Tag Archives: Henry Kuttner

Wearing The Mask of Circe

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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 →

Kuttner at Longer Lengths

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Henry Kuttner was on born on this date, April 7, in 1915.  Anyone who has spent any time around this blog knows that Kuttner is one of my favorite authors.  It’s been one of those weeks where I haven’t had much time to read, so I don’t have a review of anything he wrote ready to go.  (I did manage to make it to the Jack Williamson lectureship again, so there will be a report on that within a few days.)

Much of Kuttner’s work in the middle to late 1940s was at what was considered novel length at the time, but most of these stories would be considered novellas today.  Thrilling Wonder and Startling Stories were the two most common magazines for Kuttner’s longer works.  And most of them have never been reprinted.  There are some exceptions.  I’ve read most of Kuttner’s short stories that I can get my hands on.  The longer works are next on my agenda. 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 →

Henry Kuttner at 103

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On this date, April 7, in 1915, Henry Kuttner entered the world. He left it far too soon.

Posts commemorating Kuttner’s birthday have been pretty standard around here for a number of years.  I’m not going to try to come up with something brilliant and original to say.  I’m too snowed under with the day job.  But I have been thinking about what to write, mostly while I was driving to Portales yesterday for the Jack Williamson Lectureship. (It was awesome! I’ll write about it, I promise.)

Kuttner seems to be getting some attention these days.  At least I keep coming across mentions of his name in various places.

A few years ago I started a series of posts on Kuttner’s works that haven’t been reprinted, at least not in book form.  I’m going to revise that series, which like many of my projects has gotten buried by Real Life obligations.

Later this year, namely when the semester ends in about six weeks, I’m going to try to read some of those stories and tell you about them.  Kuttner wrote what at the time were considered novels, at least in the pulps.  Today they would be considered novellas. Because of their length, most weren’t reprinted.  As we saw with “A God Named Kroo“, many were just as good, if not better, than what made it into books.

I don’t know what I’m going to start with, but it will be something most of you probably haven’t read before.  Stay tuned.

Kuttner’s Death, Moore’s Silence

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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 →

Cross Genre-ing

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I got into a conversation on Twitter this morning with PC Bushi that grew to include several other individuals. Mr. Bushi initiated things by saying Leigh Brackett’s short story “The Woamn From Altair” demonstrated her range as a writer because it was a well-written story that wasn’t an adventure story.  I agreed. (If you’re interested, my review from a couple of years ago is here.)

Early in the course of the conversation, he linked to a post he had written about Jack Vance and Andre Norton, discussing their versatility as writers.  He says some good stuff, and you should check it out.

The conversation moved onto to all the genres Brackett wrote in.  In addition to space opera and science fiction, she also wrote detective stories (which is what got her the job writing for Howard Hawks on The Big Sleep) and westerns. This discussion got me to thinking… Continue reading →

Birthday Bonus: A Collaboration Between Bloch and Kuttner

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“The Grab Bag”
Robert Bloch and Henry Kuttner
Originally appeared in Weird Tales, Spring 1991

Robert Bloch and Henry Kuttner were friends, and they collaborated on a handful of stories before Kuttner’s death.  Since the two previous posts dealt with their birthdays, I thought I would talk about one of those collaborations as sort of a birthday bonus.

I know nothing about the provenance of “The Grab Bag”.  Bloch is attributed as the first author.  I speculate on the authorship at the end of this post.  For now is a synopsis.  I’m going to avoid spoilers since this is a horror story, and I don’t want to give away the ending. Continue reading →

Breaking the Bough on Kuttner’s Birthday

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“When the Bough Breaks”
as by Lewis Padgett
originally published in Astounding Science Fiction November 1944

Henry Kuttner was born on April 7, 1915.  Anyone who has read much of this blog knows that Kuttner is probably my favorite author, at least on days ending in “y”.  After his marriage to C. L. Moore, everything he and Moore wrote was a collaboration to one degree or another.

Both authors were masters of fantasy, science fiction, and and everything in between, including horror.  Much of their best work was published in Astounding in the mid-1940s.  Almost all of these stories have been collected in at least one of Kuttner’s collections, either in his lifetime or in the years since.  There are a few that haven’t, which I’ll address at another time.  Continue reading →

An Ode to the Ballantine Best of Series and Why We Need it More Than Ever

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The original Star Wars came out when I was in elementary school, and it was a mind-warping experience.  I had come to science fiction and fantasy through comics, but it was the sense of wonder and excitement this movie generated that turned me from reading mystery books to reading science fiction books checked out from the school library.  As I read above grade level, I was soon searching out science fiction in the adult section of the public library and in book stores.  Like a second hand book store at the flea market.

This place sold second hand paperbacks for a quarter, IIRC.  The covers were stripped, which meant the books had been reported to the publishers as having been been pulped and the covers returned for credit.  In other words, they were technically stolen.  I didn’t know that then.  There were a number of titles I recognized, such as some H. P, Lovecraft.  I picked up The Best of Jack Williamson there, and later The Best of L. Sprague de Camp.

The Williamson volume started with stories from the 30s and went up to the 70s.  There was an introduction by Frederik Pohl and an afterward by Williamson.  This was the pattern of the series.  An introduction by an author or editor associated with the writer of the book, and if the author was still living (most were but not all) he or she contributed an afterward.  My mind was blown.  David Hartwell once said the golden age of science fiction is thirteen.  I was, and it was. Continue reading →

A Look at The Fairy Chessmen

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ASF_0182The Fairy Chessmen
Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore writing as Lewis Padgett
originally published in two parts in Astounding Science Fiction, Jan. 1946 and Feb. 1946

I’ve had a copy of this short novel for years but have never gotten around to reading it until recently. For some reason, I struggled a bit to get into to it. That’s not normally a problem I have with Kuttner, even when he isn’t at the top of his game. It may have had something to do with reading it on my phone. I tend to be interrrupted more when I’m reading in that format.

But I digress.  Here’s what I thought of the story. Continue reading →