LAST UPDATE
6/29/24
The Tusks of
Extinction by Ray Nayler, Tor, 2023
This
novella is set in a future where Russia has managed to genetically
recreate mammoths. Unfortunately, they lack survival instincts. The
protagonist is an activist who fought against poachers who virtually
wiped out the elephants before she was murdered. A copy of her
personality had been uploaded and is now installed in one of the
mammoths so that she can teach the others to live. But she still has a
grudge against poachers, and when the hunting starts up, she takes
positive action against them. A very fine story dealing with the results
of an ongoing tragedy in the real world. 6/29/24
Star Rider by
Doris Piserchia, Bantam, 1974
Although
I liked most of Piserchia’s novels, this and the one that followed did
not hold my attention. This one is set in a very far future where
evolved humans and evolved, sentient dogs explore the universe together,
thanks to teleportation and portable environments that allow them so
survive almost anywhere. The protagonist is a young girl who gets
involved with the quest to find the fabled planet Doubleluck, which
turns out to be Earth when she finds it. She has some minor adventures
there as she explores the birth place of humanity, but none of them were
particularly interesting. 6/28/24
A Billion
Days of Earth by Doris
Piserchia, Bantam, 1976
On
a far future Earth, humans have largely abandoned the planet and live in
floating habitats, calling themselves Gods. They have engaged in
uplifting various species to intelligence. The rats now consider
themselves humans, but they have to manufacture metal hands in order to
build a civilization. One of these rats proves to be immune to the
telepathic abilities of a new life form, Sheen, which is a kind of
psychic vampire that threatens to absorb all life on the planet. The rat
and a sentient dog help save the world, although the Gods are more or
less forced to relocate to another star system. Okay at times, unfocused
at other times. Readable but without ever really grabbing my attention.
6/28/24
The Best of
John Wyndham by John
Wyndham, Sphere, 1973
Most
of these have been collected elsewhere, but there are a few exceptions.
“The Lost Machine” is the prequel to the novel, Stowaway to Mars,
and describes how a sentient Martian machine visits Earth. “The Trojan
Beam” is a disintegrating ray that actually moves things to an alternate
Earth. “Vengeance by Proxy” is about a man who can move from body to
body. “Adaptation” is an implausible but touching story of a baby lost
in space. “Pawley’s Peepholes” is a comedy about tourists from the
future. “The Red Stuff” is a routine problem story. “And the Walls Came
Tumbling Down” presents aliens to whom the sound of human speech is
fatal. “Dumb Martian” is a story about a carefully planned murder.
“Close Behind Him” is a fair vampire story. 6/24/24
Tales of
Gooseflesh and Laughter by John Wyndham, Ballantine, 1956
An
excellent collection of some of the author’s best stories. “Una” is a
very funny story about an artificial lifeform that gets a crush on an
animal rights activist. “Jizzle” is about a monkey too smart for its
owner. “A Present from Brunswick” is a fantasy about the Pied Piper’s
instrument in the modern world. “The Wheel” is a short and very
effective post-apocalyptic story. “Chinese Puzzle” is a delightful story
of a Chinese dragon that hatches in Wales. “More Spinned Against” is
also a fantasy, about a woman who finds Arachne in the form of a spider.
“Confidence Trick” is a fanciful trip to Hell aboard a subway train.
“Opposite Numbers” is a comedy about alternate time lines. “Compassion
Circuit” deals with a household robot and the fragility of humans. “Wild
Flower” is about mutant flowers which are beautiful but which are
destroyed out of hand. 6/24/24
The Infinite Moment
by John Wyndham, Ballantine, 1961
A
collection of time travel stories. “Time Out” is a mildly amusing story
about two houses snatched accidentally into the future. “How Do I Do?”
