LAST UPDATE
3/30/23
The End of the
Tunnel by Paul Capon, Thunderchild, 1959
Aka
The Cave of Cornelius. Four young children are exploring a cave
when they are trapped by a landslide. They are forced to descend further
and find a lost Roman civilization, although the Romans are familiar
with the surface world and even have a helicopter which they fly around
in their enormous cavern. Everyone is nice and the children eventually
find a way back to the surface. Not much of anything going on in this
one. 3/30/23
Flight of Time
by Paul Capon, Thunderchild, 1960
The
final novel by this author is for younger readers. Four children find an
automated time machine and travel three hundred years into the future.
Although they are treated well in a kind of utopian society, they are
forced to flee when they discover that they are to be kept captive for
study. The time machine malfunctions and they find themselves in
prehistory watching two tribes have a battle. Finally they fix the
machine and return to their own time. Trivial. 3/30/23
Ascension by Nicholas
Binge, Riverhead, 2023, $28, ISBN 978-0-593-52958-3
The
protagonist is a scientist who is puzzled by the suicide of a colleague,
who has been acting strangely and seems to be able to perceive future
events. The colleague was working on a secret government project, and
our hero takes his place. The project is the exploration of a 40,000
foot high mountain which has suddenly emerged from the Pacific Ocean in
defiance of all rules of logic. In order to conduct this study, it is
necessary for a small group to actually climb the mountain. There is a
lot of metaphysical discussion mixed with real and quasi-scientific
explanations. The journey reveals things about the explorers as well as
about the mountain. Although the concepts are sometimes complex, they
are explained fairly simply. I am almost tempted to call this a fantasy.
The prose is quite good but oddly I had a claustrophobic feeling while I
was reading it. 3/28/23
Other Times,
Other Worlds by John D. MacDonald, 1978
During
the 1940s and 1950s, MacDonald wrote a fairly large body of short SF.
This is a good sized collection of these stories, several of which had
been anthologized previously. They are almost all quite dated and a
couple have glaring scientific errors. Themes include time travel,
dimensional gateways, mutant geniuses, secret alien visitors, space
travel, and other staples of the genre. "A Child Is Crying" is probably
his best known, the story of a supergenius toddler. They are all well
written, of course, but I had the feeling that MacDonald was never
really at ease in this genre. 3/26/23
Phobos,
the Robot Planet by Paul Capon, Digit, 1955
Aka
Lost: A Moon. Three humans are abducted by a flying saucer and
taken to the Martian moon, which is actually a space station operated by
a robotic brain that is curious about humans. They have some unlikely
adventures there and on the surface of Mars before they outwit the brain
and escape back to Earth. The writing is primitive, though the science
was a bit improved over the author’s previous novels. He never bothers
to adequately explain the fate of the Martians who built the space
station originally, only a few centuries earlier. It appears that they
migrated to the stars. Pretty dull. 3/24/23
World at Bay by
Paul Capon, Panther, 1953
Following
a nuclear war, the world has disarmed itself, which for some reason
causes the world economy to collapse. The UK has become a repressive
dictatorship. Certain types of research are banned throughout the world,
but a renegade scientist wants to tape into nuclear power by opening a
rift to the fourth dimension. He does so, but it causes a chain reaction
that is contagious, but only if the subject is alive. Except when the
plot demands otherwise. This attracts the attention of an international
secret agent. The story is scientifically illiterate and it is
never quite clear how the governments cooperate, or fail to do so, in
the new international order. 3/21/23
Down to Earth by
Paul Capon, Digit, 1954
Concluding
book in the rather primitive Antigeos trilogy. An expedition has
discovered an inhabited world on the opposite side of the sun, but due
to their crash landing and the lack of a radio, no one on Earth knows
what happened. Finally, while building a new ship, the explorers manage
to send a signal in Morse Code, which is received by some ambitious and
not particularly scrupulous businessmen back on Earth. They immediately
decide to exploit the discovery to enrich themselves. Eventually the
ship returns with some of the natives of that world and the political
situation is defused. Decidedly minor. 3/19/23
The Other
Half of the Planet by
Paul Capon, Thunderchild, 1952
This
is the middle volume of a trilogy. Six space explorers have landed on a
planet hidden by the sun and have found a friendly, almost utopian
society. Three of them decide to return to Earth, but they crash on the
opposite hemisphere of the planet. The culture here is brutal and relies
on slavery and cruelty. After some rather boring adventures, they build
a balloon and return to the more pleasant half of the planet. Very
boring and predictably implausible. 3/16/23
The Other
