Most vanity press authors know very little about publishing; indeed, many have never had any of their work published professionally. They believe that the mere act of printing a book may gain them fame, fortune, or at least notoriety; in truth, however, few of these books and fewer of these authors have ever gathered much notice. There have been a handful of subsidy press bestsellers, to be sure, and another handful of books published by these houses have sold moderately well; most, however, die the death of anonymity, being sold or given away to the authors’ friends. Of the hundred or so vanity press science fiction and fantasy novels published, none have ever been sold for reprint to the mass market paperback publishers.
The five books under consideration here are typical of most subsidy publications. Cover art ranges from adequate to atrocious. Binding and typesetting are average to good in quality, with the usual number of typos present, and only one major error noted (the transposition of two pages of text in Spacedust One). The books are all bound in cloth, thereby restricting the potential market almost exclusively to libraries, although most libraries will not buy vanity press books as a matter of course. Prices are average for today’s market, although perhaps excessive for the smaller books.
The best of the lot is Spacedust, a collection of four short stories by a Marine Corps major. Coffman is evidently familiar with weapons, tactics, and hand-to-hand combat, and uses his knowledge to good stead. He is less proficient with dialogue and characterization. Two of the stories, “Gopa” and “Magician,” are close to professional pulp level; the remaining pair, “The Welcome” and “Winner Take All,” are amateurish gimmick stories with trick endings that the average reader will spy long in advance. The drawings by Kay Niman Fish are no more than adequate.
Prehistoric Epic! by “Marcus Cirilius” is a mixture of the author’s personal philosophy, lengthy exposition, and a thin veneer of story. Characterization is nonexistent. I found it utterly unreadable. An Affair of Survival is a political novel of the year 2025 by a former Associated Press editor. This reactionary little diatribe has America smashing each of its enemies into the ground in turn, as it defends its national interests with a cold-bloodedness that Napoleon would certainly have admired. By conquering the Arab oil states, the U.S. naturally secures a rapprochement with the Soviet Union, and peace seems secure for the first time in decades. I didn’t believe a word of it.
The Day the Sun Came Through is a short expository tale telling how men became gods through the intervention of outside alien entities. There are no characters as such, and the story is amateurish at best. The Spider-Men is straight pulp adventure: a cripple is bit on the wrist by an unusual arachnid, and finds himself shrinking down to the level of the insects—and once again whole in body, if diminutive in size. There he finds himself fighting the mutated spider-men, and must try to rescue the beautiful Aronell. This could have appeared in any of the 1930s pulp magazines.
Of the five books reviewed, none really reach professional standards, although three are at least readable. For completists only.
Diamond, Graham. Dungeons of Kuba: Adventures of the Empire Princess #2. New York: Playboy Press, 1979.
Stacy, the Empire Princess, and her lover, Fleet Commander Elias, must forego the pleasures of hearth and home when threatened by the expansionist tyrant Sigried, the Rani of Kuba. To complicate the plot further, Stacy embarks on a journey to Kuba disguised as a Satrian noblewoman, Lady Kesa. She is accompanied by her retainers, Melinda and Alryc, and her old-time companion and mentor, the wolf Cicero. After a myriad of predictable difficulties and tiresome confrontations, Siggy is contained in an emotional denouement. This silly sequel to The Haven and Lady of the Haven is, if anything, even less interesting than its predecessors. The dialogue is trite and stilted, the characters wooden and unbelievable. The whole wretched mess reads like a soap opera penned by Robert E. Howard for Raquel Welch. One can only hope that Stacy and Elias have finally come to the end of the road, and will venture forth no more.
—with Mary A. Burgess
Diamond, Graham. Lady of the Haven: Adventures of the Empire Princess. New York: Playboy Press, 1978.
Nigel, father of the Lady Anastasia, has carved out the beginnings of a civilization with the help of the forest dwellers, packs of wolves which were once the enemies of man and have now become his allies. At the beginning of this sequel to The Haven (1978), Anastasia is preparing to return home after spending some time as apprentice to the wolves under the guardianship of Nigel’s close friend, Hector. She is troubled by the thought of returning to civilization; at the same time, she is intrigued by a story told by an old White Wolf, who faintly remembers crossing the sea to this land from another.
Returning home, she confronts her father, a member of the ruling Council, with a plan for heading a colonizing expedition to this unknown land. Cicero, a renegade wolf, will travel with her to communicate with the White Wolves, should the unknown realm prove hostile.
Diamond’s book is an interesting twist on an old theme, men-raised-with-animals. But his novel is marred, not only by jarring anachronisms (Anastasia, for example, becomes “Stacy”), but more seriously by a compromise with the originality of the premise, and through shallow, stereotyped characters. It is difficult to feel much sympathy with Anastasia and her problems: we know that everything will turn out well in the end. Curiously, the wolves are much more interesting types than their human masters. But that’s often the case, isn’t it?
—with Mary A. Burgess
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Herland. New York: Pantheon Books, 1979.
