Dreadful Sleep by Jack Williamson
At the end of my recent review of Jack Williamson’s 1933 novel Golden Blood, which initially appeared as a six-part serial in the pages of Weird Tales magazine, I mentioned that the author had later placed another serial in that same pulp publication, and that I meant to seek it out. Well, I am here to tell you MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! That later serial, Dreadful Sleep, was a three-part affair in the March –
March 28th, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Jack Williamson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Gulliver of Mars by Edwin L. Arnold
Editor’s note: Because it’s in the public domain, Gulliver of Mars is free in Kindle format.
On those rare occasions when it is discussed at all today, British author Edwin L. Arnold’s final book, Lt. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation, is primarily spoken of as a possible influence on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter novels. But this, it seems to me,
March 21st, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Edwin L. Arnold | Free!, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 9 comments |
Tomorrow’s Yesterday by A.M. Stanley
I don’t think I’m going too far out on a limb in making the following sweeping statements about a certain book that I just read, A.M. Stanley’s Tomorrow’s Yesterday: You have never heard of this book, or of its author. You’ve never read anything about the book, either in print or online. This, my friends, is a lost book; one that, since its initial publication in 1949, has plummeted stone-like to the bottom of the literary pool. Not just a book that is currently out of print but is easily researchable ― there are tens of thousands of those ― but rather,
March 7th, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | A.M. Stanley | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan
I would imagine, at this point, that you have previously heard of the fictional character named Buck Rogers. And indeed, dating from his initial comic strip appearance in January 1929, and proceeding on to radio shows (starting in 1932, Buck Rogers was radio’s very first sci-fi hero), a 12-part film serial (starring the former Olympic swimming medalist Buster Crabbe), several TV adaptations, video games, and comics, the character has been fairly ubiquitous for almost 90 years now. To be sure, Buck’s comic strip was so very popular in the early ‘30s that it spawned,
February 23rd, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Philip Francis Nowlan | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Black Flame by Stanley G. Weinbaum
Although Kentucky-born sci-fi author Stanley G. Weinbaum is today considered a seminal writer in his chosen field, his actual career was, sadly, an exceedingly brief one. After making a huge splash with his short story “A Martian Odyssey,” featuring the truly alien, ostrichlike Tweel, in the July ’34 issue of Wonder Stories, Weinbaum shifted into high gear, creating some two dozen short pieces and three novels before succumbing to cancer in December ’35, at the age of 33.
February 9th, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Stanley G. Weinbaum | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Golden Blood by Jack Williamson
I’d like to tell you about a terrific book that I have just finished reading. In it, a 2,000-year-old Arabian woman, living her immortal existence in the heart of an extinct volcano after being endowed by a mysterious force of nature, waits patiently for the reincarnation of her dead lover to reappear to her. “Hold on,” I can almost hear you saying. “I know that book … that’s She!” And if that is indeed your reaction, a gold star for you,
January 31st, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Jack Williamson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Best of Richard Matheson by Richard Matheson
Almost precisely two years ago, I had some words to say about a then-new anthology that had been released by Penguin Classics: Perchance to Dream, a 300+-page collection of short stories by the author Charles Beaumont. Flash forward two years, and I am now here to tell you of a 2017 Penguin release that almost serves as a companion volume to that earlier book: The Best of Richard Matheson,
January 5th, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Richard Matheson | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Anyone who knows me well could tell you that I don’t see a lot of new films. As a matter of fact, of the 116 films that I saw in 2017, only 7 were new, and 109 were old. Thus, my annual Top 10 Best and Worst lists are necessarily different than most. With me, any film that I saw for the first time in 2017 was eligible for either list. If the film made me laugh, or think, or tear up, or sit suspensefully on the edge of my seat, or amazed me with something that I had not seen before,
January 4th, 2018. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Between Two Worlds directed by Edward A. Blatt
Featuring a raft of experienced Warner Brothers lead and character actors as well as one up-and-coming future starlet, 1944’s Between Two Worlds reveals itself to be a pleasing supernatural fantasy, indeed, and one that should hold up very well for modern audiences, now almost 75 years since its release. The film was based on the 1923 play Outward Bound by British playwright Sutton Vane, which had been adapted to film once before, as an early-sound vehicle for Leslie Howard, under that original title,
December 19th, 2017. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Sign of the Labrys by Margaret St. Clair
A pleasingly unique — indeed, possibly sui generis — combination of post-apocalyptic sci-fi and (of all things) Wiccan magic and craft, Sign of the Labrys initially appeared in 1963, as a Corgi paperback. Its author, Kansas-born Margaret St. Clair, was 52 at the time and had been writing short stories (well over 100 of them) since the late ‘40s. Sign of the Labrys was her fourth novel out of an eventual eight. And lest you think that the novel’s Wiccan elements were merely a passing fancy of its author,
December 14th, 2017. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Margaret St.Clair | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.