The Variable Man
Encyclopedia
The Variable Man is a novella
written and sold by Philip K. Dick before he had an agent. It was first published in Space Science Fiction
(British
), Vol. 2 No. 2, July 1953 and Space Science Fiction
, September 1953 with the US publication illustrated by Alex Ebel
. Despite the magazine cover dates it is unclear whether the first publication was in the UK or in the US where magazines tended to be published farther ahead of their cover dates than in the UK. The Variable Man can be found in several collections of Dick's short stories, including The Variable Man
and The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford
.
in the United States
because it was published in the United States between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1963 but copyright was not renewed with the US Copyright Office within a year period beginning on December 31 of the 27th year of the copyright and running through December 31 of the following year. When renewal registration was not made within the statutory time limit copyright expired at the end of its first term and protection was lost permanently.
is growing and expanding all the time. But an old and corrupt Centaurian Empire is holding Terra
down, as it encircles the Terran system and will not let the humans grow out of their current empire. For this reason Terra is at war with Proxima Centauri
and is trying to find a way of breaking free from the Centaurian's hold upon them.
In the war that results, Terra is continually coming up with new weapons to try and break the Centaurian defenses, but Proxima Centauri is also continually updating its defenses. Using spies and other such tactics, both parties find out about each others advances, and no actual fighting ever occurs because both sides are too busy trying to beat each other with new technological developments. Terra even calculates their chances to win a war versus Centauri and updates these calculations with each new development, making their decision about a war rely on this calculation. Eventually Terra comes up with a concept for a bomb, called Icarus, that Proxima can not defend against because it travels at relativistic speeds, making use of the build up of mass at near light speeds as a destructive agent. Then the odds start to side with Terra, and Terra prepares to fight with this new-found technology. The only problem being is that Icarus does not yet work which prevents Terra from using it against Proxima Centuari.
This is where Thomas Cole, known as The Variable Man, comes in. Cole is a man from the past, from the time just before the First World War. He is brought into the present (or future depending on perspective) as an accident via a Time Bubble that was used for research about the past. He escapes from the authority in the future and spends a lot of time running from them afterwards. It is, however, discovered that this man has a certain genius to fix things and make things work. This is because he comes out of a period of time when humans had a natural genius and an ability to invent things and to solve problems. It is at this point that the man working on the FTL (Faster Than Light) bomb realizes that The Variable Man is the only person who can make Icarus work. As a result, the engineer working on Icarus convinces The Variable Man to help them out. Icarus does eventually work, although not in the way that anyone may have wanted. Instead of emerging from FTL speed in the middle of Centarus (the sun around which the Centaurian Empire is built) and blowing it, and the surrounding Centaurian system, out of existence, it turns out that Cole transformed (or fixed) Icarus into a working hyperdrive
. However the order for Terra to launch a full-scale attack against the Centaurian Empire (under the assumption that the majority of the enemy ships and planets would have been destroyed in the Icarus explosion) had already been given. The forces of Terra suffered a terrible defeat, losing many of their ships, yet due to the Variable Man having successfully wired Icarus it was now possible for Terra to travel beyond the Centaurian Empire's perimeter. Terra was no longer blocked into their tiny system, and there was no further need for war.
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
written and sold by Philip K. Dick before he had an agent. It was first published in Space Science Fiction
Space Science Fiction
Space Science Fiction was a science fiction magazine published by Space Publications, Inc. of New York and The Archer Press Ltd. of London that ran for eight issues from May 1952 to September 1953. Space was edited by Lester del Rey and featured a monthly book review column by George O. Smith...
(British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), Vol. 2 No. 2, July 1953 and Space Science Fiction
Space Science Fiction
Space Science Fiction was a science fiction magazine published by Space Publications, Inc. of New York and The Archer Press Ltd. of London that ran for eight issues from May 1952 to September 1953. Space was edited by Lester del Rey and featured a monthly book review column by George O. Smith...
, September 1953 with the US publication illustrated by Alex Ebel
Alex Ebel
Alex Ebel is a science fiction and fantasy illustrator. A few examples of his illustrations are on the covers for the books Galaxies and The Sun by Isaac Asimov, Evil Earths by Brian Aldiss, Ability Quotient by Mack Reynolds, Homefaring by Robert Silverberg, and one of his most famous - The Left...
. Despite the magazine cover dates it is unclear whether the first publication was in the UK or in the US where magazines tended to be published farther ahead of their cover dates than in the UK. The Variable Man can be found in several collections of Dick's short stories, including The Variable Man
The Variable Man (collection)
The Variable Man is a collection of science fiction stories by Philip K. Dick. It was first published by Ace Books in 1957. The stories had originally appeared in the magazines Space Science Fiction, Fantastic Universe and Galaxy Science Fiction-Contents:* "The Variable Man"* "Second Variety"*...
and The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford
The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford (collection)
The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford is a collection of science fiction stories by Philip K. Dick. It was first published by Citadel Twilight in 1990 and reprints Volume I of The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick...
.
Copyright status
The Variable Man is in the public domainPublic domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
because it was published in the United States between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1963 but copyright was not renewed with the US Copyright Office within a year period beginning on December 31 of the 27th year of the copyright and running through December 31 of the following year. When renewal registration was not made within the statutory time limit copyright expired at the end of its first term and protection was lost permanently.
Plot summary
The Terran systemSolar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
is growing and expanding all the time. But an old and corrupt Centaurian Empire is holding Terra
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
down, as it encircles the Terran system and will not let the humans grow out of their current empire. For this reason Terra is at war with Proxima Centauri
Proxima Centauri
Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star about 4.2 light-years distant in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa, and is the nearest known star to the Sun, although it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye...
and is trying to find a way of breaking free from the Centaurian's hold upon them.
In the war that results, Terra is continually coming up with new weapons to try and break the Centaurian defenses, but Proxima Centauri is also continually updating its defenses. Using spies and other such tactics, both parties find out about each others advances, and no actual fighting ever occurs because both sides are too busy trying to beat each other with new technological developments. Terra even calculates their chances to win a war versus Centauri and updates these calculations with each new development, making their decision about a war rely on this calculation. Eventually Terra comes up with a concept for a bomb, called Icarus, that Proxima can not defend against because it travels at relativistic speeds, making use of the build up of mass at near light speeds as a destructive agent. Then the odds start to side with Terra, and Terra prepares to fight with this new-found technology. The only problem being is that Icarus does not yet work which prevents Terra from using it against Proxima Centuari.
This is where Thomas Cole, known as The Variable Man, comes in. Cole is a man from the past, from the time just before the First World War. He is brought into the present (or future depending on perspective) as an accident via a Time Bubble that was used for research about the past. He escapes from the authority in the future and spends a lot of time running from them afterwards. It is, however, discovered that this man has a certain genius to fix things and make things work. This is because he comes out of a period of time when humans had a natural genius and an ability to invent things and to solve problems. It is at this point that the man working on the FTL (Faster Than Light) bomb realizes that The Variable Man is the only person who can make Icarus work. As a result, the engineer working on Icarus convinces The Variable Man to help them out. Icarus does eventually work, although not in the way that anyone may have wanted. Instead of emerging from FTL speed in the middle of Centarus (the sun around which the Centaurian Empire is built) and blowing it, and the surrounding Centaurian system, out of existence, it turns out that Cole transformed (or fixed) Icarus into a working hyperdrive
Hyperdrive
Hyperdrive is a name given to certain methods of traveling faster-than-light in science fiction. Related concepts are jump drive and warp drive....
. However the order for Terra to launch a full-scale attack against the Centaurian Empire (under the assumption that the majority of the enemy ships and planets would have been destroyed in the Icarus explosion) had already been given. The forces of Terra suffered a terrible defeat, losing many of their ships, yet due to the Variable Man having successfully wired Icarus it was now possible for Terra to travel beyond the Centaurian Empire's perimeter. Terra was no longer blocked into their tiny system, and there was no further need for war.