Scroll down for a recent review of "The Early Williamson," May 7th/23. 55 books by Williamson and some co-authors reviewed in this segment; there are also three complete stories by different authors.

THE HUMANOIDS

Cover art by Michael Presley

Avon Equinox edition is from 1976

Jack Williamson (1908-2006) was an American SF writer who was born in Bisbee, AZ, but lived much of his life in NM, farming and ranching. His early works were published in pulp magazines beginning in 1928. He co-wrote many novels with Frederick Pohl, and I am especially interested in following up on those works on this page. He became a scholar and taught literature at Eastern NM Univ. in Portales. He later earned his Ph.D, his thesis focusing on H.G. Wells. He was a very prolific author, and undertook many SF series, as well as numerous novels and short stories. I had never read any of his works before this novel.

Early printing of The Humanoids.

First published in Galaxy Magazine in 1948, this is one heck of a SF novel. In 1980 the author revamped it. There is also a sequel, which will appear here as the next review on this page, and I'm certain to eventually get around to the revised edition of the original. I have read the original version, at 178 pages. The writing is small, with the chapters beginning in the middle of the page, with no extra room wasted. So it is a pretty long novel, and not one to gulp down at one sitting. For one thing, there is actually a lot of science in here, sometimes several pages at a time. But let's begin at the beginning.

A human-inhabited planet is at war, one that will surely annihilate their own planet, as well as the enemy one. This is important to keep in mind, especially with the unusual ending. Dr. Clay Forester (attention MST fans!) is in charge of Project Thunderbolt, and he has designed missiles that can wipe out an entire planet. Meanwhile, we learn that the enemy aliens have planted small but very devastating bombs all over the human planet. They are all on the verge of destroying themselves completely.

Dr. Warren Mansfield had foreseen such an event, and had a plan to stop it. 80 years earlier he developed human-like robots to protect man from himself. The humanoids soon take over the human planet, as well as the enemy planet, and begin dismantling bombs and drugging people to make them happier and less angry and hostile. No more drinking, smoking, or engaging in any dangerous activities. Dr. Forester, aghast at the new state of things, joins a small but frantic underground movement to try and reprogramme the humanoids, to allow for some wiggle room for humans to continue to flourish without so much interference. One of the allies is a small girl, gifted with the ability to teleport. All of the allies have some kind of ESP, except Forester, who balks at their rebellion, refuses to believe in their powers, and goes along with the humanoids' plan to take over the planet, bringing peace along with them. However, they watch over people so closely that Forester soon realizes that he and the others are actually in a prison. Nothing risky can be undertaken by any human, and that includes any lab science experiments.

By the time Forester decides to help the underground movement, it is too late to stop the invasion. However, he soon begins to realize that his search for a unified theory is about to come to fruition. He himself was responsible for discovering an entirely new branch of science, called rhodomagnetics. He discovered this branch of science from his lessons learnt while studying a supernova. It is a totally different field from electromagnetics, but still didn't provide him with his final answer. As he slowly comes to terms with ESP he begins to realize that it is actually the third and final piece of his puzzle. This is called psychophysical energy. By combining the three powers he finally has the prima materia he has been searching for all his life. This is discussed quite neatly and convincingly beginning on page 127 of my edition.

Enough about the plot, though I could go on at length. It is complex but fun. Dr. Forester isn't much of a hero. In fact, he is a very frustrating character to have to depend upon, and he never gets much better. He is ruled by anger and other base emotions, exactly the kinds of things that the humanoids are eliminating from people. And Frank Ironsmith, his nemesis, isn't much better. He supports the robot takeover of humans and their faults, and though he always tries to persuade Forester to go with the flow, he never explains why or how. And somehow, he and his followers have already learnt all about the secrets that Forester spent his life trying to learn, and they seemed to have already mastered it. Ironsmith represents either the worst enemy of humanity, or its saviour. And that entirely depends on the reader's viewpoint.

Let me pose a question: Would you rather have humans continue as they are, even up to and beyond the point where they eventually destroy themselves, or would you have them altered to the point where they have no more aggression or other unhappy ideas? Dr. Mansfield, who originally dictated the prime directive for the humanoids, and Ironsmith who works for them, chose the second option. He has been rewarded with much more freedom than most people. Forester and his very small band of anarchists support the first option.

By the end of the novel you will have learnt Williamson's choice. Whether you think he was right or wrong, remember what I said at the beginning of this review. A human inhabited planet is about to be destroyed in war, and will in turn destroy the enemy planet. Which is worse? Total destruction, or life as a happy being, living outside of danger and stress? It makes me think of The Culture, in the incredible SF works of Iain M. Banks. How did that civilization get to their current state of greatness? Could it possibly have been through similar means? What would life be like for most people if the humanoids got their way?

Either way, this book poses a very scary pair of options. Sometimes this is very tough to deal with in the novel, too. I really liked the mixing of old science with two newly discovered branches. Williamson makes a logical and educated argument for their integration. Recommended, with no easy answers available.

*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Nov. 29th/17

THE HUMANOID TOUCH

My partially ruined cover. Spectacular art by John C. Berkey.

From 1980 comes the fabulous 186 page sequel to The Humanoids. In that same year Jack Williamson reworked his original novel, something I will have to track down and read. In the far future an outpost of humans are threatened by the distant memory of the humanoids. The memories are so distant that no one really believes in them, except for a few people. They try to warn others, and try to raise funds to develop weapons, but their cries fall on deaf ears. There are really no such thing as humanoids, and they are merely part of some myth. Except that we, who have read the first book, know they are very real.

I must say that I find the humanoids one of the most frightening concepts ever conceived. They are virtually invincible, have a hive mind (did the idea of the Borg come from here?--you better believe it!), and are unstoppable. There is no Starship Enterprise coming to defeat them, or Captain Kirk to trap them with logic. They cannot be defeated. Their original purpose was to provide service to humans, protecting them and caring for them as prescribed by their prime directive. Humans cannot be harmed by them. So why the big fuss?

Think of health and safety rules taken to their very limits of extremism and you will begin to understand the threat. No humans can be put at risk, so obviously no wars. Crime is not allowed. So far so good. However, there is no exploring, no physical work, no art or music allowed with strong feelings of negativity--in fact no negativity whatsoever is allowed. Drugs are used to keep those kinds of people happy. There is no sex, as it is too physically demanding. And so on, to the point that people simply aren't people any more.

However, the catch is that they really do keep people happy, by creating imaginary worlds for them, allowing them to think they are doing something worthwhile, even though they aren't, and by occupying their minds with whatever might keep them happy (no violence, of course). What's so bad about all that? Many religious people might equate the life of humans living under the care of humanoids a form of Heaven. This was the dilemma in the first book. What price should be paid to avoid war, violent crime, famine, disease.... Is it worth it to have the humanoids around? Read the book and decide for yourself. I know my choice is easy--fight the buggers till my last breath, even though it is hopeless to do so.

Here is a quote from the book that I particulary like (p. 167 of my Holt Rhinehart hardcover edition):

"History!" His slow voice rumbled again, more thoughtful than bitter. "Look at man's history. A symbiosis, an ecologist might call it; bonds between machines and men. Links with the axe and the reactor. The counting stick and the computer. The raft and the starship. We took a million years to build the humanoids--the best machine of all!"

No doubt we are well on the way already to building humanoids. No doubt we will succeed. Then most people will finally get the Heaven that they seek. As for the rest of us... The book is truly fantastic, and though mostly pessimistic and filled with hopelessness, it's good to see a few people fight on till the bitter end. And don't worry, the author leaves an opening and an out for the hero, if he can grasp it. In many ways the book reminds me of the best writing of Piers Anthony, especially his Of Man and Manta series. Some good science mixed with some very good fiction. The book could be read without knowledge of the first book in the series; in fact, it seems to have been marketed that way. But of course you must read The Humanoids first. The author dedicates the book to Fred Pohl. Highly recommended.

**** stars. Reviewed February 2nd/18

WITH FOLDED HANDS

Cover art by William Timmins

This brief tale is the original award-winning version of The Humanoids. I read the Kindle version, but it is also available free on-line as a PDF. My versions says it is 54 pages, making it a novelette. This is the essential story of The Humanoids, where the author expanded on his ideas but did not change them. The humanoids are invincible, so deal with it. So many people would be delighted to have such a well-planned and well looked after existence. The book is almost too depressing to recommend, especially to a society that are already slaves to their phones and social media, and could never be truly happy without them. Read and weep.
**** stars. Reviewed Nov. 11th/18

___________________________________________

EARLY NOVELS

THE ALIEN INTELLIGENCE

Cover art uncredited.

From 1929 comes this SF tale of aliens living in a crater in Australia's Great Victorian Desert. The novella lasts for 90 pages. In addition to some very creepy aliens, there is also a race of blue-eyed blondes living down there. Go figure.

Winfield Fowler sets off to find his older mentor, after he receives distress calls. He heads to the Mountains of the Moon, climbing up to the top of the crater via a silver ladder, and then proceeds to climb down the other side. Using Edgar Rice Burroughs and A. Merritt as his inspiration, Williamson soon has his hapless adventurer meet up with the lovely blonde Melvar. She takes him to her wonderful city, where he is given a very poor welcome. She hides him, he rescues her from being sacrificed, and then he, she, and her younger brother set out to find Horace Austen the MIA mentor.

The author does not go into a lot of background detail of these strange aliens, or even what they are up to, but we soon discover that they are bad and must be destroyed. This is all very silly, and at the same time all very fun to read. If it's been awhile since you've felt like a kid again, this sort of thing might be just what you need. If you are looking for character depth and logic, look elsewhere. If purple monsters with long white hair are more your thing, then you have arrived. Enjoy!

*** stars. Reviewed May 28th/19

INTO THE FOURTH IMENSION

Cover art uncredited.

This is the 2nd novel in this volume, along with Williamson's Alien Intelligence. Written in 1926 and 1927, it is 123 pages long. Cummings has attempted something I doubt anyone before him ever did, namely to describe someplace that is indescribable. Our three heroes--two males and a female--enter a new dimension, after feeling threatened by alien ghost-like appearances. They undertake a journey to a strange world, home of these beings. Before they go, we get a pretty fantastic first glimpse at these beings, with their appearances being seen by hordes of humans. It is causing a sensation.

One of the most difficult tasks a writer can set himself is to describe things that are virtually impossible to describe. Most of this book is Cummings' attempt to describe life in another dimension. What would it look like? How would it work? How would the inhabitants survive? What would they do? What would they eat or drink. Could they produce offspring? Would they have a belief system? Could they die or become injured? And how would a person from our side get there, and vice versa? If any of these questions interest you, I think you will enjoy this book.

Overlaid atop all of the marvels and explanations is a plot about some bad aliens wanting to take over Earth, and setting out to do a fine job of destroying New York City. How did they go about doing it? And how, if ever, were they stopped?

I actually found this to be a pretty fascinating read, and certainly more worthy of intelligent discussion than the Williamson story. Recommended.

*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed May 30th/19

THE GIRL FROM MARS

Reprint of 1929 story.

Billed as the first ever SF story, I'm guessing these people never heard of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Or Jules Verne. Or H. G. Wells. Well anyway, here it is. Jack was 22 when he wrote this silly 25 page short story in 1929. Republished in 1998 by Gryphon, it opens with the disintegration of Mars (careless of the Martians). Three embryos are rocketed to Earth in the hopes of saving the species, two males and one female (the opposite configuration might have been a better gamble). They are raised by good people (Americans). The girl and her stepbrother fall in love, but then when she meets one of the Martian men her heart goes pitter-patter and she ditches the Earth boy for some home grown loving.

If not the first SF story, then I nominate it for the silliest. The two Martian men duel for the female, and everyone dies except the man who raised the girl (he does lose his son to one of the Martians, though). Burroughs is Shakespeare compared to this effort by Williamson. Using the old Ace Double format, there is a different, longer story by Williamson on the reverse, upside down.

Original interior illustration is included in the 1998 edition. The two male Martians duel to the death for the pretty Martian female.

*1/2 stars. Reviewed March 24th/18

THE PRINCE OF SPACE

Flip side of The Girl From Mars.

From 1931 comes another early tale from Williamson. This novella is 72 pages long, and the writing seems to have improved somewhat (I still prefer Burroughs). The Prince is a lovable swashbuckler who only wants the best for everyone, except those he robs. Robin Hood of Space might be a more appropriate title. Earth wants him dead or alive, and there is a reward on his head. He is blamed for a grisly and murderous attack on a space liner. Even though he has never killed anyone before, and always leaves a calling card, he gets blamed for this one, even though he did not leave a calling card. All the blood was sucked out of the humans. Of course it must be The Prince, using a new tactic!

For the second story in a row Mars gets completely eliminated from the solar system. Jack is very hard on planets. The Prince, a brilliant scientist, his daughter, a newspaper man, and a commander who once chased The Prince team up to save Earth from a Martian invasion, even though the Earth never learns the truth or who it was who saved them. They still try to hunt him down. Suitable for readers in their early to mid-teens (in the 1930s), it jives with what Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon used to be like. However, it is not the early kind of SF writing I admire.

To make matters worse, this double book contains the worst example of editing (a non-existent version) I have ever come across. I have also noticed several of my recently read Kindle editions of novels have been atrocious for spelling and punctuation. However, this volume is the worst example I have ever come across in the world of publishing. Why did no one fix all of the errors? There are at least two per page, often more. Inexcusable. To top it off, the covers are wrong, with the Girl from Mars sitting in front of the other story, and vice versa. Not indicative of a very professional publisher.

** stars. Reviewed March 24th/18

THE GREEN GIRL

Cover art by Ray Johnson. One of my very favourite pulp covers!

From 1930 (reprinted in 1950) comes this 128 page classic pulp SF, in the tradition of Hugo Gernsback but filtered through the bigger talent of Williamson. The author is improving with every effort, and this story shows his great love of the writings of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Melvin Dane is the hero, Sam Walden the brilliant scientist who makes it all possible, and starring Xenora, as the Green Girl! The flowered-headed, eight-tentacled, lettuce-backed alien is Alexander! One of the best things about this book is the Omnimobile, perhaps the greatest vehicle ever designed. And it only took Sam a few months to build it! As a kid, I would have built myself one of these out of cardboard and played in it all day. I may even have mounted it on a wagon and ridden it to school!

With the all-terrain vehicle loaded with food, weapons, and supplies, our heroes are off to the bottom of the ocean, and then beyond even that, into a world of purple trees, crimson mist, and a powerful green gaseous snake alien that spreads fear and panic among those it reaches and commands. Luckily, Sam has invented his version of the all-purpose tinfoil hat, so that our intrepid heroes can remain unaffected. But beware if you leave your hat at home!

The year is 2000 A.D., and Sam is the only scientist left who can help save the world from become a frozen wasteland, courtesy of the green snaky gas. We never learn why it wishes to freeze the Earth, but that is not important. The two men, Sam at 70 and Melvin closer to 30, head down under, where they encounter an alien world worthy of all the description that the 22 year-old author happily provides. Amidst all the drama and exploration, Sam also loves to cook, and can often be found in the gallery creating some wonderful food. He even bakes apple pies, one of my favourite domestic moments from this book! Another is when he teaches Alexandra, the tentacled monster, to dry the dishes.

They literally don't write books like this any more, or at least they don't publish them if someone does. From from being a mere damsel in distress, Xenora proves herself equal to the task of doing her part to save the world. She is a modern woman in many ways, other than she has a greenish tinge to her skin, and first appears naked. Bravo to Williamson for including a female action figure! This is great stuff, and I feel fortunate to have stumbled across it in my wanderings. Takes me back, it does... A second novel also is included, much like the old Ace Doubles.

*** stars. Reviewed Nov. 11th/18

THE ROBOT PERIL

Original cover art by H. W. McCauley.

This is the "B" side of a double novel, with the "A" side written by Jack Williamson, above. The story is from 1940, written when Wilcox was 35. It is 63 pages long, and tells the unpleasant story of low IQ humans being turned into obedient slaves, called Stupodes. The evil businessman behind the scheme is in direct competition with the makers of traditional but imperfect robots. He has several high level judges in his back pocket, and has made it illegal for doctors to tamper with his creations.

Fortunately, three humans from 1939 have been awakened from a long sleep in the year 2090. Blaine, Marcella, and James team up with a friendly scientist who offers them his home until they can adjust, and then to try and bring justice for the people who are being treated as subhuman beasts. On one hand this is a very silly pulp tale of something that would never happen; on the other hand, the author has a pretty good grasp of politics, lies, and the domineering influence of rich and powerful businessmen over policy making that affects everyone. Once that ball is rolling, it is very difficult to stop it.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Nov. 12th/18

THE STONE FROM THE GREEN STAR

A very uninspired cover by Leo Morey.

