Tag Archives: Leigh Brackett

“Mars Minus Bisha” and Leigh Brackett

“Mars Minus Bisha”
Originally published in Planet Stories, January 1954

Today, December 7, marks the birth of Leigh Brackett (1915-1978). As has become customary in these here parts, we observed that day by reading one of her works. This year it’s the story “Mars Minus Bisha”.

The was collected in the long out of print book The Coming of the Terrans. It’s set in the year 2016. Fraser is a doctor doing research on viruses outside a remote Martian village. He lives in a Quonset hut juts past the edge of town. He’s not exactly welcome there. Continue reading →

Black Friday, Adventures Fantastic Style: Ladies Edition

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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 →

Hey! It’s Leigh Brackett’s Birthday Again

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Leigh Brackett was born on this date, December 7, in 1915. I’m not sure what I can say about her that I haven’t said before. Today is the first day of final exams and I just sent the last of over 2000 lab grades to the lecture instructors, so I haven’t had a chance to read anything by her or come up with a good angle for a birthday tribute.

Or to put it another way, consider this post a placeholder. I’ll try to read a Brackett story I haven’t read before or reread since I was a teenager and post a review sometime in the next week or so.

Until then, lift a glass in her memory and read one of her stories. You’ll be glad you did.

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 →

C. L. Moore Channels Brackett and Howard

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“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 →

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 →

Blogging Brackett: Alpha Centauri or Die!

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Alpha Centauri or Die!
Leigh Brackett
Ace Books, 1963

I thought I had read this one, but I think I was confusing it with The Starmen of LLyrdis. I would have remembered the story if I had read it previously. The ISFDB lists this book as being a fix-up of “The Teleportress of Alph-C” and “Ark of Mars”. I’ve not read those stories, so I’ll refrain from putting my foot in my mouth by commenting.

By setting most of her work in the wilds of the solar system, particularly Mars and Venus, Brackett focused on adventure more than politics. When political considerations arose, they tended to be in tribal or feudal systems of government. That’s not the case here. A centralized government controls all aspects of the solar system. Human space travel has been outlawed. Individuals are assigned a job and a sector in which to live. It’s almost impossible to move from one sector to another, never mind from one planet to another. All transport between planets is done by computer controlled spacecraft. The entire economy is centrally controlled, and individual initiative is quashed.

This is not a system of which Brackett approves. Continue reading →

A Leigh Brackett Renaissance?

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Leigh Brackett, circa 1930

Today is Leigh Brackett’s birthday. She was born December 7, 1915 in California. I posted yesterday that I would try to get a review of her novel Alpha Centauri or Die. Obviously that didn’t happen, although I did get all my exams written. That review will go up next week after the smoke from the semester clears and all the tears have dried.

What’s that, you say? You don’t know who Leigh Brackett is? Well, Pilgrim, you’ve come to the right place. (You are a pilgrim, right, searching for pulp enlightenment?) Continue reading →

Tis the Season…

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…for final exams. They start at 7:30 AM on Friday morning. The students are moaning and groaning (as are the enrollees), and the administrators who decided that was a good time to start will probably just be sitting down to their first cup of coffee then. Me, I’ll have been up for over two hours at that point in the morning.

So why should any of you care? Leigh Brackett’s birthday is tomorrow. I’ve got a review I hope to get written of Alpha Centauri or Die. I think I can get it written tonight, but I’ve said that for the last three nights. I’ve still got exams that need to be written.

I’ll post something about her birthday tomorrow. If it’s not the review, that will follow as soon as I get all the end of semester stuff cleared away. Other than tomorrow, things will probably be pretty quiet around here for the next five to seven days. I’m planning to post more once classes are over. We’ll see.

Blogging Brackett: “Black Amazon of Mars”

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“Black Amazon of Mars” appeared in its original form in Planet Stories, March 1951. It was later expanded into the short novel The People of the Talisman (1964). This post will review just the original version. I’ll save comparison of the two for another day.

The story starts with Eric John Stark accompanying a Martian companion, Camar, home to the city of Kushat just south of the northern polar ice cap. Camar is dying and wants to return a sacred talisman he stole. The talisman was left by the legendary Ban Cruach to protect the city from a danger in a canyon to the north known as the Gates of Death.

Camar dies in the opening scene of the story, but not before Stark promises to fulfill his quest. The talisman is a jewel. Stark puts it against his temple, sees strange visions that come straight from Ban Cruach’s mind, and takes it off. He hides the talisman in his belt and sets off for Kushat. It isn’t long before he runs into trouble. Continue reading →