Reading cheap literature so you don't have to
The Cyborg and the Sorcerers by Lawrence Watt-Evans
Del Rey, 1982
Price I paid:
Slant the Cyborg Warrior had been ordered to kill the enemies of Earth and return with their weapons technology. His robot spacecraft was to see that he did―and kill him if he didn’t.
Problem was―Earth had perished three hundred years before, and no one had told the ship.
Slant’s dilemma seemingly had no solution…then they landed on a strange world where the computer detected “gravitational anomalies.”
To Escape the Stars by Robert Hoskins
Del Rey, 1978
Price I paid: 75¢
IT BEGAN…
…when freesailer, plunderer Jamas Oregas and his beautiful business partner set out to bilk the unsuspecting denizens of the backwater planet Llango.
IT GOT COMPLICATED…
…when Jamas, who knew the ins and outs of stargates, was doublecrossed and had to disappear―and fast.
IT MOVED INTO HIGH GEAR…
…when Jamas landed on Prime―a repository planet of galactic history―and learned of a mysterious lost race that held the master key to all the stargates for all the worlds.
AND IT FINALLY EXPLODED…
…when Jamas himself decided to scour the galaxy, looking for that long-lost race, following a trail that would lead him to power beyond his wildest dreams―if he somehow managed to stay alive!
The Pirates of Rosinante by Alexis A. Gilliland
Del Rey Books, 1982
Price I paid: 75¢
2042—Not a good year for Mundito Rosinante. As the space colony’s orbit drew it farther from Earth, the tiny world’s troubles just seemed to grow. It was caught up in the power struggle between the Japanese and the successors to the U.S. Citizens revolted. Robots got uppity. Someone even threw a grenade at Governor Cantrell!
If Rosinante was to survive, Cantrell would have to act fast and think faster. Well, at least the robots thought he had God on his side.
Shadow Singer by Marcia J. Bennett
Del Rey, 1984
Price I paid: $1
Humans had long shared the planet Ver-draak with the Ni-lach people—until, in fear of the unusual Ni-lach powers, they turned on the natives. The Ni-lach who survived the massacres went into hiding.
Decades passed.
Pursued by bounty hunters, Dhalvad the Ni-lach and Poco the half-breed fled into the woods.
Though Poco didn’t know it, she had a special Ni-lach talent, similar to Dhal’s abilities to Heal and to transport himself through space and time. But somehow she had to learn to use her gift—for the fate of all the Ni-lach people hung in the balance.
The Chaos Weapon by Colin Kapp
Del Ray Books, 1977
Price I paid: $1
A man—or a civilization—can live with good luck and bad…it somehow evens out in the long run. But when the laws of chance are suspended and the breaks are all bad, that’s the time to find out what’s going on—and to stop it—before it’s too late!
ChaosCenter sent Space Marshal Jym Wildheit—teamed with a half-grown but lethal woman, Sensitive, and an invisible god perched on his shoulder—on a seek-and-destroy mission aimed at the strange device that was distorting probability and threatening the entire galaxy.
But the Chaos Weapon was nowhere in the Universe—at least not in this Universe. And that was only one of Wildheit’s problems…
Copernick’s Rebellion by Leo A. Frankowski
Del Rey Books, 1987
Price I paid: 90¢
Heinrich Copernick and Martin Guibedo came to the States as penniless refugees after World War II. By 1999 they had made huge fortunes in the field of medical instrumentation. But Heiny and his Uncle Martin weren’t just filthy rich, they were also the world’s best gene engineers. And their latest inventions could free Humanity from want and oppressive governments forever. At least, that was the plan.
Imagine:
Free homes with all the furnishings and utilities!
Free food! Even free babysitters!
Heiny and Uncle Martin even thought they should give their inventions away. Free.That’s when their troubles began.
Jandrax by Syd Logsdon
Del Rey Books, 1979
Price I paid: 25¢
JAN ANDRAX
As a child he’d learned the ways of death in the worst holy war known to man…
JAN ANDRAX
As a scout he’d tamed four planets—and more women than most men ever see…
JAN ANDRAX
As a colonist, he’d have to tame a world, then fight the people he’d tamed it for. He was the colony’s best hope for survival—but somebody wanted him dead!
Merlin’s Godson by H. Warner Munn
Del Rey Books, 1976
Price I paid: 50¢
Originally published as The Ship from Atlantis, 1967
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.
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.
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.
(mostly) short reviews of (mostly) short fiction
Classic detective fiction and impossible crimes
Be not ashamed, my brothers, to stand before the proud and the powerful. Tagore
The many tongues of translated speculative fiction
Adventures in Fiction
Superheroes - Autism - Fantasy - Science Fiction
Kevin O'Leary Reviews Every Issue of Uncanny X-Men from the 1960s to the Present
Movies, thoughts, thoughts about movies.
Defending the planet from bad science fiction
Reviews of Vintage Science Fiction (1945-1985)
Joseph Nebus's work in progress.
Schlock Value 