RAYMOND J. HEALY & J. FRANCIS McCOMAS, Editors – Famous Science-Fiction Stories: Adventures in Time And Space. The Modern Library G-31; hardcover, 1957, xvi + 997 pages. First published as Adventures in Time in Space, Random House, hardcover, 1946. Bantam F3102, paperback, 1966, as Adventures in Time and Space (contains only 8 stories). Ballantine, paperback, 1975, also as Adventures in Time and Space.

   Part 1 can be found here.

P. SCHUYLER MILLER “The Sands of Time.” A pointless time-travel story, if that could be imagined, including a mysterious battle between unknown invaders of Earth sixty million years ago. (1)

Update: First published in Astounding Stories, April 1937. First reprinted in this anthology, then in Great Science Fiction Stories, edited Cordelia Titcomb Smith (Dell Laurel-Leaf Library, paperback, 1964) and Voyagers in Time, edited by Robert Silverberg (Meredith Press, hardcover, 1967), among others. After a moderately lengthy career writing science fiction, mostly between the 1930s and early 40s, Miller became the long-time reviewer of the field for Astounding/Analog SF from 1951 to 1975.

LEWIS PADGETT “The Proud Robot.” Novelette. Gallagher invents a robot while drunk, then forgets its purpose, but finally manages to use it to prevent a monopoly of the television industry. (3)

Update: Lewis Padgett was one of the pen names used by Henry Kuttner. Some of the stories published under this name were co-written by C. L. Moore, but I do not believe this was one. The “Gallagher” series, of which this is a prime example, were very popular. “The Proud Robot,” the third in the series, first appeared in Astounding Science-Fiction, October 1943, and was first reprinted in this anthology. First collected in Robots Have No Tails (Gnome Press, hardcover, 1952), then in Return to Otherness (Ballantine F619, paperback, 1962). Over the years it has appeared  in many other anthologies and collections of Kuttner’s works.

A. E. Van VOGT “Black Destroyer.” Novelette. An exploring spaceship discovers a planet now ruled by the killer coeurls, descendants of a once-powerful civilization. Most notable for the description of one of these alien creatures, the story loses some of its effectiveness with a confusing ending. (4)

Update: First appeared in Astounding Science-Fiction, July 1939. From Wikipedia: “‘Black Destroyer’ was combined with several other short stories to form the novel The Voyage of the Space Beagle (Simon & Schuster, hardcover, 1950). It was claimed as an inspiration for the movie Alien and van Vogt collected an out-of-court settlement of $50,000 from 20th Century Fox.” A source quoted by Wikipedia suggests that this particular story “represents the start of the Golden Age of Science Fiction.”

TO BE CONTINUED.…

DASHIELL HAMMETT, Editor – Creeps by Night. The John Day Company, hardcover, 1931. Blue Ribbon Books, hardcover, 1931. Tudor Publishing Co, hardcover, 1932. World Publishing Company, hardcover, 1944. Belmont #230, paperback, 1961. The latter contains only 10 stories of the original 20. The other 10 are included in The Red Brain and Other Creepy Thrillers (Belmont #239, paperback, 1961). NOTE: See also comment #4.

   Last Halloween, I found a copy of Creeps by Night, edited by Dashiell Hammett, and was greatly impressed by the obvious lack of effort that went into it. Of the 20 stories included, 18 appeared in popular magazines within a year or two of this anthology — the other two were no more than five years older — so it’s obvious no one spent .a great deal of time scouting out obscure favorites. Even Hammett’s introduction reads as if it were written with his mind firmly on his fee.

   Fortunately, no collection of creepy stories from this era could be entirely without merit, and Creeps includes some fine entries by Lovecraft, Ewers, William Seabrook and others, but nothing ever gets it completely past the feel of having been thrown together for a quick buck.

      Contents:

7 • Introduction (Creeps by Night: Chills and Thrills) • (1931) • essay by Dashiell Hammett
9 • A Woman Alone with Her Soul • (1912) • short story by Thomas Bailey Aldrich
15 • A Rose for Emily •  (1930) • short story by William Faulkner
33 • Green Thoughts • (1931) • short story by John Collier
65 • The Ghost of Alexander Perks, A.B. • (1931) • novelette by Robert Dean Frisbie
87 • The House • short story by André Maurois (trans. of “La maison”)
91 • The Kill • (1931) • short story by Peter Fleming
113 • Ten O’Clock • (1931) • short story by Philip MacDonald
143 • The Spider • novelette by Hanns Heinz Ewers (trans. of “Die Spinne” 1908)
187 • Breakdown • (1929) • short story by L. A. G. Strong
211 • The Witch’s Vengeance • (1930) • short story by W. B. Seabrook
231 • The Rat • [The Rat] • (1929) • short story by S. Fowler Wright
273 • Faith, Hope and Charity • (1930) • short story by Irvin S. Cobb
311 • Mr. Arcularis • (1931) • novelette by Conrad Aiken
347 • The Music of Erich Zann  • (1922) • short story by H. P. Lovecraft
365 • The Strange Case of Mrs. Arkwright • (1928) • novelette by Harold Dearden
395 • The King of the Cats • (1929) • short story by Stephen Vincent Benét
423 • The Red Brain • (1927) • short story by Donald Wandrei
441 • The Phantom Bus • (1930) • short story by W. Elwyn Backus
453 • Beyond the Door • (1923) • short story by J. Paul Suter
483 • Perchance to Dream • (1930) • short story by Michael Joyce
505 • A Visitor from Egypt • (1930) • short story by Frank Belknap Long, Jr.

