TY  - BOOK
AU  - Samachson,Joseph
AU  - Emshwiller,Ed
TI  - The Addicts
T2  - Produced from Galaxy Science Fiction January 1952
AV  - PS 
PY  - 2016///
CY  - Salt Lake City, UT
PB  - Project Gutenberg
KW  - Science fiction
KW  - Short stories
KW  - Spouses -- Fiction
KW  - Drug addicts -- Fiction
KW  - Asteroids -- Fiction
N1  - Release date is 2016-02-17; Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net; Original publication data not identified
N2  - "The Addicts" by William Morrison is a science fiction novella written in the early 1950s. The story unfolds aboard a lonely asteroid lighthouse where the protagonist, Jim Palmer, struggles with his addiction to a drug called marak, which is both pleasurable and debilitating. The central theme revolves around addiction and the lengths Palmer is willing to go to ensure his wife, Louise, shares in his euphoric experience, reflecting on love, dependency, and the contrasting attitudes towards life and death.  The narrative follows Palmer and Louise as they navigate their precarious existence amidst looming death due to external threats from alien creatures. Palmer believes that by making Louise an addict as well, he can cure her unhappiness caused by their dire circumstances. However, in a twist of fate, Louise cleverly administers an antidote to Jim, forcing him into sobriety and a clearer mindset. As he grapples with the harsh reality of their situation without the comforting veil of marak, he ultimately must confront the external dangers waiting outside the lighthouse. The story culminates in a dramatic irony where, liberated from addiction, Jim's newfound clarity allows him to take decisive action against the threats, even as he longs for the joy marak once provided. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
UR  - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51240
ER  -