Tag: Wonder Stories

A MARTIAN ODYSSEY AND OTHERS by Stanley G. Weinbaum

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[T]his time out, I\’m going to take a brief look at one of the oldest and most valuable SF books in my collection, the earliest collection of short fiction by classic 1930\’s SF author Stanley G. Weinbaum. I bought this book a long time ago from a UK used book dealer, must\’ve been thirty-five years ago or more, way back when I was just becoming an obsessive book collector for the first time. It actually came as part of Weinbaum two-book set by the same publisher, Fantasy Press, the other book being The Red Peri, another collection of Weinbaum\’s short fiction, which will also be the subject of the blog post after this one.

TITLE: A MARTIAN ODYSSEY AND OTHERS
AUTHOR: Stanley G. Weinbaum
COVER ARTIST: A. J. Donnell
CATEGORY: Short Fiction
SUB-CATEGORY: Single-Author Collection
FORMAT: Hardback (with dustjacket), US 1st Edition, 289 pages
PUBLISHER: Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, US, 1949.

Contents (12 stories):

  • \”A Martian Odyssey\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, July 1934)
  • \”Valley of Dreams\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, November 1934)
  • \”The Adaptive Ultimate\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, November 1935)
  • \”The Mad Moon\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, December 1935)
  • \”The Worlds of If\” (short story, Wonder Stories, August 1935)
  • \”The Ideal\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, September 1935)
  • \”The Point of View\” (short story, Wonder Stories, February 1936)
  • \”Pygmalion\’s Spectacles\” (short story, Wonder Stories, June 1935)
  • \”Parasite Planet\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, February 1935)
  • \”The Lotus Eaters\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, April 1935)
  • \”The Planet of Doubt\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, October 1935)
  • \”The Circle of Zero\” (short story, Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1936)

This collection is notable for containing Weinbaum\’s most famous short story, \”A Martian Odyssey\” and its sequel, \”Valley of Dreams\”. There are also a few other good ones, including \”Parasite Planet\” and its sequel \”The Lotus Eaters\”, \”The Mad Moon\”, \”The Worlds of If\” and \”The Adaptive Ultimate\”. \”The Adaptive Ultimate\” has also been (if you\’ll pardon the pun) adapted to film, television and radio a number of times over the years.

Overall, A Martian Odyssey and Others contains most of the best of Weinbaum\’s short fiction, and, combined with the eight stories in The Red Peri contains almost all of the short fiction that Weinbaum wrote, with the exception of a handful of stories.

The dustjacket is in pretty good condition, considering its age, showcasing some lovely artwork by A. J. Donnell. As an aside, the edition that I have also bears a very interesting hand-written inscription/dedication on the front inside page. The inscription goes as follows:

\”FROM SCIENTI-CLAUS 1955
FOR ALF GREGORY\’S HG WELLSIANS
IN RESPECT OF THE MEMORY
OF THE GREATEST*
OF THEM ALL.

*HGW: 1886-1946\”

It\’s an extremely sobering thought that, at the publication date of this book (1949), the Great Man (H.G. Wells) had only been dead a mere three years. 🙁

It looks like this book was bought as a Christmas gift for someone, and this dedication is a tribute to a H.G. Wells fan group active in the UK, possibly in the late-1940s and the 1950s. At least that\’s the assumption that I\’m making from this. I know that it\’s a long shot, as we\’re talking more than sixty years ago here, and this group may or may not have been anything more than a small local fan group. But does anybody out there have any information on an old UK-based SF/HG Wells fan group by the name of ALF GREGORY\’S HG WELLSIANS? If so, I\’d be very appreciative if you\’d let me know the details.

A MARTIAN ODYSSEY AND OTHERS (1949) by Stanley G. Weinbaum

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This time out, I\’m going to take a brief look at one of the oldest and most valuable SF books in my collection, the earliest collection of short fiction by classic 1930\’s SF author Stanley G. Weinbaum. I bought this book a long time ago from a UK used book dealer, must\’ve been thirty-five years ago or more, way back when I was just becoming an obsessive book collector for the first time. It actually came as part of Weinbaum two-book set by the same publisher, Fantasy Press, the other book being The Red Peri, another collection of Weinbaum\’s short fiction, which will also be the subject of the blog post after this one.

TITLE: A MARTIAN ODYSSEY AND OTHERS
AUTHOR: Stanley G. Weinbaum
COVER ARTIST: A. J. Donnell
CATEGORY: Short Fiction
SUB-CATEGORY: Single-Author Collection
FORMAT: Hardback (with dustjacket), US 1st Edition, 289 pages
PUBLISHER: Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, US, 1949.

Contents (12 stories):

  • \”A Martian Odyssey\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, July 1934)
  • \”Valley of Dreams\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, November 1934)
  • \”The Adaptive Ultimate\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, November 1935)
  • \”The Mad Moon\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, December 1935)
  • \”The Worlds of If\” (short story, Wonder Stories, August 1935)
  • \”The Ideal\” (novelette, Wonder Stories, September 1935)
  • \”The Point of View\” (short story, Wonder Stories, February 1936)
  • \”Pygmalion\’s Spectacles\” (short story, Wonder Stories, June 1935)
  • \”Parasite Planet\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, February 1935)
  • \”The Lotus Eaters\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, April 1935)
  • \”The Planet of Doubt\” (novelette, Astounding Stories, October 1935)
  • \”The Circle of Zero\” (short story, Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1936)

This collection is notable for containing Weinbaum\’s most famous short story, \”A Martian Odyssey\” and its sequel, \”Valley of Dreams\”. There are also a few other good ones, including \”Parasite Planet\” and its sequel \”The Lotus Eaters\”, \”The Mad Moon\”, \”The Worlds of If\” and \”The Adaptive Ultimate\”. \”The Adaptive Ultimate\” has also been (if you\’ll pardon the pun) adapted to film, television and radio a number of times over the years.

