More than 10,000 books and stories rated and reviewed! - About this site

Writers: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
reviews of books and stories by author names and pen names

SF&F Timeline! 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000-Now
retrospective look at sf&f year-by-year
Best SF&F Lists! Recommended Reading
by genre, topic and length category
The Ultimate Guide to New SF&F Writers (from 1990 till now)


->

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

Year

Best!
















































->

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

Year

Best!

1948 - Year in SF&F: Reviews



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

----------------------------------------------



Leigh Brackett
"The Beast-Jewel of Mars"
© Planet Stories, Win 1948
The Coming of the Terrans, 1967
--/ fourth place space sf novella
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ style award


Classic stuff, look at the cover on the left! Great for espresso reading. After reading such novellas, the good cloud lingers in the mind.
review: 30-Jun-06 (read in 1992)

----------------------------------------------

In 1956 the world saw the appearance of "The City and the Stars" - a masterpiece of SF. This story first came out in shorter form -




Arthur C. Clarke
"Against the Fall of Night"
(exp. into "The City And The Stars")
(Against the Fall of Night)
© Startling Stories, Nov 1948
novel: Gnome Press, 1953
--/ FIRST place sf novella
--/ idea award
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ awesome scale


This book had the most profound effect on my life. Hardly any other reader would've had such circumstances in which I read it, so my opinion of this book may be biased. This was the FIRST (!) Science Fiction English-language book available to general public in the stores of communist-crazed Russia (in Pan Books edition), this was also the first SF book I read while learning English, so I translated it word-by-word. I have not re-read it since 1984, so my impressions are clouded by the Fog of Time. However, I want it to stay that way - the mystique and glamour of this book is going to recede into eternity, passing the occasional black holes of critique and publishing oblivion, and finally coming to rest in the center of the Galaxy, enigmatic and unbearably bright. (hmm... did I pick up the cosmological language from that novella somewhere along the way?) Getting back to the review: Arthur Clarke's youthful enthusiasm spills over the pages with the most tastefully appointed "coming-of-age" / "end-of-times revelation" kind of story in the history of pulps. Hardly anything approached the intensity of this novella and sheer audacity of scale ever since in the literature, mostly because the pulp constraints dictated the length to be very minimal, and Clarke' concepts had to be concetrated in ... not even a novel! Granted, its been expanded into a novel, and not just once (I have not read Gregory Benford's version as yet) - but as my review of "The City and the Stars" testifies, this singular chunk of "wide-eyed adventure" reads better, perhaps, in a novella form. Brevity is certainly a virtue. Your mind's imagination can expand upon the vista, if you so desire. The IMAX-large narrative consists of "escaping the closed, stagnated" world of the last City, getting on the quest for Universal meaning and uncovering of stupendous artifacts, "urban/pastoral way of life" conflict, and many hints of Something Larger than yourself or your world. Edmond Hamilton might've written it. Brackett might've written it (with less optimism in tone, perhaps). Clarke however did it, with grace and a surprisingly "non-stuffy" style. So read it and weep for the modern sarcastic, sceptical, cynical and cold "masterpieces" littering the shelves in Chapters. Old school still rules.
review: 12-Jul-06 (read in 1984)



----------------------------------------------



Charles Recour
"That We May Rise Again"

© Amazing Stories, Jul 1948
--/ fourth place apocalyptic sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ romance award
--/ rare find

Rare & delectable piece of pulp-story-making. Reads like something out of the Hamilton's 30s "Weird Tales" distant future offerings, where the (almost) last man meets the (almost) last woman to wage war against the insectoid Overlords. Could not be more straight-forward, but then again, the beauty is in the stark, starry-lit visuals and the pure and simple "love & sacrifice" story - overall very enjoyable slice of "immense-scale" pulp entertainment.
review: 15-Jan-08 (read in 2008)
Read more reviews for this writer

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

Labels:


Click to go to "Dark Roasted Blend" site

COMMENTS:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

LATEST POSTS:

Collecting Pulp Magazines

Ephemera Interview with Avi Abrams

Enchanting Victorian Fairy Tale Art

"Then world behind and home ahead..."

Exceptional British Scifi Artwork from the 1950s

Space Pulp Art by Ron Turner and other British artists

Pulp Pleasures: Eando Binder

Great space adventure fiction from the 1930s
"Where Eternity Ends" and other rare gems

Also read recent posts:
Author's Pen Names - Most Complete List Ever
The Wonder Timeline: SF&F Restrospective
Space Adventure Article


SEE OUR MAIN PAGE FOR MORE!


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.