IF SCIENCE FICTION. November 1966. Overall rating: 2½ stars.

KEITH LAUMER “Truce or Consequences.” Novelette. Retief stops a war; any resemblance to the current Arab-Israeli conflict could not have been intended but neither is it coincidental. (3)

Comment: Laumer’s stories about no-nonsense galactic diplomat Jame Retief were great favorites of SF fans for many years. The first one, “Diplomat-at-Arms,” appeared in 1960. This one was first collected in Retief: Ambassador to Space (Doubleday, hc, 1969; Berley, pb, 1970) then in Retief: Diplomat at Arms (Pocket, pb, 1982; Baen, pb, 1987).

LARRY NIVEN “At the Core.” Novelette. Beowulf Shaeffer takes on another job for the puppeteers, this time taking a spaceship to the core of the galaxy. (3)

Comment: Many of Niven’s novels and stories fell into his future history known as “Tales of Known Space,” and this is an early one. Collected in Neutron Star (Ballantine, pb, 1968). Reprinted in The Second If Reader of Science Fiction (Doubleday, hc, 1968; Ace, pb, 1970).

C. C. MacAPP “The Sign of Gree.” Novelette. Another episode in the unending war against Gree. Steve Duke enlists the aid of the Remm. (1)

Comment: There were nine stories in MacApp’s “Gree” series; this was number eight. Probably pure space opera. My brief comment suggests I wasn’t very impressed. The story itself has never been collected or reprinted.

LESTER del REY “A Code for Sam.” Novelette. Del Rey suggests that Asimov’s Laws of Robotics may not be practical in the field. The point is well made. (3)

Comment: Collected in Robots and Magic (NESFA Press, hardcover, 2010). I’ve always found del Rey’s fiction to be unexpectedly uneven, but I wish I’d known about this collection before now.

JOHN T. SLADEK “The Babe in the Oven.” A wacky short story with no plot but plenty of wit. (4)

Comment: Collected in The Best of John Sladek (Pocket, pb, 1981). Reprinted earlier in Alpha 6, edited by Robert Silverberg (Berkley, pb, 1976).

ROBERT SILVERBERG “Halfway House.” In return for his life, an executive takes on the job of guarding the crossroads of all parallel world and deciding who may cross. (4)

Comment: First collected in Dimension Thirteen (Ballantine, paperback, 1969), then in several other books. I think most of Silverberg’s stories have been collected several times over!

J. T. McINTOSH “Snow White and the Giants.” Serial, part 2 of 4. The novel will be reported on in its entirety when all four installments have been read.

MIKE HILL “Hairry.” An unsquare story of a Martian spider who becomes a jazz buff. (2)

Comment: Mike Hill was the pen name of Paul G. Herkart, but under either name, this was his only published SF story.

THURLOW WEED “The Boat in the Bottle.” As the title suggests. (0)

Comment: Another author with a one and done.

ALAN E. NOURSE – The Universe Between. Paperback Library 52-462, paperback, 1967. Prior hardcover edition: David McKay, 1965. Expansion of stories “High Threshold” and “The Universe Between” (Astounding SF, March 1951 and September 1951, respectively.) Ace, paperback, 1987. Cover of PL edition probably by Jack Gaughan.

   This novel consists of two major parts, probably corresponding to the two stories indicated above. The first concerns the attempt to construct a transmatter, necessary for the economic survival of the world. Somehow a model under construction bridges the gap to a parallel world, through the fourth dimension, and threatens it with destruction.

   Agreement with the inhabitants of the Other Side brings the galaxy within reach, but in the second art of the book, complete communication with them is needed to solve problems arising from he existence of infinitely many parallel worlds.

   Nourse is quite clearly familiar with engineering methods, as well as science in general, which probably explains the many outstanding reviews by libraries and school journals found on the covers. As is to be expected, attempts to describe the fourth dimension fall short, but they make interesting reading. The value of the switch ending is debatable, but there is no doubt it is valid.

