Merlin’s Godson, Part 1

Merlin’s Godson by H. Warner Munn
Del Rey Books, 1976
Price I paid 50¢

Originally published as King of the World’s Edge, 1939

Camelot was gone and Arthur lay in the sleep of the forever undead. Only a small band of loyal men were left, guided now by the magical wisdom of Merlin. United, they braved uncharted seas toward the mysterious Lands of the West. With them they carried the Thirteen Magic Treasures of Britain and the power of Merlin’s Ring.

Ahead of them lay unknown lands that offered lush wonders and ecstasies beyond their dreams and savage creatures that drove them into horrors beyond any nightmare.

For Ventidius Varro, a Roman centurion who had given his service to Arthur, this was to be an odyssey of soul-stirring glory and heartbreaking discovery….an odyssey that would bring him the love of a beautiful woman and take from him his son Gwalchmai.

And before Gwalchmai, godson of Merlin, lay an even darker and more mysterious quest.

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Psi Hunt

Psi Hunt by Michael Kurland
Berkley Science Fiction, 1980
Price I paid: 90¢

Astral Emprise sold metaphysics, mysticism, paranormal phenomena, astrology lessons—and anything else that Believers were willing to spend a dollar on.

Not the kind of operation the U.S. Navy was used to dealing with.

Until the People’s Republic of China decided it could blow up half the United States with five telepathic kids who spent their days watching grade-B war movies in an L.A. theater.

And Lieutenant Junior Grade Robert Burrows was assigned to call their bluff…

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Who Goes Here?

Who Goes Here? by Bob Shaw
Ace Books, 1977
Price I paid: 90¢

Men have always joined the Space Legion to forget, devoting the rest of their lives to fighting for Mother Terra in return for the perfect inner peace of forgetfulness. Most forget a little; the memory erasure covers just the area surrounding their falling away from grace. But Warren Peace can’t remember anything at all: “You must have been a monster,” say his admiring fellow troopers.

With only a blue plastic toad to guide him in his search for his past, and the forces of Lieutenant Toogood, the redoubtable Captain Handy and, worst of all, the dreaded Oscars ranged against him, Warren sets out to learn just

WHO GOES HERE?

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Assignment—Star Stealers

Assignment—Star Stealers by Edward S. Aarons
Fawcett Books, 1970
Price I paid: 75¢

Someone was hijacking satellite secrets from the Big Three. Even the Russians and the Chinese were willing to deal with Sam Durell to get them back. But Sam didn’t like the way they played. They always cheated.

So there was Sam with nothing between him and The Riddle but the naked Sahara crawling with sudden death, double dealers, and a missing bag of electronic tricks that could play havoc with the heavens.

One U.S. agent and a million dollars had already been lost in the search.

Sam figured this was one time when he’d better go it alone. Then along came Amanda…a lovely, very willing widow whose assets were literally earth-shaking.

Sam found a new way to reach the stars—and almost stumbled into eternity.

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Thrice Upon a Time

Thrice Upon a Time, by James P. Hogan
Del Rey Books, 1980
Price I paid: 95¢

When Murdoch was summoned to his grandfather’s isolated Scottish castle, he had no idea of the old man’s latest discovery—nor where it would lead him. Sir Charles, a genius in far-out physics, had found a flaw in the law of conservation of energy; in any process an incredibly tiny increment of energy escaped—back through time! Using this “tau” radiation, he could send messages into the past.

But Murdoch discovered records of messages he knew he had never sent! Were many futures possible? Could a message from Future X alter the past—and thus wipe out Future X? But who would be foolish enough to send a message that could eliminate his own existence?

Then disaster struck. An advanced fusion reactor threatened to destroy all Earth. Grimly, Murdoch sat down to send back the words that would destroy everything he had learned to love.

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Star Giant

Star Giant by Dorothy Skinkle
Belmont Tower Books, 1969
Price I paid: 75¢

His name was Ben-oni…

Ben-oni was a refugee, a political exile from the planet Liban sentenced to spend his life on Earth. He looked human, but he was taller than other men and had a brain like the most sophisticated computer.

A study of Earth history taught him that many Libans before him had made their mark on Earth.

Ben adapted to life on the small planet, but when he was threatened by a fellow exile, the young giant had to fight for his life with weapons not yet invented by earthmen.

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The Texas-Israeli War: 1999

The Texas-Israeli War: 1999 by Jake Saunders and Howard Waldrop
Del Rey Books, 1974
Price I paid: 90¢

On August 12, 1992, England’s tiny nuclear arsenal fell on Ireland, on South Africa, and finally on China. Instantly the planet went up in flames. In the first half of what was to be called the War of ’92, half the Earth’s population perished.

The United States was reduced to a vast underpeopled land—and, to make matters worse, Texas had seceded and taken her precious oil reserves.

But Israel, virtually untouched in a world ravaged by war, was painfully overpopulated. So Sol Inglestein and Myra Kalen had come to America looking for a place to settle. As mercenaries on the side of the Union in its war with Texas, the Israelis had been promised land in exchange for their services.

Leading their bedraggled troops into the heartland of Texas, Sol and Myra head up Operation King, Mission: Rescue the President of the United States!

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Saucer Hill

Saucer Hill by Paul Adler
Avon Books, 1979
Price I paid: 75¢

CALIFORNIA, 1999

They came from the faraway planet of Azydia. They took Bianca, the only woman Alfons ever loved. But what did they offer? Invasion, salvation, or doom?

High in a tree house above a world of maddened car racers, mass suicide, and hardly any air, Alfons can only wonder, and wait…

FOR THE RETURN OF THE FLYING SAUCERS!

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Starmasters’ Gambit

Starmasters’ Gambit by Gerard Klein
DAW Books, 1973 (Original French edition published 1958)
Price I paid: 90¢

As colonists penetrated the galaxy, a series of strange legends accumulated about the worlds just beyond the rim of our exploration.

These legends told of vast black citadels built by pre-human intelligences that dominated certain deserted planets. And the legends agreed that these colossal structures were not only impenetrable to explorers—but were still in some mysterious way activated.

This is the story of Jerg Algan, into whose restless hands fell the key to the citadels.

This is the story of Jerg Algan whose fate it was to be a “knight” on a cosmic chessboard, leaping to planet to planet as a gambit—a chess sacrifice move—to check the dark monarch who ruled the farther half of the Milky Way.

This is the novel that established Gerard Klein as the leading modern science fiction novelist of Jules Verne’s homeland.

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Doomsday Wing

Doomsday Wing by George H. Smith
Priory Books, 1963
Price I paid: 25¢

In the War Room of Command Post D the military and civilian analysts stared in horror as the message appeared on the big screen:

ATTENTION ALL COMMANDS! SAMOS SATELLITE 105 REPORTS ROCKET FIRED FROM EASTERN SIBERIAN POINT. NORAD.

A projection of the polar region appeared on the screen and all eyes followed a red dotted line that started in Siberia and had now reached the edge of the icecap. It was picking up speed as it arched up over the top of the world.

SAC TO ALL WINGS. SCRAMBLE ALL AIRCRAFT.

BMEWS NOW REPORTS 25 ICMB’s..ESTIMATED IMPACT AREAS: WASHINGTON, OMAHA, VANDENBURG, McCOY, MacDILL, COLORADO SPRINGS, MARCHFIELD, TITAN BASES AT TUCSON, DENVER…

PRESIDENT AUTHORIZES ALL FORCES TO ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK! PLAN C FOR CHARLIE. START COUNTDOWNS…

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