is a fantasy in which a fortune teller sends a woman forward in time to
see her future husband. “Random Quest” and “Odd” are routine and not
very interesting stories about people displaced in time. The gem of the
collection is “Consider Her Ways,” in which a woman from our time wakes
in a body in a distant future where men have been eliminated andwomen
reproduce by parthogenesis. This was adapted as an episode of Alfred
Hitchcock Presents and is certainly the best known of Wyndham’s shorter
pieces of fiction. 6/24/24
Rogue Sequence
by Zac Topping, Tor, 2024, $28.99, ISBN 978-1-250-32243-2
This
is an entertaining and sometimes quite gripping novel involving the
creation of genetically enhanced soldiers. The protagonist is one of
these, although he is captured and becomes a kind of high tech gladiator
for several years. The politics of the world change and human
bioengineering is now frowned upon, so he is retroactively considered to
be an illegal monstrosity. Our hero is offered his freedom is he helps
track down a particularly dangerous and disruptive former associate, and
naturally he finds the offer compelling, if not entirely plausible. But
things are even stranger than he realizes, and what seems to be a
straight forward mission turns out to have ramifications he never
anticipated. Who can he trust and can he make the right decisions on his
own? Above avearge characterization help this to stand out from the
crowd. 6/23/24
Three
Worlds of Futurity by Margaret St. Clair, Ace, 1964
Five
short stories. One is about the politics of delivering a pig to a cult
on Mars. It’s a good story but dithers a bit in the middle. Another is
about a woman who achieves virtual immortality as the result of a
surgical operation. She can also subsist on electricity. It’s a pretty
bad story from start to finish. A third is about a future Earth where
people use euphorics constantly, until a shortage causes difficulties.
Considering how good the author's short fiction was in general, it is
surprising that this is such an mediocre collection. 6/18/24
Change the Sky
and Other Stories by Margaret St Clair, Ace, 1974
Quite
a few solid stories here. “Age of Prophecy” is a novelette set after a
nuclear war. “An Old-Fashioned Bird Christmas” is a nice fantasy. “The
Wines of Earth” is a sentimental SF story with no conflict at all. “Fort
Iron” is one of those stories of a future war which has transformed all
of society and whose soldiers are treated with drugs to prevent them
from knowing the truth. “An Egg a Month for All Over’ is about a
collector who receives and hatches the wrong egg. “Graveyard Shift” is a
very strange story about the monster in the basement of an all night
variety store. Good, solid collection. 6/18/24
The Best
of Margaret St. Clair, Academy Chicago, 1985
Some
of these are collected elsewhere, but this is still the best single
collection of the author’s work. “The Listening Child” is one of my
favorites, describing a deaf boy who can hear tragedies before they
occur. “Brightness Falls from the Air” is a bitter story about human
corruption. “An Egg a Month from All Over’ is about an alien egg that
hatches something dangerous. “The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles” ends
up in their stewpot. “Brenda” is decidedly creepy. “Horrer Howce” is one
of my favorites. The designer of set pieces for commercial haunted house
entertainments isn’t using mechanical devices after all. His creatures
are real. “Short in the Chest” is a warning about the danger of trusting
artificial intelligence too far. Excellent collection. 6/18/24
The Hole in the
Moon by Margaret St. Clair, Dover, 2019
This
is a collection mostly of her early and uncollected stories. “Piety” is
quite good for its time. An alien race has developed a kind of
metaphorical immortality. “The Gardener” is a fairly good story of a man
who unwisely breaks a planetary taboo. “Child of Void” is a nice little
alien invasion story. There are other stories of alien invasion,
occasional fantasy, and the aftermath of a nuclear in the title story.
This is the weakest of her collections because the earlier ones had
picked out almost all of her better work. She wrote over a hundred
stories, though, so there are still plenty that have never been
reprinted. 6/18/24
Wanderers of
Time by John Wyndham, Coronet, 1973
Another
collection of early stories. The title story is a rather silly story
about two people stranded in the distant future after their time machine
malfunctions. They visit a future world run by machines. “The Puff Ball
Menace” is a precursor to the author’s triffids, a bio-engineered fungus
that releases deadly spores. “The Last Lunarians” are in suspended
animation and attack the first expedition from Earth when they are
revived. “Child of Power” describes a boy who could listen to radio
broadcasts inside his head and later can eavesdrop on those from distant
stars. “Derelict in Space” is a minor story about a salvage operation
gone wrong. Although set in a space traveling future, the Nazis are
still in power in Germany. 6/11/24
Exiles on Asperus
by John Wyndham, Coronet, 1973
Three
early novelettes. One involves soldiers stranded on a habitable asteroid
with unruly natives and hostile Martian soldiers. A second and somewhat
better story has the first official expedition to Venus discovering that
a lost spaceship from centuries earlier crashed there and spawned to
rival nations who have been at war with each other ever since. The
remaining story is routine space opera. These were all from very early
in Wyndham's career, and while their plots were not particularly
interesting, the writing is good enough that they remain readable.
