Category Archives: Unknown

Fishing with Frank

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Frank Belknap Long

Today, April 27, is the birthday of Frank Belknap Long (1901-1994). Long is best remembered today as a member of the Lovecraft Circle, and his best-remembered work is arguably “The Hounds of Tindalos”, one of my personal favorites.

It’s unfortunate that his Lovecraftian fiction has overshadowed his other work. Long was a pulp writer who wrote a lot of other things than just Mythos tales, including science fiction and other types of fantasy. I want to look at one of his fantasies, “Fisherman’s Luck”. It was originally published in the July 1940 issue of Unknown. It has been reprinted a number of times since. I read it in The 9th Golden Age of Weird Fiction Megapack: Frank Belknanp Long Vol. 2. 
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When the Magic is Wet

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Henry Kuttner

Today, April 7, is the birthday of one of my favorite writers, Henry Kuttner (1915-1958). For today’s post, I’ve inadvertently broken my informal rule about only reviewing works that are easily available.Today’s post is a review of “Wet Magic”. It had been a number of years since I read the story, and most of the details had faded from my memory.

I  knew I had at least three copies of it. The original issue of Unknown Worlds (February 1943), an electronic copy of that same issue, and a copy in Echoes of Valor, edited by Karl Edward Wagner. It was in the latter where I had originally read it, and that was where I reread it. Then I went to find where else the story had been reprinted.

It hasn’t been. I was a little surprised, because “Wet Magic” is an excellent story. Kuttner had a dry sense of humor, and it shows here. John W. Campbell, Jr. wanted much of the fantasy he published in Unknown Worlds to be set in the modern world and not take itself too seriously. “Wet Magic” was a perfect fit. Continue reading →

A Visit to the “Shottle Bop” with Theodore Sturgeon

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Today is February 26, which means it’s the birthday of Theodore Sturgeon (1918-1985). I read a great deal of Sturgeon in my teens and early twenties, and over the last few years, I’ve been revisiting some old favorites. “Shottle Bop” is one of those. It’s probably among the top two or three of my favorite stories by him, if not my favorite.

“Shottle Bop” was first published in the February 1942 issue of Unknown. I read it for the first time in Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories Volume 3, 1941. It’s one of Sturgeon’s most reprinted stories and is currently available electronically in Microcosmic God: Volume II of the Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon. Continue reading →

Lester del Rey, Fantasist

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Judy Lynn and Lester Del Rey at Minicon 8 (1974)

Today, June 2, is the birthday of Lester del Rey (1915-1993). He and his wife Judy-Lynn founded the Del Rey imprint at Ballantine. I never had the privilege of meeting Lester, and I wish I had.

Del Rey wrote both science fiction and fantasy (my science fiction birthday post is here), but I think fantasy was more his first love. I was at a convention years ago when I heard someone (I didn’t know the man, and I have no idea who he was at this late date) say he’d seen a list of things that would result in a successful fantasy line. The gentleman said these things would lead to a successful fantasy line, and that he disagreed with everyone one of them.  If anyone knows what this list is and where I can find it, I would appreciate your letting me know. Continue reading →

Jane Rice’s “The Idol of the Flies”

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Today’s (April 30) birthday post looks at story by someone who should not exist. Jane Rice(1913-2003) wrote fantasy and horror for the pulps, primarily Unknown.  As all right-thinking people know, women weren’t allowed to write for the pulps.  They were kept out by chauvinistic such as John W. Campbell, Jr., the editor of Astounding and, well, Unknown. Just goes to show what  some right-thinking people don’t know.

“The Idol of the Flies” is probably Jane Rice’s best known story.  I had not read it until a few minutes ago.

There’s a subgenre about evil children, Jterome Bixby’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” being a prime example. This story falls firmly into that category.

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H. L. Gold’s “Trouble With Water”

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H. L. Gold

Okay, I’m going to violate one of my unwritten rules and post two items today.  In addition to being A. E. van Vogt’s birthday, it’s also Horace L. Gold’s birthday.  Born on April 26 in 1914, Gold passed away in 1996.

Although best remembered as the editor of Galaxy during the 1950s, Gold was also a successful writer of fiction in the 1930s and 40s.  While not one to the top tier, Gold’s fiction tended to the humorous.

“Trouble With Water” is probably his best known story.  I started to post this on Futures Past and Present because Gold was a science fiction editor.  But this is a fantasy story  (even if it was reprinted in Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories 1: 1939, where I first read it). Continue reading →

Alfred Bester’s “Hell is Forever”

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“Hell is Forever”
Unknown Worlds, August 1942
Most recently reprinted in Redemolished.

Alfred Bester’s birthday was a few days ago.  I decided to reread his novella “Hell is Forever” to mark the occasion.  Or rather, reread.  I’d first read it in the collection Starlight:  The Great Short Fiction of Alfred Bester way back in 8th grade.  I didn’t like the story at the time, but since that was mumblety-mumble years ago, I thought I would give it another try.

I still didn’t care much for it.

The story opens in a bomb shelter in the basement of a manor house during the Blitz.  The six people in the basement live to experience new things, and are a pretty jaded group.  In the opening scene, they’re putting on a play one of them has written for the benefit of their hostess.  During the play, one of the characters summons up a demon, which gets loose.  The hostess, who is grossly obese and not in the best of health, dies of a heat attack.

Turns out that was the intention of the other five all along, and the demon wasn’t real.  Except he was.  Oh, not the actor done up to look like a demon, but the real one who shows up after the hostess dies.  He makes a deal with the group, pass through a shimmering wall of flame where the exit used to be and they will each enter a world in which the individual’s greatest desire will be realized.  Which sounds like a good deal.  The husband of a married couple wants to stay married, while his wife wants to kill him.  The artist is in love with a woman who often models for him, but she’s frigid and wants nothing to do with him. Continue reading →

Of Editorial Greatness

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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 →

A Look at Henry Kuttner’s “Design for Dreaming”

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In the comments of this year’s Henry Kuttner birthday post, Sara mentioned the story “Design for Dreaming”, published in the February 1942 issue of Unknown Worlds.  I thought I had read that story.  I hadn’t, as it turned out.  I was thinking about a different story.  “Design for Dreaming” has never been reprinted.

Fortunately, about 19 years or so ago, I bought a ten issue run on Unknown/Unknown Worlds in a single, library-bound volume.  One of the best investments I’ve ever made.

That issue is included in the run.  So I read “Design for Dreaming”.

It’s pretty darn good story.  Continue reading →

Three by de Camp

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So earlier this evening I was reading the comments in a thread about whether or not someone new to the fantasy and science fiction fields should read Asimov, Heinlein, and Tolkien.  More than a few of the comments said that not only should a new reader not read bigoted dead white guys, those authors should go out of print.

Personally, I found many of the comments to be bigoted, at least as much if not more than the authors the comments were directed toward.  Rather than get into a fight with idiots people I don’t know on the internet, I decided I was in the mood to read some dead white guys. And since there has been a bit of discussion about the works of L. Sprague de Camp in the comments here since yesterday’s post, I  was wanting to revisit his work.  I thought I would read some of his short stories.

Here are my thoughts on what I read: Continue reading →