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Edward E. 'Doc' Smith





"Atlantis"
(from "Triplanetary")
(Lensman series)
© Amazing, Jan 1934
Journey To Infinity, 1950
--all-time series : 1966 Hugo
--/ cool sf story

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"The Challenge from Beyond"
(Round-robin serial: sf part + weird fantasy part)
© Fantasy Magazine, Sep 1935
The Challenge from Beyond, 1990
--/ cool sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ rare find


The Ultimate SF&F Collectible! An extremely rare "round-robin" serial, published in the impossibly hard-to-get magazine (almost a fanzine) and only recently reprinted as a limited-edition chapbook. The similar SF round-robin serial "Cosmos" from "Fantasy Magazine" is also hard-to-find: it's been reprinted only in "Perry Rhodan" magazine, of all places! It's time for somebody to publish these serials together as one paperback... The best pulp writers at the time were asked to submit a story episode, and they all did - this tells you what an unpretentious and enthusiastic crowd they were - each keeping his or her own signature style, together making a sort of "Who's Who" catalogue of the fantastic pulps. The science fiction episodes were written by Stanley Weinbaum, Donald Wandrei, Doc Smith, Harl Vincent, and Murray Leinster. The weird fantasy parts were written by C. L. Moore, A. Merritt, H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Frank Belknap Long. So far I have only read a few episodes, but let me tell you, it's almost like coming to the most delicious smorgasbord of all times... vintage and delectable stuff all over.
review: 30-Sep-06 (read in 2002)



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"Course Perilous!"
(also as "The Robot Nemesis")
(Cosmos Series)
© Science Fiction Digest, Jul 1932
Fantasy Magazine, Dec 1934
Perry Rhodan, Ace Books
--/ fourth place space sf series
--/ wonder award
--/ awesome scale
--/ rare find

Unreal... This is simply the most unique event in history of science fiction, the collaboration between the brightest stars in the field, some at the beginning of their career, some at the peak of their powers. The list of writers is a shining "all-star" galaxy in itself. The fiction is... well, it's certainly big-scale, brimming with grand conflict, ridiculous science, unpronounceable names and places, and more BANG that you ever encountered between soft book covers - testing, in fact, the limits of reader's imagination and believability. Impossibly hard to find today, "Cosmos" spanned the issues of "Science Fiction Digest", and then "Fantasy Magazine" (the installments were not printed in the issues themselves but as a separately-bound supplements).

Personally I liked the "Last Poet" part of the serial and the crazy, absolutely delirious space battle extravaganza contributed by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach. A multi-dimensional "Wrongness of Space" anomaly attacks our system; a bunch of alien menaces and mad scientists pop out of every wrinkle of time and space, flying around (some may say chaotically) and driving the serial to its bang-up finish - good old Edmond Hamilton destroying planets Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus with an atomic disintegrator ray in his "Armageddon in Space". In other words, "The Cosmos" series is well worth searching out, it's a monumental literary artifact from the "wonder pulps" era, quite enjoyable even to this day.

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"First Lensman" (nv)
(Lensman series)
© 1950, Fantasy Press
--novel : 2001 Retro Hugo
--/ fourth place space sf novel
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ awesome scale


"The Imperial Stars" (nv)
( Family d'Alembert )
(with Stephen Goldin)
© IF, May 1964
book: 1976, Ace books

"Lord Tedric" (nv)
(Tedric series)
© Universe, Mar 1954
book: Futura, 1970
--/ cool sf novel

"Masters of the Vortex" (nv)
(also as "The Vortex Blaster")
© Comet Stories, Jul 1941
book: 1960, Gnome Press
--/ cool sf novel
--/ wonder award
--/ awesome scale


"Pirates Of Space"
(from "Triplanetary")
(Lensman series)
© Amazing, Jan 1934
Fantasy Press, 1948
--all-time series : 1966 Hugo
--/ fourth place space sf novella
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ awesome scale


"The Robot Nemesis"
(also as "What A Course!")
(Cosmos round-robin series)
© Fantasy Magazine, Jul 1934
Thrilling Wonder Stories, Jun 1939
Startling Stories, Jul 1950

--/ fourth place space sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ awesome scale
--/ rare find


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"The Skylark Of Space" (nv)
(Skylark Series # 1)
© Amazing Stories, Aug 1928
book: 1946, Fantasy Press
--/ cool sf novel

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"The Skylark of Valeron" (nv)
(Skylark series #3)
© Astounding Stories, Aug-Oct 1934
Fantasy Press, 1949
--/ cool space sf novel
--/ awesome scale

"As the mighty spaceship Skylark roved the intergalactic world, scientist Richard Seaton and his companions uncovered a world of disembodied intelligences. A world of four dimensions where time was insanely distorted and matter obeyed no terrestrial laws... where three-dimensional intellects were barely sufficient to thwart invisible mentalities!"

The Skylark series did not click with me, mostly because of incredibly clunky narrative style... no matter how forgiving I decide to be, dealing with 4 pages of narration recounting the events of previous books (conveniently told by a child to his mother: incredibly amateurish writing trick) is just too much. Sure, it's got bigger scale than the previous books, and a 1000km long spaceship, and all kinds of extra-dimensional mumbo jumbo. But I can't adore "Pontiac Aztec" no matter how bustling with features it promises to be. The Skylark series is just too cartoonish. Good for comic books, I suppose.



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"Storm Cloud on Deka"
(The Vortex Blaster series)
© Astonishing Stories, Jun 1942
Super Science Stories, Jul 1942 Canada

The Vortex Blaster, 1960
--/ cool sf story
--/ wonder award

"The Strangler's Moon" (nv)
(with Stephen Goldin)
(The Family D'Alembert Series # 2)
© 1976, Pocket Books

"Subspace Survivors"
(Subspace series)
© Astounding, Jul 1960
Subspace Explorers, 1965
--/ cool sf story
--/ wonder award

"Tedric" (nv)
(Tedric series)
© Other Worlds, Mar 1953
book: Futura, 1970

"Triplanetary" (nv)
(Lensman # 1)
© Amazing Stories, Jan 1934
book : Fantasy Press, 1948
--all-time series : 1966 Hugo
--/ fourth place space sf novel
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ awesome scale


"The Vortex Blaster" (nv)
(Lensmen Universe)
(also as "Masters of the Vortex")
© Comet Stories, Jul 1941
book : 1960, Gnome Press
--/ cool sf novel
--/ wonder award
--/ awesome scale


"The Vortex Blaster Makes War"
(The Vortex Blaster series)
© Astonishing Stories, Oct 1942
Super Science Stories, Feb 1942 Canada

The Vortex Blaster, 1960
--/ cool sf story
--/ wonder award

"What A Course!"
(also as "The Robot Nemesis")
(Cosmos round-robin series)
© Fantasy Magazine, Jul 1934
Thrilling Wonder Stories, Jun 1939

--/ fourth place space sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ awesome scale
--/ rare find


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"SF&F Reading Experience" is part of "Dark Roasted Blend / Thrilling Wonder" family of sites. We try to highlight the most entertaining and rewarding science fiction and fantasy, with emphasis on memorable reader experience, not necessarily general acceptance by the critics. Have fun, and delve into our extensive ratings and reviews!

Most reviews are written by Avi Abrams, unless otherwise noted. Reviews also appear on our unique historical retrospective page Wonder Timeline of Science Fiction. Feel free to submit your own review, if a particular story is not listed here.


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