7/11/24
The Dancers of Noyo
by Margaret St. Clair, Ace, 1973
The
author’s final book was a bit better than hear previous ones but still
unmemorable. Following a devastating plague, California is a republic
dominated by aging hippies who use drugs and strange androids to control
the younger generations. The protagonist is not a conformer, so they
exile him and send a hit squad to make sure that he doesn’t come back.
He rescues the daughter of the man who invented the androids and
together they sneak into his lair, which is guarded by various death
traps and even weirder android killers. They manage to find out his
secrets and set out to liberate their fellows. 6/8/24
Message
from the Eocene by Margaret St. Clair, Ace, 1964
I
found this pretty boring and had no recollection whatsoever of having
read it before. An intelligent creature who was on Earth before the rise
of native life is in a kind of suspended animation until the 19th
Century, when he tries to mentally communicate with humans. All he
accomplished is to frighten them. So he sleeps some more and eventually,
in a near future of our own world, he finally succeeds. Humans receive
his knowledge, including a warning about an alien installation on Pluto.
Nothing much happens at all and the alien is not even remotely
interesting as a character. 6/8/24
Web by John Wyndham,
Penguin, 1979
This
was the first of two posthumous novels and I’m not sure when it was
actually written, although I suspect it was fairly late in his career. A
group of people hoping to form a Utopian society on a remote island
discover that the spiders there have mutated. They hunt in packs, exist
in millions, and have killed almost all other animal life on the island.
They can also attack and kill human beings with relative ease, their
numbers overcoming the physical disparity. The humans are totally
inadequate against them, and the story ends with a hint that they will
take over the world eventually. 6/7/24
Plan for Chaos
by John Wyndham, Penguin, 2009
Published
posthumously, this was apparently written at about the same time as
Day of the Triffids, but was never published. I am not surprised
because it is not particularly good. In fact, I preferred Stowaway to
Mars and The Secret People. The plot involves the discovery of several
identical women in London. The protagonist later discovers that he also
has doppelgangers and eventually impersonates one of them in order to
infiltrate a secret society of Nazi die-hards who are determined to
establish the master race one way or another. Slow moving, and does
little with the potentially interesting plot. 6/7/24
The Dolphins of
Altair by Margaret St. Clair,
Dell, 1967
A
completely implausible novel that should have been written as fantasy
rather than SF. Dolphins and humans are descended from an alien species.
They once made a pact respecting each other’s domain, but now humans are
polluting the ocean and preying on dolphins. The dolphins decide to
enlist the aid of three humans to force the land dwellers to respect
their rights. They do so, more or less, after a convoluted and
unconvincing series of events. The dolphins have all sort of psychic
powers that humans never suspected. A chore to read. 6/4/24
The Shadow People
by Margaret St. Clair, Dell, 1969
Another
novel that should have been fantasy. The title refers to a race of
mutant humans who have been living in a subterranean world that actually
has links to a parallel universe. These people are primitive and
decadent and they frequently kidnap surface people in order to eat them.
The hero spends a lot of time rescuing his girlfriend when she is
abducted. Then the surface civilization begins to break down, providing
more opportunities for the Shadow People to prey on them and our heroes
have to find a way to stay safe. Boring. 6/4/24
Jizzle by John
Wyndham, Four Square, 1954
This
overlaps with other collections, but has a few that do not, including
“Technical Slip,” a rather clever deal with the devil story. The title
story is a classic, a malevolent and intelligent monkey. “Esmeralda” is
about a too smart flea in a flea circus. “Heaven Scent” contains the
ultimate perfume, which makes men instantly fall in love when they are
exposed to it. “Perforce to Dream” involves a broadcast dream which
enters the minds of various women. “Look Natural, Please!” is
non-fantastic and comments on the cyclic nature of cultural tastes.
