There was an old science fiction short story where aliens threw Earth's technology back to 19th century levels by stopping all rapid chemical combustion. Steam trains worked and were armored to protect against outlaws using bows and arrows. I think they also eliminated atomic energy.
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Don't quite get the description. Alien invaders use a magic "combustion suppressor field" to facilitate their conquest of Earth; OK, that happens a lot in SF. The war wouldn't last long, and once the aliens establish control I'd expect them to turn off the CSF. Wouldn't seem like enough time for the bandits to arm themselves with bows and arrows. So I guess the CSF is left on indefinitely? What is the aliens' motivation for that?– user14111Commented Aug 10, 2015 at 23:28
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Does the phrase "Like idiot children playing with machine guns" enter into it? If so I can probably dig it up.– dmckee --- ex-moderator kittenCommented Aug 11, 2015 at 3:35
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possibly the same as scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/71600/…– OtisCommented Oct 21, 2015 at 21:30
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2 Answers
This sounds like it could be the Frederic Brown short story "The Waveries". In it
" The basic premise is that an alien species, in the form of radio waves, invades the Earth and its atmosphere. The result is a complete interference with any radio waves. They also consume all forms of electricity (AC, DC, sparks from a car’s ignition), a phenomenon first discovered by the absence of lightning. The aliens are given names such as vaders (short for invaders) and waveries. In essence, the world must go back to the time before the telegraph. "
One other note. You mention that the country is thrown back to using bows and arrows. That would imply gunpowder is not working. There is a more recent set of novels in which that takes place. It is the "Dies the Fire" Emberverse series by S.M. Stirling. In it not only electricity, but gunpowder, atomic energy and even steam turbines do not work.
Is it possible you are mixing the older short story with the newer novels?
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If the aliens really consumed all forms of electricity, all life would quickly die. Just saying. :)– MarthaCommented Aug 11, 2015 at 0:09
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@Martha. Agreed :-) That is why the authors of such stories typically stipulate that it is "high-order" or "rapid" forms of electricity, combustion, etc. Otherwise, you are correct. Humans would die without electrical impulses being available.– beichstCommented Aug 11, 2015 at 0:13
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There's nothing in The Waveries about steam trains being armoured to protect against outlaws. Bill, are you sure about the armoured steam trains? Commented Aug 11, 2015 at 9:13
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1I was told about this story by an old friend when I was telling him about the Emberverse. It was something he read in an old anthology in High School. He was sure about the armored steam trains. Though after so many years he could be conflating two stories, but his memory is usually pretty good. Commented Aug 11, 2015 at 23:50
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John is correct. The Waverley doesn't have have steam engine transport battles. I should have probably mentioned that– beichstCommented Aug 12, 2015 at 13:10
I think you might be remembering "Pax Galactica" by Ralph Williams, Astounding, November 1952. It was collected in The Stars at War, the first volume of the Pournelle/Carr anthology series Imperial Stars. You can read the original published version at the Internet Archive.
aliens threw Earth's technology back to 19th century levels by stopping all rapid chemical combustion.
Forty-eight hours later, as the inhibitor settled down from the stratosphere, a secondary interdict became manifest. Men would also no longer use chemical explosives. Above a pressure of two hundred psi, chemical reactions were self-damping. Hydroelectric and steam plants functioned normally, low-compression engines and jets idled without power; but guns fizzled damply and high-compression engines stalled. A ceiling had been put on the compact power available to man.
Steam trains worked and were armored to protect against outlaws using bows and arrows.
This part doesn't completely fit; there are steam trains but only mentioned in passing. There is however an extended description of a battle between armoured heavy infantry using pikes and bows and arrows and barbarian horsemen using spears and bows. The heavy infantry do have "steam centrifugals and mortars" though, so steam is explicitly called out. (This part also talks about a wagon train, so perhaps those are conflated.)
I think they also eliminated atomic energy.
This was actually part of the first step, which was a full-on military attack that wiped out rockets and airbases along with nuclear facilities:
The basic picture of the raid and its effect began to shape up almost before the last raider had slid up through the atmosphere to join the formation orbiting effortlessly above.
First, there was no longer in any part of the world, so far as careful reconnaissance could determine, any store of fissionable material nor any plant for processing such material. Where these had been were now boiling pits of liquid magma, with the air above and about lethally charged with radioactive debris. Either the raiders had perfect intelligence, or they had instruments able to sniff out the stuff with uncanny precision, in either event they had got them all.