Rating: 3 stars

SPACE SCIENCE FICTION. May 1952. (Volume 1, Number 1.) Overall rating: 3 stars.

LESTER del REY “Pursuit.” Feature novel. A man with unknown assailants pursued for unknown reasons for the major part of the story finally discovers that it is his own unconscious mind plus an uncontrolled psi factor which has been creating his monsters. The plot, meant to sweep the reader along with the hero’s plight, jumps badly at times, simply because of vague details or incongruous background. Also, forty-two pages is a long time for confusion to run rampant. (1)

Comment: Collected in Gods and Golems (Ballantine, paperback original, 1973). Also of note, perhaps, is that Lester del Rey was also the editor of this magazine.

JERRY SOHL “The Ultroom Error.” A readable but pointless story of a life-germ transplanting process gone wrong. (2)

Comment: Collected in Filet of Sohl: The Classic Scripts and Stories of Jerry Sohl (Bear Manor Media, softcover, 2003). Besides a dozen or so SF novels published later on, Sohl also wrote scripts for Alfred Hitchcock, Twilight Zone, Star Trek and several other TV shows.

ISAAC ASIMOV “Youth.” Novelette. The illustrations give away the ending, obviously meant to be hidden. Two alien cultures meet and initiate friendly relations, but the identity of each cannot be determined from the context. (4)

Comment: Collected in The Martian Way and Other Stories (Doubleday, hardcover, 1955). This is clearly a small gem whose first appearance is hidden away in what is today an sadly obscure magazine.

HENRY KUTTNER “The Ego Machine.” Novelette. A badly confused robot carries on an ecological experiment in adjusting a Hollywood screenwriter’s character to his environment. The wild type of science-fictional comedy that made Kuttner famous. Incidentally, this novelette has only three pages fewer than the feature novel. (5)

Comment: ISFDb suggests that this story was co-written with C. L. Moore. Reprinted in Science-Fiction Carnival, edited by Fredric Brown & Mack Reynolds (Shasta, hardcover, 1953). Collected in Return to Otherness (Ballantine, paperback original, 1962).

BRYCE WALTON “To Each His Own Star.” A predictable story of four men lost in space, each wanting to go his own way. (2)

Comment: Reprinted in Space Odysseys: A New Look at Yesterday’s Futures, edited by Brian W. Aldiss (Doubleday, hardcover, 1976). Collected in “Dark of the Moon” and Other Stories (Armchair Fiction Masters of SF #1, softcover, 2011). Walton was the author of several dozen short stories between 1945 and 1969, but only one novel, one of the Winston series of YA books, which I’m sure explains why he’s a Little Known Author today.

RANDALL GARRETT – Too Many Magicians. Lord Darcy #4 (first novel appearance), Serialized in Analog SF, August-November, 1966. Doubleday, hardcover, 1967. Curtis, paperback, 1969; Ace, paperback, 1979. Collected in Lord Darcy (Baen, softcover, 2002). Hugo finalist, 1967, Best Novel.

   A mystery novel which takes place in the alternative-history world where magic has developed rather than science, Two locked-room murders are committed in connection with secret plans for a new magical weapon, thus involving national security.

   One of the murders takes place at a Magicians’ Convention, making the number of possible suspects very large indeed. However, detection is made even more difficult by the fact that magic was not used; still, psychic talent was necessary to the extent that the murder would have been impossible in our world.

   The story is well done and consistent within, but does not always keep the reader’s attention well-fixed, since there is the continual uneasy feeling that the author may come up with an explanation for everything from nowhere. Garrett does play fair with the reader, though, and it is possible to at least guess who the killer may be.

   One of the characters, the Marquis of London, bears more than a striking resemblance to Nero Wolfe, and the connection is made obvious when one realized that name of his Chief Investigator is Lord Bontriomphe. Also (p.116, November issue) there is a version of the most famous Holmesian piece if dialogue between Darcy and his assistant, forensic sorcerer Sean O’Lochlainn.

   More such references may be present; these are the most obvious.

Rating: 3 stars.

ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION, November 1966. Overall rating: 2 stars.

MURRAY LEINSTER “Quarantine World.” Short novel [50 pages]. Calhoun of the Med Service. There is no possible reason for the length of this story, except payment by the word. Why can’t a reader to be expected to remember that plot as it has occurred without requiring a summary every two or three pages? Why must characters be shocked at the disclosure of political perfidy once on page 41 and identically again on page 42? (1½)

Comment: Collected in S.O.S. from Three Worlds (Ace, paperback, 1967), The Med Series (Ace, paperback, 1983), Quarantine World (Carroll & Graf, paperback, 1992), Med Ship (Baen, paperback, 2002). Leinster’s “Med Service” series was one of his most popular.

