Startling Stories, July 1940

STARTLING STORIES, JULY 1940 - FULL REVIEW ---------------------------------------------- Eando Binder "Five Steps To Tomorrow" (nv) © Startling Stories, Jul 1940 novel: Curtis Books, 1971 --/ cool sf novel --/ wonder award --/ adventure award Here the Binder Brothers take the Alexander Dumas' classic "The Count of Monte Cristo" plot and set it in space (featuring a huge prison satellite and enough intrigues to feed a crazed imagination of, say, a Cold-War era KGB counter-espionage unit). The "Monte Cristo in Space" plot was later re-used by other science fiction writers, most notably by Alfred Bester in his "Tiger, Tiger". "Five Steps To Tomorrow" is an impressive effort for 1940, but it ultimately failed to grab me, or even to tickle the slightest of my fancies. Oh well. My opinion of Binder remains high. He is definitely the "pulp king" of short stories, but perhaps the longer form was somewhat of a challenge to him (or to "them", to be exact)... ---------------------------------------------- Fletcher Pratt "The City of The Living Dead" (with Laurence Manning) © Science Wonder Stories, May 1930 Startling Stories, Jul 1940 Avon Fantasy Reader, Feb 1947 --/ cool sf story --/ rare find Virtual dreams, escape into computer reality, hardwired brains and "entertainment" feeds - all that described in creepy detail in a story published in 1930! This unlikely "Matrix" predecessor has a rather wooden style, and a plot similar to thousands "Lost World" stories, with the misty remote valleys and the intrepid (though slightly insipid) explorers. However, it all contributes to the feeling of unreality while reading this story. We can only applaud the writer's shrewd prediction that modern crowds would flock in droves into virtual domains. review: 04-Aug-06 (read in 2002) ---------------------------------------------- Oscar J. Friend "The Worms Turn" (the sequel to "Mind Over Matter") © Startling Stories, Jul 1940 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ rare find A real sleeper hit! A blockbuster of a story in two pages! Look at the cover and shudder: the nightmare drill-machines (manned by alien worms) burst from undeground in midtown New York, disrupting regular bus service, making all sorts of trouble for NYPD, and generally having an unsanctioned good time. As will the reader (have a good time, I mean), since it is rare in our "high and mighty" literate world to find such unadulterated silly fun. For truly I say unto you that pulps were created to bring the reader "fun everlasting" :) review: 04-Aug-06 (read in 2002) ----------------------------------------------

Click to go to "Dark Roasted Blend" site