Side of the Sun by Paul Capon, Thunderchild, 1950
First
volume of a trilogy. A slowly developing story about the construction
of the first spaceship. Its purpose is to discover whether or not there
is another earthlike world on the opposite side of the sun – there is,
of course. An unlikely group of people go on the first voyage, which
really doesn’t get underway until the second half of the novel. They
land and meet a humanoid race, but one member of their crew is an agent
of a syndicate that wants to conquer the planet and enslave its
inhabitants. The story ends in a mild cliffhanger. 3/15/23
The Bowl of Baal
by Robert Ames Bennet, Grant, 1975 (originally published in 1916)
This
is not badly written but it’s an unexceptional lost race novel. The
protagonist lands his small plane in an oasis where a forgotten
civilization survives. Two rival priestesses are battling for power and
our hero naturally helps the better one win after being mistaken for a
god. He has some minor adventures plus a pretty good one battling a
surviving dinosaur. The author wrote one other lost world novel but most
of his output was western adventures. This isn't bad but isn't memorable
either. 3/11/23
When the
Earth Swung Over by Alfred Colbeck, Armchair, 2022 (originally
published in 1926)
This
is a borderline lost race novel, but really just a jungle adventure
story. A shipwreck leaves several people in the hands of a hidden tribe
in South America. One escapee returns to civilization and is then a part
of a rescue party that has various adventures, mostly en route, before
finally accomplishing their goal. The prose is okay but sometimes clunky
and the characters are all stereotypes. The adventures are not
particularly interesting and the ending was pretty obvious from the
outset. Some obscure novels deserve to remain obscure. 3/9/23
The Devil’s
Henchmen by John Oldrey, Armchair, 2022 (Originally published in
1926)
This
is marginally a lost world novel set somewhere near Afghanistan, but the
remote kingdom is known to the outside world and has already been
visited by Russian agents when an experimental air ship is forced to
land there due to sabotage. The evil queen of that land has decided to
use the discovery of a method of mind control in order to conquer the
world. The gallant airship captain foils her plans and outwits the
nefarious Russian spies. Not very interesting. 3/5/23
An Aerial Runaway
by W.P. & C.P. Chipman, Armchair, 2022 (originally published in 1901)
A
generally uninteresting standard lost world adventure. Four men in a
runaway balloon end up among a lost Incan tribe in the mountains of
Venezuela. There is an evil high priest, a beautiful girl, a brewing
civil war, and the usual cliches. The outsiders are initially assumed to
be gods. They defeat the high priest and he is removed from power. The
civil war breaks out and they help the good guys before using a canoe to
return to the outside world. Long sections are descriptive and not much
happens. 3/1/23
The
Transmigration of Timothy Archer by Philip K. Dick, Pocket,
1982
I’m
not sure if this is really SF at all. It is more properly fantasy
because of a poltergeist and some communication with the dead. Archer is
an Episcopalian bishop who travels to Israel to consult some ancient
documents and goes through a transformative process spiritually which
helps him deal with the suicides of people he loves, but also leads to
his death in the desert. The novel is narrated by his daughter-in-law
and is heavy on theological and philosophical speculation and argument.
I liked it better than the other two books in the Valis “trilogy” but
Dick’s preoccupations do not coincide very much with my own so I found
them essentially lacking interest. 2/21/23
Nick and the
Glimmung by Philip K. Dick. Piper, 1988
This
was Dick’s only SF novel for younger readers, and it’s a kind of sequel
to Galactic Pot-Healer. Earth has outlawed the ownership of pets
so a family emigrates to another planet where they meet a number of
different aliens, They are also concerned about the presence of a
Glimmung, a supposedly evil alien entity. Boring. 2/21/23
Subterrania by
Harl Vincent, Armchair, 2022
This
contains two related novellas from 1929-1930. The first involves attacks
from an underground world where a villain from the surface has become
ruler of a tribe of cave men and has begun kidnapping slaves from above.
The hero escapes at the end of the first story and the villains are
presumed dead, but one survives and the sequel describes a return trip
to deal with his remaining minions. Vincent was an artless writer and
these two novellas are flat and uninteresting. 2/17/23
Radio Free
Albemuth by Philip K. Dick, Avon, 1987
Another
autobiographical and philosophical novel, this one published
posthumously. It was written during the 1970s and apparently rejected,
although the author went on to write Valis instead, which is
arguably even further from his previous work. The protagonist lives in
an alternate 1960s America where paranoia is endemic and conspiracy
theories are everywhere. He was unusually prophetic about that. The
protagonist has visions/visits from an alien entity who is apparently
God and wants him to overthrow the government. Readable, but slow.
