This monumental work by Everett F Bleiler, the compilation of which occupied six years altogether and involved the reading of more than two thousand stories (when we consider the ones the author rejected for inclusion), many of them very difficult to get hold of before the arrival of the Internet and large-scale scanning of old books and periodicals ― and in many cases, that difficulty has not gone away ― attempts to list, categorize, and even summarize the material out of which the literature which we know as science–fiction developed.
Continue reading ““Science–Fiction : The Early Years””Tag: hear now the words
“The Flying Scarab and the Seventh Heaven”
Here we have another story by Rene Mansfield from Popular Electricity magazine. This and “The Sun Victim”, which appeared in The Popular Magazine, are mentioned by Everett Bleiler in Science Fiction : The Early Years ― his comment on this one is “horrible writing”. Possibly I will be able to get my hands on that third story at some future date.
- Archive Recording
- Retyped text (formatted for printing on letter paper)
“A Sherlock of the Skies”
This brief story combines the detective genre with aviation, as the name would imply, but also with wireless, the other wonder of the age. It is thus science fiction, of a sort at least. It appeared in Popular Electricity magazine, 1912 October, over the name of Rene Mansfield.
- Archive recording
- Retyped text, formatted for printing (letter paper)
Superb Owl Sunday 2023
In celebration of this important American religious festival, I am reading for your delectation, All Men are Brothers by Pearl S Buck. And what is that? It’s a translation of the 14th–century Chinese adventure novel The Water Margin. There are lots of Chinese names and by–names, very challenging to keep track of, along with violence, occasional cannibalism, and minor supernatural elements ― all kinds of fun! And in the 02z00 hour I’ll be calling in to aNONradio OpenVoIP, in case you want to talk with me about the story.
- Watch here on Toobnix, the community video sharing platform of the SDF Public Access Unix System (which also sponsors aNONradio)
A Journey in Other Worlds
Best–selling books written by very wealthy people are usually along the lines of “The Secrets of My Success” ― but this is a space–travel story!
A Romance of the Future
John Jacob Astor IV (1894)
- HNtW 092 (2021–08–13) : Author’s Preface, Book I Chapters I―IV
- HNtW 093 (2021–08–17) : Introduction by SM Stirling for a reprint edition (following the main content of the show, which is Chapter II of The Castle of Otranto)
- HNtW 094 (2021–09–02) Book I, Chapters V―VII
The Castle of Otranto
This is regarded as the first “Gothic novel” of terror and suspense. I had trouble restraining my laughter all through.
Horace Walpole (1764)
- HNtW 091 (2021–08–10) : Author’s Preface and Chapter I
- HNtW 093 (2021–08–17) : Chapter II (plus an introduction to A Journey in Other Worlds, written by SM Stirling)
- HNtW 096 (2021–09–10) : Chapter III ― we are now on even numbers, because of the special episode 95 for the 25th anniversary of aNONradio
For those who wish to follow along at home, the text is available on Project Gutenberg.
Pickwickians Abroad
Dier Treblig Nhoj
This book, published in 1913 (but also dated 1989, in accord with the story) to benefit the International Institute of Shanghai, was the generous gift of well-known leading SDF member smj. The author, alias John Gilbert Reid, was only 14 at the time of publication, & one supposes much of the work was written at least a year or two before that.
My plan is to present one chapter per show of this intriguing work, with something closer to our usual theme rounding out the show.
Continue reading “Pickwickians Abroad”The Warlord of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs
This further sequel to A Princess of Mars and The Gods of Mars has no preface to explain how the author came into possession of Captain Carter’s story. Rather, it picks up directly where the previous book left off.
Recordings
- HNtW 081, 2020-07-24 : Chapters 1―3
- HNtW 082, 2020-07-28 : Chapters 4―6
- HNtW 083, 2020-07-31 : Chapters 7―9
- HNtW 084, 2020-08-04 : Chapters 10―12
- HNtW 085, 2020-08-07 : Chapters 13 & 14 (did not archive, re-run 2020-08-14)
- HNtW 086, 2020-08-11 : Chapters 15 & 16 ― story finished
The Gods of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs
This is the immediate sequel to A Princess of Mars, relating the further adventures of John Carter after his death on Earth.
Recordings
- HNtW 073, 2020-06-26 : Foreword, Chapters 1 & 2
- HNtW 074, 2020-06-30 : Chapters 3―5
- HNtW 075, 2020-07-03 : Chapters 6―8
- HNtW 076, 2020-07-07 : Chapters 9―11
- HNtW 077, 2020-07-10 : Chapters 12―14
- HNtW 078, 2020-07-14 : Chapters 15―18
- HNtW 079, 2020-07-17 : Chapters 19 & 20
- HNtW 080, 2020-07-21 : Chapters 21 & 22 (conclusion)
By Air Express to Venus
or, Captives of a Strange People
Roy Rockwood
Everett Bleiler, in his monumental Science Fiction : The Early Years suggests that the “Great Marvels Series” of juvenile scientific-adventure novels, in which this was the eighth and next–to–last volume, was the first cloth–bound SF series in any language. The first instalment, Through the Air to the North Pole, or, The Wonderful Cruise of the Electric Monarch, appeared in 1906, and this one dates from 1929.
According to Bleiler, publishing magnate Edward Stratemeyer provided the plots to be fleshed out by writers under the Rockwood pseudonym, and for the first six books, the writer can be identified as Howard R Garis, but for this one it is unknown. Several of the other books in the series are available on Project Gutenberg, but not this one. Copyright is Cupples & Leon Co.
Recordings
- HNtW 073, 2020-06-26 : Chapter I
- HNtW 077, 2020-07-10 : Chapter II
- HNtW 079, 2020-07-17 : Chapters III & IV
- HNtW 080, 2020-07-21 : Chapters V & VI (plus most of VII)
- HNtW 084, 2020-08-04 : Chapter VII
- HNtW 085, 2020-08-07 : Chapters VIII & IX (did not archive, re-run 2020-08-14)
- HNtW 086, 2020-08-11 : Chapter X
- HNtW 087, 2021–05–28 : Chapters XI―XV
- HNtW 088, 2021–06–15 : Chapters XVI―XXI
- HNtW 089, 2021–07–02 : Chapters XXII―XXVIII
- HNtW 090, 2021–07–06 : Chapters XXIX & XXX (end)