This 195 page novel is from 1931, and first appeared in serial form in Amazing Stories. The far-fetched story concerns a certain Dick Smith (what an imaginative name), brought two million years into the future. Humans have conquered space and much of the galaxy. A certain evil pirate, however, rides on the Dark Star, a planet apparently filled with evil scientists and enough henchmen to last forever (there appears to be no henchwomen). Sounding a lot like something George Lucas read before undertaking Star Wars, this is an action packed novel that would have been suitable in its day for fans of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.

Williamson can write, of that there is no doubt. His imagination stretches the limits of what might be found in outer space, even today. His creepy Things of Frozen flame, however, are simply evil creatures and must be destroyed. Too bad, as it might have been worthwhile before finding out a bit more about this alien life form before wiping it out. Back that's SF in the 1930s for you--aliens are bad, pirates are worse, and the good guys--well, they are really really good!

There is one female character, but at least she is a decent one for the time. She is a very intelligent (and beautiful) scientist, and not afraid of a challenge. Of course she has no mother (they never do), and lives and studies with her brilliant scientist father. I liked Thon Ahrora a lot, and would like to meet her someday.

Strictly for fun--there is nothing too serious here for devoted SF fans.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed July 15th/19

__________________________________________________

THE SHORTER FICTION

THE EARLY WILLIAMSON

Cover art by Peter Elson.

The volume contains 11 stories and two essays by the author. In addition, Jack introduces each story at the end of the previous one. Published in 1975, it is 268 pages long. Unable to afford any more of the hardcover editions (below), I found this paperback one on line. I have already read and reviewed most of the stories it contains, but it does have The Metal Man. I did read all the introductions, even to the stories previously read.

Intro Essay by Jack is from 1975, and is 13 pages long.

Scientifiction, Searchlight of Science is an essay by Jack from 1928, and is 3 pages long. Published in 1928, it is inserted in the middle of Jack's intro essay. It earned him $50.

The Metal Man is from 1928, and is 16 pages long. This isn't that bad of a story, and earned Jack his first paid story commission--$25. A man descends into a foggy volcano, his airplane dragged down by a gravity device. But the fog begins to turn him into metal. He finds an antidote, but once he escapes he no longer has access to it, and turns to metal and dies. Oil can anyone?

*** stars. Reviewed May 6th/23

Jack's first story made the cover! Art by Frank R. Paul.

The Girl From Mars (excerpt) has been read and reviewed above.

The Cosmic Express is from 1930, and is 16 pages long. A humourous story, it still has a message for today's Star Trek generation. A couple from the future think they can handle living a primitive existence. They convince a friend to send them to Venus, a wet jungle world, in the newly invented matter transmitter, called The Cosmic Express. Needless to say, the pampered pair do not do well in their little venture. Well written.

*** stars. Reviewed May 6th/23

The Meteor Girl is from 1931, and is 27 pages long. A meteor crashes near an airfield, and a young man is able to see into the future and a distant disaster. An exciting story with several flaws (flying into a strong wind, for example, does not allow the aircraft to reach its normal maximum speed). Can "the" girl be saved from death, while thousands of others die? Read it yourself to find out.

*** stars. Reviewed May 7th/23

Through The Purple Cloud has been read and reviewed just below.

The Doom From Planet 4 has been reviewed just below.

Twelve Hours To Live has been reviewed just below.

The Plutonian Terror has been reviewed in Wizard's Isle, below.

Salvage In Space has been reviewed in Wizard's Isle, below.

We Ain't Beggars has been reviewed in Wizard's Isle, below.

Dead Star Station has been reviewed in Wizard's Isle, below.

WOLVES OF DARKNESS

Cover from 1932 by H W Wesso.

This is a 549 page collection of stories from 1931 and 1932. There is a 23 page preface, followed by 509 pages of stories, and then an afterword of 40 pages. The preface contains images of old pulp magazine covers, and an essay by Harlan Ellison. The afterward contains some essays by the author about some of the works in this collection, as well as a short modern piece for this edition.

The Lake of Light is from 1931, and is 28 pages long. Two men exploring the Antarctic in a plane lose their propeller and crash in the cold wilderness. They walk towards a shining silver mountain, and soon are far beneath the Earth, involved with a civilization of giant crab. they become prisoners, but meet with a young and beautiful woman held there. The main part of the story has to do with their plans for escaping. A classic of early pulp SF, this one ticks many of the boxes. Fun.

*** stars. Reviewed August 11th/22

Through The Purple Cloud is from 1931, and is 16 page short story. An airplane with four passengers passes through a strange misty cloud, and ends up on a barren, rocky planet with a red sky, no food, and no water. Typical early SF pulp story, where once again boy rescues girl.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed August 11th/22

Cover art by Frank R Paul.

The Doom From Planet 4 is from 1931, and is 25 pages long. The Martians are preparing to take over the Earth, from their secret base on a lonely Pacific Island. A dashing young hero loses his boat to alien hostile fire, and swims to shore. He finds the usual beautiful girl in need of rescue. Indeed, in this story, the young man happens to save the Earth from invasion, as well as himself being rescued and brought back to health by the girl.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed August 11th/22

Cover art by H W Wesso.

Twelve Hours To Live is from 1931, and is ten pages long. The story was left unfinished when published, and a contest allowed readers to write in with their suggested ending. The best three were then published. The appendix contains the three winning entries, and the intro by Harlan contains his three entries, when he was a boy. The gimmick was very successful for the magazine.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed August 11th/22

The Stone From the Green Star is a full length novel, and has been previously read and reviewed, above.

Wolves of Darkness is from 1932, and is 72 pages long. (Cover illustration of this volume is from the original magazine cover). A strange combination of Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Jack Williamson, this tale of alien invaders from a different dimension takes place during a cold, snowy winter on the Texas Panhandle. It is quite remarkable how many times the same man can be captured by the aliens, walk far out into the snow, and then still survive to fight again. This is a somewhat bloodthirsty and violent story, but have no fear; things will be alright in the end. Some things, anyway. Not so much for most of the people and animals who were murdered.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed August 13th/22

The Moon Era is from 1932, and is 56 pages long. A man launches from a machine on Earth, hoping to reach the moon. He makes it, however the journey has sent him far back in time, to when the moon was a lush and wild jungle. He encounters many hostile natives, and one friendly one. He pairs up with the friendly one, and together they suffer many harrowing adventures. The ending is actually unexpected and quite devastating. This is an adventure worthy of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and is quite fun to read.

*** stars. Reviewed August 13th/22

Original cover art by Frank R Paul.

The Pygmy Planet is from 1932, and is 27 pages long. A juvenile story about a scientist creating a miniature planet in his lab, and enhancing evolution to see how things develop. Though an interesting concept, the story becomes something less than an adequate adventure by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Lots of evil aliens worship a large hammer machine, which we get to see in sacrificial use. This would make a fun movie.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed August 14th/22

Original art by H W Wesso.

Red Slag of Mars is from 1932, and is 42 pages long. A decent pulp story about an older scientist trying to achieve world peace, and paying the price for it. An exploration party on Mars uncovers a destroyed civilization, just as world war breaks out on Earth. The international team on Mars start to fight among themselves also, before joining forces to fight against Martians that have survived by living underground. When the Martians attack Earth, the professor is blamed and branded a traitor. But was he? The story features a female ship captain! One who refuses orders from the admiral in charge to remove herself and ship from the battle. Go girl! Another good film possibility here.

*** stars. Reviewed August 14th/22

The Lady of Light is from 1932, and is 72 pages long. It's probably not a great idea to read too many of these stories within a short period of time. I'd likely had enough for now before I began the final tale. It is a very weak story, and about as far fetched as any SF I have ever read. In addition to very poor science, the story is more of the same: girls saves boy, boy and girl fall in love, something bad happens to them. At least the endings to some of Jack's tales, including this one, are not complete cop outs. One of Jack's major weaknesses is how he treats the bad guy. In one page he can sneer endlessly, often laughingly, as well as mocking and taunting. Poor Kerak has to sneer about 50 times in this novella. Quite a poor tale.

* 1/2 stars. Reviewed August 15th/22

WIZARD'S ISLE

Cover art by Margaret Brundage.

Vol 3 contains 16 stories by Williamson. It is over 550 pages long, and was published in 2000. There is an intro by Ray Bradbury, several illustrations from early pulp magazines, as well as an afterword by Williamson, as well as a preface to one of the stories. The stories are from 1932-1935.

The Electron Flame is from 1932, and is 28 pages long. The hero is called White, a very plain, unheroic type, dressed in shabby grey and with an emotional expression. He is an unusual hero for a 1932 SF story, a brilliant touch that reminded me of some Bugs Bunny cartoons. White is called from Earth to Mars, where trouble is brewing with a gang of criminals who have stolen a disintigrator ray formula, including the formula for negating it. White is a version of Sherlock Holmes 500 years into the future from 1932. A good story, and fun to read.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed October 11th/22

The Wand of Doom is from 1932, and is 36 pages long. Set in the swamps of Louisiana, there is a tale of science driving a man mad. Despite his brother's warnings, a man goes ahead with his newly invented "integrator", creating matter from whatever his mind can imagine. Too bad for him he is plagued by nightmares of giant spiders attacking him, thanks to a childhood experience. Guess what he manages to create when he is sleep walking one night? Published in Weird Tales, it was Jack's first sale to that magazine. I really liked the bayou setting.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed October 11th/22

In The Scarlet Star is from 1933, and is 24 pages long. I like the fact that the story begins and ends in El Paso, a rather odd setting for a SF story. It was a town Jack would be very familiar with. A very poor young man sees a large crystal for sale in a pawn shop, and spends most of his money purchasing it. He rigs up an electrical current to attach to it in his seedy room, and soon he is off to the stone age. Seemingly gone for only a minute, he ends up spending the equivalent of five years living with a family of primitive (but lovable) cave dwellers. Some slick writing, but a pretty standard story for the time.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed October 12th/22

Salvage In Space is from 1933, and is 24 pages long. A decent horror story about an asteroid miner who boards a derelict spaceship, uncovering an invisible monster that has killed the crew and apparently eaten them. A little dog has survived, and makes a great additional character, but the author doesn't see fit to let him survive. Why not? What the hell? That pretty much ruined the story for me. Features the hero smoking a cigarette while wearing his space helmet. I kid you not.

** stars. Reviewed October 12th/22

"We Ain't Beggars" is from 1933, and is 10 pages long. A non-Sf story about a young boy and his dog trying to survive in the depression. It's hard to have any sympathy for the boy, who refuses any and all help. Umm, it isn't begging when someone offers you food when you are starving. At least let them feed the dog. Simply put, the boy is an idiot.

* star. Reviewed October 12th/22

The Plutonian Terror is from 1933, and is 24 pages long. A good horror story with a neat surprise ending. Earth has been attacked by aliens, and everyone has been captured. How did it happen, and why? Well, readers will learn the how, but not the why. Some hilarious moments (unintentional), as the spaceship can apparently land anywhere. Built and designed for lunar exploration, it has no difficulty making the trip to Pluto (and back!). Fun to read, and a good SF movie coulod still be made based on this story.

*** stars. Reviewed October 12th/22

Dead Star Station is from 1933, and is 22 pages long. A majority of these stories rely on some type of scientist, amateur or professional, and their slick invention. Usually they are dangerous, and lead to some type of catastrophe. But in this case, the invention is a good one, and badly needed to save the day at the very end. But of course no one takes the old inventor seriously, and he is continually dismissed as a quack and time waster. Well, let me tell you, he sure shows them at the end.

** stars. Reviewed October 13th/22

Terror Out of Time is from 1933, and is 22 pages long. This time the mad scientist, despite all warnings that his new invention is dangerous (what could go wrong?), sends a young man's mind far into the future, to inhabit the mind of someone at the very end of life on Earth. Unfortunately, an evil and sadistic Martian returns and takes over the young man's body, and soon is lusting after his lovely girlfriend. The fiend! Meanwhile, on a very cold Earth (the Sun has died), the young man inhabits the last human alive. Well, it's sort of human, in a very hairy and subservient way, and it's fighting off some type of vapour monsters. One of those stories that manages to fit in so many different ideas! Fun to read.

*** stars. Reviewed October 13th/22

The Flame From Mars is from 1933, and is 18 pages long. If you like off the beaten path tales from the good old days, you might enjoy this one about a man who digs far beneath a meteor crater, and discovers---well, it's a girl, but not just an ordinary girl. This is a girl so dangerous that the Martians sent her off the planet in a one way space ship to Earth, where her life has been suspended for 50,000 years. The ending was actually a surprise to me.

*** stars. Reviewed October 14th/22

Invaders of the Ice World is from 1934, and is 24 pages long. A tale of the far flung future, when the sun has died and it's plenty cold out there. Luckily technology is keeping a large human population alive, but things are getting grim. But never fear, an old man scientist has invented a new fangled thing that will create an artificial sun, warming everyone's cockles. But there is one big problem. He needs another power unit. Can his fearless hero son get to the city of Zen (!) and get back with a power unit, before the evil and very cold vapour creatures from the Moon take over our planet? Guess.

** stars. Reviewed October 14th/22

Born of the Sun is from 1934, and is 40 pages long. Williamson seems to take special delight in killing everyone on Earth except for two people. Many of his stories are of this Adam and Eve business. Which of course would never work. How could it be possible to repopulate a planet with only two people? A ridiculous idea. This one has a fun idea, however. What if the solar system planets were not really planets, but eggs of some kind of giant dragon-like space dwelling creature? And then what if they began to hatch? I'll spoil the ending for you; everyone dies except for two people, who go on (it is assumed) to repopulate the human species. Good luck with that project!

** stars. Reviewed October 15th/22

Xandulu is from 1934, and is 78 pages long. This is pretty much an overlong bore. Jack seems to use the same formula with a different location. Big brave strong man rescues helpless woman (always called a 'girl') from evil madman. He never eats, never sleeps, and constantly nearly dies, but somehow always manages to save the day. This story might appeal to 13 or 14 year old boys. This time there is a ten mile or more hole in the ground somewhere in the Sahara. The story is told by a former partner of the adventurer, who is now an invalid and spends his time sailing in a small yacht. And somehow the big strong adventurer, who wrecks two planes in the story, always manages to come up with funds to buy another one. He buys three in this story, and smashes two.

* 1/2 stars. Reviewed November 15th/22

Wizard's Isle is from 1934, and is 40 pages long. Probably the correct length for such a story. this time the usual formula switches to a vast floating man made island/vessel. The insane Chinese occupant wants to take over the world, but your basic average American stops him cold. Huzzah. This one is highlighted by a man, friend of the hero, who has been turned into a scorpion with a human head. And it talks! And boy, is he ever upset with the mad scientist who did it to him! I wonder if this could have spawned the idea of The Fly.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Nov. 15th/22

The Galactic Circle is from 1935, and 52 pages long. A somewhat different type of story for a change. Jack Williamson attempts to justify this one through science. Olaf Stapledon is the obvious inspiration for this tale, though the ending adheres to usual story line formula. A large group of people make a very unique voyage to the edge of the universe and beyond. The science behind such a journey is more than a little hazy, but at least the author attempts to explain how it works. It is part adventure story and part romance, and there are a few more major characters than usual in this kind of story. This one was fun to read.

*** stars. Reviewed Nov. 16th/22

Islands of the Sun is from 1935, and is 58 pages long. another overlong adventure, more or less following the standard formula. Two friends are changed forever by the discovery of a giant precious stone. One of the friends immediately turns completely evil and decides to take over the world. The other one has to endure slavery, sleepless nights, outrageous hardships, total despair, and desperate measures. But of course he wins, the bad guy dies, and the good guy gets the girl. The beginning of this one sounds like Smeagol and Deagol from LOR, but instead of killing his friend over a gold ring, our bad guy attempts to kill him over an Otal. Too many of these stories all at once is a bit too much for this reader. Even though I split this volume into two separate months, it's still too much Jack formula writing for me to handle well.

** stars. Reviewed Nov. 16th/22

Grey Arms of Death is from 1935, and is 28 pages long. Written for a detective magazine, it is a mystery story. However, it has all the hallmarks of a lurid Lovecraft story, until the final revelation. It is rather primitive for a murder mystery, and pretty far fetched. And the weather is very bad, too. It was a dark and stormy night.....

** stars Reviewed Nov. 17th/22

COLLECTED STORIES OF JACK WILLIAMSON VOL 4: SPIDER ISLAND

Cover by Rudolph Belarski, 1937.

