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The Nemesis from Terra/Battle for the Stars
Includes two works of science fiction, one relating the story or Rick, prophesized conquerer of Mars, the other a tale of an alien invasion of earth
248 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1989
2 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Leigh Brackett
402 books244 followersLeigh Brackett was born on December 7, 1915 in Los Angeles, and raised near Santa Monica. Having spent her youth as an athletic tom-boy - playing volleyball and reading stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs and H Rider Haggard - she began writing fantastic adventures of her own. Several of these early efforts were read by Henry Kuttner, who critiqued her stories and introduced her to the SF personalities then living in California, including Robert Heinlein, Julius Schwartz, Jack Williamson, Edmond Hamilton - and another aspiring writer, Ray Bradbury.
In 1944, based on the hard-boiled dialogue in her first novel, No Good From a Corpse, producer/director Howard Hawks hired Brackett to collaborate with William Faulkner on the screenplay of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep.
Brackett maintained an on-again/off-again relationship with Hollywood for the remainder of her life. Between writing screenplays for such films as Rio Bravo, El Dorado, Hatari!, and The Long Goodbye, she produced novels such as the classic The Long Tomorrow (1955) and the Spur Award-winning Western, Follow the Free Wind (1963).
Brackett married Edmond Hamilton on New Year's Eve in 1946, and the couple maintained homes in the high-desert of California and the rural farmland of Kinsman, Ohio.
Just weeks before her death on March 17, 1978, she turned in the first draft screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back and the film was posthumously dedicated to her.
In 1944, based on the hard-boiled dialogue in her first novel, No Good From a Corpse, producer/director Howard Hawks hired Brackett to collaborate with William Faulkner on the screenplay of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep.
Brackett maintained an on-again/off-again relationship with Hollywood for the remainder of her life. Between writing screenplays for such films as Rio Bravo, El Dorado, Hatari!, and The Long Goodbye, she produced novels such as the classic The Long Tomorrow (1955) and the Spur Award-winning Western, Follow the Free Wind (1963).
Brackett married Edmond Hamilton on New Year's Eve in 1946, and the couple maintained homes in the high-desert of California and the rural farmland of Kinsman, Ohio.
Just weeks before her death on March 17, 1978, she turned in the first draft screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back and the film was posthumously dedicated to her.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 26, 2019
This is Tor Double #8, of a series of 36 double books published from 1988 to 1991 by Tor Books. It contains two novellas, bound together tête-bêche in mass market paperback – back-to-back, inverted, with two front covers and both titles on the spine. The novellas are listed here alphabetically by author; neither should be considered “primary.”
The Nemesis from Terra, by Leigh Brackett (1944)
This novella was originally published in the fall 1944 issue of Startling Stories as "Shadow Over Mars." In 1951, it was published as a stand-alone paperback. It was then retitled as "The Nemesis from Terra" in 1961 in Ace Double F-123 together with Collision Course by Robert Silverberg. Leigh Brackett (1915-1978) was one of the earliest of women science fiction writers, nicknamed the Queen of Space Opera, and was married to fellow SF writer Edmond Hamilton. Shadow Over Mars was one of Brackett's first novels, and I think it was included in the Tor Double series under the newer title to pay homage to both Leigh Brackett and to the Ace Doubles series. The story was set on a populated Mars, showing some influences of Edgar Rice Burroughs. In it a conflict develops between the native Martians and the occupying humans. Protagonist human Rick Urquhart meets and falls in love with Martian-rights activist Mayo McCall who is kidnapped. It is very typical of the pulp era, and of interest today primarily from a historical perspective.
Battle for the Stars, by Edmond Hamilton (1956)
This novella was originally published in the June 1956 issue of Imagination Science Fiction. In 1961, it was published as a stand-alone hardcover book. Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977) was a prolific mid-twentieth century science fiction writer, best known for his Captain Future series, and was married to fellow SF writer Leigh Brackett. Both wrote during the original space opera era of science fiction. I think Battle for the Stars was included in the Tor Double series to pay homage to Edmund Hamilton's extensive contributions to the genre. In it, the galaxy is divided between rival sectors of the human United Worlds, and the Starsong is a warship of the Lyra Sector being pursued by a warship of the Orion Sector. Hot conflict is inevitable in the cold war between sectors, and is patterned after naval battles. It is very typical of the pulp era, and of interest today primarily from a historical perspective.
