1937 - Year in SF&F: Reviews

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE Read other issues here ---------------------------------------------- C. L. Moore and Henry Kuttner "Quest of the Starstone" (Jirel of Joiry series; Northwest Smith series) © Weird Tales, Nov 1937 --/ fourth place f novelette --/ wonder award --/ rare find Rare story, one of the four "orphaned" Jirel of Joiry and NorthWest Smith stories that were never reprinted before the unique "Echoes of Valor" anthology came around in the 1980s. This is even more remarkable, given that this novelette features Jirel of Joiry and Northwest Smith together for the first and only time! A plucky redhead, with more passion and bravery in her than in perhaps any sword-and-sorcery heroine out there, Jirel gets a chemistry flowing and sparks flying with that filibustier of the spaceways - a hardened Harrison-Ford-like cowboy Smith. Some groovy jumping around in time machine with weird magicians in tow ensues, and so much more: this is a solid "Weird Tales" hit, and it's beyond me why it wasn't reprinted properly. Tons of special effects and entertaining character play. ---------------------------------------------- D. D. Sharp "The Indesinent Stykal" © Astounding Stories, Jun 1937 --/ cool sf story --/ shock value --/ rare find Exchanging bodies never sounded as sinister as in this twisted "mad scientist" tale. The reverberating, evil laughs resonate from every page, the satisfied smirks and crooked grins hover over every paragraph: this is THE story about stealing bodies and how NOT feeling guilty about it. D. D. Sharp also wrote "The Eternal Man" which became a classic, but here he has fun with dominating geniuses and various stupidly submissive assistants (of both genders) - plus some speculations about the physical nature of human character and personality. Pretty neat stuff. ---------------------------------------------- Return to the Wonder Timeline

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