The volume contains over 600 pages. These include an essay by Edward Bryant, 12 stories by the author, 7 essays by the author, an uncredited essay, and images of the pulp magazine covers that included Jack's stories. Be aware that the volume is filled with hundreds of typos, spelling mistakes, and grammar mistakes. Very poor editing.

The Ruler of Fate is from 1936, and is 66 pages long. A truly ridiculous story about the first moon voyage. Who is there to greet the couple on arrival but a grossly fat, evil man who lives there (in Tycho Crater) and controls every last detail of life on Earth with his machine. Again and again we are told how fat and evil this man is, and we get to see him leer and hear him laugh cruelly over and over again. True rubbish, of the most juvenile, one dimensional kind. Of course Atlantis is worked into the plot, too, and a beautiful mother who gave birth to the evil one, but she can't kill him because "he is my son." No wonder a lot of pulp writing gave the genre a bad name.

* star. Reviewed Dec. 8th/22

Cover art by Margaret Brundage.

Death's Cold Daughter is from 1936, and is 30 pages long. Written for a mystery magazine, the solution had to have a non-SF or fantasy explanation to the puzzle. This one is just too weird and off track for a mystery story, and there are too many loopholes in the plot. And after describing how dark it is out on the mesa, we quickly learn (from a distance) that the hero can tell the girl has blue eyes. Ridiculous and silly.

* 1/2 stars. Reviewed Dec. 8th/22

The Great Illusion is from 1936, and is 13 pages long. It is a multi-author story. The first part to be written was the ending. The next author had to write the part just before that, and the third author just before that. Williamson was the 4th to contribute to the story, so ended up writing the second part. Lastly, the poor writer who remained had to start the story. A very strange example of trick writing. The editor suggests first reading last part to first.

** stars. Reviewed Dec. 8th/22

The Blue Spot is from 1937, and is 58 pages long. A somewhat better story, though we still have one dimensional bad guys. This SF story features two redeeming factors: firstly, there are two women who contribute greatly to the plot and to the overthrow of the bad guys; and secondly, the ending is unusual. The non-standard ending is perhaps the most interesting part of this story, and may be compared somewhat to modern day attempts to install human minds into an AI format. Also, having two strong women characters (one is an alien) helps the story overcome the usual trope of big strong man saves girl (never woman, always "girl").

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Dec. 9th/22

The Ice Entity is from 1937, and is 26 pages long. A true Sf tale, with an ice life form attempting to take over the Earth. As usual for the author, there is a hideous unnatural menace (supernatural cold weather) a well as a bad guy, who happens to get taken over by the menace, increasing his badness and his ability to menace. And there is a "girl" and a hero to save the day. Next. In the appendix Jack has a small essay about this story.

** stars. Reviewed Dec. 9th/22

Spider Island is from 1937, and is 30 pages long. Another story that had to have a logical, non SF explanation, though all the way through the reader is lead to believe in giant killer spiders. The appendix includes a long essay by Jack about writing these kinds of stories (back in the day).

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Dec. 9th/22

The Mark of the Monster is from 1937, and is 30 pages long. The story reads like a Lovecraft story, until the end. This is one of those stories that promises supernatural events, but by the end everything is explained. Not too bad at what it does.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Dec. 10th/22

The Devil in Steel is from 1937, and is 18 pages long. Another silly murder/mystery tale, this one featuring a killer robot. Many people are horribly killed, mangled, and burned, but it all ends happily for the lead couple, who are in love. Featuring frightened black servants. Egad.

* star. Reviewed Dec. 11th/22

Released Entropy is from 1937, and is 64 pages long. This is a halfway decent novella, but with all the usual Jack tropes: the old professor, the strong white male, and the beautiful "girl". And the premise is certainly one of the more ridiculous ones ever encountered. The professor is in a hurry to negate entropy, the gradual running down of the universe. He wants to save it and make it last forever. Well, it's going to last another ten billion years or so anyway, but never mind; that simply isn't long enough for him. Is there danger? Oh, sure, the universe might end suddenly if his experiment fails, but he gets full support anyway, except from the strong while male. They find a planet outside the galaxy and set up the lab. It takes two centuries, but the experiment does fail, and the universe comes to a sudden end. The story raises the question of how strongly was Williamson affected by Olaf Stapledon's writing. A lot, it would seem. Worlds within worlds, and universes within universes. Despite the cop out ending, this is a fun story to read.

*** stars. Reviewed January 12th/23

Dreadful Sleep is from 1938, and is 102 pages long. Published in 3 parts in Weird Tales, this is actually a short novel. There is a mad scientist--check. There is a strong white male--check. There is a beautiful white female--check. The strong white male goes through every kind of hardship one could ever imagine, and seems to pull through just fine--check. The strong white male saves the world--check. Another antarctic adventure (Jack has a thing for cold weather), this time with a mad scientist melting all the snow down there. He does it to unfreeze aliens from Saturn who want to take over the Earth. He wants to help them because he hates everyone. Sounds like a disgruntled teenager. What is never tackled in this ridiculous yarn is where all that melted water goes. Hmm, a slight plot failing. At the beginning, the strong white male says that he is the only one who knows what happened when the people of Earth all went to sleep for 6 months. But at the end, the beautiful white female is standing right beside him. Hmm, another slight plot failure. And nothing is said about all the missing ice in Antarctica. Maybe no one will notice.

* 1/2 stars. Reviewed January 13th/23

The Infinite Enemy is from 1937, and is 28 pages long. This time the white male hero is a reporter, and a bit of a coward. The genius scientist is trying to get into another universe, to rescue Venice, a woman trapped there. Off we go. The alternate universe has a bad guy (they always do) who wants to come to our universe and steal all our energy, as he has already used up his entire universe's energy. If only he'd turned out the lights when he left rooms. There are a few interesting things about this alternate universe, but we don't get to explore them very much. Still, for a cheap pulp thriller, it could have been much worse.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed January 13th/23

The Legion of Time is from 1952, and is 96 pages long. This has been previously read and reviewed. See the Legion series, below.

PEOPLE MACHINES

Cover art by Enrich.

Published in 1971, this volume contains 9 stories in its 189 pages, written between 1939 and 1969. There is also a short foreword and afterword by the author. In addition, he also briefly introduces each story.

Star Bright is from 1939, and is 27 pages long. A man acquires a small piece of a meteor in his brain, and it gives him almost magical powers. The first part, dealing with the man's family and financial problems, is quite priceless. A fun story.

*** stars. Reviewed Sept. 12th/22

Non-Stop to Mars is from 1939, and is 34 pages long. Strickly in the Buck Rogers tradition, this is still a good adventure tale. The first part has the hero flying non-stop across the Antarctic, sponsored by Zero Oil. The second part has him stranded on a Pacific Island, where he meets a female doctor of astronomy (always referred to as a 'girl'). The third and final part has him flying to Mars in his beat up airplane, in an attempt to save the Earth from bad aliens who are sucking the atmosphere from earth and bringing it to Mars. Yup, you read that correctly. Apparently, it can be done. Read to find out how. Quite a fun read, a blast from the past.

*** stars. Reviewed Sept. 12th/22

Operation Gravity is from 1953, and is 15 pages long. A professor comes aboard a military cruiser, much to the chagrin of its captain. When the weapons are removed and other equipment installed, he is totally galled. Off they go to investigate a strange planet. The captain's wishes are constantly overruled,and the scientist has effective command of the ship. Their destination is a neutron star, to measure its intense gravity. A good story well told, the adventure a scientific one.

*** stars. Reviewed Sept. 13th/22

The Masked World is from 1963, and is 5 pages long. A very short tale as much horror as SF, but again based on some hard science. Effective.

*** stars. Reviewed Sept. 13th/22

The Man From Outside is from 1951, and is 17 pages long. A superior race is keeping a close eye on human progress on Earth from an orbiting satellite. They are not supposed to interfere in any way, and to make certain that there is no other outside interference, either. But there had already been a catastrophic period of interference. Can it be reversed? Partly a detective story.

*** stars. Reviewed Sept. 13th/22

Hindsight is from 1940, and is 19 pages long. An involved tale about a human who betrays the people of Earth but selling himself and his ideas to ruthless dictator. But what he discovers about time and past events becomes much more important to survival of the planet.

*** stars. Reviewed Sept. 13th/22

Jamboree is from 1969, and is 12 pages long. Have you ever been to Scout camp? Me neither, and this story reminds me how glad I am never to have gone. Both humourous and horrifying at the same time, this is a very good story.

*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Sept. 13th/22

The Peddler's Nose is from 1951, and is 16 pages long. An alcoholic peddler of advanced children's toys has a large and crooked nose. Everyone wants him to get it fixed. He is escaping conformity and doesn't wish to change anything about himself, especially his drinking. A pretty weird little story, highlighted by the toys he sells.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Sept. 14th/22

Breakdown is from 1942, and is 27 pages long. A society much like in the movie Metropolis is brought down suddenly, and its leader has to begin again in a new existence. The story has something to say about stagnation and rebirth of civilizations. My own take is that once fundamentalism and religion take over, progress of any sort is over and done with. Get out while you can.

*** stars. Reviewed Sept. 14th/22

________________________________

MORE NOVELS

GOLDEN BLOOD

The delicious cover is by Emsh! Everything you see

is actually in the story!

From 1933 comes this Jack Williamson he-man adventure story, lasting for 157 small print pages. Following in the footsteps of H. Rider Haggard (the girl that needs saving is called Aysa!), Edgar Rice Burroughs, A. Merritt, Clark Ashton Smith, and even R. E. Howard (especially the stories he wrote for Oriental Stories magazine), we set out with Rice Durand on one of the strangest adventures ever penned. Taking place in the central area of Arabia, American adventurers are after a fabled city of gold. After a long trip, they find it, and are soon at war with the inhabitants.

The plot is a pastiche of a dozen previous tales, but still makes for fun reading. A giant, hypnotic snake, a tiger the size of an elephant, people who live forever when the water in their bodies is replaced by gold, strange weapons that freeze people and animals, and much more incredible happenings occur. Poor Price loses the girl with whom he has fallen in love, an Arab who was kidnapped and doomed to be man-handled by an undesirable Asian from Macao. He tries to rescue her again and again, but keeps losing battles to Malikar, the self-imposed immortal king of the golden city.

While overall I liked the book, I did have to roll my eyes a few times. Price's luck, for the most part, is pretty bad, and he has more torture and indignities heaped upon him than any normal man could withstand. And I am amazed that he could refuse Vekyra's offering (see the girl on the cover). I have a weakness for gorgeous redheads, myself! And every time he is about to die, which is rather frequently, something miraculous occurs to save him in the nick of time. And I was a bit surprised in his final confrontation with Malikar, as that person is without his deadly whip for the first time. Mighty convenient.

If you have not read any books by the authors mentioned at the beginning of this short review, then you will likely enjoy this book a lot more. If, however, your eyes have been around, so to speak, you will find much of this story old hat. It's still a fun yarn, though not breaking into much new ground. I would have preferred that the redheaded Price and Vekyra had turned out to be good brother and evil sister, or something of that nature. This could have opened a whole other dimension to the plot.

*** stars. Reviewed January 18th/19

___________________________________________________

THE LEGION OF SPACE SERIES

3 of the Legion stories are contained in my volume. Cover artist uncredited.

From 1935 comes more silly SF adventure from Williamson. Revised in 1945, The Legion of Space is 181 pages long, and introduces the four main male heroes in their first, planet-busting adventure. The lead hero is John Star, alias John Ulnar, alias D'Artagnan. He is soon joined by his three musketeers, or loyal men of the Legion. The Legion is a military force that guards the planets and moons of the solar system.

First published in 1935.

The writing in this story is manic, and reminds me of what Philip Jose Farmer tried to achieve in his final novels. Why he would want to do this is quite another matter. Williamson fills his pages with horrible aliens, even more horrible monsters, and even more horrible environments. Each page of the story has at least one deadly threat to the welfare of the faithful and resourceful little troupe of warriors. Heavily influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Williamson goes all out from page one to keep us from boredom.

We begin on Mars, where John is tricked by his relatives into believing he should join up with them, restore a dictatorial monarchy that runs in the family, and abolish the democratic system now used by humans. Horrible, disgusting, hideous (but very intelligent!) aliens are aiding and abetting two of his relatives that want to overthrow the democracy. But of course the aliens are nothing but dirty double-crossers, and they soon want Earth all to themselves. A girl who knows the secret to a weapon that can destroy the aliens is kidnapped by them, and brought back to their planet orbiting Barnard's Star (!!). Rescuing her and saving the solar system from these horrible (but intelligent) creatures is all in a day's work for John and his three buddies.

The story gets more and more ridiculous once we arrive on the alien planet, but it's all in good fun and we are simply along for the ride of a lifetime. These boys know how to handle danger in any shape or form, and can escape the most impossible prison ever devised. In short, they are invincible. Planet wrecker Williamson makes certain by the end that Earth has been totally ravaged by the aliens, and the Moon is completely demolished! No problem! We will rebuild!

I did like the alien city, which seems pretty much what an alien city might be like if the dwellers were twenty feet in diameter and flew everywhere instead of walking, though we don't get to see much of it; cinemas, for instance, or shopping malls. We mostly get to visit the prison, and the water supply system. And you do have to love those four soldiers and the brave girl they rescue; she eventually makes her invincible weapon and saves the day, right at the last minute! Well done to all!

With more holes in its story than a mound of dirt invaded by gophers, Williamson reminds us of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, who saved us so many times as well. We can all be thankful we are so well looked after. I hope Earth is still around in a month or so, so I can read the second Legion story.

** stars. Reviewed May 21st.

THE COMETEERS

First published in 1936, this is the sequel to Legion Of Space

A year later comes the sequel. The action takes place once again in the 30th C, and about 2 years after the first story. There have been some serious adventures in between, and we learn a bit about them as the novel proceeds. This story is 148 pages long, and was revised by the author in 1950. It is a much more coherent story than the first one, and though many of the same characters are back, at least Giles Habibula has been toned down somewhat. The hero this time around is Bob Star, son of John, from the last book. His mother is Aladoree, the keeper of the ultimate secret weapon, AKKA.

I liked this grand adventure much more than the first one. Perhaps one reason is the weakness and fallibility of 21 year old Rob Star. Bullied nearly to death at age 12 by his much older arch-enemy, his fear of Stephen Orco remains with him until the very end of the story. Stephen Orco has been confined to a super prison at the north pole of Neptune, ever since his failed rebellion to take over the solar system with a powerful weapon he had designed. Another reason I like this story more is that the action, while sustained, is not as manic as the first story. The pacing here is much more controlled, and the heroic characters seem more human and bearable.

Though there is still much left unexplained, the story is a bit easier to swallow than the first one. It seems to proceed with a fair amount of logic. After leaving Neptune and going in search of the vast green comet that has been approaching the solar system, our heroes crash land upon a tiny asteroid. Here, on this idyllic, terra-formed paradise, lies a deep, dark secret that must be solved before the enemy can be defeated. Jay Kalam, commander of the Legion, is the man who finally cracks the mystery. I loved this entire episode on the asteroid, including the discovery of Kay Nymidee, sole survivor of a Spanish expedition that left Earth hundreds of years ago and was captured by the Cometeers.

The final part of the adventure takes us deep inside the 12 million mile comet, to the central control area, where we learn all the deep, dark secrets about the Cometeers, as well as bad guy Stephan Orco. The scope of the story is fully up to the imagination unleashed by Iain. M. Banks, and I could imagine him smiling all the way through as he read this (I hope he had the chance). This would make a hum-dinger of a SF movie!
*** stars. Reviewed July 2nd/18

ONE AGAINST THE LEGION

Published in 1939, and possible reworked in 1950, my version is 125 pages long, contained in the volume entitled Three For The Legion. This was published in three instalments in the April, May, and June editions of Astounding SF in 1939. Several main characters return, including the one and only Giles Habibula, now older, larger, and much nearer death (or so he claims). Williamson continues to write classic SF pulp with the best of them, as we are once again up against an omnipotent enemy. The entire legion, including their AKKA weapon, are no match for any opponent they ever come up against.

In the present story, a loyal Legion officer is framed for murder and theft of a top secret scientific discovery, and has to escape from prison to prove himself innocent. The only way he can do that is by bringing the real criminal to justice. Never mind that in the 30th C they exhaust every means of getting the truth out of him, but never are able to find that he did any wrong doing, or that the murder investigation (as we learn later) was a bit shoddy, and that the suspected officer has no motive whatsoever to bring harm to his beloved legion; he is GUILTY and must be recaptured.