6/2/24
Sign of the
Labrys by Margaret St. Clair, Bantam, 1963
I
confirmed my dislike for this upon re-reading it. It is difficult to mix
magic and SF and have it work out well. St Clair does not succeed here.
Most of humanity has been wiped out by a series of plagues, and the
survivors exist in a system of cave systems. The world is dark, dirty,
depressing, and not at all convincing as a setting. The protagonist gets
involved with a genuine witch, a scientist who has a magic mirror, and
other odd people. There is some interesting imagery at times but the
story never appealed to me at any time. The novel was cited as one of
the inspirations for Dungeons & Dragons. 5/29/24
Chocky by John
Wyndham, Ballantine, 1968
A
young boy’s imaginary friend turns out to know a lot more than can be
attributed to a vivid imagination. Under certain circumstances, the
friend can even exert some control over the boy’s body, helping him to
swim when he falls into a river. There are rumors of demonic possession,
but the reader will know right away that it is an alien intelligence
communicating telepathically. Eventually it decides to leave the boy to
develop normally and makes itself known to the boy’s father. This is a
nicely told story, though perhaps a bit overly long for the subject
matter. 5/28/24
Mister Justice
by Doris Piserchia, Ace, 1973
This
was the author's first novel and other than a couple of small rough
spots, it was quite good. A mysterious vigilante brings criminals to
justice - or summarily executes them - providing documentary or
photographic proof of their guilt. The government is not happy despite
the good intentions, particularly when the Vice President becomes one of
the targets. On the other hand, there is a master criminal who is
organizing to take over the world, although this evolves into a wish to
destroy civilization. Both men accomplish their successes because they
can move back through time, where they can observe but cannot change
things. So investigating a murder is easy. Society does begin to
collapse, but the two finally meet for an exciting, although not
entirely satisfying climax. 5/27/24
Extinction by Douglas
Preston, Forge, 2024
A
large wilderness area in the American Southwest is reserved for
re-created prehistoric creatures, mammoths, giant elk, etc. No
predators. But someone has brutally attacked and carried off two
tourists in a mysterious night time encounter. The police investigation
runs into more trouble. A drone crashes and is carried off, and operated
by an unknown party. Groups of camouflaged humans are seen in the woods.
There is evidence of cannibalism. There is also a secret project hidden
in a mine and other mysteries. This one will grab you very quickly and
carry you along - I read it in a single sitting. It's sort of Jurassic
Park with furry animals. 5/26/24
The Age Old Kingdom
by A.E. Dingle, Armchair, 2024 (originally published in 1922)
The
lost world element in this novel is largely at the end and is of minor
importance. A typical villain kidnaps a young woman from a scientific
expedition in South America. The captain of the expedition’s vessel is
in love with her and he leads the effort to track her down and bring her
back. Some relatively low key jungle adventures follow and there is not
much overt action until the final quarter of the story. I am
amazed at how many lost world and lost race novels were published a
century ago. 5/25/24
Trouble with
Lichen by John Wyndham, Ballantine, 1960
A
chemist accidentally discovers that a rare lichen produces a substance
which can triple the human lifespan. Most of the novel consists of
conversations about the difficulties in concealing the secret, which
could only help a relatively few people, and the possible consequences
on human civilization if we all lived two hundred years. Some of it is
funny. Some of it verges on the traffic. This would turn out to be the
last of Wyndham’s major novels. One more appeared during his lifetime
and two more posthumously, but none of them were nearly as interesting.
