Well, everyone likes to blame something or someone for what seems like bad luck leading to a nasty pickle of a situation. Why not blame the catlike alien race that plays chess (badly), table tennis, and laughs at human jokes. After the humans leave their planet they find grave misfortune as their ship winds up in a really, really wrong spot. Are the aliens culpable? Could be.....or not.
Get deeply into early pulp Science Fiction with the Mavin and arguably the creator of the genre.
This story, along with "The Black Flame" has it all, pulpwise. It even contains many surprising predictions that were incredibly prescient for the 1930s.
5 circles checked for the story as pulp entertainment, rating it only against it's own companion literature.
Very short, to the point, well crafted good pulp. While there are no plot surprises, I got an immediate connection to the story because of quality of the authors descriptions.
A tough Welch lunar prospector suffers a meteor strike to his tractor, putting his life in jepoardy since he is way out in the lunar boonies. He sure isn't going to give up though, and his scramble for survival uncovers a useful and lucrative lunar secret. Ok read, not great. Correctly guess what lunar colonists need most on the moon and you can skip the story.
Pilgrim's Progress meets California corporate and geeks out in a video game. This story is creative, fun and not the least bit annoying. Not recommended for those who have pedestrian tastes, though, since the world of real (read non-allegorical) characters and a firm plot are parsecs away from this author's canvas.
A killer bankrobber's trusty Packard dies on the highway. (It's not the only Packard that died- my dad had one, so I can sympathize). But bummer; he is being pursued by the law. He waits for another car to stop, and when it does, he shoots the driver. The dead body convulses and a strange living black rod emerges from it. He shoots the creature, jumps in the car and takes off toward safety. Doesn't get far. There are things hiding in the back and they are aggravated and needy....
Professor Carbonic is futzing around with chemical mixtures in an effort to find a blend that will restore life. His trusted 290 lb assistant, Mag-Nesia brings him a dead rat. He bores a hole into the rats head and injects his concoction; viola! the rat comes alive. Take it from there... a good laugh after a 5 minute read. Hee-hee.
The Empress of Mars is a rich prize. She is derelict, and her crew has disappeared.
A hardbitten spacer and his female partner along with her cat try for the salvage. Good thing she is color blind and so's the cat (named Bat), because they alone can see the nasty aliens who disposed of the crew of the Empress and are now lurking and ready to attack. So the cat sees them and spazzes, and she sees and shoots them. That's all there is to that. Good thing they didn't bring an eagle along.
OMG! Tom Corbett Space Cadet is back. I'll date myself by saying that I watched the original series on TV in the early 1950s. My favorite was Jan Merlin who played Roger Manning. Like the last reviewer, I read these books and along with "Rip Foster Rides the Grey Planet," they started me on Science Fiction as a young teen. It's fun to re-live the experience now, and good to see other kids can have access to this now naive, but timeless adventure of young friends facing challenges, finding their places in life, and exploring new worlds.
Cameron and his fiance are waiting for him to finish his studies in sociology to get married. A great opportunity comes up; He can travel to the Marcovian Nucleus to study their strange evolution from a Piratical dangerous society to a passive one which now gets along with everyone. The transition is puzzling and the Markovians don't like to talk about it. Finding out whats going on should insure his future in academic circles.
So he marries his fiance and takes off for the Nucleus to find the Markovians are still not talking, and have re-written their history to delete their piratical past.
What is going on? Finding out how a transition of this type has taken place may be groundbreaking to the study of societal evolution.
To find out he links up with a strange servant cult called the "ID" who have joined Markovian society.
Just what does it take to tame a wolf. Time? Attention to the cubs?
Love? Patience? Find out in this interesting story.
Recent comments: User reviews
This story, along with "The Black Flame" has it all, pulpwise. It even contains many surprising predictions that were incredibly prescient for the 1930s.
5 circles checked for the story as pulp entertainment, rating it only against it's own companion literature.
Barely worth a quick read. Barely.
A hardbitten spacer and his female partner along with her cat try for the salvage. Good thing she is color blind and so's the cat (named Bat), because they alone can see the nasty aliens who disposed of the crew of the Empress and are now lurking and ready to attack. So the cat sees them and spazzes, and she sees and shoots them. That's all there is to that. Good thing they didn't bring an eagle along.
So he marries his fiance and takes off for the Nucleus to find the Markovians are still not talking, and have re-written their history to delete their piratical past.
What is going on? Finding out how a transition of this type has taken place may be groundbreaking to the study of societal evolution.
To find out he links up with a strange servant cult called the "ID" who have joined Markovian society.
Just what does it take to tame a wolf. Time? Attention to the cubs?
Love? Patience? Find out in this interesting story.