Broke Down Engines and other troubles with machines by Ron Goulart

13 Science Fiction stories about our futures problem child.

Happy New Year everyone. Welcome back. Lets get back to it shall we?

Although published in 1971, this collection of stories dates back to 1958.They were originally published in various pulp magazine and anthologies over the years due to the theme of machines gone wrong. The tag line for the novel “13 science fiction stories about our futures problem child” seems somewhat prophetic considering all the issues technology sems to have given us lately (AI, social media., Mobile phones and so on.)

“Broke Down Engine: Thirteen wry and terrifying tales of homo mechanicus (what we are becoming) versus the machines we have created. In a technocracy gone mad, in a universe populated by note-passing refrigerators, killer stoves, houses that cuckold their owners, medical androids, and a host of other malfunctioning mechanisms — the moment of truth is the moment of breakdown”.

Ron Goulart was a cultural historian prolific pulp author who wrote under many pseudonyms. He was a ghost writer for William Shatners Tek War novels, wrote novels based on the warren Vampirella Character and his novel After tings fell apart was the only sci fin novel to win the prestigious Edgar Award. He was considered one of Americas leading authority on comic books.

This is a collection of tales about what happens when we rely on technology too much and it goes wrong. Although the technology is pretty dated in some of the tales, (reel to reel apes, punch cards, telegrams) the themes behind our over reliance on tech are still relevant today. They deal with healthcare systems, unemployment, war, entertainment and even the welfare state. Its also leans into a world obsessed with administration and paperwork.

The tales re told with dry humour, almost farcical and a couple ending terrifyingly. My favourites are Broke Down Engine, concerning a computer system and an engineer dealing with worldwide food shortages, Lofthouse, about robotic house and its new owner and Terminal, about how the future could deal with an aging population. All those tales are close to problems today.

Goulart only died in 2022, so he would have been witness to how technology moved on from a time, when he wrote these stories, they were pretty much tech free. Considering how much technology has taken over our lives, I wonder if he realised how close to the truth these stories became. It seems he predicted problems with this technology that have never gone away.

The spectacular cover art is by Vincent DI Fate and you can see the full art here . Again, I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but when I saw this art and the “futures problem Child” tagline I had to get it. It’s a combination of paint and collage. Check out his website. He is a master of sci fi fantasy art, his black and white illustrations are stunning.

Goulart’s writing style is easy, funny and relatable. I’d even recommend this to people who don’t read Sci Fi but are obsessed with their phone/social media etc. He certainly predicted it right by calling it a problem child. Some could say Futures problem child has grown up a pretty crappy adult.