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THE MAN WHO SAVED THE UNIVERSE [THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY MAYHEM #1]
To Save the Universe Johnny Mayhem Risked His Life - Over and Over and Over. He could travel anywhere mentally and enter the body of anyone on any planet. But if he stayed longer than thirty days, Mayhem died. An encounter with aliens had given him an extrahuman power. But it had also put him beyond the pale of love and friendship forever. For the first time ever in book form, her are the never reprinted adventures of one of the most popular and notable pulp science fiction series heros of the mid-1950s. Mayhem is literally "the man who saved the universe" – and the price he pays for it is a terrible one. But that is the story of the man who became Johnny Mayhem, and his origin is told in the first story of this series, "My Name is Mayhem." Contains the first three Mayhem novelettes. Cover: Valigursky for the Johnny Mayhem story, "The Burning Man."
- GenresScience Fiction
94 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 6, 2010
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22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 3, 2019
A fun pulp Sci-Fi story expertly performed.
March 9, 2016
A local radio movie reviewer used to say how much is the entertainment worth? Did you pay full price, or go to the matinee because it might affect your thoughts about the material.
This is one of four free Kindle books (on my tablet only I wouldn't let that software near my computer) that I recently picked up. The Johnny Mayhem adventures are definitely old school science fiction, and some of the science is dated, but for the most part I have to give Thames credit for making his character solve problems with his brain and creativity.
Johnny Mayhem, the Mayhem became part of his name after he went to work for the Galactic League, because some sort of mayhem usually follows him on his assignments as he is the League's most unique operative. The first short story gives Mayhem's background, but essentially his essence can maintain a body for only one month before he has to move onto a new body. This does put him on a deadline, something that figures more into the book's third short story when he has to escape from a prison that is considered foolproof when it comes to escapes.
There is not much character development, but I'm, assuming these stories probably ran in Amazing Stories, or a like magazine. And, the short story format does not allow for much in the way of character development.
Definitely worth it for free, but I'm not sure I would have paid for this book.
This is one of four free Kindle books (on my tablet only I wouldn't let that software near my computer) that I recently picked up. The Johnny Mayhem adventures are definitely old school science fiction, and some of the science is dated, but for the most part I have to give Thames credit for making his character solve problems with his brain and creativity.
Johnny Mayhem, the Mayhem became part of his name after he went to work for the Galactic League, because some sort of mayhem usually follows him on his assignments as he is the League's most unique operative. The first short story gives Mayhem's background, but essentially his essence can maintain a body for only one month before he has to move onto a new body. This does put him on a deadline, something that figures more into the book's third short story when he has to escape from a prison that is considered foolproof when it comes to escapes.
There is not much character development, but I'm, assuming these stories probably ran in Amazing Stories, or a like magazine. And, the short story format does not allow for much in the way of character development.
Definitely worth it for free, but I'm not sure I would have paid for this book.
August 16, 2020
Space opera gets extra points always. Think this must’ve been a young adults book but I didn’t know that going in. I’m not a fan of most of those so that’s my fault. It read like a cartoon show to me. Didn’t really enjoy it but my younger self may have.
May 9, 2017
If your looking for an epic space opera this is not it, but if you enjoy classic pulp sci if this is it. I love classic sci fi, this was a fun escape, I will be reading the other JM books.
June 17, 2024
An excellent collection of short stories following a man that lives without single body, but inhabitants one when he is needed. I loved the prison story.
August 10, 2023
Classic Pulp Fiction
Performance: ***
My Name is Mayhem: * (78m)
They Sent a Boy: *** (56m)
The Burning Man: *** (53m)
Here we get the first three (3) short stories from the Johnny Mayhem pulp sci-fi sage originally published in Amazing Stories in the mid 1950s. As might be expected, the science has not aged well and the short story format doesn’t allow for much world building and/or character development … so the focus of the first story is basically our introduction to who is Johnny Mayhem … and after listening, I find it almost impossible to see how such an inept operative ever became a “legend.” Sure … there is the obvious mystery of a body hopping assassin (a la quantum leap) working to bring law and order to galactic chaos, all while fighting against a mysterious mind controlling alien (and yes … I see the oxymoronic plot here and yes, I understand this is pulp fiction, so it is supposed to be ridiculous). As a fan of old radio theatre broadcasts … there was so much nostalgia potential here that I jumped at the opportunity to preview the audible ...
I was disappointed. While the narration was decent/okay, it was not anywhere close to the quality of the old-timey radio shows; which quite frankly is the primary reason to listen to them. Missing that, the problems with the stories themselves were often difficult to overlook. After the first story … this was almost a DNF. Fortunately the new story was much better and more inline with what I was expecting when Mayhem jumps into the body of a young boy (complicating his assignment). The final short takes Mayhem into a prison on Mercury and was also fun and taken with the second, saved this book.