There is a lot of science talk in this novel, as inventions are explained to us in detail. There are evil androids, and monsters, as well as a whole pleasure moon for drinking and gambling. There is a really beautiful girl (or is she an android?), there are chases through space, an unpleasant visit to a planet of horrors 80 light years away (in Draco!), but best of all, there is more of Giles Habibula. The ending is rather abrupt, and no one ever apologizes to the falsely accused officer, who ends up saving everyone. Great fun! From Flash Gordon days, this is another great adventure in the story of the Legion of Space.

*** stars. Reviewed August 10th/18.

NOWHERE NEAR

One Against The Legion was published as a stand-alone novel in the 60s, and it included a novella related to the series. Nowhere Near is also included in my volume entitled Three For The Legion (which should have been called Four For The Legion, or at least 3 1/2). Published in 1967, the novella is 75 pages long. This is a pretty cool little story, with some interesting science in there, too. Giles Habibula is back, and a few other familiar names. All of the action takes place on a space station far from Earth, where a space anomaly is being observed by a scientific crew.

The story is told in the first person by Lars Ulmar. Ulmar is an infamous name in this series, but this Ulmar is a good guy. He is commander of the station, and has to deal with a mutinous crew, as well as a terrible threat to the galaxy. I am currently playing a PC game by the people who made Myst and Riven. It is called Obduction, and some of the story (the miners who vanished) bears a remarkable resemblance to a side plot in this story. Anyway, Giles Habibula, Lars, Lilith (current keeper of the deadly weapon called AKKA) and young Bob Star have to deal with some pretty serious issues, as a massive robot space ship invades our space from another dimension. This is much more mature writing than any of the other stories in this series (there is one more to come!), and the science is pretty fascinating. One of the things I really liked is that Bob Star and Giles Habibula have several years of adventures "off screen," while only about two hours of the story actually take place in our time. Obviously a full-sized novel could have been built by detailing their adventures, but we get only glimpses of it afterwards.

Though short, this is good stuff, and would make a fine motion picture (just think of the special effects!). Instead, we will get more Star Wars. A good read.

*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed August 11th/18

THE QUEEN OF THE LEGION

Cover art by Kevin Johnson (?).

From 1983 comes this lively and energetic revival of the 1930s Legion series. It is 260 pages long. It is more reminiscent of the 1967 novella (above), but does have similar action and bad guys as the very early series. The heroine is Jil Gyrel, and she is a rather interesting and likable character. We first meet her as a little girl, living with her parents just outside The Nebula, where all of the action takes place. She is already plucky and determined, and thanks to her grandfather's and father's influence wants to join the Legion and explore the Nebula. Nothing is going to stop her.

In the over 260 books I have read so far related to the Avon/Equinox series (all by male authors), only three times has a female had the lead and more or less saved the day. Hal Clement used a 12-year old girl named Easy Rich to save the day in his wonderful novel Close To Critical; Norman Spinrad gave us the ultimate adventure heroine in Child of Fortune, along with the ultimate adventure; and now Jack Williamson joins the real world with his depiction of a capable female action heroine.

Giles Habibula is back, and moaning worse than ever. Jil is also assisted by Legion crewman Kynan Star, a capable AI by the name of Archy (after his hero, the ancient mathematician Archimedes), and an alien life form that goes by the name of Miss William. These allies, aided by luck and Jil's innate gift of navigation, get them to the hot spot planet in time (just!) to save the galaxy. Good job, everyone!

Though this story could be read without much knowledge of the earlier books, I found the entire series attractive in a strange sort of way. Williamson knows how to tell a story and to keep things moving. His descriptions of planets, alien life, weather, space, and human emotions is a huge notch above average, and they combine for a fun roller coaster ride of interplanetary adventure. The character of Jil is well sculpted, and her actions become quite believable when we think back to her childhood dreams, and especially her mastering of a special martial art, which saves the day more than once. I have always believed that if women seriously took up the study of martial arts at an early age, and studied with someone worthwhile, there would be no such thing as sexual assault. At any rate, Jil handles herself well in nearly every situation, is believable, and makes an excellent role model for girls who like adventure stories.
*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Oct. 9th/18

________________________________________________

THE LEGION OF TIME

Cover art by Ilene Meyer. She is given a credit on the cover!

This Bluejay Books hardcover edition includes two short novels by Williamson, from 1938. In addition there are a number of inside b&w illustrations by the cover artist. Both novels have to do with time travel, so even though they are not related, there is good reason to pair them here. However, I am puzzled as to why the front cover makes no mention of the 2nd novel.

One of three inside illustrations for "Legion of Time." Art by Ilene Meyer

From 1938 comes this 117 page novel about a young man caught up in a war between two places that don't yet exist, and torn between two women, one from each place. They, too, do not exist. However, the author is dealing with probabilities. Only one of the two places will ever come into existence, and that hinges on actions from 1921.

Good girl Lethonee is the beautiful redheaded woman from Jonbar (the strange name is explained later in the story), whilst bad girl Sorainya, a warrior blonde woman, is from Gyronchi. Because neither woman exists yet, they cannot meet, thus their two worlds cannot come to war. But only one woman and one world can survive and come into existence, and each gal wants her world to win. Thus the hero, Dennis Lanning, must chose who to help and who to destroy.

If you have already read The Legion of Space series (see above), then you know what to expect from Williamson at this stage of his writing career. The science is crude but fun, the characters are all for one and one for all, and the hero can withstand everything that is thrown against him and still manage to survive and get the day's work done. In fact, Lanning dies twice in the story! But it is about time travel, so almost anything goes. The inventor of the Chronion, their intrepid time travel vessel, is an old timer by the name of Wil McLan (pictured in the b&w illustration, above). The action is fast and furious, and the pages are filled with considerable violence. In short, this is pulp SF at its earliest and best. Even today this could easily be made into a fun movie. I hope Spielberg reads this blog.
*** stars. Reviewed February 23rd/19

AFTER WORLD'S END

The second short novel in the volume is also from 1938, and is 124 pages long. It contains six b&w illustrations by Ilene Meyer! Here is one of my favourites!

Interior illustration by Ilene Meyer.

Barry Horn replies to an add requesting someone to take on a dangerous assignment. Next thing he knows he has agreed to be launched into space in the first rocket. He heads for Venus, but things don't work out well. He awakens 1.2 million years later, thirsty, hungry, and with really dry skin. He is also nearly out of air. Luckily he is rescued in the nick of time by The Falcon, who is fighting against robots. Robots were given brains, and now they are exterminating humans and taking over the galaxy. Things couldn't get worse. then Earth is ripped from its orbit and cast into the sun.

Readers have to remember that this story comes from the age that gave us Buck Rodgers and Flash Gordon, not only in comic form, but they made it to the big screen in countless serial episodes, continued from week to week. I am still fascinated by these old movies, though I haven't seen them around in a long time.

And so the present space voyages of Barry Horn and the Falcon ring true to the age. Williamson wasn't trying to write the next War and Peace; he was trying to put food on the table and pay the rent. And this stuff sold to people eager for more and more action packed space adventures. No doubt Williamson forgot the story as soon as he finished it, to begin yet another. While the stories all do have a certain sameness to them (rescue the beautiful girl, for example), they are all (so far) quite different. There is excitement on every page, even though that becomes tedious after a time.

One of the more interesting alien characters I have ever met stars in this book. Setsi is a small sand bat (?) who has lived since the beginning of time. It is very old, but it can do some wonderful things, such as hear thoughts. And it can travel through space. It also prefers to drink rum than do anything else. The character comes in a few times, and is always welcomed by the heroes, and by me. Magrath, the evil robot that is destroying all living things in the galaxy, is pretty boring. Crush, kill, destroy sort of thing.

Williamson would revisit his robot domination theme in 1948, with his first version of The Humanoids (see top of this page). However, if you are in the mood for some old time serial episodes, this book provides two good examples. Just pretend that each chapter is one episode, and I dare you to try and read just one chapter per week. Pretty good stuff, for what it is.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed February 25th/19

DARKER THAN YOU THINK

Cover art by Jill Bauman

With every book I start out hoping to really like what I am about to read. I never begin a novel with dreaded feelings. However, often enough once involved, those dreaded feelings come surging up. Some books get worse as time goes on, and some get really bad. I mostly did not like this book, as there are enough flaws and cruelties to turn off a discerning reader. Let me say, though, that this would likely make a very popular movie today, with all the violence and shape shifting and near madness.

I can understand a fictional character not really understanding what is happening to him at first. However, once things are crystal clear to everyone except perhaps a lowly inch worm, I feel very frustrated when the main character still professes ignorance. These types of characters are often portrayed in Gothic romance stories, and are often female. They drive me crazy. The fact that this one is male makes no difference to me; stupid is stupid, and they come in a variety of sexes, shapes, and colours.

Jack Williamson was hardly a master writer by 1940, the year this novel was first published. My Collier edition is from 1989, and contains 264 pages of some of the tiniest printing I have ever seen in a book. Williamson, however, writes in a style completely different than his previous pulp efforts, and he does try to write a modern horror tale. The first 3 chapters and 43 pages are taken up with a crowd of people meeting an incoming airplane at the airport. The writing is expository but quite good, and I thought for sure I was in for a real treat. But even here, Will Barbee, reporter, alcoholic, man with no friends, and no girl to call his own, is proving himself to be not much of a real man.

SPOILER ALERT: From here on in there will be spoilers, so skip to the final paragraph if you have not read the book and are planning to do so. He totally falls for a redheaded beauty, a reporter from a rival newspaper. Even when he knows she has strangled a kitten and stuck a long pin into its heart in order to kill the professor, by magic, whom people are awaiting at the airport, he still isn't really certain. Maybe it's just a coincidence; maybe it was the old guy's heart, or his asthma, or his allergies. Maybe she didn't kill him. Or the kitten, which he finds in a garbage can. At this point, I would have normally stopped reading. My eyes were rolling, and I do not condone the murder of kittens, in fiction or reality.

From here on the story continues to crumple in on itself, as Barbee can suddenly change into other creatures. He joins April at night to go on killing sprees. One of the first things he kills is the small dog of a 5 year old girl. Yup, this story is really developing well. Not only that, but while in their wolf shapes no one can see them, except dogs: and the little girl, who describes exactly what happened, even though she was dreaming it. Remember this little girl, because the author completely forgets about her. And Barbee? Even though everything that happens on his nights out with April really does happen, and is confirmed next day by the cold, hard facts, he refuses to believe any of it. He thinks he is either dreaming, or going crazy. Again and again, night after night. No, only the reader is either dreaming or going crazy. One by one the good guys (and woman) are killed off by Barbee and April, until their kind are free to roam and rule the world.

I have no issues with the bad guys winning in the end, in a book to be read by adults. However, if Barbee, who is one of the densest human characters I have ever come across (university educated in Anthropology) in my readings, is the main hope for the bad guys (their long awaited Child of the Night), then how in the hell did they ever win? This guy couldn't lead baby ducks to the pond.

The finale, where the one remaining scientist trying to prevent disaster is easily defeated, is a pretty lame climax, though in cinema it could be quite exciting. But by this point I had long given up on the book. Nothing surprised me anymore, not even when Barbee had to be led to see his own body, killed in a car accident, to prove that he had died. He still didn't know what was going on. And the little girl? She was the daughter of the final good guy, Sam Quain. But nothing was ever mentioned again of her telepathic powers. This could have been used to add a nifty twist at the end.

When all is said and done, the novel is quite a downer. If you make it past three animal killings, the murder of a blind old woman, and at least three murders of good guy scientists, then I hope you get more rewards from reading this book than I did. The book is very dark; the title tells us that much. I can handle dark, but not a really stupid central character, who is merely used all the way through the novel by the dark forces. The main reason I liked parts of the book is that it deals really well with lycanthropy and its history.

** stars. Reviewed April 15th/19

THE REIGN OF WIZARDRY

Cover art by Frank Frazetta (uncredited).

First published in a three part serial format in 1940, this 142 page novel combines all three parts. This is Jack Williamson's version of the tale of Theseus and Ariadne, and the story of the downfall of Minos. Quite a few liberties are taken with the plot, but if I discuss them they will actually be spoilers. Let it be said that there is magic, which both adds to the story and detracts from it. The first four fifths of the story are quite well done, with only one major disappointment. But the ending is just plain bizarre and silly, and really doesn't make any sense. Oh well, many of the older myths and legends don't always make a lot of sense, either.

Mostly this is a rousing adventure story of a man who lives only to conquer the Minoans, who killed his father and destroyed his Greek city. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goal, including accepting the nine challenges he must win to gain the throne. I very much doubt he would have won any of these challenges in the condition he was in at the start of the games, let along all of them. And, once we know the ending, we might question why the wizard aided Theseus in winning the final three challenges. What possible motivation could he have for doing this? Umm, none.

Expecting the climax of the book to be in the labyrinth, the reader must feel cheated once the truth is known. Why was such an important part of the legend simply removed from this story? And of course the very ending goes against the legend, too, but I'm a sucker for this type of ending, anyway, so I didn't really mind. Worth a read.

*** stars. Reviewed September 11th/20

DOME AROUND AMERICA

Cover art by Ed Valigursky.

First published in Startling Stories in July, 1941, under the title Gateway To Paradise, it was retitled for the 1955 Ace publication. The new title better describes the story and what it is about. It is 133 pages long. A rogue dead star has passed close to Earth, sucking the oceans dry and taking all the air. It kidnapped the Moon, too. Luckily, America was able to get itself under a vast dome just in time, thus saving God's chosen people to live on and prosper. However, the dome is escape proof, so residents can only look out at the scorched Earth. The dome perimeter is guarded by a special squadron, and our young hero, Barry Thane, joins them. The dome self-build kit had been offered to other countries, but they had refused it after an accident in Australia.

The adventure begins when he suspects that something or someone from outside the dome is trying to get in. Of course no one believes him, until he brings in his prisoner, Glenn Clayton, from Britain. A group of dire hard communists have taken over that fair land, who want only peace and love with the Americans, and fair trade. But the dirty rotten subversive commies (including Clayton) want only to destroy America, for abandoning the rest of the world after the catastrophe.

The ridiculous story gets only sillier, and its difficult to take this stuff even half seriously. Reading like a twelve year boy, I got through it, but even that part of me was very sick of the "green-eyed grins" Clayton is famous for. The two women are both drop dead gorgeous, one an American surgeon who falls for those grins, and the other one is the leader of Britain, only her power is being usurped by those commies. Things get complicated when Barry Thane gets plastic surgery to make himself look like Clayton, so that he can infiltrate Britain.

The silliest part of the story comes at the very end, when the Moon approaches the Earth, which will lead to complete destruction of everything, even the dome. Maybe I've just finally read too much early Jack Williamson. But this story did not do a thing for me. A decent juvenile adventure for 1950s readers, but nothing more.

** stars. Reviewed September 8th/19

THE PARADOX MEN

Cover art by Richard Powers.

Ace Doubles have really increased the number of authors I come across in my Avon/Equinox reading project. Most of these authors I have never heard of, including Charles L. Harness. This was his first novel, expanded in 1953 from a magazine story from 1949. At 187 pages, it is one of the longest Ace Double stories I have read. The title was changed by Donald Wolheim of Ace, and even the author liked it better. So do I. There are at least two authors that were likely very influenced by this tale: Frank Herbert, and James Blish. You will understand my reasons after reading this nifty little tale about a man who does not know his past.

Alar finds himself a member of The Society of Thieves (Fritz Leiber, anyone?), trying to discover who he is and where he came from. He knows that he is important ins some way, as people are willing to risk their own lives to keep him alive. Once we do find out the truth about Alar, and another missing scientist called Muir, we have become involved in one of the most elaborate and outrageously daring SF plots I have ever come across.

Without giving away too much, there are now mining operations going on just above the Sun. Muirium is needed for more powerful weapons back on Earth, so no expense is spared to extract this stuff. No lives are spared, either. And yes, we do get to visit one of these mining platforms, and the whole episode makes the book worthwhile. We even get to travel through a sunspot! How cool is that?

Arnold J. Toynbee was a historian and philosopher who was very popular in the the 1940s and 1950s. He believed that every great civilization throughout history has virtually committed suicide, rather than die from natural causes. When a society faced up to challenges and worked to overcome them, they prospered. When leaders stopped thinking creatively to solve problems, then the society became militaristic and nationalistic, followed by rapid decline. Sound familiar? Anyway, Toynbee's theories and followers have a big part to play in this story.

