This long, well-developed novella, revisiting the saga of the mysterious "Weapon Shops" organization that acts as a check-and balance on the powers of the world-dominant Isher dynasty some 7000 years in the future, was first published as the cover story of the February 1949 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories.
It has never before been republished !.
That state of affairs is perhaps due in part to its considerable length (33,000 words), and perhaps more for commercial reasons, as van Vogt (…)
Articles les plus récents
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"The Weapon Shops of Isher" (1949) - a major golden-age novella by A. E. van Vogt never before republished !
28 mai 2017, par A. E. van Vogt -
"The Weapon Shop" by A. E. van Vogt (1942)
17 mai 2017, par A. E. van VogtOne of van Vogt’s iconic stories, this theme of a mysterious "Weapon Shop" organization, subtly fighting to oppose by advanced technological, ideological and organisational means the overreaching tyranny of a populist-style family dictatorship, provided the central theme to a number of works by van Vogt during the forties and early fifties.
This series of stories and novels, all placed 7,000 years in the future and all featuring a vast network of technologically-advanced semi-underground (…) -
"Out of the Night" (1941) by Jan Valtin – an extraordinary memoir of life in the international Communist movement between the two World Wars
26 avril 2017, par Jan ValtinThis is the memoir of a militant and full-time party worker in the German Communist Party (KPD) and in the Comintern – the international organization of all the Communist parties in the world – in the twenties and thirties, this is a first-hand account of many of the dramatic events that shaped the future of Germany and the world between the two World Wars, this is an adventure story that has to be read to be believed, this is an autobiography that is so packed out with dialogues and (…)
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"The Golden Egg" (1941) by Theodore Sturgeon
22 avril 2017, par Theodore SturgeonThis quite wonderful exploration of man-woman relationships by an enormously superior being from another dimension of space-time will for sure have you chuckling and nodding in agreement throughout, and admiring the skill and talent of Theodore Sturgeon in his initial and possibly most creative period in the early forties, just before taking a break of several years before embarking on other s-f directions.
This clever, amusing, quite timeless little masterpiece was sort of hidden away (…) -
"Mitkey Rides Again" (1950) by Frederic Brown
19 avril 2017, par Frederic BrownIf you liked Frederic Brown’s superb story The Star Mouse about the rocket scientist Professor Oberburger and his precious and very precocious mouse-assistant Mitkey – and how could you not have liked/loved it ? – then you will want to catch up on the later adventures of Mitkey and his Minnie published in the November 1950 issue of the magazine Planet Stories, whose striking cover by Allen Anderson and several story illustrations by Herman Vestal are all included here.
(8,000 words)
An (…) -
"Farewell to the Master (The Day the Earth Stood Still)" by Harry Bates (1940)
13 avril 2017, par Harry BatesFirst published in the October 1940 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, this ambitious story became the basis of one of the most highly-regarded science-fiction films of its time and even all time, the quite wonderful "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951), the title under which this thoughtful, well-paced and very ambitious story has been known ever since.
(16,000 words)
We have included here the several original – and most worthwhile – 1940 Astounding illustrations by Kramer.
An (…) -
"He Who Shrank" (1936) by Henry Hasse
11 avril 2017, par Henry HasseThe greatest scientist the world has ever had has invented an extraordinary new means of exploring the world of the infinitely small, and sends his devoted assistant on a mind-boggling series of adventures exploring the infinite series of concentric universes contained within the most minute particle (!), thus providing the scope and scale of one of the most ambitious and wide-ranging and thought-provoking science-fiction stories ever.
This powerful saga was first published in the August (…) -
"The Star Mouse" (1942) by Frederick Brown
8 avril 2017, par Frederic BrownFeaturing a genial German rocket scientist – ah, if only they had all been as good-natured and likable and well-intentioned as him ! – and his charming and soon-to-be-super-intelligent mouse neighbour, with whom he has struck up a warm and talkative and very cheese-based relationship, that he sends out on the first-ever space mission in the history of mankind (we are in 1942), this inventive story about very-hard-to forget mice and men cannot fail to leave you with a smile on your lips and (…)
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"Correspondence Course" (1945) by Raymond F. Jones
7 avril 2017, par Raymond F. JonesA soldier returning from war subscribes to a correspondence course and opens up a whole new vista of exciting possibilities for himself – and for the world : what a great theme, and what a great story !
This very classy and evocative tale was first published in the April 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, the most important popular science-fiction magazine of the “golden-age” forties.
(7,300 words)
An ebook is available for downloading below. CORRESPONDENCE COURSE
Quite a (…) -
"The Twonky" (1942) by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore (Lewis Padgett)
6 avril 2017, par Henry Kuttner and C. L. MooreKerry and Martha have bought a modern radio console without realising that although it has the look and feel of a modern-forties appliance, it had just been made by a time-warped and very expert worker from another dimension according to the standards of that mysterious time-space.
Boy, are they (and we) in for a surprise !
The Twonky was first published in the September 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction under the pen-name of Lewis Padgett, which was used by the prolific (…)