This is an important addition to utopian and feminist literature collections. Gilman is best known for her novella, The Yellow Wallpaper (1892), which documents her bitter and frustrating experiences with psychoanalysis following post-partum depression. However, as Ann Lane states in her perceptive introduction: “...The Yellow Wallpaper represents a woman in torment; Herland a woman at play.” Herland is the second part of a trilogy comprising Moving the Mountain (1911), Herland (1915), and Ourland (1916), which deals with the possibility of a future utopian society ruled by women. This section is the most successful of the three, and comparable in theme to Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward, 2000-1887, although its somewhat simplistic solutions are reminiscent to William Morris’s novel, News from Nowhere (the classic reply to Bellamy’s regimented society of the future).
Three young men stumble into a “lost” kingdom of women. At first they are bemused—the place is civilized, therefore men must be in control somewhere! The trio soon learn that the land has remained sealed off from the outside world for about 2000 years. All men having been killed in battle, the race has been perpetuated through parthenogenesis, resulting only in girl offspring. The newcomers are captured, educated in the language and mores of the land, and eventually made grooms for three chosen girls. The results are disastrous: two of the men manage to adapt, but the third resorts to violent rape of his bride, who does not comprehend his “animal” desires. Violence is not condoned by the ladies, and the man is exiled: one couple returns with him to “civilization,” and one stays behind.
All of this is unbelievable, but Gilman writes with conviction and charm, managing to get her point across: the world would be a better place if left to the sensitivity of women governors. Her strongest message is the women’s perception of themselves as “people”; the brides regard their husbands primarily as “friends.” There is a strong sense of peace and lack of stress in this ideal society, which is perhaps unattainable under the best of circumstances. Gilman paints an idealized portrait which makes us wish it were all possible. Upon completion of her autobiography in 1935, and terminally ill with cancer, Gilman ended her life the way she lived it, with courage and strength of purpose.
—with Mary A. Burgess
Hubin, Allen J. The Bibliography of Crime Fiction, 1749-1975: Listing All Mystery, Detective, Suspense, Police, and Gothic Fiction in Book Form Published in the English Language. Del Mar, CA: Publishe
r’s Inc., 1979.
According to Hubin:
The intent of this bibliography is to list all adult crime fiction in book form in the English language published anywhere in the world through December 31, 1979. Thus included are: 1) novels, hardcover and paperback originals, both those first appearing in English and those published in English translations; 2) plays; and 3) short story collections (not anthologies) in which at least one story is crime fiction. Magazine and dime novel crime fiction is not included. “Crime fiction” is understood to comprise that fiction in which crime or the threat of crime is a principal plot element. Thus included are mystery, detective, police (procedural), suspense, thriller, and gothic (romantic suspense) fiction.
Hubin’s work deserves mention here on several counts. His coverage of gothic and horror fiction includes many books that fall simultaneously into fantastic literature; in addition, he lists many supernatural and SF works with mystery elements. Also, many of the authors he covers later published books in other genres, including SF and fantasy; hence, Hubin’s work provides supplemental listings of those authors’ books for collectors and readers interested in pursuing their favorites further.
And it is clear, even at this early stage, that Hubin’s book will become the standard bibliography of the field. Unlike Ordean Hagen’s Who Done It? (Bowker, 1969), Hubin’s volume is well-organized, well-researched, and clearly based on a thorough knowledge of the genre in all its aspects. The author index provides complete names of authors, where known, years of birth and death, and a list of the mystery works published under that name, in alphabetical order by title. Title, publisher, and year of publication are listed. Books by the same author under other names are listed under those pseudonyms, with appropriate and copious cross references. Alternate titles of retitled publications are also given. The title index includes title and author only. There is also a brief series index, listed by character and keyed to the author’s name. The reader must then refer back to the main entry in the author index to find the titles in the series, which are indicated by letter following the publication dates of the books. Supplements are planned for five-year intervals. For all serious collectors and researchers, and for any library worthy of the name, this is an absolutely necessary acquisition. Highly recommended.
Macaulay, David. Motel of the Mysteries. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1979.
This is simultaneously a spoof on modern civilization and the Tut-Ankh-Amen craze. In the year 4022 all of the ancient country of Usa has been buried under many feet of detritus from an ecological catastrophe that occurred way back in 1985. An amateur archeologist, Howard Carson, falls into a shaft near the perimeter of an abandoned excavation site, and is overjoyed to find what is obviously (judging from the DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging on the ancient doorknob) the entrance to a still-sealed and untouched burial chamber. Carson’s incredible discoveries, including the actual remains of two bodies, one of them on a ceremonial bed facing an altar that appears to be a means of communicating with the gods, and the other lying in a porcelain sarcophagus in a separate “Inner Chamber,” permit him to piece together the entire fabric of this extraordinary lost civilization. Macaulay provides dozens of satiric illustrations to go with his text, and the result is a marvelously entertaining exercise in social commentary. The book compares favorably with Robert Nathan’s earlier satire, The Weans (1958). Perceptively funny, and highly recommended for all.
Mahr, Kurt. Between the Galaxies. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1978. Perry Rhodan #119.
