LAST UPDATE
3/27/24
The Gold at
Starbow’s End by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1972
Collection
of stories. The title story was later reworked and expanded as
Starburst. I prefer this shorter version. There is also the shorter,
novella length version of Merchants of Venus, but in this case I
prefer the novel. “Call Me Million” is a pretty good story about a man
who drains other people’s life force. “Sad Solarian Screenwriter Sam” is
a cute twist on the plot in which humans are to be judged based on one
individual. “Shaffery Among the Immortals” is about a scientist who
wants to become famous and does so eventually, but only because he is
the first to come down with a new plague. Solid selection. 3.27.24
Digits and
Dastards by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1966
Collection
of very good stories. “With Redfern on Capella XII” is a not entirely
serious other worlds adventure. “The Five Hells of Orion” is a first
contact story with aliens who cannot understand the electromagnetic
spectrum. “Earth Eighteen” is a spoof, a hunting guide for aliens
seeking human trophies. “The Fiend” is a cyborg starship captain who
revives a colonist from suspended animation for company. “The Children
of Night” is s simplistic but engaging story of an advertising man who
is trying to make aliens acceptable as neighbors. “Father of the Stars”
is a sentimental story about a man who helped launch the first
interstellar exploration. There are also two articles about numerical
matters. 3/24/24
The Abominable
Earthman by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1963
Short
stories. “We Never Mention Aunt Nora” is about an amorous alien. “A Life
and a Half” deals briefly with overpopulation. “Whatever Counts” is a
novella in which human captives outwit an alien race. “Punch” is an
amusing vignette about aliens bearing gifts. The title story is a pretty
good alien invasion story, in which the aliens are defeated by our vices
rather than our virtues. “Three Portraits and a Prayer” describes a
thwarted plan to take over the US. “The Martian Star-Gazers” is a
non-fact article about the Martian race being exterminated after being
frightened by a supernova. 3/21/24
Day Million by
Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1970
Collection
of stories. The title story describes very strange love in the far
distant future. “Small Lords” tells the story of humans trapped and
enslaved on a planet whose inhabitants are tiny, but numerous and well
armed. “Way Up Yonder” is set on a colony world that emulates the
plantation era prior to the civil war, but with robots as slaves. “Under
Two Moons” is a farcical mixture of James Bond and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
“The Day the Martians Came” is a depressing commentary on bigotry.
“Speed Trap” suggests a very subtle conspiracy against scientists. “The
Schematic Man” accidentally transfers his consciousness into a computer.
Doorway to Hell
by Raymond Palmer, Armchair 2023 (originally published in 1942)
An
excruciatingly crude and boring story about the discovery of a vast
underground vault possibly containing advanced technology, possibly an
entrance to Hell itself, although a somewhat rationalized version.
Arguably fantasy. The thrust of the plot, however, is a rather contrived
and completely bland murder mystery. Almost no characterization, awkward
prose, and careless plotting. This reads like filler rather than an
effort to tell a story.
Turn Left at
Thursday by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1961
Another
good collection. “Third Offense” is about the use of time travel to
punish criminals. “The Hated” describes an extreme form of psychological
conditioning used for astronauts. “Mars by Moonlight” is oddly
incomplete. A small group of humans believe they are in a penal colony
on Mars but they are actually on Earth, in a desert, following an alien
invasion. “The Seven Deadly Virtues” is a very good story set on Venus
where all colonists are conditioned against violence. “I Plinglot – Who
You?” concerns an alien who tries to trick Earth into destroying itself.
“The Richest Man in Levittown” is about a pill that allows total
recall. “The Martian in the Attic” is being used to invent things to
make a man rich.
Genius Loci by
Thomas Scortia, Armchair 2023 (originally published in 1957)
This
is a novelette about a colony world that faces some oddities that seem
to defy the laws of nature. Objects are found frozen even though the
temperatures are never cold. A plant blight that is affecting their
crops can also be transmitted to human beings. What is going on? Can the
colonists figure out the causes of these phenomenon and solve the
associated problems or is their colony doomed to failure? A bit old
fashioned but well written and with an interesting premise.
The Man Who
Ate the World by Frederik
Pohl, Ballantine, 1960
The
title story is the sequel to “The Midas Plague,” set in the aftermath of
the collapse of a consumer society. “The Snowmen” is a dense little
satire about environmentalism. “The Day the Icicle Works Closed” is set
on a planet where people rent out their bodies to tourists. “The Wizard
of Pung’s Corners” is a very good satire about efforts by the
advertising world to rule America following a nuclear war. One small
town holds out and conquers the continent. It’s sequel is “The Waging of
the Peace,” in which the new government has to deal with automated
factories t hat are determined to keep producing merchandise even if no
one intends to buy it. 3/14/24
The Rest Must Die
by Kendell Foster Crossen (as Richard Foster), Gold Medal, 1959
Although
this novel of a nuclear attack on New York is very much dated, it is
well written and engaging. Several viewpoint characters – all trapped in
subway stations with large numbers of survivors – have to figure out how
to stay alive long enough for the radioactivity on the surface to
subside. There is almost no panic, which I found unrealistic, but the
confusion, conflict, and eventual rise of extreme behaviors is very
convincing. This is a plot that has mostly disappeared from the genre.
