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Francis Flagg



Francis Flagg - pseudonym of George Henry Weiss (1898-1946) who wrote for Amazing Stories and Weird Tales in the late 1920's and 1930's. Some of his later science fiction stories were written in collaboration with Forrest J. Ackerman, and his only novel, The Night People, was published posthumously in 1947. Most of his stories were large-scale wonder vehicles, which appeals to me.
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"After Armageddon"
© Wonder Stories, Sep 1932
Startling Stories, Autumn 1946
--/ fourth place apocalyptic sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ awesome scale
--/ emotion award
--/ shock value
--/ rare find


Classic "end-of-times" story, full of wonder, color and great atmosphere. Loved every single passage of it. If only one story had ever been written about global cataclysmic events, this story is prime candidate for it.
review: 01-Jul-06 (read in 2006)

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"Earth's Lucky Day"
(with Forrest J. Ackerman)
© Wonder Stories, Mar 1936

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"The Machine Man Of Ardathia"
© Amazing Stories, Nov 1926
Tales Of Wonder, 1940
Avon Fantasy Reader # 8, 1947

--/ cool sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ rare find


A story about the 4th dimension in 30000 years time. Good stuff.
review: 01-Jul-06 (read in 2001)

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Francis Flagg & Weaver Wright
"Strangers in a Strange Time"
(also as "The Time Twister")
© Thrilling Wonder Stories, Oct 1947
--/ cool sf story

Two funny scientists (possibly drunk, or even worse, ridiculously sober) get all excited about time travel, quickly make some impressive-looking machine and hop in, only to discover that they were hit by a twister - creating all kinds of chaos around, but none time-travel-related. A bummer.

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"The Synthetic Monster"
© Wonder Stories, Mar 1931
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ rare find


Very atmospheric, more like a "detective-noir", with great imagery of doomed biological monster. Real gem.
review: 01-Jul-06 (read in 2004)

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EXPLANATION OF THE RATING SYSTEM:

"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.


All major OFFICIAL AWARDS are highlighted in BLUE
("winner" has a letter "W" by it, otherwise it is a runner-up only)

Our PERSONAL AWARDS (ratings) are highlighted in RED and PURPLE:
--/ first place :
--/ second place :
--/ third place :

--/ fourth place :

--/ cool : (equal to fifth place)
ALL "BEST OF" LISTS ARE LOCATED HERE

These awards are given in the following categories:
- novel :
- series :
- novella :
- story :
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Also, there are our personal STYLE / GENRE SPECIFIC AWARDS. These reflect the story's content and the lasting impression on the reader:

--/ wonder award
sense-of-wonder, "visual intensity" and inventiveness

--/ idea award
originality of idea / concept

--/ adventure award
exhilarating plot, excitement / action

--/ style award
outstanding literary qualities, inimitable style

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intense and beautiful love / relationships

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touching, lasting impression, sensitivity

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altogether wild

--/ awesome scale
mind-boggling; further enhances sense-of-wonder

--/ rare find
very hard to locate, mostly from old pulps, never reprinted, etc.

Again, please feel free to leave your own review or comment under every writer's entry; also recommend us other stories you liked.