Helen O'Loy by Lester Del Rey

They built a machine to handle chores, not to wait by the door or feel the sting of being left behind. When affection stops being programmable, someone has to decide whether turning it off is an act of mercy or something far worse. Helen O’Loy by Lester Del Rey. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

One week from today we celebrate the 4th Anniversary of The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast. This is episode 493 and our 500th episode arrives on our Anniversary. So that’s 7 stories in the next 7 days.

Today’s story is recognized as one of the best science fiction stories during the Golden Age of Sci-Fi. You’ll understand in a few minutes. It has been republished almost 100 times in various publications over the last nine decades. 

Helen O’Loy was chosen in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the finest science-fiction short stories published before the establishment of the Nebula Awards, earning it a place in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964.

The story was also a finalist for the 1939 Retro Hugo Award for Best Short Story, where it placed second behind How We Went to Mars by Arthur C. Clarke.

What makes its success even more remarkable is that it was only the second story by Lester del Rey ever to be published.

From Astounding Science Fiction in December 1938 on page 118, Helen O’Loy by Lester Del Rey…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Three men realize their ship will never slow down, and the silence between them grows more dangerous than empty space. When a final option appears, it forces them to decide what kind of survival they are actually asking for. Death Wish by Robert Sheckley.

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