Krishna|

* "Finished" (1949)
* The Queen of Zamba (1949)
* The Hand of Zei (1950)
* "Perpetual Motion" (1950)
* "Calories" (1951)
* The Virgin of Zesh (1953)
* The Tower of Zanid (1958)
* The Hostage of Zir (1977)
* The Prisoner of Zhamanak (1982)
* The Bones of Zora (1983)
* The Swords of Zinjaban (1991)

|

Kukulkan|

* The Stones of Nomuru (1988)
* The Venom Trees of Sunga (1992)

Other|

* "The Animal-Cracker Plot" (1949)
* "The Colorful Character" (1949)
* "Git Along!" (1950)
* "The Inspector's Teeth" (1950)
* "Summer Wear" (1950)
* The Continent Makers (1951)
* "The Galton Whistle" (1951)
* Rogue Queen (1951)

Harold Shea|

* "The Roaring Trumpet" (1940)
* "The Mathematics of Magic" (1940)
* The Castle of Iron (1941/50)
* The Wall of Serpents (1953)
* The Green Magician (1954)
* Sir Harold and the Gnome King (1990)
* Sir Harold of Zodanga (1995)

Pusadian|

* The Tritonian Ring (1951)
* "The Eye of Tandyla" (1951)
* "The Owl and the Ape" (1951)
* "The Hungry Hercynian" (1953)
* "The Stronger Spell" (1953)
* "Ka the Appalling" (1958)
* "The Rug and the Bull" (1974)
* "The Stone of the Witch Queen" (1977)

Novarian|

* The Goblin Tower (1968)
* The Clocks of Iraz (1971)
* "The Emperor's Fan" (1973)
* The Fallible Fiend (1973)
* The Unbeheaded King (1983)
* The Honorable Barbarian (1989)

Neo-Napolitanian|

* The Incorporated Knight (1987)
* The Pixilated Peeress (1991)

Conan|

| Novels|

* Conan and the Spider God (1980)
* Conan of the Isles (1968)
* Conan the Barbarian (1982)
* Conan the Buccaneer (1971)
* Conan the Liberator (1979)
* The Return of Conan (1957)

|

Short stories|

* "Black Sphinx of Nebthu" (1973)
* "The Treasure of Tranicos" (1953)
* "Black Tears" (1968)
* "The Blood-Stained God" (1955)
* "The Castle of Terror" (1969)
* "The City of Skulls" (1967)
* "The Curse of the Monolith" (1968)
* "Drums of Tombalku" (1966)
* The Flame Knife (1955/81)
* "The Frost Giant's Daughter" Conan (1953)
* "The Gem in the Tower" (1978)
* "The God in the Bowl" (1952)
* "The Hall of the Dead" (1967)
* "Hawks Over Shem" (1955)
* "The Ivory Goddess" (1978)
* "The Lair of the Ice Worm" (1969)
* "Legions of the Dead" (1978)
* "Moon of Blood" (1978)
* "The People of the Summit" (1970/78)
* "Red Moon of Zembabwei" (1974)
* "The Road of the Eagles" (1955)
* "Shadows in the Dark" (1978)
* "Shadows in the Skull" (1975)
* "The Snout in the Dark" (1969)
* "The Star of Khorala" (1978)
* "The Thing in the Crypt" (1967)
* "The Witch of the Mists" (1972)
* "Wolves Beyond the Border" (1967)

Other
speculative
fiction|

| Novels|

* The Carnelian Cube (1948)
* Genus Homo (1950)
* The Glory That Was (1960)
* The Great Fetish (1978)
* Land of Unreason (1942)
* Lest Darkness Fall (1941)
* None but Lucifer (1939)
* Solomon's Stone (1942)

|

Short stories|

* "Aristotle and the Gun" (1958)
* "The Blue Giraffe" (1939)
* "The Command" (1938)
* "The Contraband Cow" (1942)
* "Cornzan the Mighty" (1955)
* "Divide and Rule" (1939)
* "The Egg" (1956)
* "Employment" (1939)
* "The Gnarly Man" (1939)
* "The Guided Man" (1952)
* "A Gun for Dinosaur" (1956)
* "The Hardwood Pile" (1940)
* "The Hibited Man" (1949)
* "Hyperpilosity" (1938)
* "In-Group" (1952)
* "Internal Combustion" (1956)
* "The Isolinguals" (1937)
* "Judgment Day" (1955)
* "Let's Have Fun" (1957)
* "Living Fossil" (1939)
* "The Merman" (1938)
* "Nothing in the Rules" (1939)
* "The Reluctant Shaman" (1947)
* "The Saxon Pretender" (1952)
* "The Space Clause" (1952)
* "The Stolen Dormouse" (1941)
* "Throwback" (1949)
* "The Wheels of If" (1940)

