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A number of reviewers have likened Northwest Smith to the likes of Indiana Jones or Han Solo.
I'm not seeing it.
These are fine stories, but Northwest is a man who "follows" through most of the plot. He's amazed, traumatized, caught time and again in deep emotional bits, bedazzled, and always a sucker for a pretty young thing. He gets by with bursts of moxie and a lack of scruples as to when and how to fire his sidearm at things.
Northwest, sad to say, would never shoot Greedo first.
Halfway through the book, it clicked for me. This is the kind of work where we'd see, say, William Shatner's James Kirk: elbows jammed into his ribs in pain and horror; mouth twisted in a swell of savage rage; a man of action, of danger, falling from one doomed romance with a beautiful young woman to the next.
Northwest Smith is Krk, if he'd been outlawed on Earth. He is Kirk without the quibbles of Star Fleet regulations.
Its great to see that Northwest is being read again, he was her favorite Male Character. And I am not a serious trekkie, as is my son and husband, however we all agree that Northwest is more like Han Solo,
and Catherine felt that way as well. I was fortunate enough to know her and love her, she was my step-mom, until I was grown up I did not realize who she was to the world. She was mommy to me and a great one at that
She was always gracious, and if she still was here today she would politely say thank you in a very modest voice for reading and enjoying her work.
Carole Ann
A number of reviewers have likened Northwest Smith to the likes of Indiana Jones or Han Solo.
I'm not seeing it.
I have to agree. Though I actually only see one person in this thread likening him to Han Solo, that's certainly the impression you would get from blurbs about Smith being an "intergalactic smuggler" and "daring spaceman". I've read the Indy comparison somewhere else, can't recall where, though. But the only similarity I see with Indiana Jones is the names...
The thing is that both Han and Indy are action heroes, and these are in no way action stories. They're all internal, there are few to none external events going on. And even though I like them, they're fine pieces of writing, reading them all so close together unfortunately highlights that they're all pretty much the same. They all deal with Smith getting possessed, hypnotized, enthralled or otherwise mind****ed, and how he struggles free from whatever's got him hooked this time around.
Now, to play the devil's advocate for a bit... The narration in the stories does make it clear that most of the time Smith actually is a physical, extroverted, take-charge kind of guy. Just not in the timeframes of these particular stories. It's as if someone wrote stories about Han Solo, but not when he's fighting stormtroopers or dodging imperial cruisers, instead focusing on the times he's sitting in a corner of a bar having a morose drink by himself. And to Smith's credit, the reason that he manages to break free of the various sirens where lesser men have failed, is that at the deepest, darkest core of his being he's just one mean bastard.
Mr Baron
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Modules Subscriber)
Its great to see that Northwest is being read again, he was her favorite Male Character. And I am not a serious trekkie, as is my son and husband, however we all agree that Northwest is more like Han Solo,
and Catherine felt that way as well. I was fortunate enough to know her and love her, she was my step-mom, until I was grown up I did not realize who she was to the world. She was mommy to me and a great one at thatShe was always gracious, and if she still was here today she would politely say thank you in a very modest voice for reading and enjoying her work.
Carole Ann
Thanks for posting Carole! Its always great to see a family member post and provide insight into the author's work. I finished the book a month or so back, and I really enjoyed it. NW felt like Han Solo to me, but clearly he was more than just a space smuggler.
Good read!
Its great to see that Northwest is being read again, he was her favorite Male Character. And I am not a serious trekkie, as is my son and husband, however we all agree that Northwest is more like Han Solo,
and Catherine felt that way as well. I was fortunate enough to know her and love her, she was my step-mom, until I was grown up I did not realize who she was to the world. She was mommy to me and a great one at thatShe was always gracious, and if she still was here today she would politely say thank you in a very modest voice for reading and enjoying her work.
Carole Ann
(***) (Staggers a moment, clutching his harness and metal)
Wow. Thank you very much, Ma'am, for sharing.
I have had the privilege of meeting C.J. Cherryh, and of agreeing with her that C. L. Moore and Leigh Brackett were the greatest inspirations.
Are you aware of the late Wallace Wood's painting of "Shambleau?"
http://www.vanguardproductions.net/wallywood/shambleau.html
Wally Wood is recognized as one of the greatest comics artists who ever lived. Many EC Comics and the classic "Mars Attacks!" cards came from his pencil and pen. He rarely worked in other media, and the Northwest Smith story "Shambleau" became one of the very few oil paintings Wood ever made.
wow i got Northwest of earth for christmas. Iv been so busy with other things that i have not been able to start reading it till now
i am blown away Ms Moore is a great story teller. In Northwest Smith i can really see han solo and indiana jones also maybe a little james bond to. also the way she discribes planets is beautiful.
i read through shambleau in one read and im hooked.
i would like to thank the good people at planet stories for giving me the opertunity to read this great collection
Glad to see everyone enjoying Northwest of Earth! If I may make a recommendation, I'd say that if you enjoy Northwest Smith, you should definitely check out Leigh Bracket's The Ginger Star. For my money, Eric John Stark and Northwest Smith are the two pillars upon which most of the badass Han-Solo-style space pirates are based (not surprising, considering Brackett wrote the first draft of The Empire Strikes Back).
After that, of course, you should try reading Black God's Kiss... that was my first encounter with C. L. Moore, and the title story blew me away right from the start.
On a side note, anybody else think it's interesting that the two authors in our line who have received the most praise so far (and rightfully so) are female? Is there a correlation there, or is it coincidental?
On a side note, anybody else think it's interesting that the two authors in our line who have received the most praise so far (and rightfully so) are female? Is there a correlation there, or is it coincidental?
It’s hard to say, I must point out though that Planet Stories has currently published works by the two most famous female pulp authors and, with the exception of Almuric, none of the works of the most famous male authors. When Burroughs, Howard, Lovecraft, Leiber, Vance, (etc., etc.,) grace this line, we can better compare.
Don’t get me wrong, I think these women were brilliant writers, and to give the men a chance they’ll need better representation than Gygax for instance (the male author this line has primarily published).
P.S. On all that Han Solo business discussed earlier, I think I heard that Northwest Smith was an inspiration.
P.P.S. By the way, thanks for adding photographs to the author bios.
This book was (is) my introduction to Planet Stories publications, and I'm really impressed. The quality of the book is very good, the cover art is evocative of the story (the first one in the collection) - and personally I prefer it to the original magazine cover featuring that story - and the price is very fair indeed.
After seeing a couple other of your books, I signed up as a subscriber and I'm sure I won't be disappointed. Thank you for publishing this book and the others in your catalog!