3/12/24
The Angel from
Hell by Jack Williamson, Armchair 2023 (originally published in
1939)
A
pilot flying over a China that is wracked by internal wars is
mysteriously forced to crashland after an encounter with a winged woman.
He has no difficulty surviving the harsh conditions on the ground, but
he is fascinated by his attacker. His efforts to discover her identity
and location bring him into contact with a brutal thug, a seductive
villainess, and an international rogue with evil intentions. Barely
tolerable. Williamson improved with experience but this is from very
early in his career. 3/12/24
Tomorrow
Times Seven by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1959
Collection
of shorts. “The Middle of Nowhere” is an entertaining adventure story of
humans battling aggressive Martian natives. “The Day of the Boomer
Dukes” puts weapons from the far future in the hands of a present day
street gang. “The Haunted Corpse” is about a machine that transfers
personalities from one body to another. “Survival Kit” is the story of a
visitor from the future who causes problems for a shady denizen of the
present. “The Gentle Venusian” puts a thuggish human on Venus where he
gets into trouble with the local authorities. “The Knights of Arthur” is
a well crafted adventure after the world is depopulated in a war.
3/10/24
The Case
Against Tomorrow by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1957
Highlight
of this collection is Pohl’s classic, “The Midas Plague,” in which
production so outstrips consumption thar only the rich can live simply
while the poor have to consume far more than they want. “The Candle
Lighter” teaches a smug human to respect the customs of alien races.
“Wapshot’s Demon” describes the invention of a machine that can answer
any yes or no question accurately, even if it pertains to the future.
“The Celebrated No-Hit Inning” is an amusing story about a star baseball
player who is briefly taken to a future in which the rules have changed
dramatically. “My Lady Green Sleeves” is set in a future society that is
rigidly divided into classes based on occupation, and the classes are
not allowed to mix. Another good collection. 3/8/24
The Feminine Metamorphosis
by David H. Keller, Armchair 2023 (originally published in 1929)
I
rather disliked this story in which a secret hospital appears
mysteriously in China, which pays males to participate in scientific
experiments and whose staff is entirely female. The US decides to send a
secret agent to look into matters – and of course he succeeds and
uncovers a plot to dominate the world by a group of megalomaniacal
women. I have long thought that Keller was one of the more overrated
writers from the Golden Age - his horror fiction is somewhat better -
and this certainly does nothing to alter my opinion. 3/8/24
The Final War by
Carl W. Spohr, Armchair 2023 (originally published in 1932)
This
was a future war novel, the only fantastic fiction by the German author
who had served during World War I. This was what he conceived of as the
last war humans would ever conduct, using super technology and a
brutality unparalleled in history. He very carefully avoids the politics
involved. Neither side is innocent or guilty and everyone is a victim.
The technology is well off the mark at times, but there are also bits
that are quite prophetic. The writing is mediocre but not terrible.
3/7/24
Alternating
Currents by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1956
This
was one of the earliest SF collections I ever read, back around 1960.
“Let the Ants Try” is a depressing story of good intentions gone
horribly awry. “Ghost-Maker” is a fantasy about reviving ghosts flawed
by Pohl’s failure to realize that fossils are stone, not organic.
“Tunnel Under the World” was one of my early favorites – a man finds
himself experiencing the same day over and over again. “Pythias” has a
man kill a friend before he can leak dangerous knowledge. In “Target
One,” survivors of a nuclear war use a kind of time weapon to kill young
Einstein, only to discover that someone else made the same discovery.
“Grandy Devil” is a cute vignette about a family of immortals. “The
Mapmakers” is about a ship lost in space. A blind member of the crew
discovers that he can navigate while they are in hyperspace. “Rafferty’s
Reasons” considers the political use of employment, “What to Do Till the
Analyst Comes” shows the down side of too much contentment, and “Happy
Birthday, Dear Jesus” satirizes consumerism. Excellent collection.