The Nemesis from Terra, by Leigh Brackett (1944)
This novella was originally published in the fall 1944 issue of Startling Stories as "Shadow Over Mars." In 1951, it was published as a stand-alone paperback. It was then retitled as "The Nemesis from Terra" in 1961 in Ace Double F-123 together with Collision Course by Robert Silverberg. Leigh Brackett (1915-1978) was one of the earliest of women science fiction writers, nicknamed the Queen of Space Opera, and was married to fellow SF writer Edmond Hamilton. Shadow Over Mars was one of Brackett's first novels, and I think it was included in the Tor Double series under the newer title to pay homage to both Leigh Brackett and to the Ace Doubles series. The story was set on a populated Mars, showing some influences of Edgar Rice Burroughs. In it a conflict develops between the native Martians and the occupying humans. Protagonist human Rick Urquhart meets and falls in love with Martian-rights activist Mayo McCall who is kidnapped. It is very typical of the pulp era, and of interest today primarily from a historical perspective.
Battle for the Stars, by Edmond Hamilton (1956)
This novella was originally published in the June 1956 issue of Imagination Science Fiction. In 1961, it was published as a stand-alone hardcover book. Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977) was a prolific mid-twentieth century science fiction writer, best known for his Captain Future series, and was married to fellow SF writer Leigh Brackett. Both wrote during the original space opera era of science fiction. I think Battle for the Stars was included in the Tor Double series to pay homage to Edmund Hamilton's extensive contributions to the genre. In it, the galaxy is divided between rival sectors of the human United Worlds, and the Starsong is a warship of the Lyra Sector being pursued by a warship of the Orion Sector. Hot conflict is inevitable in the cold war between sectors, and is patterned after naval battles. It is very typical of the pulp era, and of interest today primarily from a historical perspective.
February 25, 2024
In-depth video review available here: https://youtu.be/OxG_nCfRSQI?si=HMO7r...
The Nemesis from Terra by Leigh Brackett
Originally titled Shadow Over Mars and published in the Fall 1944 Startling Stories.
Bracket’s first “novel” length work, it is really a novella.
Won the Retro Hugo for best novel.
Typical Brackett prose - very visual and colorful.
The characterization is sort of simple, with the character motivations kind of hard to believe. The world also needs more explanation. It seems like things are thrown into the story just because it would be cool.
It is a pretty standard sf space opera adventure, nothing really special about it. While it is enjoyable, it’s hard to see why this received the retro Hugo award.
For the modern reader, it is dated and women, while given prominent roles, too easily fall for the hero, but he is not much of a character.
Battle for the Stars by Edmond Hamilton
I thought I was going to like the Brackett novel better than the Hamilton. I was wrong Battle for the Stars has much better characterization and a stronger story than The Nemesis from Terra. Battle for the Stars is a much stronger novel. Certain things date this story, such as the asteroid belt in our solar system being so closely packed with rocks that spacecraft have a difficult time going through that area. We do have an asteroid belt, but we sent a number of spacecraft through it already without incident. But if you treat older space opera like this as space fantasy it no longer matters. Just lighten up and enjoy the adventure. And is is filled with adventure. Space battles, ground battles and political intrigues make it move fast and be enjoyable.
So this novel is definitely superior to the 1945 Retro Hugo winning novel by Brackett, but modern readers still need to keep in mind that this was published almost sixty years ago. So I am left with the question, just why DID The Nemesis from Terra win that Hugo? My next step is to read more of the competition from 1944.
-Gregory Kerkman
The Nemesis from Terra by Leigh Brackett
Originally titled Shadow Over Mars and published in the Fall 1944 Startling Stories.
Bracket’s first “novel” length work, it is really a novella.
Won the Retro Hugo for best novel.
Typical Brackett prose - very visual and colorful.
The characterization is sort of simple, with the character motivations kind of hard to believe. The world also needs more explanation. It seems like things are thrown into the story just because it would be cool.
It is a pretty standard sf space opera adventure, nothing really special about it. While it is enjoyable, it’s hard to see why this received the retro Hugo award.
For the modern reader, it is dated and women, while given prominent roles, too easily fall for the hero, but he is not much of a character.
Battle for the Stars by Edmond Hamilton
I thought I was going to like the Brackett novel better than the Hamilton. I was wrong Battle for the Stars has much better characterization and a stronger story than The Nemesis from Terra. Battle for the Stars is a much stronger novel. Certain things date this story, such as the asteroid belt in our solar system being so closely packed with rocks that spacecraft have a difficult time going through that area. We do have an asteroid belt, but we sent a number of spacecraft through it already without incident. But if you treat older space opera like this as space fantasy it no longer matters. Just lighten up and enjoy the adventure. And is is filled with adventure. Space battles, ground battles and political intrigues make it move fast and be enjoyable.
So this novel is definitely superior to the 1945 Retro Hugo winning novel by Brackett, but modern readers still need to keep in mind that this was published almost sixty years ago. So I am left with the question, just why DID The Nemesis from Terra win that Hugo? My next step is to read more of the competition from 1944.
-Gregory Kerkman
Read
August 23, 2008Nemesis from Terra/Battle for the Stars (Tor Doubles, No 8) by Leigh Brackett (1989)
Want to read
February 19, 2017Leigh Brackett / Edmond Hamilton
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews