Category Archives: C. L. Moore

Retro Hugos: “The Children’s Hour” by Lawrence O’Donnell (Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore)

OK, I’m gonna do it. With the exception of some of the novels, I’ll be looking at the nominees for the 1945 Retro Hugos, which are awarded for stories published in 1944. I’m going to start with the novelettes. I read “The Children’s Hour” earlier this week as a possibility Henry Kuttner birthday post before the Retro Hugo shortlist was announced. Might as well tackle it while it’s fresh on my mind.

“The Children’s Hour” was originally published in the March 1944 issue of Astounding. (I’m going to get a lot of mileage out of these posts since many of them will double as Astounding 90th Anniversary posts.)

Before we go any further, I want to address something, and that’s where to find these stories so you can read them. As a general rule, I don’t do review posts of things that aren’t readily available, although I do make exceptions to that rule from time to time. For the Hugos, the voting members of Worldcon get copies of the short fiction to read, and the last time I had a membership, that was true for the Retro Hugos as well.

I don’t have a copy of this year’s Retro nominees that was provided to the Wolrdcon membership. The one year I was a voting member, pretty much everything from the year under question was provided so members could read the stories and nominate for t he short list. If anyone wants to send me a copy, I won’t snitch. Promise.

The only short fiction I don’t have a copy of is “Intruders From the Stars” by Ross Rocklynne, and I was able to order a reprint of that one. I have no illusions that everyone who takes the time to read these posts will have access to all of the stories. The only reason I have copies of some of them is because I bought several complete runs of pulps on CD last year for myself for Father’s Day.

“The Children’s Hour” is one of the tales that will be hard to come by. According to the ISFDB, it has only been reprinted in English four times: twice in 1959, once in 1983, and once in 2010.If you want to read my review, it will be below the “Continue Reading ” link. I will try to avoid as many spoilers as possible in all of these reviews. Continue reading →

Thoughts on the Retro Hugos and a Question

11 Replies

The nominees for the Retro Hugos were announced yesterday. If you aren’t familiar with them, they are given for the best science fiction or fantasy for the previous year, only for a year 75 years prior. In this case, it’s the 1945 Retro Hugos for the works from 1944. Here are the fiction nominees. I’m not going to worry about editors, artists, fanzines, or any of the other categories. I’ll have a few things to say below the list, as well as a question for you. Continue reading →

Wearing The Mask of Circe

3 Replies

The Mask of Circe
Henry Kuttner
ebook $7.99
Originally published in Startling Stories, May 1948

Henry Kuttner (1915-1958) was one of the most prolific authors of the fantastic in the 1940’s. Or rather I should say he was half of one of the most prolific writing duos, the other half being his wife, C. L. Moore. Kuttner was born on this date, April 7.

(As an aside, I asked on Twitter if anyone had any suggestions as to what I should read for today, and the only response I got was “C. L. Moore”. And while pretty much everything they wrote after their marriage was a collaboration, for this birthday post, I’m focusing on things published under Kuttner’s byline. I will be doing a post of Moore’s Judgment Night in the near future.)

Today we’re going to look at an example of Kuttner’s science fantasy. The Mask of Circe was published in what was supposed to be a science fiction magazine, so there is some hand waving to keep it from being pure fantasy. Continue reading →

Blogging Northwest Smith: “Lost Paradise”

4 Replies

One of my favorite writers, C. L. Moore (1911-1987) was born on this date, January 24.

Moore needs no introduction to readers of this blog. She was not only one of the best female writers of science fiction and fantasy of the pulp era, she was one of the best of either sex of any era.

Today’s post continues my series of looking at the Northwest Smith stories in order. For those of you who may be new around these here parts, Northwest Smith is widely regarded to be the inspiration for Han Solo. Only ol’ Han never had adventures like these. There will be spoilers. Continue reading →

Black Friday, Adventures Fantastic Style: Ladies Edition

2 Replies

If you saw my post last year, I observed Black Friday by looking at a number stories by Robert E. Howard that contained the word “black” in the title.

If you are unaware of what Black Friday is, ~~I envy you~~ here’s the scoop. Because our consumer driven economy is totally whacked, we have to make our year’s profit in about a month. (I’m a hardcore free-market capitalist, but give me a break.) So anyone not living in a cave or under a rock (Is there room under there for me?) will find themselves bombarded with advertising, sales, and spam. Pohl and Kornbluth’s The Space Merchants nailed it.

In order to provide relief from the insanity last year, I looked at Howard. This year, in the interest of gender equity, it’s the ladies’ turn. Last year I had enough time to read all the stories I listed. This year I was a little pressed for time, so I’m providing links to previous reviews. Continue reading →

Blogging Northwest Smith: Yvala

8 Replies

Catherine Lucille Moore was born on January 24, 1911, in Indianapolis, Indiana. I’ve written multiple birthday tributes to her. As I said for Robert E. Howard’s birthday two days, ago, I’m eulogized out. So today in honor of her birthday, I’ll be revising a series I let go dormant, that of the Northwest Smith stories. There will be spoilers below the fold. Continue reading →

Of Editorial Greatness

12 Replies

Earlier today I was reading a post on a site I don’t normally read these days (I was lured by the temptation of a free ebook). The post made the argument that John Campbell was the greatest editor the science fiction and fantasy fields have seen.