Overall, A Martian Odyssey and Others contains most of the best of Weinbaum\’s short fiction, and, combined with the eight stories in The Red Peri contains almost all of the short fiction that Weinbaum wrote, with the exception of a handful of stories.

The dustjacket is in pretty good condition, considering its age, showcasing some lovely artwork by A. J. Donnell. As an aside, the edition that I have also bears a very interesting hand-written inscription/dedication on the front inside page. The inscription goes as follows:

\”FROM SCIENTI-CLAUS 1955
FOR ALF GREGORY\’S HG WELLSIANS
IN RESPECT OF THE MEMORY
OF THE GREATEST*
OF THEM ALL.

*HGW: 1886-1946\”

It\’s an extremely sobering thought that, at the publication date of this book (1949), the Great Man (H.G. Wells) had only been dead a mere three years. 🙁

It looks like this book was bought as a Christmas gift for someone, and this dedication is a tribute to a H.G. Wells fan group active in the UK, possibly in the late-1940s and the 1950s. At least that\’s the assumption that I\’m making from this. I know that it\’s a long shot, as we\’re talking more than sixty years ago here, and this group may or may not have been anything more than a small local fan group. But does anybody out there have any information on an old UK-based SF/HG Wells fan group by the name of ALF GREGORY\’S HG WELLSIANS? If so, I\’d be very appreciative if you\’d let me know the details.

A SENSE OF WONDER edited by Sam Moskowitz

[A]t only 197 pages long, A SENSE OF WONDER is quite a short anthology. But it\’s also an old favourite of mine.

TITLE: A SENSE OF WONDER
EDITED BY: Sam Moskowitz
CATEGORY: Short Fiction
SUB-CATEGORY: Anthology
FORMAT: Hardback, 197 pages
PUBLISHER: Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1967. Originally published in the US in 1967 by Doubleday and Company, Inc. under the title THREE STORIES.

CONTENTS:

  • Introduction by Sam Moskowitz
  • \”Exiles on Asperus\” by John Wyndham [as by John Beynon Harris] (Wonder Stories Quarterly, Winter 1933)
  • \”The Mole Pirate\” by Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1935)
  • \”The Moon Era\” by Jack Williamson (Wonder Stories, February 1932)

The edition that I have is the 1967 UK 1st edition hardback, in excellent condition, and complete with pristine condition dustjacket. It was published back in 1967 by good old UK SF reliables, Sidgwick & Jackson. The US 1st edition had been published earlier the same year by Doubleday and Company, Inc. under the much more bland title THREE STORIES.

The anthology is edited by SF legend Sam Moskowitz, contains only three stories, all novellas, and an introduction by Moskowitz himself. Whilst there are only three (pretty long, admittedly) stories in this anthology, the introduction by Moskowitz is also a fascinating read in itself. I often find a really good introduction to a book to be just as interesting as the stories themselves. And this one, though relatively short, at only three pages, is definitely interesting.

According to Moskowitz\’s introduction, this 1967 anthology marked the first time that any of these three stories had appeared since their original publication in the SF \”pulps\”, back in the early-to-mid 1930\’s. So we have Moskowitz to thank for rescuing these three old gems from the depths of literary obscurity, although it must be pointed out that this anthology is forty-seven years old, and is in itself a forgotten gem by today\’s standards. It\’s scary to think that the publication date of the book is actually closer to the original first appearances of the stories in those ancient SF magazines than it is to the present day.

The first of the three novellas is \”Exiles on Asperus\” by John Wyndham, which was first published in the Winter 1933 edition of Wonder Stories Quarterly. It was written under his real name, John Beynon Harris. It\’s a long time since I\’ve read any Wyndham, and I don\’t recall ever reading this one before.

The second story is \”The Mole Pirate\” by Murray Leinster, which first appeared in the November 1935 edition of Astounding Science Fiction. I\’m familiar with this one only by reputation, as I\’ve never read it. I haven\’t read any Murray Leinster in a long time, but I just recently bought the two volumes of Murray Leinster Wildside Press Megapacks on Amazon, so I reckon it\’s well past time for me to reacquaint myself with the old master.

The third and final story is \”The Moon Era\” by Jack Williamson, which was first published in the February 1932 edition of Wonder Stories. I remember reading this one as a teenager (in an old paperback edition of A SENSE OF WONDER, no less), and it has always remained a favourite of mine, one of those stories that still sticks in your mind thirty-five or forty years after you first read it.

Despite being written in 1931, this is essentially an updated nineteenth century \”scientific romance\” in the style of H. G. Wells, which is no bad thing in my book. And we all know that Jack Williamson was a huge fan of Wells and the other scientific romance authors, with the Wells influences showing through very heavily in a lot of his early writing. Since I absolutely love scientific romances (that\’s how I started off reading SF in the first place, with H. G. Wells and Jules Verne), this story was already a winner from the first time I laid eyes on it.

I\’m looking forward to reading this anthology again. It\’s been many years since I read \”The Moon Era\”, and I\’m itching to re-read it. As far as I recall, back when I read A SENSE OF WONDER all those years ago, I just read \”The Moon Era\” over and over again (I was really obsessed with it as a teenager), and didn\’t even bother with the other two stories. So it\’ll also be nice to actually read \”Exiles on Asperus\” and \”The Mole Pirate\” for the first time, as I don\’t recall ever reading either of them before, despite having this anthology on my bookshelves for many years.