And so does Einstein's physics. Everything, in fact. We know (or we all should know) that nothing can travel faster than light. Why? As something (say a space ship) approaches the speed of light, its mass increases proportionately. At 99.99% light speed, the mass of the ship has become nearly infinite. It would have to become infinite to break that barrier. But Harness has a brilliant work-around, and his ship not only breaks through the light barrier, but travels all the way around the universe, coming back where it started out. But something radical has happened to that ship and its occupants. I will say no more.

This is a pretty fantastic book, but there is a sadist psychologist who loves torturing people, men and women. So be warned. While the descriptions aren't graphic or long, they leave things to your own imagination. I found them difficult. I wonder how Jack Williamson felt about his juvenile story sharing a volume with this near masterpiece.
*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed September 10th/19

SEETEE SHIP

Cover art uncredited. Jove 1979 edition.

This two-book series came about as a result of some novellas Jack wrote for Astounding in the early 1940s, using the name Will Stewart. The first book in the series is now called Seetee Ship, and contains two stories. Minus Sign was published in 1942, followed by Opposites--React! in early 1943 (two instalments for that one). It did not reach book publication until 1951. The sequel, Seetee Shock, came out in 1949, and was actually in book form before the original. My edition contains both novels in the order they were written, and under Jack's real name.

So this is a review of Seetee Ship, from 1942-43. There are four main characters, including Rick Drake, a man who lives on an asteroid but has just returned from Earth where he attained his engineering degree. Paul Anders is the main engineer for the company, called Interplanet. Karen Hood is the beautiful niece of the Interplanet CEO. She and Rick have a chance encounter that changes their lives completely. The fourth character is also female, and is met a little further on. Ann O'Banion works for Drake's father on an asteroid, in the company office. The story revolves around these four characters, and their search for a unique power system that will make everyone's life easier and better, with peace on Earth and all the rest of those good things that new energy sources promise us.

Seetee is the correct way to pronounce CT, which is short for Contra Terrene, which is another name for anti-matter. The rock rat crew (Rick, Ann, Drake's father, and an older man who has an uncanny sense of time and space are trying to get sole ownership of an asteroid, for the purpose of finding a way to use anti matter without blowing themselves and everything else up. But the company gets interested, to, and wants to make a bomb from it.

So we have personal conflict between Rick and Karen, who are on opposite sides, and Paul and Ann, who are on opposite sides. There a lot of instances of opposites attracting in this story. And while the overall story is pretty neat and very well thought out, the main weakness (yet again) of Jack's story is his inability to create believable characters, especially male. He has drawn his women quite well--they are smart, educated, beautiful, and up to nearly any challenge, especially Ann. But his male leads are hopeless pieces of cardboard, who seem to "grin" a lot, distrust others around them, and can't seem to believe any evidence they encounter that would change their thinking. Paul Anders is the worst, and even after having his life saved multiple times by Ann, still doesn't want women around him when he is working, and still thinks she is the enemy. Thick as a brick, as they say.

Rick, on the other hand, has self-image problems, which is believable. He has been raised on a barren asteroid, and feels uncomfortable around Earth people and their lifestyle. He accepts a job with Interplanet, working for them for a year before quitting and heading back to his family work. Of course, in the end, they all end up working together, though Karen Hood more or less drops out of the action in the second half of the book.

And though the plot makes little sense, it is still fun to investigate the Seetee ship, and learn a little bit about the creators of such technology. The whole issue of time and its sequence of events is lots of fun, and keeps readers wondering what will possibly happen next. Like the Krell in Forbidden Planet, though, I will always wonder about the creators of the Seetee technology. Perhaps we will learn some more about them in the next book.

*** stars. Reviewed October 22nd/19

SEETEE SHOCK

The sequel to Seetee Ship (see above) came out in novel form in 1949, 7 years after the original, which didn't reach book form until 1951. My volume contains both books appearing together for the first time, and came out in 1979. It's now 40 years after that publishing feat. So yes, the stories are quite dated.

This second and concluding story is 223 pages in length, and not all of it is great writing. The story picks up about 50 years after the original, with a new lead character. Nicol (Nick) Jenkins is the man of the hour, eventually backed up by Jane Hardin. He is an idealist working towards free and endless supplies of energy for everyone. Though many characters from the original book are still around, most play a background role.

There are many surprising twists and turns in the story, right up to the last page, so I won't talk much about the plot. Williamson is a great story writer, though his characters are mostly one dimensional. And a lot of time (several chapters) are spent explaining virtually everything about the solar system and its politics, and how it all came to be. Fascinating, perhaps, if we were reading a ten book series. It seems a bit of overkill for such a short series.

The dream of free, cheap energy, in this case provided by anti-matter, is one that many people share. The author is careful to show all of the pitfalls of such a system. Those pitfalls are mostly related to human greed and the need to dominate others. Nick will go to any length, and does, to try and prove that such a system could work, while others around him explain again and again why it wouldn't work.

There are few action sequences, and no more encounters with alien technology. I was hoping to learn more about the anti-matter lifeforms, but nothing further is said. Perhaps at one time a third book was considered. The story can't really be considered pulp, as there are considerable amounts of social philosophy and political theory, a sort of collision between reality and someone's Utopian fantasy. Still, the writing is mostly solid, and the character of Jane Hardin is more complex than many other Williamson characters. A person today with Nick's dream would have much more difficulty than even Nick had.

*** stars. Reviewed December 10th/19

DRAGON'S ISLAND

Cover artist unknown.

From 1951 comes this 224 page SF pulp wonder, published by Popular Library, Inc. The cover is a wonderful adaptation of a Gothic horror novel, but the story is not like that. Dane Belfast is a geneticist, having studied with his father (as well as getting all the appropriate degrees). His father and his father's best friend, also a scientist, were searching for a way to mutate genes to benefit humans, such as breeding out certain diseases, and encouraging increased brain development and psi abilities. After the death of his father, Dane goes searching for clues as to the mysterious disappearance, or supposed death, of his father's friend. this leads him to New York City, and the adventures of a lifetime.

Dane is approached by three different people, to join them in their various enterprises. The plot thickens, and we are as puzzled and as unaware at to what is really going on as Dane is. he hooks up with a reporter who has an inside scoop and wants to publish the results of what he saw happening in New Guinea, at Cadmus Industries, run by Mr. Messenger. He even has in his possession part of a dead mutant. When the reporter is brutally murdered, Dane suspects Nan Sanderson, a woman who tried earlier to recruit him to her cause. A lot of things happen in New York, but eventually Dane is taken to New Guinea, where further adventures await.

The story is quite good, and I like how we learn a little bit of information at a time, though it can get nerve-wracking waiting to see what the hell is going on. And what is going on is pretty weird, by any standard of SF writing. I won't spoil the story for future readers, but expect to be surprised, and possibly disgusted, by what is going on, in the name of science. The whole idea of "mules" is pretty sick, and I'm sure companies would love them to death, just like Cadmus and Mr. Messenger does.

Lots of surprises await, and enough excitement and tension to keep the pages turning. I did like the book, though I kept thinking that somehow the author was going to spoil everything by having the main character be too weak or helpless (like we think the girl on the cover is--but she isn't). But Dane Belfast is okay, and does the best he can under very demanding circumstances. A fun book to read.
*** stars. Reviewed January 25th/20

UNDERSEA QUEST

Cover art by David Mattingly.

The novel is from 1954, and is 150 pages long. It is the first of a trilogy, though this first volume is also a stand-a-lone story. It would appeal to readers in their mid-teens. Jim Eden is 17 when he joins the Sub-Sea Academy. He runs up against the son of his father's enemy, who outranks him and makes his life miserable. It takes awhile, but he is finally kicked out of the academy. He tries to join his uncle, an inventor and explorer, and again runs into more trouble than Dick Tracy.

Every cliche known to pulp writers is here, and with two top authors sharing the writing credit, no wonder not a single one was missed. But favourite one (not) is when the lead bad guy holds all the cards, and has bought up everyone. Even though he is rotten to the core, he still has total support. Then comes the naive hero, who is too trusting and slow to learn the error of his ways.

Even so, this is an enjoyable read, though there is nothing new to the experienced pulp enthusiast. If this was of one of the first of these type of books that a young boy read, I'm certain he would be enthralled. I read every Doc Savage story available when I was young, and even though they were all essentially the same story, I loved them all.

**1/2 stars. Reviewed March 5th/20

UNDERSEA FLEET

Cover art by Gino D'Achille.

From 1956 comes the second Undersea book, this one being 154 pages of non-stop juvenile action. The Hardy boys (or their undersea look-alikes) and their friends are underwater again, saving somebody from something. Pearls at 20,000' (not sure how the clams got that far down there), hundreds of swimming dinosaurs no one has ever discovered before, a dome built over top their egg-laying chamber, and men and women (well, there is one girl, anyway) living underwater without breathing aid, who were once Polynesians. And don't forget all that marching and parading and button polishing fun of being a cadet in the undersea fleet.

The story is truly ridiculous, but it must have worked on adolescent boys in the 1950s. At least there is one young girl in the story. She rides one of the undersea prehistoric creatures. The rest of the story is all male, all the time. No one ever mentions sex; no one swears. It's all good clean fun. The story and action are so breathless that it quickly becomes boring. The best thing about the book is the wrap-around cover painting by Gino D'Achille, one of the great SF artists.

No one explains exactly how the Craken dome was built down there in the first place, before the old man went stark raving mad. Or why Joe Trencher didn't just wreck the dome in the first place. The story is so complicated and convoluted, with so much unnecessary action and a few too many needed characters, that it is just far too easy to pick it apart. It is what it is; an adventure story from a bygone day, when everything military was simply the most trustworthy and rewarding organization to which a boy could ever belong. This being the navy, of course. No doubt young readers thought that such things would be standard by the mid 70s. Well, the rest of us space loving readers were just as disappointed that our fantasies didn't pan out, either.

Sadly, I have one more of these books to get through. I will do it, but it will hurt.
** stars. Reviewed April 21st/20

UNDERSEA CITY

Cover art by H. R. Van Dongen.

From 1958 comes the third and final book of the undersea trilogy, co-authored by two of the greats for a young (male) adult audience. The final book is 151 pages long. The action takes place in the underwater city of Krakatoa, home to 750,000 people (that must be one big dome). And for some reason it was built right over a major earthquake fracture zone. Good planning! So what better place to try out the earthquake prediction equipment. And who better to undertake this important mission than 3 cadets. Everything should be fine.

The main bad guy in Krakatoa isn't really bad, he's just a rotten capitalist who thinks only of making money. He and his son (also a cadet, and chosen for the undersea work, too) sneer an awful lot. It seems their only expression, until the boy learns to fear quakes. The only woman in the entire story is secretary to Danforth, the evil capitalist. And, we are told, she is an ice queen. Here is a quote about the only woman in the story: "A blonde iceberg at the reception desk inspected me. She showed no visible signs of thawing." Now there's a good role for a woman to aspire to if this series is ever made into a movie. Seriously? This is how boys were taught about women in the 1950s? It's a miracle that there were any women in science from back then.

Cadet Eden proves himself to be a good spy in this one, spying on his best friend and uncle, who seem up to no good. Though is never totally convinced that they are doing something bad, he keeps his mouth closed when confronted with the evidence. then, at the end, when they have proved themselves to be doing only good deeds (saving the city from a big quake), Cadet Eden shouts out, "See, I told you my uncle couldn't be involved in anything dishonest or wrong." Uh, actually you didn't. You always kept your mouth shut when faced with overwhelming evidence that thye were up to no good. But I quibble, surely.

The best thing about the book is the cover painting, which actually does happen near the end of the story. In fact, all the covers I have for this series are quite good. It's just the inside bits of writing that are pretty embarrassing sometimes. But I survived, and so can you, though I don't recommend it. While perhaps a bit better than the average Hardy Boys mystery, that isn't saying a whole lot.
** stars. Reviewed May 31st/20

STAR BRIDGE

Cover art by Ralph Brillhart. Look carefully at the scale!

Originally published in 1955, this 216 page book resurfaced to great acclaim in the 1980s. Allegedly Williamson started out writing the novel, then became blocked and was unable to finish it. He sent the manuscript to Gunn (SF novelist and anthologist), who completed it. Williamson seemed to have difficulty in the 1950s overall, his only other works also collaborations (see the Undersea series, above). But Star Bridge put him on the map again, though nothing else was forthcoming for several years.

It is a good story, and we only learn what is really going on bit by bit, right up until the very end. A lone assassin is hired to kill the General Director of Eron, a planet that controls the Empire of human inhabited planets spanning some 500 light years. Earth is now denuded and mostly worthless, so most of the action has shifted.

The opening is one of the great ones, as the lone man makes his way towards a great gathering, to inaugurate a new interstellar tubeway (see the fantastic cover art). Here is where he must strike, and the tension builds as he nears his goal. Along the way he meets a mysterious ancient Chinese man and a one-eyed parrot. This entire opening is by far the best part of the book, though the rest is handled well. After the bullet is fired, things get very hectic again for Alan Horn, as he tires to escape and outwit his pursuers.

Once on Eron, the adventure gets a bit more familiar, as the old aristocracy is on the verge of being overthrown by the slaves and underlings who keep the planet prosperous for the very few. There is a love interest for Horn, a trip inside the tube, a visit to the gritty lowest levels of Eron, and even a short stay on a savage prison planet.

This is a good read, and the book was known to have influenced other writers at the time. It is not difficult to see some of Farmer's plots being influenced by this one, too. Top notch planetary adventure. It would make a very good movie.
*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed July 5th/20

THE TRIAL OF TERRA

Cover art by Ed Emshwiller.

Published by Ace in 1962, this 159 page book contains four novelettes and an epilogue. The stories were written, according to an introduction by the author, in 1952, 1953, and 1961. He only completed them when time finally permitted.

The linked stories tell the tale of Earth and its savage and primitive inhabitants of the mid 20th Century. A galactic judge is sent to pass judgment on the planet. The sun is slated to be destroyed so that a beacon can be installed. The judge has three choices, after hearing evidence: he can allow the beacon to be installed, thus wiping out the solar system; he can allow the humans into the galactic brotherhood; or, he can see that they are left alone for a period of time sto see if they can raise themselves to galactic behaviour standards.

It sounds like a simplistic story, but it isn't. For one thing, the judge is a cheat, and only wants a payout from the highest bidder. Despite the perfections of his comrades and his race, he is imperfect and still mostly human. The various stories are presented to him as evidence for either the salvation of the humans, or their destruction. Stories of both good human acts and terrible ones are told, and each story is wonderful in itself, written at the height of the author's powers.

The first story sets the stage and brings the judge to the lunar base of the galactic observers. The second story is about a prince who forsakes his bright galactic future to live on Earth, after he crashes there and is rescued by a small family. The third story tells of a vicious criminal who escapes from jail, and has to be handled properly by the aliens. The fourth story is a search for the origins of human thought and originality, and is by far one of the best SF stories I have ever read. The epilogue gives the judge's decision, and is an irony-filled short story that provides a satisfying ending to these remarkable tales. Highly recommended.

**** stars. Reviewed August 9th/20

THE STARCHILD TRILOGY

BOOK 1: THE REEFS OF SPACE

I read the 3-in-1 Doubleday/Nelson volume.

Cover art by Gary Viscupic.

This first book was published in 1963, and is 150 pages long. A shorter version was published in If Magazine in July 1963. I am currently reading two trilogies that take place in a future Earth that has complete and utter control over the entire human population. Both first novels embed us in a hopeless world that does not know about freedom or democracy, but is ruled by an elite that takes surveillance to a level that would impress any jealous god. The worlds are dark, dreary, and utterly ruthless, ruled by a harsh police state that brooks no mistakes or wrong thinking. The other series is by Harry Harrison, but Harry really took things too far in the ending to his book 1, so much so that I am not keen to continue the series (but I will). He ended his first book with the hero left with no hope, his partner killed, and the ruling sadists firmly in control. Not a great way to end a book, especially if you expect people to purchase volume two.

Pohl and Williamson, on the other hand, show a ruling elite just as ruthless, heartless, and cruel, but at at least the ending lets in a bit of light, something badly needed after all the horrors that go on during the story. Steve Ryeland is a brilliant mathematician with two big problems on his hands. Firstly, he is missing three important days of his life, an entire weekend wiped from his memory. Secondly, he has a risk collar around his neck, which cannot be removed except by The Machine, when he is not considered a risk any longer. Which is never. The collar is even worse than the ones worn by slaves, as this one can kill him at any time decided by the machine.

Cover art by Emsh.