5/22/24
The Eye of the God
by B.G. Aston, Armchair, 2024 (originally published in 1927)
Very
marginal young adult adventure story about the visits of several groups
of people to a hidden underground city that still worships the ancient
Egyptian gods. There are hints of reincarnation and remarkable
longevity, but that’s the only really fantasy content. The usual jungle
adventures, plus conflict with a rival party led by a villain who wants
to loot the lost world of its treasures. There is also a nasty high
priest who tries to convince everyone that he welcomes outsiders and
contact with the world at large. But he doesn’t. 5/22/24
The Games of Neith
by Margaret St. Clair, Ace, 1960
Neith
is the artificially created goddess – whom no one actually believes in –
on a colony world whose other religion is worship of Jovis. The planet
is suffering from a wave of time anomalies apparently caused because use
of the space warp in the area has created a weak spot between universes
and energy is flowing out. The protagonist, a priestess, and a scientist
fortuitously find a buried box of mutant virus which somehow strikes
them as the idea way to plug the leak. After some minor adventures, they
save the univere. 5/18/24
The Outward Urge
by John Wyndham, Ballantine, 1959
A
collection of related short stories set after a nuclear war destroys the
northern hemisphere. Brazil and Australia become the two major nations
and lead the way to exploration of the solar system. The Troon family
are actively involved in all of the stories and in both countries. The
stories involve travel to Mars, Venus, and the Asteroids, as well as the
best in the collection – the story of a British moonbase that faces
mutiny when the commander fails to launch nuclear weapons when a world
war breaks out. Surprise ending – they actually don’t have any weapons.
It was all a bluff. 5/16/24
Village of
the Damned by John Wyndham, Ballantine, 1957
Aka
The Midwich Cuckoos, basis of two movies and one sequel. A rural
village is cut off from the outside world for almost a full day. In the
aftermath, every women in the community capable of bearing children is
discovered to be pregnant, and most were impregnated on the day when the
town lay unconscious. The children are born, bearing an obvious family
resemblance and possession prodigious mental powers. A scholarly man
recognizes that they are a threat to the world and despite being fond of
them, he manages to smuggle a bomb close enough to kill them all before
they can read his mind. The movie versions were very loyal. 5/15/24
The Green Queen
by Margaret St Clair, Ace, 1956
A
cabal of influential men want to appoint a queen to rule a colony world,
but one whose actions they can control. Two candidates appear – one
smart and independent, one compliant but not very bright. A dissident
group wants to influence the decision for the best outcome. The
protagonist, who becomes obsessed with the brighter woman, is a
thoroughly reprehensible character. The caste system on the planet is
maintained by fear of the radioactivity levels outside the city,
although it appears that these are not really dangerous. There is a lot
of confusion in this one and the science if notably wonky. 5/15/24
Re-Birth by John
Wyndham, Ballantine, 1955
Aka
The Chrysalids. For many years this was my favorite novel, and
it’s still near the top. My mother liked it as well. In a
post-apocalyptic world, a few people develop telepathic powers. The
racial purist religious government discovers their existence and
attempts to exterminate them. A small group manages to escape and has
various adventures before being rescued by the technologically advanced
telepaths of New Zealand. The characters are vividly drawn. The plot
moves quickly and with a feeling of inevitability. The setting is very
well realized and plausible. The author pontificates occasionally,
though always briefly, and some of his conclusions are pretty cold
blooded. He was not much of a fan of humanity. 5/14/24
Immortal Athalia
by Harry F. Haley, Armchair, 2024 (originally published in 1922)
Another
typical lost world novel, this time set in Peru. Athalia is the queen –
the only white skinner person in a dark skinned society – and she sends
a message via a condor to the outside world requesting help. The
protagonist and friends find their way to the hidden kingdom, thwart an
evil high priest along with the usual jungle adventures, get accused of
committing a murder, and are finally forced to flee back to the outside
world. The dialogue is written in a stilted, archaic style which makes
the book very difficult to read, and it is far too long for its plot.
