1940 - Year in SF&F: Reviews

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE Read other issues here ---------------------------------------------- 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) ---------------------------------------------- William F. Temple "Experiment in Genius" © Tales of Wonder, Summer 1940 Future Stories, Nov 1951 --/ cool sf story A classic among "genius mutants" stories. However, it failed to excite me and I do not see why it holds this "required reading" status. It was not the first story about "genius mutant children" and it's certainly not the best. For truly classic and exciting treatment of this idea see Japanese animated film "Akira", not to mention glorious stories by Henry Kuttner from the 30s. review: 27-Dec-07 (read in 2007) ---------------------------------------------- Oscar J. Friend "The Impossible Highway" © Thrilling Wonder Stories, Aug 1940 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award --/ awesome scale --/ rare find I like stories by Oscar J. Friend, he seems to really "dig" Thrilling Wonder pulp requirements and atmosphere. Always exciting set-ups with neat ideas and plenty of visual adventure. Though... wait a moment, he was the EDITOR of "Thrilling Wonder" himself! I guess that explains how his fiction fitted in so well. Not that I'm complaining. Good things come to those who read TWS pulp. In this neat little tale, the whole future of human civilization is preserved in a sort of the un-dimensional museum, pretty dangerous place for the amazed explorers. ---------------------------------------------- (left: art by Ian Miller; right: letter from Clark Ashton Smith to H. P. Lovecraft, via) Clark Ashton Smith "I Am Your Shadow" (also as "Strange Shadows") © 1940-1941(Weird Tales) Strange Shadows: The Uncollected Fiction and Essays of Clark Ashton Smith, 1989, Greenwood Press --/ fourth place f story --/ wonder award --/ humour award --/ style award Shadows, clearly misbehaving! This marvelous story was not even published back in its day - it was perhaps intended for the "Weird Tales" magazine when it was written by legendary Clark Ashton Smith in 1940-1941 (it certainly has that special entertaining "weird pulp fiction" feel, plenty of good-natured humour and some appropriately sinister atmosphere). Not sure why it did not end up on pages of "Weird Tales" in the 1940s, but as we have it now, the story exists in three different versions - and in all of them human shadows have a ball mutating, morphing into independent creatures of half-light, mischief and very dubious intentions. I immensely enjoyed this tongue-in-cheek, perfect noir concoction, and highly recommend it to any fantasy fiction enthusiast as an example of the lighter side of Clark Ashton Smith's work. When he chooses to paint in dark tones, he lays it on really thick and there is enough morbidity to compete with the best of Edgar Allan Poe - but when he switches gears to Henry Kuttner's sort of humour (while retaining his trademark baroque, highly esoteric vocabulary and sophisticated style) - his fiction turns into a sort of treat that would be impossible to put down. This story is available online for free, so read it here. As a bonus, you can read all three different versions of this story, tracing the development of characters and the evolution of the plot - catching a rare glimpse of a writer's kitchen. (review by Avi Abrams) ---------------------------------------------- Return to the Wonder Timeline

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