3/6/24
Planets Three
by Frederik Pohl, Berkley, 1982 a45
Three
novellas from early in Pohl’s career. “Donovan Had a Dream” was the
earliest Pohl story that holds up well despite its setting on a
habitable Venus. The protagonist is a revolutionary caught between the
cult that governs the planet and rapacious agents from Earth who want to
subdue the former colony. “Red Moon of Danger” is an entertaining, old
fashioned story about mining on the moon, a not so dead lunarian
civilization, and a cardboard villain. “Figurehead” (aka “The Genius
Beasts”) is a dull tale of abduction by aliens who wants humans to
study. The humans decide that they like Callisto after arriving and
being pampered. 3/4/24
The Wandering Egos
by Emmett McDowell, Armchair 2023 (originally published in 1948)
A
totally implausible and forgettable story about a man who agrees to
participate in experiments into the nature of consciousness. He is then
able to merge his mind with those of people from other worlds and share
their experiences. In that mode, he has various Burroughsian adventures
on a planet where swords are the weapons of choice, a mysterious cult is
on the march, and an evil queen seeks to hold onto her power at any
cost. Very derivative. 3/4/24
The Early Pohl
by Frederik Pohl, Doubleday, 1976
A
handful of stories from the early 1940s, when Pohl was just starting to
sell. “The Dweller in the Ice” is a fair story of a stranded alien,
marred by some mild misogyny. “The King’s Eye” is a murder mystery set
within a tribe of Venusians. “It’s a Young World” is dreadful and far
too long. “Daughters of Eternity” involves deception by one of the
dozens of intelligent races in the solar system in order to make them
the top military power. The other stories are similarly very dated space
opera. Pohl’s lengthy commentaries are actually more interesting that
the fiction. Some of these were collaborations with Dirk Wylie or Robert
Lowndes.
Matrix by Rog
Phillips, Armchair 2023 (originally published in 1949)
A
novelette about a man who learns that a recently deceased friend might
have found a new kind of immortality in a secret base in a remote area.
He decides to discover the truth for himself and eventually stumbles
into a storehouse of alien technology that might seem benevolent on the
surface, but which actually poses a serious threat to humanity. Phillips
never quite crossed over from routine to memorable in his writing, but
he was pretty good at the routine stuff. 3/2/24
Gemini Rising
by J.S. Filbrun, Gold Medal, 1982
This
is a really repulsive novel filled with repulsive characters. The
setting is an underground research facility in Texas which is
experimenting with various projects, one of which is a kind of bomb that
could destroy the entire world. One of the staff members is a cyborg and
he, like some of the purely human staff, is more than mildly insane. Our
pretty awful heroes have to stop him from setting off the bomb and
ending the world. I kept turning the pages, stunned at how bad this was.
2/29/24
Disciples of
Destiny by Don Wilcox, Armchair 2023 (originally published in
1942)
Wilcox
was undoubtedly one of the least talented SF writers of the 1940s, but
he certainly had ambitious plots. This one is set in the midst of a
world wide war. The focus is on a secret installation run by a group of
evil men who have developed weather control, stimulated earthquakes, and
other wondrous weapons of superscience. They plan to emerge as the
greatest power in the world and rule everyone else after the world
powers have destroyed one another.. But things go wrong. 2/28/24
Valley of
Invisible Men by Edmond Hamilton, Armchair 2023 (originally
published in 1939) a13
I
thought this was one of the better Hamilton lost world stories. The
protagonist is on the verge of discovering a lost tribe in the jungles
of South America who have somehow stumbled on the secret to making
themselves invisible. He has to find them and acquire the secret
quickly, because agents of an evil European empire based in the Baltics
has a team of agents in the area looking for the same thing. Decent
adventure story, and it avoids many of the overly used tropes of the
lost race story. 2/27/24
The Great Brain
Robbery by James P. Fisher, Belmont, 1970 zz873
I
remembered this as being a real stinker. My memory was correct. The
protagonist somehow acquires psychic powers and is recruited to go to a
distant planet where, he is told, his abilities will help save that
world. When he arrives, he discovers that he is being victimized by an
evil, power hungry, would-be dictator who literally wants to steal his
brain. The only book to appear under this name, and with good reason.
2/27/24
The Last Theorem
by Frederik Pohl & Arthur C. Clarke, Ballantine, 2008
If
I had to guess, I’d say Clarke produced a detailed outline and Pohl
wrote the text. It feels like a Pohl novel, but many of the plot
elements are right out of classic Clarke. The premise is two fold. The
first part is that a brilliant mathematician comes to the attention of a
secretive United Nations organization that wants to exploit his talents
to further their control of the world. The second part is that a fleet
of alien warships is on its way to Earth in order to exterminate the
potentially dangerous human race. Our unlikely hero proves to be the key
to saving the world. Not bad, but not noteworthy either. 2/25/24
Paradise Is
Not Enough by Michael Elder, Pinnacle, 1970
This
is set in a familiar future dystopia where robots have taken over all
the work and humans live in complete leisure. The only exception is
acting, which is still performed by human beings. But the robots are
relentless and decide to automate that function as well, which finally
induces a number of humans to rebel. But the robots do not like
rebellion. Not badly written but I will have forgotten the plot by next
week. 2/25/24
All the Lives
He Led by Frederik Pohl, Tor, 2022
Pohl’s
last novel is a very restful if not very exciting read. This is so
despite terrorists plotting to cause a new eruption of Mt Vesuvius and
various bits of criminal activity. It is mostly the memoir of a small
time crook who is working at the amusement park near Vesuvius. There are
several subplots, some of which just peter out with no resolution. The
prose is good but at times it feels more like a travelogue than a novel.