5/11/24
Out of the Deeps
by John Wyndham, Ballantine, 1953
Aka
The Kraken Wakes. Strange fireballs land in the ocean over a
period of years. When someone notices that they seem to congregate in
the deepest areas, attempts are made to investigate. Equipment is
destroyed and eventually ships begin to disappear. This becomes so
widespread that much international shipping comes to a halt. Then the
invaders begin attacking shoreline communities using a kind of
featureless tank, dragging off the inhabitants. Defenses are designed to
protect the land, so the next phase is melting of the icecaps to cause
massive flooding and disruption. This is a quiet, logically developed
story of an alien invasion. I think Wyndham overdid the stupidity of
humanity in dealing with such a test, but he sweeps the reader into his
world with his usual finesse. 5/8/24
Agent of the
Unknown by Margaret St. Clair, Ace, 1956
This
is a rather odd space adventure whose mysteries are not all explained.
An alcoholic beach bum on a terraformed planetoid finds a statue that is
partially animate. It bonds to him and projects a force field whenever
someone tries to forcibly take it away. The repressive government wants
to acquire it, although they do so in a roundabout and totally
unnecessary manner. He gets involved with a rebel, is eventually
captured, kills the head of the government, escapes through some kind of
mysterious matter transmission, and eventually surrenders the doll to
its maker, after which he commits suicide. Apparently the doll was
exerting a force that sped up human mutation while the government was
determined to repress it. 5/6/24
The Day of the
Triffids by John Wyndham, Crest, 1951
Wyndham’s
most famous novel – although not my favorite. I think this is the fourth
time I’ve read it. Near universal blindness leaves civilization in ruins
and the survivors subject to the predation of ambulatory plants which
were probably the result of a Russian experiment in genetics. The
triffids appear to be intelligent, act cooperatively, and communicate by
tapping messages against their trunks. The narrator is a survivor who
has various adventures with groups trying to deal with the chaos. He
gets separated from the woman he loves and travels across England trying
to find her. The theater version is only remotely the same story, but
there are two BBC versions that are both quite loyal. One of the most
gripping tales of the end of the modern world ever written. 5/5/24
The Isle
of Forgotten People by S. Andrew Wood (writing as Thompson
Cross), Armchair, 2024 (originally published in 1925)
This
lost world novel reads somewhat like Edgar Rice Burroughs. Explorers
using a submarine search for a lost island with a hidden civilization.
The island also has blind predators unknown to the outside world, three
volcanos, and a radioactive lake. Another group of explorers with
nefarious intentions tries to intervene in the local political struggle,
so naturally the good guys have to help the other faction. Nothing
special but a fairly well written adventure despite some obvious racism.
5/5/24
Mystery Message
by T.C. Bridges, Armchair, 2024 (originally published in 1933)
This
one is mostly a jungle adventure for teenage readers. Two boys race
against a malevolent villain to reach an explorer who has found the
descendants of Atlantis living in a hidden city. They are pacifists and
are menaced by a neighboring tribe as well as the outsiders. Much of the
story is a race to be the first to reach them. There is some mild super
science involved and the boys find a way to turn it into a weapon that
repels the aggressive tribe and prevents the chief villain from looting
the city. Not a bad adventure story but only marginally SF. 5/3/24
Sleepers of Mars
by John Wyndham, Coronet, 1973
A
collection of the author’s early stories including his first, “Worlds to
Barter,” a rather primitive time travel story. “The Third Vibrator” is
about a superweapon that could destroy the world. “Invisible Monster” is
just what the title suggests. A spaceship returns to Venus and crashes,
setting free an invisible killer. “The Man from Earth” tries to warn
Venusians to have nothing to do with people from Earth, but he is
unaware that humans have just destroyed themselves. The title story is