Voltz, William. Killers from Hyperspace. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1978. Perry Rhodan #120.
Darlton, Clark. Atom Fire on Mechanica. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1978. Perry Rhodan #121.
Brand, Kurt. Volunteers for Frago. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1978. Perry Rhodan #122.
Mahr, Kurt. Fortress in Time. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1978. Perry Rhodan #123.
Brand, Kurt. The Sinister Power. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1978. Perry Rhodan #124.
Voltz, William. Robots, Bombs, and Mutants. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1979. Perry Rhodan #125.
Scheer, K. H. The Guns of Everblack. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1979. Perry Rhodan #126.
Darlton, Clark. Sentinels of Solitude. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1979. Perry Rhodan #127.
Mahr, Kurt. The Beasts Below. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1979. Perry Rhodan #128.
Brand, Kurt. Blitzkrieg Galactica. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1979. Perry Rhodan #129.
Brand, Kurt. Peril Unlimited. Van Nuys, CA: Master Publications, 1979. Perry Rhodan #130.
The longest-running series in the history of science fiction, Perry Rhodan has reached some 900 weekly numbers in the German original. The first of the American translations appeared in May, 1969, with publication of the first two PR adventures together in one volume, Enterprise Stardust. From that beginning, the US series has been edited by Forrest J Ackerman, and the translations produced by Ackerman’s wife, Wendayne, together with Sig Wahrman and Stuart J. Byrne. The Ace Books series began with five two-in-one volumes, then switched to monthly publication in 1971. The new version resembled a paperback magazine, with one Perry Rhodan novel, several short stories, and other continuing features. The format changed again in March, 1977, when the features were reduced, and the books expanded to again include two Perry Rhodan adventures.
At this point Ace apparently failed to reach an agreement with the German publisher to reprint new books in the series, and decided to use up its remaining inventory. The last book in the regular series was #117/118, published in August, 1977. Four more doubles were released during the last third of the year, comprised of five novels in an offshoot series, Atlan, and several miscellaneous novels in the sequence that had originally been skipped by Ackerman because they failed to advance the overall plot line. One final volume, a special double-length feature called In the Center of the Galaxy, was published by Ace in January, 1978.
Ackerman has since claimed that Ace negotiated with Artur Moewig Verlag in bad faith, that they failed to notify the Germans that they were terminating their relationship (see Ackerman’s editorial in #127). Other industry sources, however, put the blame on Moewig, saying that they made unreasonable financial demands for continuation of the series, and generally proved obstinate and obdurate. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. In any event, the Ackermans have apparently taken over publication of the series themselves under the name Master Publications, and are releasing six volumes in one batch every three months.
Perry Rhodan is an endless serial, the ultimate space opera of science fiction. The saga is broken into cycles of 50-100 episodes, each being plotted well in advance, individual episodes being assigned to one of twelve house writers. In the first episode, Major Perry Rhodan discovers during a Lunar expedition two members of an alien race, saves them, and with their aid founds the Third Power to stand between the Eastern and Western power blocs. In the third cycle, which includes the twelve books reviewed here, mankind’s stellar empire is threatened by invasion from an extra-galactic race of invisibles. In Germany the series has reached fourteen cycles ending with episode #1000.
This is pulp science fiction, action-oriented stories with minimal characterization and awful dialogue, but relatively complex plot development. The emphasis is always on man’s expanding horizons, the wonder of science and space, and the great destiny of the human race. For relatively unsophisticated readers, and for adolescents in particular, this could be gripping stuff. The books are printed in trade paperback size (5 x 8”) on poor quality paper, stapled through the spine, with two-color covers featuring a Perry Rhodan logo. The type, which runs in two columns throughout, is small but readable. The main appeal of the series will be to those already hooked on Perry Rhodan; however, collections should note that the limited distribution of these books will undoubtedly make them scarce in years to come.
Page, Spider. Legend in Blue Steel.
New York: Python Books, 1979.
“It struck out of nowhere, a wave of mass murder that spelled wholesale slaughter. New York was panic-stricken. Beneath its reign of terror, the police were helpless. But grimly, out of the list of victims, rose a man—Blue Steel—who vowed to track the master killer to a murder showdown!”
The cover blurb says it all: this is a deliberate pastiche of pulp superhero fiction. Elsevier van Rijn is Blue Steel, a relentless crime fighter who is hated both by New York’s criminal underground and the befuddled cops he’s trying to aid. Van Rijn, a man of a thousand disguises, is assisted by his Indian butler, Tara Khan, his not-too-bright girlfriend, Brenda Morgan, and associate Dustin Ayres, as he tracks down a mastermind of crime. The scientific miracles are kept to a minimum in this potboiler, but the gosh-wow style never lets up. I was reminded of the exploits of Richard Wentworth, the Spider, from the pulp of the same name. For those who like their fiction without any redeeming values.
Resnick, Michael. The Official Price Guide to Comic & Science Fiction Books, Third Edition. Orlando, FL: House of Collectibles, 1979.
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