The Queen of the Legion by Jack Williamson
Fans of Jack Williamson’s LEGION OF SPACE series would have a long time to wait after part 3 of the saga, One Against the Legion, appeared in 1939. It would be a full 28 years before a short story featuring any of the Legion characters came forth, 1967’s “Nowhere Near,” and it was not until 1983, almost 50 years after part 1 of the series (The Legion of Space) was released,
June 5th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Jack Williamson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Incredible Adventures by Algernon Blackwood
Algernon Blackwood’s Incredible Adventures was first released in book form in 1914, and is comprised of three novellas and two short stories. The literary critic and scholar S.T. Joshi has called this book “perhaps the greatest weird collection of all time,” and while I do not pretend to be well read enough to concur in that evaluation, I will say that the book is beautifully written… and certainly weird, in Blackwood’s best manner.
The five pieces in Incredible Adventures are almost impossible to categorize.
June 4th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | Algernon Blackwood | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
One Against the Legion by Jack Williamson
The third installment of Jack Williamson’s LEGION OF SPACE tetralogy, One Against the Legion, initially appeared in the April, May and June 1939 issues of Astounding Science-Fiction. A short, colorful and fast-moving novel, it reacquaints us with the Legionnaires Jay Kalam, Hal Samdu and Giles Habibula; John Star and his extended family only make cameo appearances in this one.
Whereas in book 1, The Legion of Space,
June 3rd, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Jack Williamson | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Valley of the Flame by Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore
Yeah, I know that one has to take inflation into account when computing these things, but still, what incredible deals the sci-fi lover could acquire 60 or so years ago! Take, for example, the March 1946 issue of Startling Stories, with a cover price of just 15 cents. For that minimal charge, the reader got stories by sci-fi greats Frank Belknap Long, Jack Williamson and Henry Kuttner, PLUS the entire novel Valley of the Flame,
May 30th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | C.L. Moore, Henry Kuttner | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Doomsday Morning by C.L. Moore
By the mid-1950s, science fiction’s foremost husband-and-wife writing team, Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore, could be regarded more as coeds than working authors. After the release of their “fix-up” novel Mutant in late 1953, the pair released only five more short pieces of sci-fi over the next five years. And while it is true that Kuttner did come out with a series of novels featuring psychoanalyst/detective Dr. Michael Gray, for the most part, the two concentrated on getting their degrees at the University of Southern California.
May 29th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | C.L. Moore | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Love Eternal by H. Rider Haggard
Although English author H. Rider Haggard is popularly known today as “the father of the lost race novel,” such adventure tales of vanished civilizations were scarcely his sole concern. As any reader who has pursued this writer further than his “big 3” (1885’s King Solomon’s Mines, 1887’s Allan Quatermain and 1887’s She) would tell you, Haggard was also very much concerned with the matter of reincarnation and with what I suppose we might call “ love that survives beyond the grave.” These two themes comprise the very heart of She and its three sequels (1905’s Ayesha,
May 28th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | H. Rider Haggard | Free!, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Cometeers by Jack Williamson
The sequel to The Legion of Space (one of the most popular serialized sci-fi novels of the 1930s), The Cometeers, to author Jack Williamson’s credit, is not only a better-written book, but does what all good sequels should: enlarge on the themes of the earlier piece and deepen the characterizations. First appearing in the May-August 1936 issues of Astounding Stories magazine (two years after The Legion of Space made its first appearance therein,
May 27th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Jack Williamson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Ganymede Takeover by Philip K. Dick
When I read Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore‘s 1946 novella Chessboard Planet some years back, the thought occurred to me that this story is a must-read for all fans of cult author Philip K. Dick. In the story, the United States is in the midst of a decades-long war with the European union and is in big trouble, because scientists working for the enemy have come up with a formula employing “variable constants” that can completely preempt reality.
May 20th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Legion of Space by Jack Williamson
The Legion of Space, the opening salvo of a tetralogy that Jack Williamson wrote over a nearly 50-year period, was initially released as a six-part serial in the April-September 1934 issues of Astounding Stories. (This was some years before the publication changed its name to Astounding Science-Fiction, in March 1938, and, with the guidance of newly ensconced editor John W. Campbell, Jr, became the most influential magazine in sci-fi history.) It was ultimately given the hardcover novel treatment in 1947.
May 17th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Jack Williamson | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
For his 37th work of fiction, H. Rider Haggard, the so-called “father of the lost-race novel” and an expert at writing historical adventure tales as well, decided to go back to the Dark Ages. Red Eve, which Haggard wrote in a six-month period from 1908-1909, was ultimately published in 1911, and turns out to be yet another winner from this wonderful storyteller.
In it, we meet Hugh de Cressi, a merchant’s son who is in love with “Red Eve” Clavering,
May 13th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | H. Rider Haggard | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…