the sequel to Stowaway to Mars.” It describes the explorations by
the Russian astronauts who were marooned there in the novel. 5/2/24
The Secret People
by John Wyndham, Lancer, 1964 (originally published in 1935)
This
was the author’s first novel, a lost world story in which the hero
crashes into an artificial sea created in North Africa, only to be
sucked down into an underground world populated by secretive pygmies. He
is only one of hundreds of prisoners from the surface and he joins a
group secretly digging an escape tunnel. There is a long battle sequence
when their efforts are discovered, then an apocalyptic ending when the
ceiling collapses, flooding the tunnels and caverns. Although the story
is straightforward and unremarkable, the prose is excellent and the
extended battle scenes over the tunnel sight show considerable thought
about the problems involved. 4/28/24
Stowaway to Mars
by John Wyndham, Nova, 1953 (originally published in 1936)
Wyndham
rarely wrote about space and that was probably for the best. This very
early novel is about the first voyage to Mars – privately financed –
which runs into trouble when a stowaway is found on board, a mysterious
young woman. The story is rather primitive. Five men take the first ship
to Mars. A woman stows away because her father encountered an alien
device that he believes was an intelligent machine from Mars and she
learned to communicate with it. They land, one of their number goes
insane, and they find a dying Martian organic race and the sentient
machines who are likely to replace them. 4/28/24
The
Treasure Vault of Atlantis by Olof W. Anderson, Armchair, 2024
(originally published in 1925)
The
protagonist has a series of visions that take him eventually to a buried
vault of Atlantean technology, along with a few survivors of that
civilization who have been in suspended animation. They have inventions
that would revolutionize warfare, so the Atlanteans decide that it is
best that they stay hidden for the foreseeable future. There is a brief
visit to the ruins of Atlantis, deep beneath the ocean, but almost no
conflict at all. There is also a great deal of pseudo science and some
half baked spiritualism. 4/26/24
Winged Heels
by S. Andrew Wood, Armchair, 2024 (originally published in 1927)
This
one was an okay lost world novel with no real fantastic content. An
English woman runs afoul of a bandit leader in South America. She
escapes and wanders into a lost land whose queen has the usual struggles
with the high priest. The bandit follows, is imprisoned, escapes with
the help of the English woman, attracts the romantic intentions of the
queen, has to escape again, but this time the English woman decides that
she likes him after all and they go off together. Readable but dull.
4/24/24
In the Beginning
by Andrew Sullivan, Armchair, 2024
This
was a surprisingly pleasant read, but the book itself is very obscure. I
was not able to determine its original publication date. An expedition
goes to South America and finds a lost world with mastodons, sabre-tooth
tigers, and a tribe of primitive humans. The party reaches the lost
world very quickly – which is unusual – and there are no villains.
Relations with the primitives are peaceful. The party has some
differences of opinion but these are all resolved amicably enough. The
prose is not bad at all and although obviously not sophisticated in its
plotting, the story is well told. 4/22/24
The Day the
Martians Came by Frederik Pohl, St Martins, 1988
This
is a series of loosely related short stories interspersed with some
framing material and billed as a novel. The premise is that an
expedition to Mars finds some living Martians in an underground cavern
and decides to bring some of them back to Earth. The human explorers
have mostly died by then. The stories do not deal with the Martians
directly but are focused on the reactions of various people to news of
their existence, anticipation of how their arrival might change things,
and other associated matters. They are all competent stories but none of
them are among Pohl’s better work. 4/20/24
Collecting Myself
by Barry N. Malzberg, Stark House, 2024, $15.95, ISBN 978-8-88601-081-7
Anyone
who reads short SF regularly is no doubt familiar with the slow but
steady stream of stories from the pen, or keyboard, of Barry Malzberg.