2/17/23
The Preserving
Machine by Philip K. Dick, Ace, 1969
I
confess that while virtually all of the stories here were readable, very
few are memorable. “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” is pretty
good. The movie versions as Total Recall change the ending. “If There
Were No Benny Cemoli” and “What the Dead Men Say” are both quite good.
Dick really needed at least novella length to explore some of his odd
concepts, and he tended to reuse ideas and situations quite often. His
penchant for the surreal is rarely seen in this selection, although some
entries – like the title story – are more fantasy than science fiction.
2/15/23The Divine Invasion
by Philip K. Dick, Pocket, 1981
More
or less a sequel to Valis, although it is more a thematic link
than anything else. This is another long discussion of theological
issues wrapped around a tissue of a plot. God is not dead. He has been
exiled to a distant planet and Belial rules the Earth through communism
and organized religion. The protagonist convinces God that it is time to
return and ends up escorting a pregnant woman across space in order to
set off the Second Coming. Drifts into fantasy a lot. If you like the
theology, you might find this interesting. The plot is just an excuse to
justify its marketing. 2/13/23
Snow Rubies by
Ganpat, Armchair, 2022
This
1925 lost world novel by Martin Gompertz was originally published in
1925. A small expedition penetrates to a hidden valley in the Himalayas
after an oversized ruby suggests great riches are hidden there. They
encounter a tribe of hostile troglodytes who have an underground
civilization and they do not like intruders. Nothing really out of the
ordinary but it was nice not to have a beautiful princess and a civil
war. The adventure comes to an end when a fortuitous earthquake buries
the bad guys. Quite readable. 2/11/23
The Tunnel by Robert
Byrne, Dell, 1977
A
borderline SF thriller about an early project to build a cross Channel
tunnel from England to France. The construction is well under way and
the chief engineer is the protagonist, a man dedicated to completing the
link. Opposed to him is an IRA fanatic who plans to blow up the tunnel
at an opportune time in such a way that England will somehow be forced
to liberate all of Ireland. The plot moves in a sedate but entertaining
fashion and the characters are quite vividly portrayed. I’ve never seen
another novel by Byrne. 2/9/23
Valis by Philip K.
Dick, Bantam, 1981
Autobiographical
anecdotes and long philosophical discussions make up most of this novel,
the first in a series of three. The plot, such as it is, involves a man
who – through his use of drugs – realizes that reality is all an
illusion and actually history proceeded in a much different manner than
what we perceive. The plot really is an excuse rather a focus. I doubt
very much this would even have been published if Dick had not become a
hot seller thanks to the Bladerunner movie. I had to force myself to
finish. 2/8/23
A Scanner Darkly
by Philip K. Dick. DAW, 1977
This
is a frequently autobiographical novel in which a new drug causes split
personalities. The protagonist is a drug user and dealer, whose
alternate personality wears an electronic suit that disguises his
appearance, and in that form he is a narcotics agent. Not even his
bosses know this, however, so one of him is ordered to keep the other of
him under surveillance. The personalities do not share information,
which leads to some humorous situations, although most of the novel is a
serious examination of the causes of drug addiction, the results on the
personality and human interactions, and questions about whether drug use
should be judged criminal. Although parts are amusing, overall this
failed for me. 2/4/23
High Concepts by
Bill Pronzini, Stark House, 2023, $15.95, ISBN 979-8-88601-017-6
I
have always thought of Bill Pronzini as a mystery author and this
collection made me realize that he has produced a great deal of SF as
well, although at shorter length. There are more than thirty stories
here, four of them original to the collection - and several of them
collaborations with Barry Malzberg. They are generally quite short and
they span a career of over fifty years and are drawn from all of the
major genre magazines and a variety of anthologies. There is humor and
suspense and satire and speculation sprinkled through this collection of
gems and while this is a kind of sidelight to his central writing focus,
it is no less entertaining. I couldn't help wondering what kind of
novels he might have written had this been his preferred genre. 2/2/23
The Variable Man
by Philip K. Dick, Ace, 1957
A
collection of early stories. “Second Variety” is the most famous, a tale
in which killer robots are used to imitate people and infiltrate enemy
lines. “Minority Report” is another of his best tales. The title story
is a novella about a time traveler whose presence upsets an entire
civilization. “Autofac” describes war with automated underground
factories which refuse to be shut down. “A World of Talent” is the
weakest – an allegory about mutants. These are from the most imaginative
and productive period in Dick's career for short fiction. 1/27/23
Deus Irae by
Philip K. Dick & Roger Zelazny, Dell, 1976
A
post-apocalyptic novel whose protagonist is an artist who was born
without arms or legs and uses an elaborate mechanism to function. He is
sent on a pilgrimage to find the human being who is also the God of
Wrath and paint his portrait. Along the way he encounters a large number
of humans and mutants. Some of the book is clearly fantasy – talking
birds, for example. Much of it consists of theological arguments of no
particular interest. I hated this when it first came out, and the years
have not improved my opinion. I struggled to finish it. 1/24/23
Flow My Tears,
the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick, DAW, 1974
Although
this novel makes use of a generally effective premise – the person who
discovers one day that he does not exist and no one remembers him – the
narrative begins to lose steam halfway through. The protagonist is a
popular singer/entertainer who wakes up in a hotel room in a world that
does not recognize him. It’s a dystopian police state, so that’s not a
good thing, and he goes the usual route of forged papers and trying to
contact people who should know him. The eventual explanation is new but
not very plausible and there are sections of the book that are very
talky without much progress. 1/22/23
Our
Friends from Frolix 8 by Philip K. Dick, Ace, 1970
One
of my least favorite Dick novels. A relative handful of mutants have
somehow seized control of the world and have set up a repressive
government. One dissident has flown off to the stars to find an alien
race who might help overthrow them. He does, sort of, but Dick never
took the story seriously and therefore neither does the reader. The
characters act in absurd ways, motives are random and changeable, and it
is not even clear if the alien who returns is actually real. The
resolution resolves little and we are left unaware of whether the
situation has changed for the better, or for the worse. I found little
to enjoy in anything Dick wrote from this point on in his career.
