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Fantasy voyages: Great science fiction from the Saturday evening post
CONTENTS
Doctor Hanray's Second Chance • (1950) • by Conrad Richter
Fallout Island • (1962) • by Robert Murphy
The Green Hills of Earth • (1947) • by Robert A. Heinlein
Doomsday Deferred • (1949) • by Murray Leinster [as by Will F. Jenkins]
Test-Tube Terror • (1958) • by Robert Standish
Island of Fear • (1958) • by William Sambrot
Sinister Journey • (1953) • by Conrad Richter
The Place of the Gods • (1937) • Stephen Vincent Benét
The Phantom Setter • (1961) • by Robert Murphy
The Big Wheel • (1961) • by Fred McMorrow
The Death Dust • (1959) • by Frank Harvey
The Lost Continent • (1960) • by Geoffrey Household
The Trap • (1956) • by Kem Bennett
Space Secret • (1959) • by William Sambrot
The Unsafe Deposit Box • (1962) • by Gerald Kersh
The Second Trip to Mars (variant of Dominions Beyond)• (1954) by Ward Moore
The Voice in the Earphones • (1947) by Wilbur Schramm
Moon Crazy • (1949) by William Roy Shelton
The Little Terror • (1953) by Murray Leinster [as by Will F. Jenkins]
The Answer • (1955) by Philip Wylie
Doctor Hanray's Second Chance • (1950) • by Conrad Richter
Fallout Island • (1962) • by Robert Murphy
The Green Hills of Earth • (1947) • by Robert A. Heinlein
Doomsday Deferred • (1949) • by Murray Leinster [as by Will F. Jenkins]
Test-Tube Terror • (1958) • by Robert Standish
Island of Fear • (1958) • by William Sambrot
Sinister Journey • (1953) • by Conrad Richter
The Place of the Gods • (1937) • Stephen Vincent Benét
The Phantom Setter • (1961) • by Robert Murphy
The Big Wheel • (1961) • by Fred McMorrow
The Death Dust • (1959) • by Frank Harvey
The Lost Continent • (1960) • by Geoffrey Household
The Trap • (1956) • by Kem Bennett
Space Secret • (1959) • by William Sambrot
The Unsafe Deposit Box • (1962) • by Gerald Kersh
The Second Trip to Mars (variant of Dominions Beyond)• (1954) by Ward Moore
The Voice in the Earphones • (1947) by Wilbur Schramm
Moon Crazy • (1949) by William Roy Shelton
The Little Terror • (1953) by Murray Leinster [as by Will F. Jenkins]
The Answer • (1955) by Philip Wylie
311 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
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January 12, 2024I obtained this from inter-library loan to read one story in it, but it turned out two others contained in it were also on my "to read"list, so went ahead and read those as well.
"Doomsday Deferred" by Will F. Jenkins (aka Murray Leinster) features an entomologist tasked with finding a rare butterfly in the Amazonian rain forest. A native seems to have remarkable success at fulfilling his requests (and only asks for help in obtaining a large head of cattle as pay) but as it turns out his helpers are anything but typical. This is a solid little SF yarn with a well-handled, implicit threat which does not achieve fruition during the course of the story but which lingers on after the last line. Solid.
"The Place Of The Gods" (aka "By The Waters Of Babylon") by Stephen Vincent Benét has a young tribal priest-in-training take his shamanic vision quest to the "City Of The Dead" across the great river - where he discovers many wonders and disturbing truths about the gods. I read this in grade school - which is about when you should read it - and thus knowing the "reveal" (which is potentially much more obvious than it was when it was written ) I was able to concentrate on Benét's writing and deftness at revealing just what details he needs to. I'd forgotten the implied circularity in the ending. Good atomic-era speculative fiction.
In "The Answer" by Philip Wylie, A general and assorted scientists and military types await the results of a new atomic weapon test, only to receive a message that there has been a mysterious "casualty". Meanwhile, while Soviet Russia tests a similar weapon, they have much the same outcome. Another story that I read in grade school (fourth grade, maybe?) and I'd been trying to identify it for years (it has a singular plot that made it easy: ) and its similarity of authorial intent to the Benét story make me wonder if I might have had a teacher that was trying to pass a 50's atomic era paranoia message on to us. A solid little story full of good intentions and some fine details, with the last page holding a nice extra plot surprise.
"Doomsday Deferred" by Will F. Jenkins (aka Murray Leinster) features an entomologist tasked with finding a rare butterfly in the Amazonian rain forest. A native seems to have remarkable success at fulfilling his requests (and only asks for help in obtaining a large head of cattle as pay) but as it turns out his helpers are anything but typical. This is a solid little SF yarn with a well-handled, implicit threat which does not achieve fruition during the course of the story but which lingers on after the last line. Solid.
"The Place Of The Gods" (aka "By The Waters Of Babylon") by Stephen Vincent Benét has a young tribal priest-in-training take his shamanic vision quest to the "City Of The Dead" across the great river - where he discovers many wonders and disturbing truths about the gods. I read this in grade school - which is about when you should read it - and thus knowing the "reveal" (which is potentially much more obvious than it was when it was written ) I was able to concentrate on Benét's writing and deftness at revealing just what details he needs to. I'd forgotten the implied circularity in the ending. Good atomic-era speculative fiction.
In "The Answer" by Philip Wylie, A general and assorted scientists and military types await the results of a new atomic weapon test, only to receive a message that there has been a mysterious "casualty". Meanwhile, while Soviet Russia tests a similar weapon, they have much the same outcome. Another story that I read in grade school (fourth grade, maybe?) and I'd been trying to identify it for years (it has a singular plot that made it easy: ) and its similarity of authorial intent to the Benét story make me wonder if I might have had a teacher that was trying to pass a 50's atomic era paranoia message on to us. A solid little story full of good intentions and some fine details, with the last page holding a nice extra plot surprise.
March 8, 2023
Most of these stories were fairly bland, standard, run-of-the-mill.
A few stood out as being a bit more interesting:
"The Green Hills of Earth" by Robert Heinlein was a fun folk-singer tale set in outer space.
"The Place of the Gods" by Stephen Vincent Benet was a well-written vision of a post-apocalypse culture.
"The Death Dust" by Frank Harvey was about landing on the moon, possibly one of the most boring premises but was so well-written that I was impressed.
"The Answer" by Philip Wylie had some intriguing ideas on a very simple premise about nuclear testing involving religion/culture/politics.
All in all, nothing too amazing in this collection but a few fun stories.
A few stood out as being a bit more interesting:
"The Green Hills of Earth" by Robert Heinlein was a fun folk-singer tale set in outer space.
"The Place of the Gods" by Stephen Vincent Benet was a well-written vision of a post-apocalypse culture.
"The Death Dust" by Frank Harvey was about landing on the moon, possibly one of the most boring premises but was so well-written that I was impressed.
"The Answer" by Philip Wylie had some intriguing ideas on a very simple premise about nuclear testing involving religion/culture/politics.
All in all, nothing too amazing in this collection but a few fun stories.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews