Sandy Ferber | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

Tarzan of the Apes: A very fine introduction to the original swinger

Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Three years ago, the character of Tarzan celebrated his 100th birthday. Making his initial appearance in the October 1912 issue of All-Story Magazine, in the original Tarzan novel Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ creation proved to be so popular that the author went on to create 25 more novels featuring the jungle swinger. Released in book form two years later, the novel is a perfect introduction to the character who has been called the best-known fictional creation of the 20th century.

The Lost Continent: Possibly the finest novel of Atlantis ever written

The Lost Continent by C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne

The Lost Continent first appeared serially in the English publication Pearson’s Magazine in 1899, and in book form the following year. The author, C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne, is not exactly a household name today, but, way back when, was an extremely popular and prolific writer. His serialized tales of Captain Kettle, also in Pearson’s, were supposedly only second in popularity to the Strand Magazine‘s Sherlock Holmes stories, as submitted by Arthur Conan Doyle.

April 20th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Nexus: A very fine novel by a new sci-fi talent

The Nexus by Richard Fazio

On those occasions when I have read sci-fi, I’ve tended to stick to the familiar brand-name authors; tried-and-true old favorites such as Asimov, Bester, Bradbury, Clarke, Dick, Heinlein, Norton, Silverberg, Williamson and the like. But a recent perusal of new author Richard Fazio‘s debut novel, 2010’s The Nexus, has demonstrated that I really ought to be adventurous more often.

April 17th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Richard Fazio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Men, Martians and Machines: Proto-“Trek”

Men, Martians and Machines by Eric Frank Russell

More than four decades before Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his mixed crew of Earthlings, aliens and android made their initial appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation, English author Eric Frank Russell was charming readers with his tales of a similarly composed starship crew. Russell (1905 – ’78) had been a contributor to John W. Campbell’s seminal Astounding Science-Fiction magazine since 1937, when it was simply called Astounding Stories (Campbell would, years later, name Russell as his favorite science fiction author,

The Philosopher’s Stone: A great book by an evolutionary “throw forward”

The Philosopher’s Stone by Colin Wilson

In her article on Colin Wilson in the May 30, 2004 Observer, reporter Lynn Barber mentioned that the author, then 73, had seemingly read “every book ever written.” She also noted that Wilson claimed never to have thrown a book away, and that his home library in Cornwall contained approximately 30,000 volumes. Well, any reader who delves into the author’s 1969 offering, The Philosopher’s Stone, is not likely to dispute those statements. Though chosen for inclusion in Cawthorn &

Herland: A very fine feminist utopian novel with some real fantasy elements

Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s Herland is a lost-world fantasy in the Haggardian tradition with a decided twist: It functions primarily as a discourse on the supposed but not necessarily actual differences between the two sexes, and as a feminist screed in the utopian genre. Written in 1915, the novel was initially serialized in the pages of Gilman’s own monthly magazine, The Forerunner, a publication whose main agenda was to further Gilman’s ideas of feminism and socialism.

April 13th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Charlotte Perkins Gilman | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |

Slaves of Sleep: Not an E-Meter in sight

Slaves of Sleep by L. Ron Hubbard

Potential readers of L. Ron Hubbard‘s Slaves of Sleep who might be put off by the author’s association with the cult of Dianetics and Scientology need not be concerned here. This novel first appeared in Unknown magazine in 1939, more than a decade before Hubbard’s first Dianetics article was published (in Astounding Science Fiction) in May 1950. Thus, in Slaves of Sleep, there’s not a mention of “auditors,” “clears” or “E-meters” to be found.

The Forgotten Planet: You want BEMs? Look no further!

The Forgotten Planet by Murray Leinster

There is a wonderful old term used to describe a feature of Golden Age science fiction novels: BEM, an acronym for “bug-eyed monsters.” Back in the 1930s and ‘40s, you see, the covers of many sci-fi pulp magazines featured illustrations of bulbous-orbed, invariably menacing aliens and other creatures; just do a Google Image search for the Thrilling Wonder Stories periodical and you’ll see what I mean! But anyone wanting to actually READ a book with more BEMs than any 10 other sci-fi books of the era combined would be well advised to pick up Murray Leinster’s The Forgotten Planet.

April 3rd, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Murray Leinster | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |

Beyond Thirty: A must-read for all ERB completists

Beyond Thirty by Edgar Rice Burroughs

By 1916, Edgar Rice Burroughs was already a popular and regular contributor to the pulp periodicals of the day. Though a late starter — his first work, the John Carter story “Under the Moons of Mars,” was serialized in All-Story Magazine in 1912, when Burroughs was 36 — his output increased rapidly, to the point that by 1916, he had already seen the first three Carter works, the first two Tarzan titles, the first Pellucidar entry (At the Earth’s Core),

The Black Wheel: A must for all Merritt completists

The Black Wheel by Abraham Merritt & Hannes Bok

When Abraham Merritt died of a heart attack on August 21, 1943, at the age of 59, the world lost one of the greatest writers of adventure fantasy of all time. He left behind a number of novels in various stages of completion, including the first quarter of The Black Wheel. Hannes Bok, an artist and illustrator who did almost 150 covers for assorted pulp magazines,

Author: Sandy Ferber

Tarzan of the Apes: A very fine introduction to the original swinger

The Lost Continent: Possibly the finest novel of Atlantis ever written

The Nexus: A very fine novel by a new sci-fi talent

Men, Martians and Machines: Proto-“Trek”

The Philosopher’s Stone: A great book by an evolutionary “throw forward”

Herland: A very fine feminist utopian novel with some real fantasy elements

Slaves of Sleep: Not an E-Meter in sight

The Forgotten Planet: You want BEMs? Look no further!

Beyond Thirty: A must-read for all ERB completists

The Black Wheel: A must for all Merritt completists

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