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1931 - Year in SF&F: Reviews



THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

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1920s-1930s "Weird Tales" pulp issues are out-ot-this-world, and similarly hard to find in any form

Frank Belknap Long - a member of the Lovecraftian school of the weird and macabre tales, Frank Belknap Long was a highly visual and entertaining writer, though the quality of his output declined with the end of the Pulp Era. During the Golden Age of Science Fiction and Fantasy (1930s-1950s), however, his stories were highly entertaining and thrilling pieces.




Frank Belknap Long
"The Horror from the Hills"

© Weird Tales, Jan-Feb 1931
Odd Science Fiction, Belmont 1964
Night Fear, 1979
--/ third place sf novella
--/ adventure award
--/ wonder award
--/ awesome scale
--/ rare find


When I started to read "The Horror from the Hills" I was expecting a great deal of vintage Lovecraft-ian atmosphere and wide-eyed sense of wonder (it was published first in "Weird Tales" in 1931), and the story lived up to all these expectations, and more. Technically, it is science fiction as well as fantasy, as it rationalizes its thrills as travel between multiple dimensions by means of some intimidating machine. "Unspeakable" and "unmentionable" beings (all decked out in a true H. P. Lovecraft's descriptive style) abound in this novella, flaunting their blob-like, octopus-like and living hills-like manifestations - all wrapped up in a greatly entertaining mix.

A blob-buster indeed, from the golden period of "Weird Tales": ancient mysteries, horror in a museum, mad scientist with his multi-dimensional machine, spectral "Others" haunting past and present, hills come alive... A classic.

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One of the best pulp magazines of the 30s

Pretty solid issue, with many classic writers shooting out the cornucopia of wonders, as fitting with magazine's title.

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Edwin K. Sloat
"The World Without Name"
© Wonder Stories, Mar 1931
Startling Stories, July 1939
--/ fourth place time sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ rare find


A real pulp blockbuster. Edwin K. Sloat certainly pulled the right strings in the right places, plotwise. He almost seemed to become a bright superstar of pulp fiction, bursting into the field - but unfortunately, not that many of his stories actually got published, so it's kind of a rarity. Contains time-gates, monsters - an overall swell adventure.
review: 01-Jul-06 (read in 2004)

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Francis Flagg
"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 a doomed biological monster. Real gem.
review: 01-Jul-06 (read in 2004)

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Gawain Edwards
"The Return from Jupiter" (nv)

© Wonder Stories, Mar 1931


A rare novel, depicting epic conflicts between cultures, pretty obsolete in style, which made it hard to register. I've only read the first part, which contains some epic battles with winged creatures. Has great interior illustration by Frank R. Paul.
review: 01-Jul-06 (read in 2004)



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Ed Earl Repp
"From Out of the Earth"
© Wonder Stories, Mar 1931
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award
--/ rare find


Quite nice adventure with dragons, like it says - "from out of the earth", providing solid action and excitement. So far the best effort of this writer that I've read. Something about Eastern Asian desert locales... they seem to attract pulp writers in droves.
review: 01-Jul-06 (read in 2004)

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R. F. Starzl
"The Terrors of Aryl"
© Wonder Stories, Mar 1931
--/ fourth place space sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ rare find


This story teems with monsters in a truly shameless pulp fashion. Veritable window shopping of bizarre planet ecology. Wonderful.
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 :
- collection :

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

--/ romance award
intense and beautiful love / relationships

--/ humour award
funny and cool

--/ emotion award
touching, lasting impression, sensitivity

--/ shock value
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.