A chance encounter with the Planner's young daughter, Donna Creery (If cover art, above), sets Ryeland on a mission for the Machine to create a jetless drive, something that would go against Newton and Einstein. He is set to work, but soon uncovers a fiendish plan that involves torturing a spaceling, an alien creature that appears to travel through space in the same way that humans are trying to achieve. I am not a huge fan of cruelty to animals, even in fiction, so parts of the story were a bit hard for me to get through. Ryeson is soon removed from the project, and sent to Heaven. This is a really gruesome part of the book, but at least it deals with human suffering and not animals.

Heaven is where people are sent who pose a threat to the Plan and to the machine. Basically they are housed and fed, very comfortably, and their body parts are used to repair other people. Their parts are not taken all at once, but rather one at a time, slowly, over years. The entire body bank episode is certainly one of the most horrendous inventions ever described. Ryeland spends a long time here before moving on to further adventures, including a trip to deep space.

The story is not fast moving in the sense of a pulp novel, as there are moments for some character development and some internal thinking. It is a good story, but it is a very dark one. Had this one ended in a similar fashion to Harrison's first novel of his To The Stars trilogy, called Homeworld, I would truly be despairing right now. But wisely the authors of this volume chose to let in some light at the very end, even though we know there is still a long way to go to make humanity human again. Recommended reading.

*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed October 13th/20

STARCHILD

The 2nd book of the trilogy was published in Galaxy Magazine (If) in 1965. This longer version has 163 pages. We have all new characters in this story, including a new Planner. The hero is Boysie Gann, and he is loyal to the Plan and to the Machine. He has been trained as a spy on Pluto, and is sent to an orbiting station to seek out any disloyal people. As we saw in the first book, humans are ruled by a massive computer, and often have to wear collars that keep them in line. There isn't much joy in this solar system as a result, but virtually no one questions authority.

On his mission Gann finally uncovers something strange, but before he can take action or report to his superiors, he is captured and rendered unconscious. He awakens on a small space reef, and is tended to by a man called Harry Hickson. The man is destined to become a big mystery to Gann, especially when he hears later that Hickson has been dead for several years. Gann is rescued from the reef by Quarla Snow, a woman who rides on a spaceling, a creature able to venture through space, carry human riders, and maintain an air pocket as it goes. She takes Gann to the central area of reef population, a place where freedom is the cryword and no machine rules humans. So far so good, as Gann thinks he can report them all and have them exterminated by a space patrol. However, he next finds himself suddenly transported back to Earth, into the very center of where dwells the Machine that rules all.

He is arrested, roughed up and imprisoned, and charged with treason. His questioning begins, but he has no answers. Enter Machine General Wheeler, a crackpot wannabe dictator who sees his chance to oust the old Planner and take over the job for himself. This guy becomes a wee bit overdrawn, as his search for power soon drives him insane. The adventure moves to Mercury, then to the heart of the mystery aboard a long lost ship called The Togethership. This ship was launched a long time ago, with a twin machine to the one on Earth. The mystery deepens when something seems to be giving orders and doing strange and powerful things over and above the machine--this would be the legendary Starchild. Who is the Starchild? What is the Starchild?

This second book is pretty straight forward adventure, as Gann continually gets in over his head without ever trying. He wants to remain loyal to the Machine, but is always manipulated somehow into doing things he does not wish to. The authors are able to keep up the mysterious events, but things do get explained and answered at the end. A good adventure tale, and one still worth reading today.

*** stars. Reviewed November 15th/20

ROGUE STAR

From 1968 comes the concluding chapter of this strange trilogy. The novel is 149 pages, and was first published in 3 parts in If Magazine. The third story has very little to do with the first two novels. It takes place long after events in book 2, when the Plan of Man is barely heard of. The hero at first appears to be Andreas Quamodian, who has too much belly, too little muscle, and a round bald spot of his head. I wonder if this was a deep dig at the SF readership of the time. Andy is hopelessly in love with Molly Zaldivar, a name readers will come across about 400 times in the story. Even though she spurned him and left with a handsome and reckless adventurer, Andy still has high hopes of winning her back.

This boyfriend of hers, Cliff Hawk, is working on a very dangerous project, trying to create a star, along with a character called Reefer, a hunter from the Reefs of Space. Some stars have been discovered to be sentient, and a great religion has sprung up around the star called Almalik, a peaceful entity that will do no violence, even to protect itself. Molly radios Andy from Earth for help, and even though he is in another galaxy (?) he rushes to her aid.

Cliff gets absorbed by the growing entity, and so the young but nearly all-pwerful star falls in love with Molly. Before the end of the story Molly is the only one who can save everyone, as she uses her unique relationship with the rogue star to try and tame it, since it is hell bent on destroying Almalik.

While the story breaks some interesting ground with the idea of sentient stars, it's basically a hot-headed young star versus all the older and wiser ones that make up the Cygnus enigma from Book 2. Star loves girl, girl hates star, star vows revenge on its elders, not believing them to be benign. For a long time I was pretty worried as to how everything would end. Would it be like a Star Trek episode where everything is fine and dandy and pretty much the same after all is said and done? I needn't have worried; this story has a well thought-out ending, and a decent climax.

Andy's character is a very sad one, as he lives only for Molly, and reacts to things with only her in mind. It does get to be a bit much, and a strong urge to punch Andy in his large stomach sometimes surfaces. There is a mystery character, a female by the name of Clothilde Kwai Kwich. For no reason that is ever explained, she strongly resembles Molly. Or is it just that she is female, and Andy assumes many females look similar?

While not a great novel by any means, it approaches some interesting ideas, namely the sentient stars and the religion spawned by same. The Andy/Molly thing quickly gets tiresome, though I imagine it is there for comic relief. At least the ending does not disappoint.

*** stars. Reviewed December 12th/20

BRIGHT NEW UNIVERSE

Cover art by John Schoenherr.

From 1967 comes this 158 page socialist adventure story, from an author who likely saw the world crumbling around him at the time (the infamous Detroit riots were during the summer of 1967; others preceded those). It looked as if humanity could never dig itself out of the mighty moral and social hole it had dug itself into. But it only got worse: the Vietnam War, Watergate, famines, floods, other serious conflicts. Which brings us to today; the less said the better.

Several countries of Earth have sponsored a lunar base to send out signals to the nearest stars, in the hopes of making contact with other civilizations. Contact is made, in secret, and two of the Earthmen are taken up and given a 20 year tour of how things are out there. When they return, one wants contact for Earth, but the other man doesn't. The man who doesn't uses some of the things he learned in space to create an evil way of maintaining the status quo for white males, leaving behind people of other colours and backgrounds.

It's up to our hero, Adam Caine, to save the world by bringing Earth into contact with the galactic civilization. The road to acceptance is complicated, and fraught with danger and personal risk. He sacrifices his upcoming wedding, and millions from his family inheritance, to go to the moon and continue searching for extra-terrestrial life. Most powerful leaders on Earth do not want contact, as they are quite happy with the way things are. The lower classes and unemployed are not so keen on keeping the status quo.

Though the novel is complex and entertaining, the ending is quite simplistic and ultimately unbelievable. We know now that capitalism doesn't work so well, as it destroys both people and nature to maintain its philosophy of steady growth. Communism works even less well, as nearly everyone suffers except those at the top of the food chain (not too unlike capitalism, but at least unions give something back to the workers). The best we have so far is a kind of democratic socialism, but this only encourages some people to live freely off of government handouts. It's obvious to any intelligent person that things cannot continue as they are indefinitely; sooner rather than later will come a major collapse of civilization, either through a catastrophic war, or uprisings so large that lives will never be the same again.

Williamson saw this clearly in 1967. His one hope is help from outside the planet; frankly, it is my only hope, too.

*** stars. Reviewed January 11th/21

TRAPPED IN SPACE

Cover and interior art by Robert Amundsen.

From 1968 comes this entertaining juvenile novel of 128 large type pages, aimed for kids around 9-12. It's the kind of book I wish I had been able to find in my school library back in the day,and considering how poorly we have progressed in manned spaceflight, I daresay the book could still be read and enjoyed by kids more than 40 years later. How sad is that?

There is a lot to like about this book, including the fact that the story, though straightforward and uncomplicated, is well thought out and carefully planned. Jeff Stone, younger brother to Ben, sets out on a dangerous mission to rescue him and his crew, lost and missing in action after an attack by hostile aliens. It's impressive that the rescue ship is not allowed to carry any weapons, and is told to solve the problem by making peace with the unknown aliens. Now here is the remarkable thing about the story--they more or less do that! There are some tense moments, but there is no all out battle against nasty aliens. I was thankful for this.

Also, even more remarkable is the makeup of the rescue crew. Besides Jeff as the token white male (who saves the day), he is ably aided by a girl (gasp!), a black astronaut friend, and a cute little alien. The female's parents were Puerto Rican (!), though she was born on another planet and raised by friendly aliens. Wow! Talk about an impressive mix of crew.

The rescue crew consists of Jeff, his black astronaut friend Ty, a female of Puerto Rican ancestry, and a cuddly alien that enjoys eating toothpaste and shaving cream.

Interior art by R. Amundsen. There are about half a dozen drawings.

We learn near the beginning that many humans are distrustful of aliens. Our alien crew member is part of a collected mind with his kin, and has the accumulated knowledge of his race with him at all times. Of course the story is simplified, but in my opinion quite well handled. I'd be willing to try it on a willing child.

*** stars. Reviewed February 12th/21

THE MOON CHILDREN

Cover art by Paul Lehr has nothing to do with the story.

First published as a three part serial in Galaxy Magazine in 1971, the story was slightly revised for its paperback debut in 1972. My Berkley Medallion edition is 208 pages long. In short, this is one of the most amazing SF novels I have ever read, and I had never heard of it before. Jack was silent for 3 years,then came out with this incredible story! Wow!

Kim and Tom Hood are two brothers who grow up very different. Tom, the eldest, is outgoing, smart, ambitious, and ready to take on the world. Kim, our narrator, is none of those things, and in fact is quite downtrodden and ineffectual at most things. Tom becomes an astronaut, joining a team that is orbiting the moon and reporting on far side findings. An earlier orbiter had crashed, and his team of three are sent to investigate. Thus begins one of the strangest and best tales I have ever read. What they find is a kind of black grit spread across a crater, a grit that will have lasting impact upon the three men, their wives, and their children.

In fact the story really begins when three children from these three astronauts are born. At first the story resembles John Wyndom's 1957 The Midwich Cuckoos, but quickly veers off into its own realm, one that is much stranger than even Wyndom's. Two of the children are somewhat normal in appearance, though not in habits. They are precociously intelligent, and seem to be trying to solve some great puzzle or mystery known only to them. The third child is a physical monster, and it takes years before Guy can even speak. All three children are destined to have a long and difficult challenge facing them all their lives on Earth. How they meet this challenge, and how they are aided by Tom (who is father to the monster child), Kim, and others is the basis of this incredible tale.

Cover art by Jack Gaughan. This is the first of three editions devoted to the story, which is in six segments.

I can't say enough good things about this amazing novel, which also seems to have touches of John Christopher's Death of Grass. It makes me think that Jack was reading some very good British SF at the time he came up with his own version of things. I really like how the story never descends to manipulation of the reader, nor into extreme violence. The children are fascinating, especially Guy and Kyrie. The other child, Nick, seems like a computer much of the time, rather than having much humanity in him. This is a striking novel, and one that will stay with the reader for a long time. Highly recommended.

****+ stars. Reviewed march 20th/21

THE POWER OF BLACKNESS

Cover art by Paul Lehr.

Published as a continuous novel in 1976, this volume actually contains a novella and three novelettes. The book is divided into 5 sections, all lasting for 220 pages. The stores were written in 1974, 1975, and 1976, and were first published in magazines.

The first story takes up the first two mega chapters, and tells the origins of the hero Black Lantern, formerly called "no name". We also learn about the planet Nggonggan (there are a lot of "gs" in this book), its shadowy origins, its customs, and about the people, originally divided into clans. It is a primitive world, settled thousands of years ago by humans, possibly all black. Black Lantern is black, as are all the natives. It is a fiercely hot world, maintaining rituals and customs thousands of years old. But now other worlders come, tourists, miners, and other exploiters, via a kind of star gate, giving instant access to planets many light years away. Though the story is slow to build, it is well written and patience will reward the reader, though there is considerably background to absorb.

The second story, chapter 3, takes place on Nggonggan, as Black Lantern and his female aid worker Snowfire (they both work as Benefactors, people sent to help primitive societies advance) are accused of crimes and found guilty. Their punishment is to be hunted down and killed, after getting a day to start first, running for their lives. This is a good variation on The Most Dangerous Game.

The third story (chapter 4) takes us to a new planet. Black Lantern pursues his lover. She has left with another man, but he still lusts after her. He goes to a swarm world, a highly populous area that has invented a new way of dealing with high populations. He finds the man Snowfire ran away with, and eventually finds Snowfire. The solution to high population is certainly a good one, though Black Lantern doesn't really fully comprehend its value. He essentially chooses his present life over immortality. I found the ending of this story to be quite a cheat, and did not really care for it.

The final story (chapter 5) takes Snowfire and Black Lantern to old Earth, now one of the most primitive planets in the galaxy. It is currently undergoing an ice age, and about to be destroyed by a roving black hole. Williamson's understanding of black holes was a little thin, like everyone else's in 1976. Their mission here is to activate a broken gate by replacing a crystal with a new one. The gate has been abandoned and forgotten by the primitive Earth people. This is perhaps the weakest of the stories, barely rising above basic pulp level.

While overall the stories are quite readable, and sometimes really enjoyable, this is writing so far below the Moon Children that it's hard to believe it's by the same author. The stories rate from 3 stars (the first two) to 2 /12 stars for the third, and 2 stars for the final one.

Overall rating ** 1/2 stars. Reviewed April 18th/21

THE SAGA OF CUCKOO

FARTHEST STAR

Cover art by Kevin Johnson. Mine is the 1983 hardcover edition, containing both novels.

The first novel of a two-book series was first published in 1975, and is 200 pages long. It is a bit confusing to get grounded in this complex story line, which not only has multiple lead characters, but several versions of some of the characters, due to a type of long distance replication. In addition to that, the story setting itself has a lot of different places, including Earth, a central galactic headquarters, filled with many types of aliens, an orbiting observation post above Lambda, a solar system anomaly heading towards our galaxy, and several location on the anomaly itself.

The first novel is divided into two parts. Part 1 is called Doomship, and it sets the stage for the remainder of the series. It's quite a good story, and gives the reader a chance to get acquainted with the many alien species in the story, as well as the replication that allows a person to send himself across the galaxy as a totally separate entity, and still remain at home continuing on with his/her present life. Not only can the original person split off like this many times, but even the replications can be split, so that the replicant of a replicant can be sent off. The main virtue of such a system is that a person with a certain required set of skills can be sent off on dangerous missions. If they die during the mission, and they often do, then at least the original has not been harmed.

Anyway, a ship is sent on a one way suicide mission to gather data on an incoming menace, a vast unknown entity simply called Lambda. The first book deals with the trauma on board, and the launching of a probe, to which several aliens are violently opposed. Part 1 is a good space adventure, and there is certainly a tip of the hat to Hal Clement and his wonderful aliens.

Part 2 is called The Org's Egg, and we now get a bit of Edgar Rice Burroughs thrown into the mix. It also becomes a bit of a soap opera, with several versions of one man, and three versions of a woman he is married to in one of her incarnations, dominating the proceedings. It does get a bit silly after a while, but it doesn't really harm the story very much. In Part 2 we meet some of the inhabitants of Lambda, including a primitive race of people not unlike the early Native Americans, as well as its most highly developed race known as The Watchers. The Watchers are technically advanced, but turn out to be quite nasty, in the best (I really mean worst) tradition of SF xenophobia. The story ends at the end of a major surface adventure and rescue operation.

Though the story manages to hold our attention, there seem to be too many threads going on at the same time. While not complex in any way, it is tiring trying to keep track of everyone, mostly in Part 2. Still, I am looking forward to the second volume in the series, and to discovering the mystery of Lamba (also referred to by humans in the story as Cuckoo).

*** stars. Reviewed May 15th/21

WALL AROUND A STAR

From 1983 comes the confusing sequel to the Cuckoo series, lasting 234 pages. All is eventually explained, but in a very confusing way. A major new character is added to the story, along with many new events, adding to the overall confusion. It seems a very noisy story, with so much going on in the background and foreground, that there is never a moment's peace and quiet. The major new character is Jen Babylon, a linguist. Other characters are also added, as well as different versions of the characters already met in Book 1. The story opens quietly enough, on a South Sea Isle where Jen is doing language research. He is recalled to his university in Boston, and asked to transfer to the orbiting station above Cuckoo.

