Arthur J. Burks

"Bells of Oceana" © Weird Tales, Dec 1927 Weird Tales, Apr 1934 --favourite H. P. Lovecraft story --/ third place dark f story --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ idea award: live seaweed --/ rare find "Black Harvest Of Moraine" © Weird Tales, Jun 1950 --/ third place sf novella --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ idea award --/ rare find "Borderland" © Thrilling Mystery, Dec 1934 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award --/ rare find ---------------------------------------------- "Callipso's Children" (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... Simply most unique event in the history of science fiction, the collaboration of 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 shining "all-star" galaxy in itself. The fiction is... well, it's big-scale, full of grand conflict, ridiculous science, unpronounceable names and places, more bang that you ever encountered between soft book covers - testing the limits of reader's imagination and believability. Impossibly hard to find today, the serial spanned the issues of "Science Fiction Digest", and then "Fantasy Magazine" (The installments of the Cosmos round-robin were not printed in the issues themselves but as separately-bound supplements). Personally I liked the "Last Poet" part and the crazy, absolutely delirious space battle extravaganza by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach. Multi-dimensional "Wrongness of Space" anomaly attacks our system, alien menaces and mad scientists pop out of every wrinkle of time and space, flying around (some may say chaotically) in droves, driving the serial to its bang-up finish - incomparable Edmond Hamilton destroying the planets Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus with an atomic disintegrator ray in his "Armageddon in Space". A monumental literary artifact from the "wonder pulps" era, quite enjoyable even to this day. (cover images credit: Chris Perridas) review: 10-Jan-08 (read in 2008) ---------------------------------------------- "Citadel of Science" © Thrilling Wonder Stories, Jan 1941 --/ cool sf novella --/ rare find "Cloud Rider" © Sky Fighters, Feb 1936 ---------------------------------------------- "Glorious War" © Science Fiction Digest, 1933 --/ shock value --/ rare find Absolutely improbable! A treatise in defense of war and warfare, and its benefits for humankind. It would've been funny, if it wasn't so sad. Think about the fact that just in six years the world will know the worst of all possible wars... Seems like various premonitions, even though completely misguided, were in the air at that time. review: 10-Jan-08 (read in 2008) ---------------------------------------------- "The Great Mirror" (nv) © Science Fiction Quarterly, Summer 1942 Not that great... Something about looking at the universe through alien hi-tech mirror, hunting for it in the deserts of East Asia, but really quite unreadable. review: 07-Jul-06 (read in 2006) ---------------------------------------------- "Snare for Tomorrow" © Thrilling Wonder Stories, Nov 1940 "Thieves of Time" © Thrilling Wonder Stories, Apr 1948 --/ cool sf story --/ rare find ----------------------------------------------

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