CHRISTOPHER ANVIL “Facts to Fit the Theory.” [Federation of Humanity.] A series of communications between commanders of Terran force trying to save colonists of Cyrene IV from invaders. Psychic powers of colonists make outside assistance unnecessary, but of course that can’t be included in reports to superiors. (2)

Comment: Collected in Interstellar Patrol II: The Federation of Humanity (Baen, hardcover, 2005; paperback, 2007). Baen has published several collections of Anvil’s work, real name Harry Christopher Crosby. A large percentage of the stories he wrote over the years fall into this same overall series.

STEWART ROBB “Letter from a Higher Circle.” Ingenious debunking of American history by a future historian. (4)

Comment: According to ISFDb, Robb’s only other work of speculative fiction was “The Doom of Germany According to the Prophecy of St. Odile,” a chapbook published in 1940.

RANDALL GARRETT “Two Many Magicians.” Serial, part 4 of 4. See separate report, to be posted soon.

JOHN RACKHAM – The Double Invaders. Ace Double G-623, paperback original, 1967. Published back-to-back with These Savage Futurians, by Philip E. High (reviewed here).

   This seemingly simple story of invasion from outer space is indeed something more. The prologue introduces the mystery, a secret plan of Earth against the expanding empire of Zorgan. Without knowing about this underlying factor, the reader would proceed quickly and enjoyably through the greater part of the book.

   As it turns out, a little more concentration is required. Motivations are not as obvious as they might first seem, relationships are not as they might first appear. And yet, if the blurb on the inside front cover is interpreted correctly, everything becomes as obvious as it does at the story’s conclusion. It should be obvious all along, but Rackham does a creditable job of fooling the reader.

   The society of Scarta, the invaded planet, is very well developed, with a [Poul] Anderson-like astronomy influenced theology. Another feature, passing almost without notice, is the linguistic problem of translation: for example (page 69) how do you describe war without a word for it?

Rating: 4½ stars.

Bibliographic Notes: John Rackham was a pen name of British writer John T. Phillifent. Under that name and as Rackham, he wrote 18 traditional SF novels for Ace and Daw between 1964 and 1973. He also wrote three of the series of “Man from UNCLE” books published by Ace in the 1960s.

PHILIP E. HIGH – These Savage Futurians. Ace Double G-623, paperback original, 1967. Published back-to-back with The Double Invaders, by John Rackham (review to be posted shortly).

   Two rival organizations surviving the end of present-day Earth’s civilization battle over a psycho-genetically controlled primitive named Robert Ventnor. As it often happens in High’s stories, Ventnor is captured and quickly trained in almost an overnight transformation.

   In fact, Ventnor becomes an expert in both micro-robotics and biology, combining both fields to find new methods in curing diseases. It is therefore not surprising that he becomes the key to the future of mankind.

   The story of mankind’s fall is not the usual one, not war, but the over-centralization of production, and that of decreasing quality. The description of gradual anarchy is quite chilling.

Rating: **½

Biographical Update: Quite a bit of information about the author can be found in his online obituary written by John Clute, from which the following excerpt seems relevant:

   “Nothing High wrote was as unremittingly apocalyptic as Shute’s On the Beach (1957), but his space operas consistently pit figures of valour (and science-fictional super powers) against dystopian cultures and worlds. One of the best of them, Butterfly Planet (1971), typically engages manipulative aliens against an Earth splayed into dystopian factions; telepathic sex for the good, and instant devolution for villains, arousingly ensue.”

STARTLING STORIES, September 1952. Overall Rating: 1½ stars.

JACK VANCE “Big Planet.” Complete novel [92 pages]. A long and tedious account of the adventures of a commission from Earth as they make their way from their wrecked spaceship to their Enclave on Big Planet. Vance does a good job in describing the numerous cultures on this heterogeneous planet, but the effect is lost under the weight of so many. An adventure story only. (1½)

Comment: This was expanded (perhaps) and published in hardcover by Avalon Books (1957), then in paperback as half of an Ace Double (D-295; 1958). Reprinted in novel form several times since. I am aware that many readers consider this a minor classic, and I knew so even at the time, but it just didn’t click for me.

ROGER DEE “The Obligation.” Novelet. A fairly interesting story of Man’s first meeting with Alien, taking place during a wild storm on Venus. Ending tries to make up fo a lack of solid characterization. (3)

Comment: Reprinted in Adventures on Other Planets, edited by Donald A. Wollheim (Ace, paperback, 1955).

R. J. McGREGOR “The Perfect Gentleman.” An effort to show the effects of being lost in space on a woman’s repressed sexuality. (1)

CHARLES E. FRITCH “Night Talk.” Obvious parallel to Christmas story on Mars. (1)

Comment: Collected in Crazy Mixed-Up Planet (Powell, paperback, 1969).