The Solar Invasion by Manly Wade Wellman
Popular Library, 1968
Originally published in Startling Stories, 1946
Price I paid: none
It comes from beyond the fifth dimension―an alien intelligence both invulnerable and totally evil.
Its aim: bring the universe to its knees. Its primary objective: destroy the Solar System.
As doomsday rushes ever closer, one lone man dares oppose the creature from beyond. Only he can save the universe from a brutal, blazing cataclysm.
The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad
Gregg Press, 1977
Originally published by Avon Books, 1972
Price I paid: none
Renowned science fiction writer Adolf Hitler’s Hugo Award winning novel!
Ferric Jaggar mounted the platform. A swastika of flame twenty feet high stood out in glory against the night sky behind him, bathing him in heroic firelight, flashing highlights off the brightwork of his gleaming black leather uniform, setting his powerful eyes ablaze.
“I hold in my hand the Great Truncheon of Held. I dedicate myself to the repurification of all Heldon with blood and iron, and to the extension of the dominion of True Humanity over the face of the entire Earth! Never will we rest until the last mutant gene is swept from the face of the planet!”
Zelde M’Tana by F.M. Busby
Dell Books, 1980
Price I paid: 90¢
Young, untried, but a lethally trained fighter, Zelde M’Tana found herself legally shanghaied by the oppressive UET―imprisoned on a starship bound for the brothels of a mining planet. There was no way Zelde was going to stand for that―and when the ship’s first officer, Parnell, led an anti-UET revolt, Zelde joined the mutineers and single-handedly turned defeat into victory.
First as Parnell’s lover, then as his assistant, Zelde was mistrusted by the crew―but when the UET struck once again and Parnell died, there was only one choice for Captain: Zelde M’Tana.
Pungent and vivid as its heroine, ZELDE M’TANA is a gripping epic of spacefaring, battle, and human conflict.
Hook #1: Whirlpool of Stars
Pinnacle Books, 1974
Price I paid: 75¢
The century is 10,000, Earth dating. The boundaries of the world as we know it have expanded beyond belief, beyond thought. Earth still remains―but as one of many planets throughout the galaxies, where myriad life forms exist.
Life has taken a new direction, to a new future, but there are still problems to overcome―and the same struggle for survival.
And Ryder Hook is just one Earthman who is equally at home on a starship, on an alien planet, and on Earth. But he has been singled out for a purpose―to take place in a singular experiment…
This is the first novel in a spellbinding new science-adventure series about a superhuman warrior of the future. Ryder Hook travels through the cosmos as a master of all he encounters. He is a man of supreme adventure, timeless in his fearless conquering spirit! Watch for further books in the action-packed saga of Ryder Hook!
Birth of an Age by James BeauSeigneur
Warner Books, 2003
Price I paid: It’s complicated
The discovery of live, incorruptible human cells embedded in the Shroud of Turin has led to an incredible genetics experiment, even as biblical prophecy is coming to pass. Combining the visionary thrills of Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins with the scientific accuracy of Michael Crichton, James BeauSeigneur continues the powerful, epic mystery of U.N. diplomat Christopher Goodman—the clone of Jesus Christ…
His coming prophesied by more than a dozen major religions, Christopher Goodman was born into the most turbulent time in human history. Already two nuclear holocausts have shaken the planet, killing hundreds of millions.
Now, in Jerusalem, 144,000 messianic Jews develop supernatural powers and pledge their service to a man claiming to be John the Apostle. Fated to live from biblical times to Christ’s return, the apostle awaits fulfillment of the End Time visions he described in Revelation. But John and his cohort, apostate Hasidic rabbi Saul Cohen, don’t plan to merely witness the Apocalypse—they intend to cause it.
Harnessing their spiritual powers, the two menacing prophets threaten the human race with a terror just beyond the earth’s horizon. Thrown from their orbits, three asteroids are hurtling toward the planet, as John and Saul Cohen plan to subject humanity’s survivors to global destruction, demon possession, and homicidal madness.
Yet Christopher Goodman must wait and allow it to happen, for he has discovered that scattered throughout the Bible and other religious texts are clues pointing to an incredible hidden truth—a secret of devastating, universal importance that will reveal the astonishing future of Man…and the true nature of God.
It is far more than life and death that hang in the balance. It is the fulfillment of galactic destiny—humankind’s final evolutionary step that will propel man as far beyond his current state as humans are now above the insects. It is the Birth of an Age!
The Müller-Fokker Effect by John Sladek
Pocket Books, 1973
(Originally published by Hutchinson, 1970)
Price I paid: 90¢
Can a human being be reconstituted like orange juice?
To find out, the Army backs a futuristic research project that transfers a man’s personality onto computer tapes. Guinea pig for the experiment is technical writer and dreamer Bob Shairp.
But the project barely gets off the ground when a computer accident wipes out Shairp’s mortal body and only his tapes remain. Is Shairp doomed to this encoded state forever? Or can the bizarre process be reversed?
by Hal Clement
Pyramid Books, 1962
Originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, 1953
Price I paid: 75¢
The giant, disk-shaped world of Mesklin was an Earthman’s nightmare―so cold that the seas were liquid methane and the snow frozen ammonia, with crushing gravity up to 700 times that of Earth. No human being could explore Mesklin’s surface.
Yet―a desperately needed research rocket was down on Mesklin. Someone had to go after it. That someone was the strangest explorer ever to appear in science-fiction―the Mesklinite merchant seaman, Barlennan―fifteen inches long, thirty-six legs, weighing hundreds of pounds. And, as it turned out, the sharpest trader an Earthman ever met!
Garden on the Moon by Pierre Boulle
Translated by Xan Fielding
Signet, 1965
Price I paid: 90¢
Convention, morality, and genius crumble when the brilliant “lunatics” scatter across the earth to join in the desperate race to put the first man on the moon.
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.
RenSime by Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Doubleday, 1984
Price I paid: none
Laneff Farris is an anomaly—an ordinary RenSime in a family of highly skilled channel Simes and Companion Gens dedicated to uniting the two branches of mutated humanity. Unexpectedly changing over into a Sime, she kills the two who try, unprepared, to help her.
When she finally disjuncts, frees herself of the desire to get energy-of-life from Gens, she vows no other child will have to kill to survive changeover as she has.
Now, through her biochemical research, Laneff believes she has the key, though no one can duplicate her synthesis. The head of the powerful House of Zeor supports her, but she has fallen in love with his mysterious ex-gypsy companion, Shanlun.
If her research succeeds, humanity will be reunited at last. But is the world ready? Many fearful extremists say “No!” And to prove it, they entice Laneff to kill again—publicly.
Rescued by an underground leader, given a lab and a few months to live, Laneff struggles to complete her research as she becomes deeply attracted to her benefactor. Then Shanlun reappears, claiming she can survive a second disjunction and marry him. But when he discovers she’s pregnant, he tells her his method will abort her child.
Can Laneff survive to bear her child, finally come to terms with herself as a RenSime, and still help the cause of Unity?
(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
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 