There is also a limited outlook on the world that I found irritating. We
know that a supervolcano in Yellowstone erupted years earlier and turned
the world around politically and economically, but we never really see
what kind of new world has evolved following the destruction.
Flight to Terror
by Michael Elder, Pinnacle, 1973
Aka
The Perfumed Planet. This is the sequel to Nowhere on Earth.
A spaceship is carrying refugees from an overpopulated Earth to a
distant planet and a new home. But the ship crashes and their plans are
no longer viable. The survivors struggle to survive in and solve the
mysteries of the planet, but their efforts are complicated by the fact
that there are alien spaceships not far from their camp. Probably the
least interesting of the four novels I’ve read by Elder. The rest of his
work has never appeared in the US as far as I know. I’d read it if it
fell into my hands, but I won’t go searching for it.
Equimedian by Alvaro
Zinos-Amaro, Hex, 2023, $22.99, ISBN 979-8-9862194-8-6
A
devoted science fiction collector begins to notice that the world around
him is changing in ways that seem to be imperceptible to everyone else.
People begin acting out of character, things he once owned no longer
seem to exist, even in people's memories. Predictably he tries to figure
out whether he is losing his mind or whether anyone else is having
similar experiences. His sometimes erratic investigations bring him to a
strange, secretive society of people who can travel a few microseconds
into the future. But is that all of which they are capable? Because
their activities seem to be connected with the bizarre changes. The
protagonist is a well drawn character with whom you can sympathize. The
story has some entertaining twists and turns. Very readable and
sometimes even thought provoking - but a caveat for some readers - it is
written in present tense. 2/22/24
The Boy
Who Would Live Forever
by Frederik Pohl, Tor, 2004
Pohl’s
last visit to the Heechee universe runs parallel in time to events in
the earlier books. The Kugel are still planning to destroy the universe,
the Heechee are still intent upon hiding. A xenophobic human also plots
a way to destroy the Heechee completely within their black hole refuge.
A few of the characters from previous books make an appearance but the
story is mostly about new names. The book is fairly long but does not
really include much overt action. The AI chef is an amusing character.
This was Pohl’s penultimate solo novel, although he had left the end
open for a continuation of the Heechee series. 2/21/24
Nowhere on Earth
by Michael Elder, Pinnacle, 1972
This
is a minor but not entirely boring novel of an overpopulated Earth.
Pregnancy has become a social stigma. The government has grown steadily
more repressive, trying to control the growing pressure on resources.
Rare telepaths are employed by the government to monitor the populace
and quash dissent before it becomes dangerous. The protagonist is
mystified when his wife and child disappear from a maternity hospital
and has to untangle government conspiracies and hidden dissidents to
find them. 2/18/24
O Pioneer by
Frederik Pohl, Tor, 1998
I
didn’t really care for this one. It always felt as though it was about
to get much more interesting but it never did. A computer hacker and his
wife emigrate to a planet where humans are one of six star traveling
species who live together in a small community. Much of the early part
of the book is humorous, and the transition to seriousness later never
quite works. One of the human officials is working to sneak around the
rules for the joint colony, to his own benefit and apparently to secure
human dominance. Our hero manages to derail his plans and win the
support of the aliens. But it’s all very low key, extremely predictable,
and intermittently implausible. 1/16/24
Black
Priestess of Varda by Erik Fennel, Armchair 2023 (originally
published in 1947)
This
feels more like fantasy than SF but it is somewhat rationalized, I
suppose. A barbaric world – probably a lost colony – is a virtual
paradise until it is invaded by an army that comes through a gateway and
begins conquering the local inhabitants. Fortunately a hero shows up in
the nick of time to help the peace loving locals defend their world and
their way of life. Simplistic plot, sometimes awkward prose, and no
characterization to speak of. Falls short of being awful but it’s not
very good. 1/16/24
The Alien Earth
by Michael Elder, Pinnacle, 1971
This
is a rather bland and not very plausible adventure, although not badly
written. A space pilot is stranded on Earth during the years of the
Roman Empire. They obviously do not have the technology to help, so he
goes into suspended animation on and off until he reaches a period that
might help. He is human enough to pass on Earth and he promptly falls in
love with an Earth woman. It turns out that the human interstellar
civilizations split off from Earth back when it was collapsing into war
in prehistoric times. More or less, ho hum. 2/15/24
The Far Shore of
Time by Frederik Pohl, Tor,
2999
The
concluding volume of a trilogy in which Earth is caught between two
messianic alien empires. One has already placed installations beneath
Earth’s oceans and the other, ostensibly more benevolent, is actually
more interested in striking their enemy than in protecting another race.