We learn what it is like to transfer for the first time, with the original person remaining on Earth and the duplicate heading for deep space outside the galaxy. There is dissent and near chaos on the orbiting station, as hundreds of different life forms and species compete for cuckoo's attention. Some wish to destroy it, others to try and communicate with it. The humans and the T'Worlies seem to be the only ones who want to try and make sense of everything. The others are blasting their way deep inside the super structure to kill it.

When all is said and done, it is a pretty good story overall. However, I question the overuse of multiple story lines and too many characters. Not many authors can pull off this kind of writing. Tolkien's solution, once the Fellowship was split, was to devote an entire book to each story line, rather than jump continually back and forth from one to the other. Having three or more such lines in a novel requires great care and careful planning. Here, it just doesn't work effectively.

At its heart, the novel is about ideas of god. This is not helped at all by the authors' use of HIS, HIM, HE, etc. in block capitals. By announcing a supreme being from another as being male is totally ridiculous, especially with all the effort made to differentiate so many alien species in our own galaxy, several of whom are sexless in the male female sense. And I never could figure out what it was with the crab-like minions, such as how they got to Earth (and almost every other planet in our galaxy) in the first place, and why. Would it not have been better to send an indestructible robot? Or perhaps a really fine diplomat? Why millions of crabs?

Despite much of the series being a fine mess, it is still worth reading. And I did really like how it all ended. Sanity at last.

** 1/2 stars. Reviewed June 18th/21

BROTHER TO DEMONS, BROTHER TO GODS

Cover art by Stephen Hickman.

This volume consists of five novelettes written between 1976 and 1979 (my edition 1981), most of which were published in SF magazines at the time (singly). The stories are all directly linked, and tell of the adventures of Davey and Buglet, two orphans living on Red Rock reservation. The first story deals with them at the age of five or so, and we follow them until their teens. Though they are the lowest form of human life now known, the Premen (Red Rock people) cling to a myth about a new kind of god that will come someday and rescue them from their destined oblivion at the hands of the Trumen and the Stargods. In its 193 pages the entire history of the modern Earth is gradually told.

Like Jack Kirby's 1971 comic classic New Gods, Williamson's Premen are destined to become the 4th world, destroying the arrogant and selfish Stargods who currently rule with no love or mercy. Each of the five stories builds to a climax where Davey and his girlfriend Buglet are forced to use their hidden powers to save themselves from capture and destruction. The Stargods, though acting supreme, fear the two children more after each of their attacks is repelled by the two innocents. In many ways this volume would also make a great series of five comic books, or five long episodes of a great SF series. Each of the five story climaxes features more and more power on the part of the children, until the ultimate revelation and display at the end of chapter five.

The author is in fine form once again, with an original story very well told. Recommended reading.

*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed July 16th/21

MANSEED

Cover art by Rick Sternbach.

From 1982 comes this very fine 217 page SF novel, from a writer who has been on a winning roll for some time now. Told in six novelettes, each with four or five chapters, the book is easy to read and very engrossing. The author uses flashback technique to very good effect, as the story that is currently happening is tens of thousands of years in the future. To any reader who has truly wondered if humans will ever get into deep space, and if so, then how, this book is for you.

It won't be on a Starship Enterprise, or anything remotely like it. And the journey, once begun, will take thousands of years. Sorry, but that's just the way outer space really is; really, really huge. So how will humans get into deep space, and possibly colonize other Earth-like planets? Jack Williamson has probably hit on the best way I have ever heard. Seed a thousand tiny ships or more, and send them out with humanistic robots and a very smart computer, along with human DNA that can be reconstructed upon arrival upon a successful candidate planet.

In the author's version, the robot is called Defender, and just for the reasons you might think. Only the project stops if other intelligent life is found on the planet. Defense is the only option; there will be no offense. This super robot/man is made from the best genes from brilliant men (sorry, ladies; SF remains quite sexist in 1982, as it does even today, though things are certainly improving slowly). One of them is Don Brink, a soldier of fortune who's ideas of fighting and survival will be used as part of the make-up of the nearly god-like Defender. There also also scientists, and a pilot and one-time astronaut. The project is mostly secret, privately funded, and much of the Earth action takes place in New Mexico, very well known to the author (and this reviewer).

The story follows one of the many hundreds of seed ships that were launched in our day, from the time the Defender is awakened due to an in-flight incident that changes the whole seed plan, or at least gives it much more urgency. We get a few pages of contemporary action, and then several pages of restored memories of when Don was human and back on Earth, working with colleagues (who are now part of his make up also). the story moves back and forth smoothly, as current events often trigger memories in the robot.

Once a planetary landing occurs, the real story commences. Evidence is found of an entire planet laid waste by war and destruction. As the seed project battles enemies and natural elements, the mystery of previous life on the planet is slowly unraveled. Jack doesn't avoid having women as lead characters, and there are two very important ones. Megan Drake is the driving force behind the seed project back on Earth, and she is the recruiter and main liaison between the scientists and the project itself. Once on the new planet, far into the future, she comes back as Defender 2, as does the pilot/astronaut, playing an important role in the human colony's development. There is one more important female character, the wife of one of the scientists, who reenters as a human whose DNA was reconstructed, living on the new world with 39 other humans.

But the main plot surrounds Don Brink, the human from long ago and the Don Brink who is the main Defender. The story is a great one, showing not just imagination and some wonderful emotional writing, but also laying out a concept for humans exploring the stars that just might work. Definitely worth a read, and though it contains some flaws, the story is a classic SF one that does not seem to date itself as far as the science goes. In fact, it's still quite ahead of its time, even nearly 40 years later.

**** stars. Reviewed August 18th/21

THE ELDREN STORIES

LIFEBURST

Cover art by Don Dixon.

From 1984 comes this 297 page SF novel (that includes two preambles) that seems to hearken back to his Starchild series, yet sets out on an independent adventure at the same time. This is a very good space opera, with believable characters and situations that don't require a lot of effort to accept on the reader's part. I liked the book a lot, despite some very small printing that occurs near the end of each main chapter. Williamson has scored high with the last several books, and continues to write good stories with interest levels.

Besides humans, who have made a complete mess of planet Earth, there are three kinds of aliens. Two are benevolent and one is quite menacing. Humans have travelled to the outer reaches of the solar system, but not yet beyond. A base in the Oort Cloud is the setting for the first half of the story, a small, confined way station that has been placed there to listen and watch for aliens. Quin Dain is at the heart of the story, a young boy at first, then a hesitant adventurer as he finally gets to visit Earth. His dream quickly becomes a nightmare, as he becomes embroiled in a war between the ruling military faction and a religious holy war against them. Caught in the middle, Dain has a lot to learn in a very short time.

The concept of the Earth skywires is brilliant, and would seem to be on a scale with some of Iain M. Banks' SF writing. The warring factions on Earth are more than believable, and the character of Jason Kwan even more so. Williamson walks a tight wire in many places, as the story could have turned into a frustrating and manipulative read in lesser hands. But Jack keeps a tight rein on all doings, and we go along with jsut about anything he writes. My one major quibble has to do with the Eldermost. They are completely non-violent, even when threatened with extinction by the seeker Queen. My question is this: how could they have survived for long in a hostile universe? No answers are forthcoming from the author, other than other beings do their dirty work for them, so they don't have to stain their hands with violence. In turn, they then disdain those who aided their survival by refusing to admit them to the Elderhood. Strange.

This is another highly recommended novel by one of the great masters of the SF genre.

**** stars. Reviewed September 20th/21

MAZEWAY

Cover art by Don Dixon.

From 1990 comes this 262 page direct sequel to Lifeburst. Though I was disappointed overall in this book, it is still very enjoyable and worth reading after the first tale. An evil alien being in the form of a computer virus takes over Starsearch, the space base where signals are being sent out welcoming alien civilizations to come and join the Eldren. The Eldren are a group of super beings that try to help lesser peoples along on their road to peace and prosperity, with the emphasis on peace. Meanwhile back on earth, we get a close look at what life is like on the surface after the destruction that was wrought there in the previous volume.

The story is quite good, and the characters are engaging, but Williamson overdoes some of their characteristics, and overdoes the lack of awareness shown by supposedly intelligent beings regarding the presence of an alien evil force. Of the three humans in the story, Benn Dain is a nearly useless being, a mere go-for that acts as ordered when ordered by his alien friend Gibbon. In fact, Gibbon is far more interesting than any of the human characters. Simon Bolivar is all greed and selfishness, and Roxanne, alias Cheetah, is far too easy for him to manipulate.

Although everything comes out fine in the end, getting there is a bit of a pain. One of the main themes running through the book is a massive five-part Game. The Game is played by three humans and six aliens, and each of the five parts sees different combinations of players try to reach their goal beneath a planet's surface. Previously inhabited by giants who mined the planet to the core, and they fought until one race was exterminated, the insides of the planet are a maze of passageways that the teams must race to get through. It's a pretty basic game, but the inside of the planet is quite fascinating, and we see many different aspects of it. We only see the team which has Benn Dain in it, as he is the main protagonist of the story. He is a very weak person to try and hold the novel together, and we are never certain why he was allowed to enter the game, or why he was so certain he had to enter it thinking he had a chance to win. He is a handicap virtually through the entire game, yet he comes out smelling like roses at the end, and (of course, as we knew all along) gets the girl. And she claims that she was raised by her father in a world not fit for love, yet she admits to loving him. Benn misses that paradox and never comments on it. And even though she is a Kwan by name, and his grandmother was a Kwan, he never mentions this to her, either. There are some strange oversights throughout the book, but it is still worth a read.

*** stars. Reviewed December 11th/21

FIRECHILD

Cover art by David B. Mattingly.

From 1986 comes this strange SF novel, lasting for 281 pages in my hardcover edition (Bluejay Books, a Book Club edition). The book isn't just strange in a good way and/or a bad way; it is strange in all ways. The author has crafted a story part James Bond, part disaster, and part horror. The Bond part comes from the attempt by Russia to discover what is happening in the EnGen labs in the US midwest, especially after an accident devastates the town where the lab is situated, killing everyone there and destroying all of the buildings. However, even the Americans don't know what happened, and everyone is trying to find out. The disaster story comes after the accident, as we see first hand what has happened on the ground. The horror part comes not from any SF element, but from the insidious characters of both Russian and American agents, who will do anything to get at the truth.

A fourth element really elevates the strangeness factor, however. Within the lab, a man has created a new life form, one that will act like a virus, but transmitting only goodness and light as it spreads across the Earth. The creator hopes this will negate the nefarious doings of the lab, now controlled by the military, who are searching for a deadly biological weapon. When the lab explodes, and the town and its inhabitants are destroyed, the new life form escapes. When it is discovered, the authorities assume that it has created the destruction, and so it must be interrogated and then killed.

The story features one of the most unpleasant, evil, and sadistic character I have ever encountered in fiction. How bad is he? He rapes little girls, and then cuts them up afterwards into little pieces. This male creature is sanctioned by the US military to torture the life form, and ultimately to seek it out after it escapes, and kill it. Then there is General Clegg, a religious fanatic who assumes that the life form (called Alphamega, or just Meg) was sent by Satan, and must be destroyed. No one believes the two people who encounter it and give it aid, who tell them that Meg is good, not evil.

The story gets stranger and more depressing before it finally turns the corner into hope, but by then we have the author's vision of what the world is really like very much stuck in our heads. There is no doubt that his recreation of what the military (and KGB) would do to such a life form. Ever wonder what might happen if a lone alien landed on earth? Wonder no more. Ever wonder what might happen if Jesus returned today? Wonder no more. By comparison, getting crucified would seem like a happy birthday party! There are certainly parallels to the story of Jesus in Williamson's novel, especially as the novel gets closer to the finish line. A quote from page 256 gives a good idea of what the author thinks of the world of today:

'It's an ugly age, Vic. A world with no center. No purpose. No sane direction. Too many selfish forces contending, with ethics and reason commonly forgotten. If a few of us don't stay awake to that, if we don't try to hold one last fort for sanity, the world's done for.'

Wow! You can say that again! Despite getting a bit too flaky at the end, this is a very good story, with more truth to it than some would care to believe.

*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed October 18th/21

LAND'S END

Cover art by Ron Miller.

From 1988 comes this end of the world adventure, lasting for 370 pages. We begin the tale in vast underwater domed cities, recalling other stories by these authors. But this one quickly goes its own way when a comet approaches Earth. Though measures are taken to lessen the incoming object, it isn't enough, and the world suffers greatly, losing most of the population in the disaster. While much of the earlier action is set underwater, the latter sections of the book are mostly on land.

There are several factors that make this a less than satisfying book, but I will only mention a few. First, the McKen family, who rule the world and are totally evil, are way overdrawn. Their characters go beyond even comic book fiction bad guys and become quite laughable. There is little to no realism to their personalities; they are quite simply a bunch of horrible bad guys. Another factor has to do with squid. Much of the opening of the book shows a female character, Graciela, taming squid to assist humans in underwater farming. This is one of the best parts of the book, but it goes absolutely nowhere. Once the disaster strikes, we barely hear from the squid again, which is a shame. The story could have done more with this angle, I feel. Then there is the Eternal. It has been surviving at the bottom of the ocean for millions of years, waiting for humans to fully evolve, and is finally awakening (just as the comet strikes--what a strange coincidence). The Eternal is supposedly what humans should be striving for--eternal life, without any suffering, and only good things happening. But for some unknown reason, the two main characters fight the Eternal to the last, not wanting any part of Eternalism, whatever it might be. They prefer to live upon a ruined Earth, or in the ocean at one of the surviving undersea cities. in other words, they are driven by fear of the unknown, though it is not presented as that. I have more to criticize, but I will stop there.

The surface parts of the story are interesting, yet another variation on the post-apocalyptic survival of those few who remain alive after the catastrophe. The strength of these adventures, and the underwater opening, help keep the book above average, though just barely. It is frustrating that the authors decided not to take the time to really explain what life might have been like for the people caught up with the Eternal. It is just supposed to bad for humans, though we are never told why, or how it might actually be hundreds of times better for humans. It's like a Christian end of the world, where God holds judgement, but people are saying "No, I don't want to go to Heaven--leave me alone, please."

Though there is much to recommend this tragic tale, there are also weighty problems keeping it from becoming a classic.

*** stars. Reviewed November 14th/21

THE SINGERS OF TIME

Panorama cover art by Michael Whelan.

The novel is from 1991, and is 340 pages long. There is a lot to like about this story of the future. Earth has been invaded by merchant aliens resembling turtles. They trade technological advances for raw materials. They have eliminated war, and seem to be able to take anything they want, since humans are hungry for technology. A third type of lifeform has importance to the story, as the cover art shows. The young girl Moon is friends with a Taur, something that is actual food for humans. She has known Thrayl since she was 8 (her age is never given, but she appears to be about 16 in the story), and doesn't want him going to the slaughterhouse, even though he is bred to be willing for such a thing. She runs away with him from her New Mexico ranch, joining Captain Francis Krake, who is enjoying some R & R on Earth before his next mission. The plot, though complex, is easily handled by the writers, and continues to develop throughout the story.

Before too long we are travelling in space and time. The book is divided into three kinds of writing. Each chapter begins with a hint of a god-like being or beings that listen in to all that is said. Then come the standard narrative, detailing the adventure of the characters involved. But the chapters end with short lectures on 20th C. physics and cosmology, including some pretty wild speculations by known scientists and great thinkers. There are 21 chapters, 21 lectures, and 21 glimpses of the Aiodoi, the beings who listen to universal songs (unfortunately, all they seem to listen for are lectures, never real music; why no Bach or Mozart?).

Captain Drake, two turtles, female Dr. Sue-Ling Quong, two human crew members, disfigured and put back together in non-human form earlier by Turtles, Moon and her friend Thrayl, the Taur, and twins Sork and Kiri Quintero all set out on a journey to the Turtle's home planet, after intimations of a great disaster there. They end up passing through a wormhole to learn the fate of the planet, and their adventures really begin as they go through the first of several wormholes. there are personal problems. The Turtles are secretive and look down upon humans. This angers Captain Krake, who seems to be always angry anyway. Why a 16 year old girl would fall for a bearded, super grouchy 39 man is more of a mystery to me than the wormholes. Dr. Quong is in love with the twin brothers, and cannot make up her mind as to which one she will take as a partner. One is a total bad tempered hot shot, and the other a passive, calm man (we learn why they are like this later). So there is continual bickering and arguing in the small ship as they travel and encounter obstacles. Too much, in my opinion.

There are problems, some of them already mentioned. Would humans readily eat animals that could talk to them (I am of course reminded of "Meet the Meat" in Restaurant At The End of the Universe, by Douglas Adams)? Most humans won't eat dogs and cats, especially ones they live with. Would they really eat Taurs? Would Moon really fall for Captain Krake, as he is presented in this novel? Hardly. And there is way too much arguing and mean spiritedness, most of it involving Krake and Sork. It drags the story down to almost a kindergarten level at times.

All in all, worth reading but ultimately missing something grand. I would be interested in a sequel.

*** stars. Reviewed January 16th/22

BEACHHEAD

Cover art by Ron Miller.

From 1992 comes this 368 page turkey from the 82 year old author. Make no mistake, this is a terrible book, and I would not have finished it had I been a casual reader. Just look at the cover blurb by Arthur C. Clarke if you want proof. The best thing he could come up with to say was "A memorable experience." So is a trip to the dentist for fillings. There is a short foreword by the author, and a short intro by poor Mr. Clarke.

The book is about humanity's first trip to Mars. I have read many such books in the past six years, and this is probably the worst of them. Instead of this book go read First on Mars, Martian Chronicles, Red Dust, The Martian, or almost any other book than this one.

I don't like wasting my time having to tear apart a bad book, but I will mention a few things. Had this been written in the 1940s it might have been forgiven some of its soap opera theatrics and cheap science, such as of the 8 people selected, none of them were tested for being a team player. Instead, they were all rugged individualists. Seriously? 8 people are going to live in crowded conditions together for years, and they don't test for ability to get along with or to help others? They lift off despite a Martian virus attacking one of the candidates and grounding him. Two of the carefully selected astronauts want nothing to do with being on Mars. They mutiny and abandon the astronauts on the surface, lying about the others to Earth, hoping to get rich with what they learned on the trip. The people on Mars have no way of communicating with Earth. Really???? What a great setup. This was written well after many Mars landers had sent back info to Earth, hundreds of times. I guess they forgot something when they left home. And then there is the hideous real estate on Mars angle, run by a cheap businessman, brother to our lead hero astronaut, Sam Houston (I kid you not.) How does Sam get back to Earth once the mother ship has left them all stranded? In a tiny landing craft. Boy, that was a rough trip home. Are you serious, Mr. Williamson? I will spoil the ending, so do not read on if you care at all. The bad guys all die or lose financially big time. The good guys win, on the final two or three pages.

Avoid this book if you like good SF. Don't give up on Jack, though. He has written some of the best SF stories I have ever read. And some of the worst.

* 1/2 stars. Reviewed February 14th/22

DEMON MOON

Cover jacket art by Darrell Sweet.

From 1994 comes this decent epic fantasy, which the author claims to have written for fun while on an extended trip to China. My Tor hardcover edition has 349 pages, including a two page map and a large diagram, both central to the story. Though the story is 90% fantasy, the SF part mostly comes near the end, as things finally get wrapped up.

It is a strange and sprawling story, often making no sense, until the ending clears up a lot of the weirdness. It is definitely not Earth; we know very soon that we are on some far flung planet with flying unicorns, werewolves, dragons, demons, and banshees. There are three distinct groups of people. The first are skeptics, called Realists, trusting to science rather than superstition and religion. Next come the believers in the Three. They believed in magic, and are called Mystics. Lastly come the mages, the followers of Zath. This last group is an all male priesthood, insane preachers of doom and destruction to all sinners and heathens. they have their own city, where women are shunned and despised (I wonder how they thought they came into existence without women being involved).

You know you're reading fantasy when a map is provided! This one has a unique shape that is significant to the story. Same with the apparent rend in the map on the left page, going N to S.

Every thousand years, a cataclysm of planet shattering severity comes upon the land. This had happened twice before, and is about to happen again. It involves the approach of a dwarf star, a star that has some kind of intelligent entity on it that seeks gold and other minerals for its survival. The mad priests call this thing Zath, and worship it and expect its return. By feeding it gold, they hope to be saved while everyone else perishes.

The SF element to the story is significant, and this diagram has a lot to do with it.

The hero of the story is followed from boyhood through his great adventure to save the world, if indeed he can. His parents, once important people, were cast out by the father's evil brothers, who now rule Dragon Castle in his stead. The two brothers each have a piece of something called the Dragon Shield, said to be a weapon against the coming demons from the red dwarf star. While the story is complex, and the author switches between Zorn (the hero) and others involved in the grand scheme, it unfolds at a pace that is easy to follow. There are not more characters than necessary, and it is easy to keep track of who is who.

I have two main complaints about the story, none of which ruined it for me. One is that Zorn is supposed to be the reincarnated hero from a thousand years ago, one who found a weapon against the red dwarf demon and defeated it. Only he can't accept that he is any kind of hero. Over and over and over he can't imagine himself as a hero. At least a thousand time he says or thinks that he is no hero. ALRIGHT! Enough with the self doubts. Could he not have, perhaps, gained a tiny bit of confidence in himself after he has been through about half a billion hardships in the story?

My second complaint has to do with what I call the Dickens Syndrome some writers have, which is that no one can come through an adventure novel until they, their friends, their relatives, and their animals have gone through every conceivable hardship known and unknown to humankind. Several times. They are always starving. They are always freezing. They never sleep, and when they do it's nightmare after nightmare. However, they never catch cold or the flu, or have scurvy, and always manage to just barely get through the next challenge before the next one hits. And they never call it quits.

The ending is nicely done, once all is explained. The concept is brilliant (though mostly stolen from Asimov's Nightfall), and no doubt at least a hundred other similar stories could be written, based on the author's main idea of who these people are and where they are. All in all, a recommended read, and certainly worthy of Jack Williamson's well known talents.

*** stars. Reviewed March 13th/22

BLACK SUN

Cover art by Ron Miller.

From 1997 comes this 352 page SF novel about the final human seed ship to leave a troubled Earth, blasting off from White Sands, NM for its journey, hopefully to a habitable planet. Mr. Williamson has some of the best plots and story lines in the entire genre, and this particular kind of story is one of my favourite to read. Unfortunately, one of Jack's worst aspects as a writer pops up here again. In a book that really doesn't need any, he has three of the worst kind of stereotypical villains involved in the story, something that came close to ruining to book for me. Don't the poor colonists have enough to deal with without taking along Dr Smith from Lost in Space, and two others like him? Several times I wanted to throw the paperback against the wall. The word "sneer" seems to appear virtually every time one of these bad guys appears. At least, unlike Dr. Smith, they all do get what's coming to them, eventually. I'm pretty certain I could have keep the story interesting and on the same lines as the author, without these pulp era bad characters being involved.

The colonists emerge from their faster than light travel to find themselves faced with a nearly dead sun, and a frozen planet. However, on their approach to land, they see a signal light, following the colours of the spectrum, in order. They seem to have awakened some type of life form. They land and set out to explore, hoping to have the technology and know how to begin terra-forming the planet. At least the good guys do. The bad guys want to blast off and try again, though that is not really possible. Still, all the resources go towards that aim.

Most writers, when writing about ancient civilizations whose ruins are found by later human explorers, don't go into too much detail about the previous inhabitants. But Mr. Williamson boldly strides into my favourite writers' territory, and we are soon immersed in a mystery about what happened to the planet, who the previous inhabitants were and what they were like, and a strange journey to see if there are still any survivors, millions of years afterwards. Although I didn't really find the ending totally to my satisfaction (a sequel would be nice), it ends on a positive note and with at least some questions answered.

With some tweaking, this could have easily become one of the finest SF adventure novels ever written. But the author still is, in some ways, stuck in the 1930s and 1940s, and that is unfortunate. Even with its many flaws, however, it still is a very good read, and recommended.

*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed April 14th/22

THE SILICON DAGGER

Cover design not credited.

From 1999 comes this 334 page misnamed adventure thriller. Any SF element does not become apparent until almost page 190. Up till then it is a political thriller, with rednecks from Kentucky trying to take over the USA. A better title would have been The Silicon Shell.

The author has a lot to say about the information age and internet (which he calls infonet in the story), as well as freedom, overreach of government, racism, armed militias, and lots of other things that seem to be more current each and every day. He was 91 when this book came out, and obviously keeping tabs on current events in his own country.

I liked the book up until the SF element makes a rude entrance. Suddenly there is an impenetrable dome shielding the Kentucky county that wants to become an independent country. All of a sudden the story collapses on itself. Okay, if someone can invent such a protective dome, then why a bunch of yahoos in Kentucky? Why not some other terrorist group using it to take over the world? Readers know that the Kentucky group would have been bombed out of existence, thus end of story. But no, they have a dome one of their number has invented, and no one can reach them. No one can figure out how to break in, or break out. No one can figure it out at all, yet some Kentucky inventor managed to figure it out and get it working. Sorry, but there is no more credibility to this story for me.

The book ends at the difficult part. How would this new "democratic" country really work. What do they have to pay for goods they will need, such as food, fuel, building materials, etc? Will they tax their citizens? How? Will they set up institutions for justice? How will it handle the racism that the author points out, then promptly forgets about? What kind of person would such a republic invite to live there? What kind of rebel gate crashers would they get? There would likely be millions of yahoo rednecks arriving every day. How would the utopians handle that scene?

Williamson was not around to see the thing on live TV as we did, when Trump and his supporters tried to take over the White House, claiming that they had not lost the election. As ugly as that scene was, Williamson's is much uglier when one digs underneath just a little bit. Try to imagine nearly every county in the US (thousands of them) suddenly deciding they wanted "freedom." I suggest that those screaming loudest for freedom are totally clueless as to what freedom is. Now it's my turn--I demand freedom from idiots such as Canada's "Freedom Convoy" of truckers, who held downtown Ottawa hostage for weeks, and who blocked the international bridge between Windsor and Detroit, costing hundreds of millions of dollars damage to businesses on both sides of the border. I demand freedom from idiots who claim that Trump won the 2020 election. I demand freedom from the idiots who claim that global warming is a myth, and that Co-vid 19 is a fake disease, and that the shootings at Sandy Hook and Las Vegas and others was faked. So, what about my freedom?

To call this book politically incorrect doesn't go far enough; it is dangerously politically naive, despite several good points the book brings out. Read it for yourself and decide.

** stars. Reviewed May 15th/22

TERRAFORMING EARTH

Cover art by Stephan Martiniere.

From 2001 comes this 352 page SF novel, encompassing not one, but two complete extinctions of all life on the planet by incoming asteroids. Fortunately, as the first one hits, a small group of survivors makes it to a half finished moon base, being built for just such an emergency. The survivors are mostly scientists and historians, and their DNA are cloned into the central computer. Many generations later, the five clones are awakened, their mission to reseed Earth. This is the basic story, but so much more happens, including a star ship journey of 500 light years, the visiting of Earth numerous times by various generations of cloned humans.

Olaf Stapeldon is the obvious inspiration for this story dealing with vast time blocks, and multi generational, very advanced versions of the human race originally protected. The story is divided into five major sections, and was at one time published as such. The book is easy to read, quite engaging, and most of the characters are likable, with an exception that keeps popping up each time new clones are manufactured and awakened.

The story is engrossing from page one to page 352. During the course of the novel we meet many different kinds of life forms, some of them possibly alien. There are many threats that come from somewhere in space, devastating not only Earth but some of her colonies. There are many scenes of indescribably alien beauty, on Earth. The forests of Mexico are one example, and the vast interior of the complex building at the end is another. Ending such a book might be a harsh problem for many writers, but Williamson not only provides a satisfying one, but one that really and truly is an end, at least as we might conceive it.

This is a truly great SF novel, one that be read by all fans of the very best of the older stuff.

**** stars. Reviewed June 15th/22

THE STONEHENGE GATE

Cover art by John Harris.

From 2005 comes Williamson's last novel, lasting for 313 pages. It is also one of his very best. The book seems to summarize his output as a SF writer, and makes a fitting capstone to an incredible career lasting until the age of 96, when this book was published. Not only does the story harken back to many of Jack's other tales, going all the way back to the early pulp stories, but we can read all of the writers who influenced him. Edgar Rice Burroughs, H Rider Haggard, A Merritt, Olaf Stapledon, and many others can all be found in theses pages, along with Jack himself from early days. There is even a good dose of Philip Jose Farmer, especially his World of Tiers series.

The story is magnificent in its scope and how it deals with it. It's the kind of story that if I had thought up and was trying to write, would get totally bogged down in too many details. But a master writer knows just how to handle things, allowing the story to stop and develop when needed, and when to move along. Details are few about the civilization that created the worlds we get to explore, but there is enough there to tell us things we need to know.

The story really gets started in a lonely part of the Sahara Desert, when four friends seek out large monoliths that can be hazily made out for satellite photos. Arriving at the desert site, their adventure begins once they step through a vast henge gate, which takes them to a distant planet. The exploration of this world and many others take up the rest of the book, as well as a long adventure on one of the worlds, tied up with a white race enslaving a black race, and the black race fighting for its freedom.

The narrator of the story is in his late 50s, and is no adventurer or hero. His description and actions sound a lot like Jack himself, as he would behave and act in a similar situation. At least his actions don't frustrate the adventure, but he does seem quite powerful to affect anything going on around him. There is enough material here to make one of the best TV series one could ever imagine, with the four adventurers being two white males, a black male with a strange birthmark, and an Hispanic female. Change the character of Derek to as Asian female, and the production would be ready to roll. With its loose tie in to Stonehenge, it simply couldn't miss!

An excellent book, and must read for SF fans.

**** stars. Reviewed July 14th/22

WONDER'S CHILD

The updated and final version of the autobiography.

From 2005 comes the final version of Jack's story, told in his own humble words. Jack doesn't talk very much about any of the actual stories and novels he wrote, though he does say from time to time that when he reads them over he doesn't remember much. Nice to know he's human, like the rest of us. Jack was born in 1998, and was 96 when he published his last novel (above) and finished updating this book. Will I still be playing piano if I live that long?

Jack mentions a lot of names, but often gives only an sentence or two about people. One example is his meeting with Clark Ashton Smith. Though his short comment might be insightful, one might wish that he had made a few more notes about certain people. Robert Silverberg, for example, is mentioned often, but never discussed. The same with many other great writers of the time. He does give details of what it was like to write pulp fiction back in the 30s, and how hard he worked at getting himself published. And he does admit that many of his early stories are not really worth very much today. I'd have to agree. Lucky for readers that Jack continued to try his hand at new stories and novels right up till the end.

Growing up poor in Texas and New Mexico, and Mexico, too, is one of the best parts of the book. Strong family ties kept him going, and he never considered himself as disadvantaged as a child. The book is well organized into short but often intense chapters. His simple description of the shattering accident he was in that killed his wife is one of many moments that make the readers' hair stand on end. Jack, though eventually married, was a social misfit, often not knowing what to do in many situations, such as how to talk to girls. A lot of us SF aficionados can relate to Jack's social clumsiness, and his desire to just immerse himself in reading and writing SF.

Jack traveled a lot. An awful lot. He might be one of the most well traveled writers I know of. He says that travel kept his eyes open for new ideas and new things, and that some of his jorneys helped him write stories and novels.

For anyone interested in the history of modern SF, this book is a must read. For any writer finding it difficult to impossible to get published (I raise my hand here), the book offers lessons, and again hammers home how difficult a task that has always been. Above all else, Jack loved SF, and he helped legitimize it through college courses, and training high school English teachers to use it in the classroom. there is no doubt that the field would be very different today without Jack's hard work. A highly recommended read.

**** stars. Reviewed Feb. 15th/23

Entire page proofread on February 25th/19

Mapman Mike

Avon Equinox Rediscovery Sci Fi Series

Wednesday 29 November 2017

The Avon/Equinox Rediscovery Series #17: The Humanoids by Jack Williamson

THE HUMANOIDS

THE HUMANOID TOUCH

WITH FOLDED HANDS

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EARLY NOVELS

THE ALIEN INTELLIGENCE

INTO THE FOURTH IMENSION

THE GIRL FROM MARS

THE PRINCE OF SPACE

THE GREEN GIRL

THE STONE FROM THE GREEN STAR

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THE SHORTER FICTION

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MORE NOVELS

GOLDEN BLOOD

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THE LEGION OF SPACE SERIES

THE COMETEERS

ONE AGAINST THE LEGION

THE QUEEN OF THE LEGION

DARKER THAN YOU THINK

DOME AROUND AMERICA

SEETEE SHIP

SEETEE SHOCK

DRAGON'S ISLAND

UNDERSEA QUEST

UNDERSEA FLEET

UNDERSEA CITY

THE STARCHILD TRILOGY

THE SAGA OF CUCKOO

THE ELDREN STORIES