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Harlan Ellison: Jeffty Is Five. Summary and Analysis

In “Jeffty Is Five,” an adult man named Donald Horton narrates his relationship with Jeffty Kinzer, a boy who, mysteriously, never ages and remains forever five years old. As Donald grows, Jeffty stays the same, preserving not only his childlike appearance but also an inexplicable connection to a vanished cultural past: he listens to old radio shows, receives comics and toys from decades past as though they are current. Donald, torn between his adult life and the magic of Jeffty’s world, revels in that living nostalgia until, through negligence, he exposes him to the present. Jeffty is brutally beaten by some teenagers and, after that event, access to his world disappears. The story ends with Donald overwhelmed and vainly trying to recover that lost connection.

Isaac Asimov: Franchise. Summary and Analysis

In the year 2008, presidential elections in the United States are no longer conducted through popular vote. Instead, a supercomputer called Multivac selects one representative citizen to determine the outcome of all elections. That year, the chosen individual is Norman Muller, an ordinary man living in Bloomington, Indiana, with his family. After receiving an official visit from a government agent notifying him of his selection as Voter of the Year, Norman is placed under surveillance and taken to a facility connected to Multivac, where he answers a series of seemingly trivial questions while his physiological reactions are recorded. Once the process is complete, he is released without being informed of the election results. Though initially anxious and reluctant, by the end, he feels proud to have served as the means through which the national “vote” was exercised in a fully technologized democracy.

Roger Zelazny: A Rose for Ecclesiastes

“A Rose for Ecclesiastes” is a short story by Roger Zelazny, published in November 1963 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It tells the story of Gallinger, a brilliant poet and linguist from Earth who travels to Mars to study the culture of its ancient inhabitants. His extraordinary gift for languages makes him the first human to gain access to the sacred records of the Martians, a matriarchal society built on ancestral texts and traditions laden with symbolism and a somber philosophical background. Fascinated by this legacy, Gallinger enters into a cultural dialogue that will reveal to him an ancient prophecy.

Harlan Ellison: Jeffty Is Five

“Jeffty Is Five” is one of Harlan Ellison’s most awarded stories, first published in July 1977 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The narrative follows a man who recalls his childhood friend, Jeffty, a boy who seems to be anchored in time. As the years go by and the world changes, Jeffty remains unchanged, with the clear gaze and innocent questions of a five-year-old. This strange condition makes Jeffty a living enigma, a unique and fascinating being who defies the laws of physics and logic.

Robert Bloch: The Secret in the Tomb

“The Secret in the Tomb” is a gothic horror tale written by Robert Bloch and published in Weird Tales in May 1935. It is the author’s first story set within the Cthulhu Mythos, created by H. P. Lovecraft. The narrative follows the last heir of a family of sorcerers, who ventures into the cemetery in search of an ancient and sinister secret hidden within his ancestors’ vault. In this grim and mysterious setting, the protagonist confronts supernatural forces that defy reason, while the macabre and oppressive atmosphere reveals forbidden and hidden terrors.

Philip K. Dick: The Eyes Have It

“The Eyes Have It” is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, published in June 1953 in Science Fiction Stories. The narrative follows a man who finds an abandoned book on public transportation. Reading it at home, he believes he has uncovered evidence of a conspiracy in which a race of alien beings, hiding among humans, is stealthily invading Earth. As his paranoia grows, the protagonist grapples with the uncertainty of whether to share what he has discovered or keep it secret.