Historical fiction|

* The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate (1961)
* The Arrows of Hercules (1965)
* An Elephant for Aristotle (1958)
* The Bronze God of Rhodes (1960)
* The Golden Wind (1969)

Fiction edited|

* The Wolf Leader (1950)
* Swords and Sorcery (1963)
* The Spell of Seven (1965)
* Conan the Warrior (1967)
* The Fantastic Swordsmen (1967)
* Conan the Conqueror (1967)
* Warlocks and Warriors (1970)
* 3000 Years of Fantasy and Science Fiction (1972)
* Tales Beyond Time (1973)

Nonfiction|

| Science and
history|

* Inventions and Their Management (1937)
* The Evolution of Naval Weapons (1947)
* Antarctic Conquest (1949)
* Engines (1959)
* The Heroic Age of American Invention (1961)
* Man and Power (1961)
* Energy and Power (1962)
* The Ancient Engineers (1963)
* Ancient Ruins and Archaeology (1964)
* Elephant (1964)
* Spirits, Stars, and Spells (1966)
* The Story of Science in America (1967)
* The Day of the Dinosaur (1968)
* The Great Monkey Trial (1968)
* Darwin and His Great Discovery (1972)
* Great Cities of the Ancient World (1972)
* The Ragged Edge of Science (1980)
* The Fringe of the Unknown (1983)
* The Ape-Man Within (1995)
* Rubber Dinosaurs and Wooden Elephants (1996)

|

Lit crit and
biography|

* Blond Barbarians and Noble Savages (1975)
* The Conan Reader (1968)
* Dark Valley Destiny (1983)
* Lands Beyond (1952)
* Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers (1976)
* Lost Continents (1954)
* Lovecraft: A Biography (1975)
* The Miscast Barbarian (1975)
* Science-Fiction Handbook (1953/75)
* Time and Chance (1996)

Nonfiction edited|

* The Conan Swordbook (1969)
* The Conan Grimoire (1972)
* To Quebec and the Stars (1976)
* The Blade of Conan (1979)
* The Spell of Conan (1980)

Poetry|

* Demons and Dinosaurs (1970)
* Heroes and Hobgoblins (1981)
* Phantoms and Fancies (1972)

Collections|

* The Continent Makers and Other Tales of the Viagens (1953)
* The Virgin of Zesh & The Tower of Zanid (1983)
* The Incomplete Enchanter (1941)
* Wall of Serpents (1960)
* The Compleat Enchanter (1975)
* The Complete Compleat Enchanter (1989)
* The Enchanter Reborn (1992)
* The Exotic Enchanter (1995)
* The Mathematics of Magic (2007)
* The Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales (1953)
* The Reluctant King (1985)
* Conan (1967)
* The Conan Chronicles (1989)
* The Conan Chronicles 2 (1990)
* Conan of Aquilonia (1977)
* Conan of Cimmeria (1969)
* Conan the Adventurer (1966)
* Conan the Avenger (1968)
* Conan the Freebooter (1968)
* Conan the Swordsman (1978)
* Conan the Usurper (1967)
* Conan the Wanderer (1968)
* Sagas of Conan (2004)
* Tales of Conan (1955)
* The Treasure of Tranicos (1980)
* Aristotle and the Gun (2002)
* The Best of L. Sprague de Camp (1978)
* Divide and Rule (1948)
* Footprints on Sand (1981)
* A Gun for Dinosaur (1963)
* The Purple Pterodactyls (1980)
* The Reluctant Shaman (1970)
* Rivers of Time (1993)
* Scribblings (1972)
* Sprague de Camp's New Anthology (1953)
* Tales from Gavagan's Bar (1953/78)
* The Undesired Princess (1951)
* The Virgin & the Wheels (1976)
* The Wheels of If (1948)
* Years in the Making (2005)

About de Camp|

* GURPS Planet Krishna (1997)
* The Enchanter Completed (2005)

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