1/16/23
The Maze of Death
by Philip K. Dick, Paperback Library, 1970
Fourteen
people are lured to a prospective colony world without any explanation
of what the colony is supposed to do, and they are immediately cut off
from the rest of the universe. This was Dick’s exploration of the nature
of God and while there are hints of an interesting situation – God is
not supernatural – the potential is completely wasted. The colonists
begin to die in mysterious ways. Are they killing each other, or just
imagining it? At the end, I really didn’t care what the solution was.
Galactic
Pot-Healer by Philip K. Dick, Berkley, 1969
Dick
declined as far as I am concerned with the previous book and never
recovered. This one involves a mysterious creature in a far world that
recruits humans from all over the galaxy to help it restore a cathedral
built by an extinct race. Except there is more going on than it appears.
I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, but that never
happened. I cared not one whit for any of the characters, or for the
outcome of the project. It is self indulgent and quite boring and the
next novel would be even worse. 1/12/23
We Can Build You
by Philip K. Dick, DAW, 1969
Aka
A Lincoln, Android. This was the first of what I consider the
tedious novels by Dick. There are lots of long philosophical discussions
but not much plot. The premise is that a small company develops an
android that can pass for human. An Elon Musk type character tries to
buy them out so that he can use them to seed fake colonists on other
planets and corner the real estate market. There is angst. There is
concern about what makes a human being. There are legal battles and
personal conflicts. What is missing is entertainment. And an actual
plot. The first half is quite promising, but things go bad at midpoint,
and the story ends without resolving any of the questions about the use
of androids. 1/10/23
Ubik by Philip K.
Dick, Dell, 1969
One
of my favorite Dick novels, and a kind of reprise of Eye in the Sky.
A group of anti-psi operatives escape an attack on their lives, or do
they? The world seems to be changing around them, regressing into the
past in bizarre ways. Currency becomes older, cigarettes grow stale, and
technology reverts to the 1930s. But not consistently. Something is
playing with reality, and they struggle to learn the rules. There is
also a spray can of Ubik, which can temporarily reverse the
retrogressive progress. Are they alive or dead? Is their boss alive or
dead? Although I generally dislike surrealism, this is a notable
exception. 1/8/23
Sneak Preview
by Robert Bloch, Paperback Library, 1971
A
standard post-apocalyptic satire with thousands of domed cities in North
America. One of them is a transformed version of Hollywood.
Psychologists effectively rule the world and preside over the question
of whether or not to reclaim the countryside. A filmmaker gets bored
with space operas and makes a realistic movie, which marks him as a
dissident. He somewhat inadvertently becomes the catalyst for a
revolution. Not particularly good. Satire has to have a new gimmick or
it feels imitative. 1/5/23
Do Androids Dream of
Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, Signet, 1968
This
was the basis for Bladerunner, the movie, although the story
varies considerably. Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter whose job is to
hunt down rogue androids and destroy them. They can easily pass for
human and sophisticated tests are necessary to tell the difference. The
latest batch of escapees provides some unusual challenges. Unlike the
movie, we do not feel much sympathy for the androids because they really
are monsters, incapable of human empathy. But Deckard fears that his own
personality might mean that he could not pass the test as human. And he
is strangely drawn to a woman who is clearly an android,. One of the
best of his best novels. 1/2/23
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