That got me to thinking, which usually gets me in trouble. I began wondering who would be the greatest editor, greater being defined as having the most impact over time. The original post didn’t include fantasy other than a passing reference to Unknown. So I thought I’d throw the question open to anyone who wanted to voice an opinion. Below is a list I compiled off the top of my head. I didn’t include any living editors. If I had, Ellen Datlow would be on it. My rationale is that the impact of living editors on the can’t be accurately assessed because they are still having an influence and their greatest influences may still be to come.

So in alphabetical order are ten editors. I’ll provide a brief explanation as to why they have been included. Some will be quickly eliminated. Others, not so much. Continue reading →

Kuttner’s Death, Moore’s Silence

14 Replies

Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore

Deuce Richardson pointed out to me in an email that today is the 60th anniversary of Henry Kuttner’s death. Since I don’t think I’ll be able to finish what I had intended to review today, this is a good topic to talk about. (Thanks, Deuce.)

I’ve done a few posts on the anniversary of a person’s death before, but I prefer to acknowledge birthdays. However, a 60th anniversary is a milestone. So if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to share a few somewhat random thoughts.

Kuttner had been teaching a course on writing at USC when he died, and Moore took over. I’m not sure how long she continued teaching, if it was only to finish out the semester or if she taught beyond that semester.

She remarried in 1963. Her husband Thomas Reggie didn’t want her writing anymore. At least that’s the legend, and I’m inclined to believe it. C. L. Moore’s voice fell silent. She never wrote fiction again.

Her husband supposedly (according to Wikipedia) asked the Science Fiction Writers of America not to honor her with a Grand Master Award because by that time Catherine was suffering from Alzheimer’s by then. Her husband thought the ceremony would be too stressful and confusing.

Let that sink in for a moment. This had to have been sometime in the early to mid-1980s. Moore died in 1987.* Andre Norton was the Grand Master for 1984. There wouldn’t be another woman to receive the honor until Ursula K. LeGuin in 2003, nearly 20 years later. I don’t know why Moore couldn’t have been presented with the award and it simply be announced that she was unable to attend for unspecified health reasons. Essentially, her husband denied her recognition that was well deserved.** Continue reading →

C. L. Moore Channels Brackett and Howard

8 Replies

“There Shall Be Darkness”
Miracle in Three Dimensions
Isle Press
Trade Paper, $16.95
Original publication, Astounding, February 1942

I meant to have this review posted a few days ago, but Real Life got in the way. (I am legally prohibited from discussing the situation; its a personnel matter.) I just finished reading the story a little while ago.

It’s definitely a blend of Brackett setting and Howardian themes. James Douglas, AKA Jamie, is the commander of the Earth forces on the planet Venus. There’s some indication this may taken place in the future of the Northwest Smith series. In the first scene, Jamie comes in and asks for segir whiskey, the preferred drink of Northwest Smith. If it is the same future, it’s much later along the timeline.

You can’t blame him for wanting a drink. He’s in a bad situation. He’s just received his orders to evacuate Venus. The Empire of Earth is falling. Barbarians, the less developed races in the solar system in this instance, have conquered Mars and are in the process of invading Earth. There are overtones of ancient Rome in this setup. Jamie’s Venusian lover, Quanna, begs him to take her to Earth. He refuses, so she takes matters into her own hands.

Jamie is dealing with an outlaw chieftain, Vastari, who is the only person who can unite the squabbling Venusian tribes into a single unit. Vastari sees himself as a freedom fighter, a soldier struggling to throw off the yoke of tyranny. He’s also Quanna’s brother. Jamie thinks she’s a loyal lover. Vastari thinks she’s a loyal spy. Quanna is only loyal to herself. Continue reading →

Rereading C. L. Moore

12 Replies

Catherine Lucille (C. L.) Moore was born today (January 24) in 1911. These days she’s remembered for one of three things. Creator of Northwest Smith. Creator of Jirel of Joiry. Wife and writing partner of Henry Kuttner and coauthor of some of the greatest science fiction and fantasy classics of the 1940s.

All of which are achievements which should be acknowledged. Moore was one of the best stylists of her era and a true trailblazer. But she also wrote quite a bit of fiction that was her solo work that wasn’t Northwest Smith or Jirel but in many cases was just as good.

Much of this short fiction is collected in Judgment Night or The Best of C. L. Moore. I’m going to be dipping back into those volumes as it’s been years and in some cases decades since I read some of those stories. Outside of a small circle of pulp fans, she’s not that well known, and I aim to change that as much as I can.

But first I’m going to read some C. L. Moore that I’ve not read at all. Ten years ago a collection entitled Miracle in Three Dimensions was published. I’ll talk further about this book in future posts. The thing about the book that makes it stand out is it contains five stories that have never appeared in one of Moore’s collections (although three of them have been anthologized), one of which has never been published before its appearance in this book if the ISFDB is correct. Continue reading →