There is also matter duplication – which results in multiple versions of
the same character. I found this less confusing in the concluding volume
because the story sticks with one individual. Pohl obviously disliked
fanatical religions – the theme occurred more than once in his work –
and has a pretty dim view of the inevitable flaws in intelligent
species. 2/13/24
Through a
Glass Darkly by Milton Lesser, Armchair 2023 (originally
published in 1956)
Novelette
about a man with no memories who is held in a laboratory and told that
he is a programmed robot. When the scientist in charge is murdered, he
escapes from the laboratory. What follows is basically a detective story
as he figures out who he really is – not a robot, and discovers the
identity of the murderer. Competent but bland. 2/13/24
The Midgets of
Monoton by Stanton A. Coblentz,
Armchair 2023 (originally published in 1954)
I’ve
read so many books with this plot that it feels like rereading. Coblentz
was particular fond of underground lost civilizations and secret races.
Inventor finds a way to burrow beneath the surface of the world.
Accompanied by best friend and plucky girl, he descends and finds a
hidden civilization of humanoids – they do not appear to be actual
humans in this one – who have developed a technology so advanced that
they pose a threat to the surface world now that they are aware of it.
The usual hijinks follow before the threat is eliminated. 2/11/24
Vangie's Ghosts
by Paul Di Filippo, Blackstone, 2024, $16.99, ISBN 9781538450307
Vangie
first appears as a toddler in this new adventure in the multiverse. She
is so introspective that the adults responsible for her assume that she
is mentally ill. But in fact she is able to look into the various
alternate universes that exist around us and when a sudden disaster
threatens her life, she jumps into another reality. This,
unsurprisingly, is just the first of her many jaunts between universes,
where she experiences variant versions of the life she might have lived
originally, and then observes and survives even more bizarre
differences. As she grows older and more experienced, she gains more
control over her abilities, and more awareness of the often nefarious
motives of the adults she encounters. Of course there are other Vangies
in most of the alternate worlds, but they never encounter one another
until the day that a group of her other selves warn her that there is a
powerful villain similarly empowered. So Vangie has to save the world,
or rather the worlds, and she is off on a series of adventures. The
premise allows the author to play with variations of character, history,
and other elements of the setting, and Di Filippo as always lets his
imagination loose to romp through the possibilities. Great fun. 2/10/24
The Siege of
Eternity by Frederik Pohl, Tor,
1997
Middle
volume of a trilogy in which two competing alien civilizations are
trying to recruit Earth as an ally, and don’t care how many lies they
have to tell to trick humanity. The various originals and copies of the
protagonists from the first book have varied adventures and become
alarmed that the aliens might already be building secret bases under
Earth’s oceans. There are also indications that both sides might be
malevolent. Like most middle volumes, it develops the original premise
without really advancing it very far until the very end, which is the
setup for the concluding book. 2/8/24
War of the
Giant Apes by Alexander Blade, Armchair 2023 (originally
published in 1949)
House
pseudonym, and I don’t think the real writer in this case has ever been
identified. If I were the author, I'd hide my identity as well. It’s a
horribly bad story about a space expedition that brings back one of the
oversized apes that populate the planet Mars. Although it seems to be
calm and cooperative, it actually is part of an invasion plan. The
Martians can use their mental powers to literally control the entire
population of Earth – except for our hero, who foils their plans.
Dreadful. 2/8/24
The World at Bay
by B. Wallis & G. C. Wallis, Armchair 2023 (originally published in
1928)
A
massive earthquake in South America leads to an attack on Brazil by
trogs, underground dwellers with a belligerent nature. They use
poisonous gas to destroy entire communities. Two reporters head to the
scene and are soon among the refugees. They are captured and taken below
to describe a society based on slavery and repression, but they escape
back to the surface. More battles both on the surface and beneath
eventually result in the defeat of the trogs. Not actually awful, but it
does not age well and the writing often feels more like a detailed
outline than an actual narrative. 2/7/24
Godzilla/Godzilla Raids Again by Shigeru Kayama, University of
Minnesota, 2023
These
are novelizations of the first two Godzilla movies. In the first,
Godzilla first appears from the ocean and devastates Tokyo before
apparently being destroyed by the oxygen destroyer, a new invention. The
author has added in a subplot about a group that actively welcomes the
creature’s rampage. The second is one of the least known movies in the
series. Godzilla concentrates on Osaka this time and is actually much
more destructive initially, but then has to battle another giant
monster, Anguirus, which deflects it from humans for a while. They are a
bit crude but they also add a bit of background to what is still an
ongoing franchise. 2/6/24
Random in Death
by J.D. Robb, St Martins, 2023
There
is nothing new in this latest installment in the very long Eve Dallas
series, set in a vaguely futuristic New York, but it's as entertaining
and gripping as the others. A teenage girl is jabbed with a fatal mix of
drugs at a musical event and Dallas is assigned to the case. A second
dies similarly at an outdoor event the very next day. She is convinced
that the killer is about the same age but has only the slightest clues
as to his identity. Fortunately, his third attack goes awry and this
time there is enough that she is able to track him down and apprehend
him in the midst of his fourth attack. The concluding interview was not
very convincing but I read this in a single sitting so obviously the
story pulled me in. Robb is a pseudonym for Nora Roberts. 2/5/24
War of the
Planets by R.H. Romans, Armchair 2023 (originally published in
1930)
The
second adventure of Dr. Haverfield, who visited the moon in the first
book and communicated with a race older than humanity that lives in the
lunar caverns. Acting on information provided by the Lunarians, he
discovers the secret history of the Earth, which was the focal point for
a three sided interplanetary war in prehistoric times. An extended
flashback of sorts makes up the bulk of the story. Full of bogus
superscience, occasional actually amusing speculation, and all told in
lifeless prose. 2/5/24
Inferno by John
Russell Fearn, Scion, 1950 (as by Vargo Statten)
Another
story of the perils of space travel. This time the problem involves an
expedition to the edge of the solar system which disturbs and attracts
the attention of a superhuman race who decide to deal with those pesky
creatures from the third planet. By any logical standard, they would
have squashed humanity without trouble. Ir is pretty obvious plot from
that point on with lots of scientific errors, cardboard characters, and
a menace that really isn’t all that impressive. One of Fearn’s weakest
novels. 2/4/24
Red Peril by S.P.
Meek, Armchair, 2023 (originally published in 1929)
This
is really just a novelette. The evil Russians have developed a plague
that has killed off most of the rabbits and guinea pigs in the West,
depriving armies of a source of medicine. They then launch a large scale
attack with ships built with a new kind of force field that is
impervious o all existing artillery and bombs. They also use germ
warfare and give the US orders to surrender or be destroyed. In the nick
of time, scientists develop a way to broadcast a field that disrupts the
protective shields and the Russians are soundly trounced. Boring. 2/1/24
The Other End of
Time by Frederik Pohl, Tor, 1996
First
in a trilogy in which Earth is the object of two alien forces – the
Beloved Leaders and the Horch – each of which has a messiah complex and
each of which plans to recruit Earth, voluntarily or otherwise, in their
ongoing struggle. The aliens have matter duplication – and can also make
duplicate humans, mental reprogramming, and other technology far in
advance of humanity. They are transmitted to an orbiting space station
but do not actually travel in spaceships, which are far too slow given
the distances involved. The first half of the novel is very good, but
the second half drags a bit and is primarily involved in setting the
stage for the next book. 1/31/24
Black Wing of
Mars by John
Russell Fearn, Scion, 1953 (as by Vargo Statten)
A
husband and wife make the first trip to Mars and bring back living
samples of a moth that appears to eat sand. Obvious where this one was
going. They secretly keep the moths in their house, but they inevitably
escape. A standard disaster story follows as the moths are capable of
eating anything, even poison. An attempt is made to find a solution on
Mars, but eventually they are proven to be susceptible to cosmic energy,
whatever that is, and they are finally eradicated. 1/31/24
Prisoner in
the Skull by Charles Dye, Corgi, 1957
Dye
wrote less than twenty short stories and only this one novel. The
protagonist discovers he has complete amnesia, and is promptly recruited
by the government because his brain is now impervious to telepathy. It
appears that a mutant telepath is plotting to take over the world and
the government wants him to find out where the man is. But it’s not that
simple, because he discovers there is an exact duplicate of himself out
there, and it is not clear which of them is real and which is an
imposter. Okay book. 1/28/24
The Devouring Fire
by John Russell Fearn, Scion, 1951 (as by Vargo Statten)
A
scientist commissioned to develop the first spaceship for a company that
wants to build spaceliners becomes alarmed. He believes that Earth is
surrounded by a field that will destroy anything that enters the
atmosphere, or that tries to leave it. The chain reaction might
literally blow up the entire world. Most of the story is about
industrial espionage mixed with the bogus science about the possible
outcome of a space launch. Surprisingly slow moving for a Fearn novel.
1/28/24
Mining the Oort
by Frederik Pohl, Del Rey, 1992
The
title is a bit misleading, as we don’t even visit the Oort until the
last fifty pages or so. The protagonist is a Martian colonist who wants
to become one of the pilots who redirect comets from beyond Pluto to
crash into the Martain deserts and provide the basis for a thicker
atmosphere. Most of the novel covers his childhood on Mars and his
training on Earth, where he has difficulty fitting in at times and never
completely understands some of the stranger Terran habits – particularly
the obsession with getting rich. When he finally reaches his
destination, he has to prevent a group of discontents from potentially
causing an immense disaster, supposedly to help Mars but actually
designed to improve their own wealth. Kind of slow, actually, and the
final conflict seems almost to have been tacked on without much thought.
1/25/24
The Dust
Destroyers
by John Russell Fearn, Scion, 1953 (as by Vargo Statten)
A
man invents a device that destroys dust at the molecular level, but it
starts a chain reaction and affects an entire city. Among the side
effects are that a lack of dust in the air means light cannot be
diffused into shadows, so shadows become literally completely black and
dangerous. The rest of the story involves efforts by scientists to
prevent the chain reaction from spreading across the entire planet.
Silly at times and scientifically nonsense, but it’s one of Fearn’s more
amusing stories. 1/25/24
Three Quarters
by Graeme de Timms, Digit, 1966
Aka
Plague. A fairly standard plague disaster story for the first
half, but it becomes convoluted, confusing, and implausible after that.
The plague is apparently a weapon used by an alien race in an attempt to
depopulate the Earth so that they can invade. The author’s name is
almost certainly a pseudonym and the writing is impressively bad. The
characters are flat, the story silly, the prose awkward, and the
sequence of events is jerky and unconvincing. SF written by someone with
almost no knowledge of the genre. 1/22/24
Year of Consent
by Kendell Foster Crossen, Dell, 1954
This
Orwellian dystopian novel ages pretty well except when it’s talking
about computers. The protagonist is a spy for the holdouts against a
government by social engineers that uses behavioral control and lobotomy
to suppress any actual democratic resistance. He discovers that there is
going to be a new campaign to link the holdouts to the equally
repressive communists and has to risk exposing himself in order to
prevent the new campaign from making the restoration of freedom even
more unlikely. Crossen wrote mostly mysteries as M.E. Chaber, but he was
reasonably good at SF and I wish he had written more than he did.
1/20/24
I Spy by John Russell
Fearn, Scion, 1954 (as by Vargo Statten)
This
was one of Fearn’s more ambitious efforts. An inventor is experimenting
with a new form of television when he inadvertently stumbles upon a
discovery that allows him to watch anyone anywhere at any time he
chooses. This means that he can gather intelligence despite all efforts
to stop them. Unfortunately, and despite the efforts of his sister to
convince him to use the discovery responsibly, he embarks on a large
scale blackmailing scheme which ultimately backfires and brings about
his ruin. Although crudely written, this makes more of an effort to
actually address the ethical issues raised by the story than is true of
most of Fearn’s fiction. 1/20/24
The Son of Death
by Robert Moore Williams, Armchair 2023 (originally published in 1942)
A
very minor novella about two people who discover their parents
programmed them to eventually team up and oppose as typical mad
scientist named Thordon. Thordon is using his discoveries to turn humans
into beasts whom he controls hypnotically. From his secret base, he
plans to send forth an army that will conquer the Earth. There’s nothing
remotely plausible about the story, and the intricate plan to direct the
destiny of the two protagonists is silly, unnecessary, overly complex,
and would almost certainly have failed in real life. Williams mixed some
really bad stuff in with his usually unmemorable better work. 1/18/24
The Voices of
Heaven by Frederik Pohl, Tor,
1994
The
protagonist is shanghaied to a colony world which is dominated by a cult
who incline toward mass suicides. There is an intelligent native race –
something like large butterflies – who have a non-technological
civilization and are friendly to the colonists. As he struggles to fit
in, he becomes aware that some of the fanatics are planning something
behind the scenes, which is obviously not a good thing. The situation at
the colony deteriorates for various reasons and some of the fanatics
decide to use antimatter to create a weapon that will destroy all life
on Earth. They are thwarted, but the aliens have a justifiably low
opinion of the surviving colonists. 1/17/24
Split Image by
Reed de Rouen, Digit, 1963
A
scientifically illiterate SF novel by a US writer who spent much of his
life in the UK and even acted in a Doctor Who serial and wrote an
episode of the Avengers. The novel involves a moon flight which goes
astray and lands on a parallel Earth where they encounter a number of
mysteries – they think they are back on their own planet – until they
eventually realize the truth. There is a good deal of political and
social analysis layered into the story, which is mildly interesting but
suffers under the weight of the author’s veiled lectures. 1/17/23
Captive on the Flying Saucer by Ralph L. Finn, Gaywood, 1951
A
very boring story about a man who becomes obsessed with proving that
flying saucers are real. He alienates friends with his determination to
sacrifice everything to prove himself right. And naturally he gets
abducted by a flying saucer and meets the – essentially human – aliens
who have devolved into a kind of civil war and are hoping that someone
from Earth will provide the catalyst for their side to ride to triumph.
