"Scanners Live in Vain" Rating: Five Planets
by Cordwainer Smith  
pub. Fantasy Book, 1950  
collected in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. I  
   
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Preview

Martel is a Scanner, one of a group of men who voluntarily allow their nerves to be cut so that they are able to steer through space. Martel can only feel when he "cranches" periodically. The Scanners' sacrifice makes space travel possible.

Then a method for traversing space without the need for Scanners is developed.

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Background Data
Atom Bullet This is the first story that Paul Linebarger wrote under his Cordwainer Smith pseudonym.
Atom Bullet This story takes place within Smith's Instrumentality universe.

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SciFi Guide
© 2002 Agatha Taormina
Last Revised: January 4, 2005