Search Posts
Well, it looks like Haffner Press have picked up Wellman's complete Thunstone, so I assume this is off the PS radar for now. Except for the two novels, all of the stories were done by Night Shade Books in 'The Third Cry to Legba and Other Invocations : The Selected Stories of Manly Wade Wellman (Vol. 1)' in 2000.
Nah, those stories are pretty bad. Remember seeing an article somewhere where Eric Flint at Baen was looking at this sort of thing of what might make an interesting collection, and I believe he also dismissed these as not of modern interest. I wouldn't say that they are bad. They are just OK, but very repetitive. If you have read 5 of them, then you have read all 93 of them
Fredric Brown- From These Ashes - The complete short stories. Martians and Madness - The complete science fiction and fantasy novels Stanley Weinbaum-
Haffner Press has four books out that collect most of Leigh Brackett's Planetary Romance. A lot of good stuff in those books.
Elwood was famous for repackaging stories into themed anthologies. He produced a handful of good books and a boatload of crap. The Laser books were a very mixed bag. You had a couple very good books, followed by some good books. And now, this is where the crap comes into play. A lot of really bad books. And from what I have heard, a lot of the authors never got paid. As to the butchering part, Elwood was very heavy handed with the red pencil. Many authors have complained about having their stories heavily edited and even completely changed. IMHO, the Freas covers were the only reason to pick up these books in the first place.
I know that it is unlikely that it would be done, but if any ERB was going to come out from Planet Stories, I would love to see the Venus books. I would buy them. Same goes for the Mucker books. I'll save space on my shelves for them right now :-)
I just finished rereading my very battered copy of 'The Valley of Creation' by Edmond Hamilton. Very good read. Pair it with something like Hamilton's 'A Yank at Valhalla' and you would have great Ace Double that I would buy.
I'm sure that you guys covered this somewhere else, but I was wondering if Planet Stories was planning to do Kline's Peril books. Erik, you gave some examples of how Kline's Mars books were cut up. Do you know how bad his Peril books were cut. I mean the 1929 A. C. McClurg & Co. edition ran to 358 pages. So did the Grossett & Dunlap edition, yet the 1963 Ace was only 160 pages. What did they do, cut out every other word?
Mona did say that if you need more Moore in your life, her "Judgment Night" is a good one to get. It's an example of more of her sword and planet, science fiction, and science fantasy work. It was the first collection of her novels and novellas to be published, and the stories are almost entirely her own work, as distinct from the work that was a blend of her and Kuttner. It seems to be out of print at the moment, and I don't know why Planet Stories isn't looking into republishing it... perhaps someone is sitting on the copyright for it. However, it is still possible to find it used, both online and in brick and mortar establishments. I found a copy myself in a used bookstore in a small Pacific Northwest city, without actually expecting to find it. Actually, only the story "Judgment Night" was published under the Moore byline. All of the other stories were published under the Lawrence O'Donnell byline, which was used by both Moore and kuttner. Now some people say, as does Wikipedia, "Lawrence O’Donnell was often employed for works that involved little or no collaboration." And yet half of the stories under the O'Donnell byline are known to have been written with Kuttner. Red Jacket Press put out a beautiful facsimile reproduction of the 1952 Gnome Press First Edition of JUDGMENT NIGHT , which is still available.
I have not read all 600 of the previous posts, but one of my old favorites was Eric Frank Russell, stories like The Space Willies and The Wasp. I have copies I found that are sort of beat up from a used bookstore, but they seem to be out of print now.This is a nice collection of his best stories. Entities
They are around $30 each, but they are really beautiful books.
L. Sprague de Camp would make a fine addition to Planet Stories. Either his Pusadian stories (fantasy) or his Viagens Interplanetarias stories (planetary romance.) All of them are from the late 1940s and 1950s, De Camps golden years.
Great author, nasty cover.
I hate to say it, but this cover really sucks. I'm still going to buy the book, because both Matthew Hughes and Planet Stories rock. Did I mention that the cover really, really sucks.
Actually, I liked the other cover better. Also the other Matthew Hughes cover. They looked more like the old pulps. By calling them 'Planet Stories', you are invoking the old pulps. By throwing a modern cover on the book you lose that feel. I'm also not happy about the missing pages.
While this does look like a kick-ass collection (which I will be getting) most of the stories are of a more modern writing. Erik, have you given any thought to Jack Williamson? His 'Golden Blood' and 'The Reign of Wizardry' are very good and would be perfect for Planet Stories. It looks like Haffner Press is only going to do Jack's shorter works and ignore the longer ones.
I will agree with you about Nictzin Dyalhis, an excellent author. In fact, The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box is putting out The Supernatural Tales of Nictzin Dyalhis. It should be good but expensive. As for Eshbach, I have Tyrant of Time, an OK collection. I would like to read some more of him. West, on the other hand, I think the only time you will see him back in print is when you start your own publishing company.
I know that these are a little hard to find and not well known, but I think Charles B. Stilson (A Man Named Jones & Polaris—of the Snows) and J.U. Geisy(Palos of the Dog Star Pack) would make great Planet Stories. These were some of the best to follow in ERB's footsteps. I understand that you are running a business and need to show a profit, but I've dealt with the three POD publishers (BEB Books, Munsey's and Altus Press) and frankly, I would rather give you my money. While Altus and Munsey produce a nice looking book, the quality laves a lot to be desired. They also need to spend a little more on their proofreading. The less said about BEB, the better. If nothing else, move them closer to the top of your pile, read them, and if you like them, spread the word about them. Maybe if enough people know about them, we will one day get quality copies out there.
I know that these are a little hard to find and not well known, but I think Charles B. Stilson (A Man Named Jones & Polaris—of the Snows) and J.U. Geisy(Palos of the Dog Star Pack) would make great Planet Stories. These were some of the best to follow in ERB's footsteps.
Eric is right. "The Frogfather" is in the second volume of Nightshades Wellman.
This is book four of the Age of Darkness series. Is it a stand-alone, or do you need to have read the first three.
I just picked up "Robots have no Tails." Are all new Planet Stories books going to be in diegest size. |