Talky, trite, and thoroughly uninteresting. Finn was supposedly a
popular short story writer but there is no evidence of any talent
displayed herein. 1/16/24
Stopping at
Slowyear by Frederik Pohl, Bantam, 1991
The
crew of a dilapidated trading ship arrives on a colony world whose
environment is so severe that very stringent rules govern society. Even
so, large numbers of people die during each prolonged winter. The
colonists intermix with the newcomers even though they are aware that
they are carrying an illness which will eventually be fatal to all of
the offworlders. They can then salvage the ship and its cargo without
paying for it. The traders all die in due course but the colony will go
on. The colonists failed to warn them, of course. Pohl's future
societies in most of his novels are either dystopias or are well on
their way to being one. It does make it somewhat depressing to read a
lot of his work in a short period of time. 1/14/24
Wealth of the
Void by John Russell Fearn (as Vargo Statten), Scion, 1954
The
possibility of an asteroid made entirely of gold is the premise of this
mildly interesting adventure story. It is discovered by a scientist with
one of the first functioning spaceships, but when he returns to Earth,
he brings back none of the pressure metal and he is acting very
strangely. A followup visit is planned but the team of explorers begins
to experience odd personality disorders. The solution is that the
radiation found in outer space can affect the human mind despite the
shielding on the spaceships, which makes space travel – at least for the
time being – effectively impossible. 1/14/24
Outnumbering
the Dead by Frederik Pohl, St Martins, 1990
Although
this is only a novella, it is still too long for its story. One of the
rare humans who is not immortal is a popular performer. His lover sends
him a kitten because she is one of few immortals who keep pets. But she
does so in order to get used to having people she loves die while she
lives on. Most of the story is about the technical staging of his latest
performance and the plot does not advance in the slightest for about
fifty pages. At this point in his career, Pohl seemed more interest ed
in developing his characters than in telling a story. 1/10/24
Freaks
Against Supermen by Ralph L. Finn, Gaywood, 1950
This
odd little novel opens with a new plague that quickly depopulates the
world. The protagonist is an obsessed scientist who is determined to
preserve the human race, even when he thinks there may only be a handful
of scattered survivors. He eventually uses a kind of genetic engineering
so that the two women he has found can give birth to broods of fast
developing human beings. But there are also some surviving mutants and
they have created a new society of their own. They clash in the closing
chapters. The plot is rather strangely constructed and most of the
action is concentrated at the end. Not as awful as a lot of other UK
pulp SF from this period. 1/10/24
World at
the End of Time by Frederik Pohl, 1990
This
is a very ambitious and somewhat long novel including a great deal of
hard science speculation. The characters are, however, not always
convincing and the protagonist is a jerk. A new colony has been cut off
from resupply when it and neighboring stars suddenly change direction
relative to the rest of the galaxy. There are vast intelligences who
live inside suns and they don’t always get along very well. The shifting
of the stars is a ploy by one of these beings to mislead his rivals in a
kind of game of assassination. The story proceeds – in large lumps – to
what is almost the end of the universe. Parts of it were quite good, but
as a whole I didn’t really care for it very much. 1/6/24
The Petrified
Planet by John Russell Fearn (as Vargo Statten), Scion, 1951
Another
very silly short novel. A husband and wife take the first trip to Venus,
crash, and have their bodies rebuilt by the scientifically advanced
Venusians. When they returned to Earth, they find that it has stopped
revolving and everything on the surface is frozen into one instant of
time. The reader knows that scientists had initiated an experiment
involving a super computer and obviously something went wrong and time
was frozen in a volume of space that contains the Earth. They are able
to use their spaceship drive to somehow disrupt the field and return
things to normal. Almost unreadable. 1/6/24
Homegoing by
Frederik Pohl, Del Rey, 1989
An
alien starship with one human along – supposedly raised after a dying
human astronaut was discovered to be pregnant – approaches Earth for a
secret reconnaissance mission. Earth is much changed – a limited nuclear
war somehow led to the death of all nations. The aliens claim to be
benevolent but they are concealing something. The humans claim to be
grateful, but they are hiding something as well. The lone human is
caught in the middle, not really part of either race – and this proves
to be literally quite true. I didn’t care for the ending. The villains
do not succeed on either side, but both are empowered to continue their
villainy among their own people. 1/2/24
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