War, faith, technological change, and duties to other people.
Walter M. Miller Jr. (1923–1996) was an American science fiction writer best known for A Canticle for Leibowitz. He served in the Second World War, converted to Catholicism in 1947, and began publishing science fiction in 1951. Most of his shorter work appeared during the 1950s. “The Darfsteller” won a Hugo Award in 1955, and A Canticle for Leibowitz, developed from three related stories about a society rebuilding after nuclear war, won the award for best novel in 1961.
His fiction examines how technological change affects work, family life, and moral responsibility. “Conditionally Human” follows an inspector responsible for genetically engineered pets whose intelligence raises questions about their treatment. In “Death of a Spaceman,” a dying space worker looks back on his career and considers what it has meant for his family. These stories concern people whose personal loyalties conflict with their jobs or the rules of their society.
From a quick encounter to a longer story.
A retired spaceman dying at home waits to hear one final launch while his family struggles with what his life in space meant to them.
A government animal inspector discovers that one engineered pet can think and speak like a child, forcing him to decide who counts as human.
A condemned ritual thief on a dying Mars raids a forbidden vault, hoping that fragments of ancient science can save his people.
The masked president of a future Western dictatorship opens talks with his Asian rival, then learns that his purges have missed the real infiltrators.
A long-haul spacer returns to Earth to meet his newborn son, drunk, broke, and unsure whether he can stop choosing space over his family.
A defeated space fleet returns to peaceful Earth for fuel and turns a willing welcome into occupation, forced labor, and revolt.
A submarine officer deserts rather than help begin total nuclear war, but enemy vessels force him to decide what he is still willing to fight for.