His stories are generally quite short - thirty five of them here fill
less than 180 pages. This selection is drawn from a wide variety of
sources - magazines, anthologies, web sites, and so on - and vary from
science fiction to horror to hard boiled noir. There is a great deal of
very dark humor in the mix, and some of the satire is biting. I actually
liked the non-science fiction stories in this selection somewhat more in
general, which is unusual for me. About two thirds I had read
previously, but they were welcome revisits, and the new stuff was mostly
quite delightful. There is a bibliography of his books attached -
including his erotica. 4/18/24
The Gateway Trip
by Frederik Pohl, Del Rey, 1990
This
was labelled a collection of Heechee stories, but most are simply
accounts of events surrounding the discovery of the alien bases and bits
of their technology. Half of the book, however, is the single excellent
novella, “The Merchants of Venus,” in which a guide takes two people
from Earth on a treasure hunt on the planet Venus. This was one of
Pohl’s best stories, though it never won any awards. The other stories
are mildly interesting but most lack actual characters and are merely
accounts of observations, examinations of artifacts, and the effects
this technology had on human progress. 4/17/24
The Years of the
City by Frederik Pohl, Pocket, 1984
A
very loosely connected series of five longish stories which focus on the
future evolution of New York City. In each episode, we follow the
adventures of typical characters from that period but the stories are
really more interested in the evolution of the city. There are various
developments – a dome is built over the city, which becomes almost an
independent nation. Town meetings via television alter the way that the
population makes decisions about laws, the treatment of prisoners,
medical availability, energy conservation, and other issues. I’m afraid
I found it a bit too information heavy to work well as fiction. 4/15/24
The Golden
Centipede by Louise Gerard, Armchair, 2024 (originally published
in 1910)
Two
parties travel into the interior of Africa in search of a lost
civilization. They both find it relatively easily but only after various
routine jungle adventures. For a change, the tension is mostly between
the two invading parties, although the tribespeople do get caught
between them at times. There is a mystical temple but the only real
fantastic content is the golden centipede, which might be a kind of
metallic life, might be a robot, or might be magically animated. It
provides mostly background and is only vaguely involved with the plot.
4/15/24
The City of Desire
by Juanita Savage, Armchair, 2024 (originally published in 1926)
This
is a pretty inept lost world novel that could almost appear as a romance
story. The protagonist is off to Mexico to find her father, who
disappeared on an expedition. She stumbles into a lost world ruled by a
man who speaks English and who is clearly the descendant of an outsider,
although he does not believe the outer world is real. He claims her as
his wife. She is pursued by a persistent and frankly unpleasant suitor
and much of the novel consists of the two men contending for her
affections. Ultimately she decides to stay and be the local queen. The
king is, of course, white skinned. 4/9/24
Midas World by
Frederik Pohl, Tor, 1984
Short
stories. About half were previously collected. “Farmer on the Dole” is a
pretty good story about robots being assigned to various job roles –
including muggers and beggars – to provide variation on a future human
society. “Servant of the People” pits the man who spearheaded voting
rights for self aware robots in an election against one of those same
robots. “The New Neighbors” are humans in a robot community and they
drive their neighbors crazy. “Lord of the Skies” is a novella. Earth is
surrounded by orbiting personal habitats which has become a drain on the
home world and the source of tension. 4/9/24
In the Problem
Pit by Frederik Pohl, Bantam, 1976
Short
stories, several of which have been previously collected. The title
story is a novelette about the isolation of sixteen individuals in a
kind of enforced problem solving session. I'm not convinced that
it is really SF. ‘I Remember a Winter” is definitely not SF. “Golden
Ages Gone Away” is a nonfiction reminiscence about the early days of
modern science fiction. “Some Joys Under the Star” has humanity saved
from annihilation when a softening up weapon actually improves human
willingness to work together. The reprints from other collections are
somewhat better. 4/2/24
Pohlstars by
Frederik Pohl, Del Rey, 1984
A
collection of his later stories. “Enjoy Enjoy” is about aliens who
purchase human emotional experiences. “We Purchased People” is a biting
story about human convicts who are purchased by aliens who operate them
by remote control and force one man to kill the woman he loves. “The
Mother Trip” presents a series of different scenarios about first
contact with aliens. “Growing Up in Edge City” is a depressing story
about a boy who arranges the deaths of a group of people to bolster his
career inside a closed city. “A Day in the Life of Able Charlie” is a
vignette about a computer programmed with human personalities. “The Way
It Was” is a depressing story about organ banks. “Rem the Rememberer” is
a vignette about a polluted future Earth. “Spending a Day at the Lottery
Fair” can be very expensive because every ticket requires you to risk
your life. “Second Coming” is a vignette about aliens abducting Jesus.
“The Sweet Sad Queen of the Grazing Isles” is a very depressing novella
set in an overpopulated future. “The High Test” is a humorous piece
about an egotistic alien who fails to conquer a world. 4/1/24
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