I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#TheManWhoSavedTheUniverse #TheAdventuresOfJohnnyMayhem #AudibleGiveawaysGoodRdsGrp
Performance: ***
My Name is Mayhem: * (78m)
They Sent a Boy: *** (56m)
The Burning Man: *** (53m)
Here we get the first three (3) short stories from the Johnny Mayhem pulp sci-fi sage originally published in Amazing Stories in the mid 1950s. As might be expected, the science has not aged well and the short story format doesn’t allow for much world building and/or character development … so the focus of the first story is basically our introduction to who is Johnny Mayhem … and after listening, I find it almost impossible to see how such an inept operative ever became a “legend.” Sure … there is the obvious mystery of a body hopping assassin (a la quantum leap) working to bring law and order to galactic chaos, all while fighting against a mysterious mind controlling alien (and yes … I see the oxymoronic plot here and yes, I understand this is pulp fiction, so it is supposed to be ridiculous). As a fan of old radio theatre broadcasts … there was so much nostalgia potential here that I jumped at the opportunity to preview the audible ...
I was disappointed. While the narration was decent/okay, it was not anywhere close to the quality of the old-timey radio shows; which quite frankly is the primary reason to listen to them. Missing that, the problems with the stories themselves were often difficult to overlook. After the first story … this was almost a DNF. Fortunately the new story was much better and more inline with what I was expecting when Mayhem jumps into the body of a young boy (complicating his assignment). The final short takes Mayhem into a prison on Mercury and was also fun and taken with the second, saved this book.
I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#TheManWhoSavedTheUniverse #TheAdventuresOfJohnnyMayhem #AudibleGiveawaysGoodRdsGrp
May 16, 2016
Spoiler (not really): The Man Who Saved The Universe Saves The Universe By Assassinating People Who Disagree With The Government.
That's a little tongue-in-cheek, but Johnny Mayhem, the transient spirit, forced to wander from body to body at the beck and call of the Galactic Government, on the premise that "of course one government for everyone is the only possible chance for peace and prosperity". I suppose we don't have to speculate where this notion of one-size-fits-all government is an absolute and unquestioned (literally) universal good, but it certainly might color one's opinion of the first story in this collection. (This isn't really a novel—it's a collection of three Johnny Mayhem stories.)
As it turns out, though, the villain is truly subversive, so it's not just a straight-up "we're assassinating your leader because we don't like him" thing. The next story has Mayhem in the body of a pre-teen boy, which forces him to rethink his usual tactics. The last one has Mayhem unravelling the mystery of a prison planet (Mercury).
Competently written, and sort of a proto-Quantum Leap (although the body jumping thing had been done previously), these are worth the hour or so it takes to read.
That's a little tongue-in-cheek, but Johnny Mayhem, the transient spirit, forced to wander from body to body at the beck and call of the Galactic Government, on the premise that "of course one government for everyone is the only possible chance for peace and prosperity". I suppose we don't have to speculate where this notion of one-size-fits-all government is an absolute and unquestioned (literally) universal good, but it certainly might color one's opinion of the first story in this collection. (This isn't really a novel—it's a collection of three Johnny Mayhem stories.)
As it turns out, though, the villain is truly subversive, so it's not just a straight-up "we're assassinating your leader because we don't like him" thing. The next story has Mayhem in the body of a pre-teen boy, which forces him to rethink his usual tactics. The last one has Mayhem unravelling the mystery of a prison planet (Mercury).
Competently written, and sort of a proto-Quantum Leap (although the body jumping thing had been done previously), these are worth the hour or so it takes to read.
February 15, 2018
It's hard to credit that this was written in the 1950s. It has none of the racism or sexism that crept in to some titles dating from that period and all of the originality and brilliance of that era. It's as fresh and fun to read as many sci-fi tales of the present.
Well written, with strong characters and some interesting plots.
Well worth a read.
Well written, with strong characters and some interesting plots.
Well worth a read.
February 2, 2014
This is a collection of stories, sort of pulp sci-fi genre. I enjoyed reading them. It's short, so you never get very deep into any one story or the people in it, but it's fun reading.
December 13, 2015
Great idea and a fun read
April 14, 2017
These stories about Johnny Mayhem were written in the 50's and they have not aged one day. They are some of the best classic pulp sci-fi I have read. There is an embedded quality in the writing style of the pulp era, where the writer wanted (and needed) to grab the reader's attention quickly because of the short story format of the pulp magazine. The best ones use oodles of imagination, great action, perfect pacing and effective world-building. The adventures of Johnny Mayhem are head and shoulder above what I read so far in classic pulp sci-fi. Intelligent and well written, the stories are fast paced, full of action, but often Johnny Mayhem needs to use its wit and ingenuity to resolve the situation. I was really surprised by the quality and fun factor of these stories and I cannot wait to read some more.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews