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Jack of Eagles
Vintage paperback
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
5 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
James Blish
454 books327 followersJames Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
June 15, 2024
Jack of Eagles was Blish's first original hardbound novel, appearing from Greenberg in 1952. Avon published it in mass market paperback in 1958 with the far less interesting title ESPer. I believe it's his more overlooked book, with most attention focused on his Cities in Flight tetralogy, A Case of Conscience (which won a Hugo), and, of course, his books in the Star Trek universe. It's the story of Danny Caiden, a newspaper writer, who wakes up one day to discover that he has psi-powers. It's reminiscent of lots of psi-powers sf works, especially several works by Henry Kuttner (to whom the novel is dedicated), and I wondered if it might have been something of an inspiration for King's The Dead Zone. Danny consults an expert who doesn't help much but provides a daughter for a romantic interest, and then Blish takes the story in weird directions as he ads mathematics and some scientific mumbo-jumbo about alternate realities and uncertainties. It gets a little difficult to follow but remains entertaining. I'll label it with pi stars.
March 16, 2022
This is a most peculiar book, written by the prolific James Blish in 1952, better known to most SciFi readers for the 'Cities in Flight' and 'After Such Knowledge' series as well as being the author of a run of twelve early Star Trek novels. It was his first full novel.
Peculiar because it spends the first third or more as a standard pulp novel, even if it is above average in terms of its writing, about a G.I. Bill journalist who discovers his psy abilities. This gets him into a series of pickles that seem to culminate in a tale of gangsters and an FBI investigation.
Then it suddenly switches tempo into something entirely different yet still coherently linked with the tale told before ... gritty newsroom realism morphs in stages into occult conspiracy and a cosmic fantasy that would do credit to Kuttner (to whom he dedicates the book) and Moore.
What is remarkable though is that this is no cosmic space opera in the conventional sense. It is an attempt at hard science fiction but directed at the world of parapsychology and with an apparently masterful understanding of the mathematics and deep physics of the time.
I say, apparently, because as a tale of distorted space and time and of paranoid conflict between an evil and manipulative occultist secret society and self-sacrificing scientific heroes who have mastered psi abilities to ever greater levels, this is 'Doctor Strange' on speed.
Although the science is definitely obscure (one assumes it is intended to be so), it does not feel wholly implausible so it is still reasonable to see this as hard science fiction exploring occult and esoteric themes rather than as esoteric or occult pulp.
Over a decade before the Marvel magician's appearance (1963), Blish attempts to demonstrate that the esoteric and occult are no more than yet-to-be understood science with as much potential and danger as space travel or atoms. It tries to go below the level of the atom into the quantum world.
Arthur C. Clarke's pronunciamento on any sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic was also made only in 1962 so this novel is a light-hearted pulp precursor to two iconic expressions of the same basic thought - that magic is ultimately science.
Once you get past the gangsters, it is a consistently entertaining but still not a great novel, partly because Blish, clearly a highly intelligent author, is showing off with his hard physics without always being clear enough about it to leave us without the impression that he is bluffing.
The novel never entirely leaves behind the jocular sub-hard-boiled tone of the first third so that what could be a 'serious' imaginative exploration of the implications of quantum physics and its relation to the occult/esoteric is lost in what becomes a jape, albeit a very stimulating one.
This is not to say that Blish fails at all in his most Kuttnerian moments. The story moves fast and there are some remarkable scenes as Danny Caiden, the clearly very bright hero, moves from cosmic sequence to cosmic sequence into alternate realities engineered by the bad guys.
Blish makes considerable effort to dismiss occult charlatanism. It is clear early on that, through the researches of the character of Caiden, he was himself both well read in and fascinated by occult lore and yet always remained determinedly rationalist and scientific in his prejudices.
I can imagine Blish saying, in the words of my son when he was younger pondering his love for imaginative popular culture, "I know none of it is true but I wish it was". So what does Blish do - he makes it (the occult) true through science and so preserves his natural rational outlook on life.
The 'bad guys' are marked out not only by their evil intentions but by the fact that they seem really to believe that they are working with merely occult forces. The 'good guys' operate at a higher level having mastered a technology based on a science that then explains what appears to be 'occult'.
If 'occult' means 'hidden', the 'good guys' (practical parapsychologists with the latent powers in humanity now fully expressed and aware of how psi can be as dangerous as the atom) may keep their knowledge hidden from the rest of humanity but it is no longer hidden to science.
Blish would remain fascinated by occult and religio-mythic themes, as evidenced by the 'After Such Knowledge' sequence. One wonders what sort of dialectic there was between him and Arthur C. Clarke where one detects some similarities of interest despite great differences in tone.
Clarke's original version of 'Childhood's end' was initially published in America with an unauthorised different ending by Blish in 1950. Clarke's story included themes of clairvoyance and telekinesis which emerge also in Blish's novel and it has scientific 'demons' as in 'Black Easter'.
If you do decide to read it, I have some recommendations - persevere through the first third or so and just enjoy it as well written pulp and then switch mentality in the second two thirds, do not allow yourself to be boondoggled by the 'hard science' and just enjoy the Kuttnerian cosmicism.
February 7, 2015
‘Danny Caiden has always thought of himself as a normal guy: an ordinary young American with no special talents leading an ordinary, uneventful life.
Normal, that is, until he suddenly realises he can see into the future.
Before he knows it, Danny has developed a dozen more alarming powers, lost his job, run foul of the FBI – and found himself at the centre of a shattering psychic struggle for the future of humanity…’
Blurb from the 1975 Arrow paperback edition.
Although a minor Blish novel this, for its time, employs serious scientific principles and what must have been cutting edge technology to explore and justify the existence of ESP ‘talents’.
Danny Caiden, a young writer for a US food publication, is concerned by occasional ‘flashes’ of precognition, a concern which becomes of vital importance when he is sacked for writing about a pending indictment of a wheat company for price-fixing; a report for which he has no evidence.
Once fired, he visits a fortune-teller, attracts the attention of her young assistant, then decides to cash in on his talent by playing the stock market and gambling on horse-races.
Although he wins in both cases, it attracts the attention of both the FBI and the organisation behind the illegal gambling, and he is forced to go on the run where he eventually ends up in the hands of a Psychic Research group; a brotherhood of psi-talented men who want to either initiate him into their ranks or kill him.
It’s a short but fast-paced book, taking in not only the ESP talents such as psychokinesis, telepathy and precognition, but also the concept of parallel worlds.
It suffers from a surfeit of characters and a lack of development of the main characters. Todd, for instance, who is a vital character, does little during the novel and is then kidnapped, only to reappear at the end to help Danny save the world from a psychokinetic madman.
Normal, that is, until he suddenly realises he can see into the future.
Before he knows it, Danny has developed a dozen more alarming powers, lost his job, run foul of the FBI – and found himself at the centre of a shattering psychic struggle for the future of humanity…’
Blurb from the 1975 Arrow paperback edition.
Although a minor Blish novel this, for its time, employs serious scientific principles and what must have been cutting edge technology to explore and justify the existence of ESP ‘talents’.
Danny Caiden, a young writer for a US food publication, is concerned by occasional ‘flashes’ of precognition, a concern which becomes of vital importance when he is sacked for writing about a pending indictment of a wheat company for price-fixing; a report for which he has no evidence.
Once fired, he visits a fortune-teller, attracts the attention of her young assistant, then decides to cash in on his talent by playing the stock market and gambling on horse-races.
Although he wins in both cases, it attracts the attention of both the FBI and the organisation behind the illegal gambling, and he is forced to go on the run where he eventually ends up in the hands of a Psychic Research group; a brotherhood of psi-talented men who want to either initiate him into their ranks or kill him.
It’s a short but fast-paced book, taking in not only the ESP talents such as psychokinesis, telepathy and precognition, but also the concept of parallel worlds.
It suffers from a surfeit of characters and a lack of development of the main characters. Todd, for instance, who is a vital character, does little during the novel and is then kidnapped, only to reappear at the end to help Danny save the world from a psychokinetic madman.
March 5, 2010
Imagine a Michael Moorcock-esque multiverse crammed into a short novel. That's both the beauty and frustration of Jack of Eagles. Blish plays with parapsychology, conspiracy theories, and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle (in combination with Planck's constant) in order to weave a tale of wealth, ambition, and the paranormal gone wrong.
Blish is, possibly, most famous for his very brilliant A Case of Conscience and his Star Trek novels/stories. However, this relatively compact book packs a tremendous punch. For me, it speaks of human nature and a need for virtue. For others, it may simply play around with conspiracies and probable superstitions enough to satisfy a thirst for the unusual.
Unfortunately, by the time the author reaches the fascinating theorizing on the multiverse (he doesn't call it that, but that's essentially what you get with many spatial-temporal realities overlaid like the plates for color printing), he seemed to be rushing toward the end. One temporality was quite fascinating in that robotic entities were protecting human beings in lead-lined caskets (as best I could determine) to protect them from radiation. As far as I was concerned, those few pages were the most interesting in the book.
And, I don't normally pick up a lot of new words in science-fiction, but I had to look up "recondite" and "plenum." For the former, I had no clue that it meant "abstruse" or "obscure" and, for the latter, I hadn't realized that there was a specific Physics term referring to a space filled with matter. I knew that "plenum" came from the Greek word for being full, but hadn't realized it was a technical term in Astronomy and Physics.
So, with all of that going for it, why did I only like the book instead of loving it? It was because of that rushed pace at the end. I would have liked to have explored some of those continuum possibilities that Blish theorizes about. Instead, I felt like things came to a close far too quickly. Still, I did like it and feel like it was different from any other science-fiction that uses parapsychology as part of its worldview.
Blish is, possibly, most famous for his very brilliant A Case of Conscience and his Star Trek novels/stories. However, this relatively compact book packs a tremendous punch. For me, it speaks of human nature and a need for virtue. For others, it may simply play around with conspiracies and probable superstitions enough to satisfy a thirst for the unusual.
Unfortunately, by the time the author reaches the fascinating theorizing on the multiverse (he doesn't call it that, but that's essentially what you get with many spatial-temporal realities overlaid like the plates for color printing), he seemed to be rushing toward the end. One temporality was quite fascinating in that robotic entities were protecting human beings in lead-lined caskets (as best I could determine) to protect them from radiation. As far as I was concerned, those few pages were the most interesting in the book.
And, I don't normally pick up a lot of new words in science-fiction, but I had to look up "recondite" and "plenum." For the former, I had no clue that it meant "abstruse" or "obscure" and, for the latter, I hadn't realized that there was a specific Physics term referring to a space filled with matter. I knew that "plenum" came from the Greek word for being full, but hadn't realized it was a technical term in Astronomy and Physics.
So, with all of that going for it, why did I only like the book instead of loving it? It was because of that rushed pace at the end. I would have liked to have explored some of those continuum possibilities that Blish theorizes about. Instead, I felt like things came to a close far too quickly. Still, I did like it and feel like it was different from any other science-fiction that uses parapsychology as part of its worldview.
July 22, 2019
Dated. Sexist. Unbelievable heroic main character. Requires a thorough suspension of disbelief about psi-powers/ ESP. Sometimes crammed too densely with info-dump ideas and explanations of the real science that Blish is extrapolating into a story. Underdeveloped characters and plot tangents.
But still worth my time to read.
I found it exciting, and interesting, with some absolute gems in some of the little sketches. If "Danny had long ago heard enough. He bounded up the stairs, leaving the landlord floundering in a welter of dependent clauses" is typical of Blish's voice, I want more.
But still worth my time to read.
I found it exciting, and interesting, with some absolute gems in some of the little sketches. If "Danny had long ago heard enough. He bounded up the stairs, leaving the landlord floundering in a welter of dependent clauses" is typical of Blish's voice, I want more.
July 26, 2021
I read this one way back in my teens (MYATICTC*), and I still go back and re-read it every decade or so, just to remind myself how good hard SF can be.
The original eyes-wide-open novel of strange talents, and still one of the best.
* = More Years Ago Than I Care to Count
The original eyes-wide-open novel of strange talents, and still one of the best.
* = More Years Ago Than I Care to Count
January 23, 2019
La trama e' interessante, anche se ci solo dei lunghi pezzi di spiegazioni scentifiche degni di un libro di fisica, che sono difficili da seguire ( pseudo scentifiche, perche' per meta' si nomina teorie accreditate e per meta' leggi della fisica del tutto inventate) non mi lamento della scienza inventata, che mi aspetto da un Urania (e che mi piace) ma i dettagli della leggi fisiche che permettono al protagonista di sposare oggetti o persone (con tanto di formule ) le trovo eccessive e soprattutto impossibili da seguire.
La fine e' un po' sbrigativa e l'ultimo capitolo sembra preso da un romanzo rosa e messo qua, merita comunque un buon voto per l'originalita' del tema
La fine e' un po' sbrigativa e l'ultimo capitolo sembra preso da un romanzo rosa e messo qua, merita comunque un buon voto per l'originalita' del tema
April 25, 2008
One of the seminal work of psionic scifi. Great read!
July 6, 2023
"But this time please open the door before you walk through it."
October 5, 2022
What I have always liked about James Blish is that his intellectual background was in biology, and biological facts infused his thinking. In his Star Trek novel, Spock must Die, Spock is duplicated by the transporter, but Blish doesn’t leave it alone there. He theorizes what that would have done to Spock’s body, which led to the way in which the alternate Spock is differentiated from the original, and how that doomed the duplicate. In his earlier novel, A Case of Conscience, the historical steps of evolution, as sentient beings developed from fish to amphibians to land-dwelling animals, becomes a crucial aspect of the discussion of humans and Lithians (the aliens on the planet Lithia). And in this novel, we find probably the most interesting exploration of ESP and other mental powers (a subject that captivated John Campbell and the rest of the Golden Age of Science Fiction writers). The idea of these mental powers becomes almost believable as the main character explores what is happening to him, and why.
I cannot claim that the topic is the most fascinating one for me, but Blish certainly delivers a plausible exploration that is worth the time invested.
I cannot claim that the topic is the most fascinating one for me, but Blish certainly delivers a plausible exploration that is worth the time invested.
October 16, 2025
2.5/5
An early story punched up to novel length from Blish centered around a hyper-rational exploration of Fortean concepts and human psi-abilities.
Blish's erudition and intelligence is on display here, but the plot and prose alternates between boilerplate pulp, and messy/technical exposition on how psi-abilities might actually work.
I struggled mightily to finish this one. Probably not worth it for anyone except a Blish completionist.
An early story punched up to novel length from Blish centered around a hyper-rational exploration of Fortean concepts and human psi-abilities.
Blish's erudition and intelligence is on display here, but the plot and prose alternates between boilerplate pulp, and messy/technical exposition on how psi-abilities might actually work.
I struggled mightily to finish this one. Probably not worth it for anyone except a Blish completionist.
February 5, 2012
Is this the book that was renamed? (Esper)I think it was well worth reading. I don't remember when I read it. I know it was a long time ago, but it left a lasting impression on me.Enough so I still remember the story line. It made me a James Blish fan.
February 16, 2025
One of the more accomplished works of Blish, so much so it surprises me to see it's one of his earliest - starting quite slowly à la "...and all the stars a stage", and then blowing up like a fission bomb in the second half of the book, becoming unputdownable.
At first, I wondered why the book was lingering so much on the more mundane premises of the story, but then I found this to be perfectly justified, having created the stakes (and not only that) for the second act to properly lift off.
This weird psi-powered action novel has remarkable characters (and villains!) that will stay with you for a while, and it's maybe one of the best things Blish has written.
Like he did in "There shall be no Darkness", supernatural fenomena are here explained in detail by mock science that is, for me, only half followable, but that gives out meaning to the more improbable developments in the plot.
What might and should draw you in, is that there do not seem to be, to me, many novels about ESPers out there, what with ESP powers being difficult to talk about, and this one has most of what you'd want for it.
I'd love to see a series made out of it somehow!
At first, I wondered why the book was lingering so much on the more mundane premises of the story, but then I found this to be perfectly justified, having created the stakes (and not only that) for the second act to properly lift off.
This weird psi-powered action novel has remarkable characters (and villains!) that will stay with you for a while, and it's maybe one of the best things Blish has written.
Like he did in "There shall be no Darkness", supernatural fenomena are here explained in detail by mock science that is, for me, only half followable, but that gives out meaning to the more improbable developments in the plot.
What might and should draw you in, is that there do not seem to be, to me, many novels about ESPers out there, what with ESP powers being difficult to talk about, and this one has most of what you'd want for it.
I'd love to see a series made out of it somehow!
December 19, 2022
James Blish's Jack of Eagles presents an ordinary man who somehow taps into extraordinary psychic powers and gets pulled into a web of intrigue, discovering a whole world of "psi-men". Just don't ask me how the cover of my edition relates to any of it. Blish's particular specialty is exploring the social ramifications of whatever sci-fi trope he's developing, but there's still a hard edge to his SF. An edge that's almost at odds with his nicely-flowing prose. The book starts out as a small human story about a trade newspaper editor who explores his own knack for ESP-like "guessing" - an interesting mystery - but at some point, Blish is connecting the doubtful science of parapsychology to heady theoretical physics and you feel like you're reading a mathematics manual designed for PhD students. I do like the crazy climax - impossible without those heady physics - but the opening chapters didn't prepare me for them. Jack of Eagles is still a pretty fun read, but I can see why it's not considered one of Blish's stand-outs.
March 2, 2023
This book was written in the early 1950's, and that is both the pleasure and the pain of reading it. Characters lack the depth that a modern audience is accustomed to, and the world in which it is set is necessarily outdated, being 70 years behind modern times. Hence we get references to outdated scientific terms like "ekacesium" (instead of Francium), and we get old-fashioned sounding terminology like "psi-men." Nonetheless, this is a fun romp that covers the awakening of a regular joe to his psionic abilities - the full gamut of them. I can't say I really understood the last 100 pages - it is a wild ride on the edge of the paranormal - but it was nonetheless a fun romp from a great classic sci fi author. This lacks the depth of an old classic sci fi author like, say, Clarke or Asimov (but who doesn't), and it definitely feels dated, especially in writing style, but if you enjoy that style of book you'll at least be entertained by what is a pretty quick read.
November 17, 2018
Ah, pulp science fiction. Ideas over characters. Handwaving. Pseudoscience that’s preposterous on reflection — or, in this case, on first reading. Danny Caiden has ESP. Suspend your disbelief as he figures out how it works and uncovers — and defeats — the obligatory evil secret society bent on world domination. And the only female character with more than two lines is the protagonist’s love interest. I don’t care, the book was free, and short, and you can see James Blish in his early days.
December 30, 2022
I first read this book in my teens, and remember reading it with enjoyment multiple times. Reading it again recently I found it less enjoyable. The basic story (a man whose psychic powers suddenly awaken who must come to terms with them) is good, but the other details of the plot (the different people and groups he must deal with, and their differing motivations) felt somewhat haphazard.
Another "good in parts" book.
Another "good in parts" book.
July 4, 2025
3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the first half. Blish throws the protagonist right into the heat of multiple "headaches." Around the midway point, the science gets a bit deep and challenged my intellect. I definitely think a second, close reading, would help flesh it out and I consider that challenge a good thing. The big ideas he puts forth we're great and I love how he creates realities. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Blish's work & hope to reread this one down the line.
November 17, 2020
Well this was a lovely surprise. I very loved this tale of an average guy who discovers he can predict the future and the consequences of his actions.
Here's a fun, well written, concise tale where the science (is it accurate? No clue, don't really care) is digestible and was certainly my favourite part of this tale.
A new favourite in my library.
Here's a fun, well written, concise tale where the science (is it accurate? No clue, don't really care) is digestible and was certainly my favourite part of this tale.
A new favourite in my library.
November 11, 2023
One of those books that would have made a great short story. Lots of unnecessary pseudoscience that drags it down occasionally. But it’s fun premise and a likable enough protagonist. Glad I stuck with it.
April 13, 2022
Read this 1968. Exciting and inspiring story of a skillful hero escaping his hunters.
May 9, 2014
Solid.
This is the first book-form novel published by James Blish, one of the well-known names of science fiction’s golden age, and it stands up more than sixty years later as a good read.
The story focuses on Danny Caiden, who thought he was normal; a bachelor, ex-soldier, drone for agricultural publications (a job very similar to Blish’s own early career), except that he keeps hearing voices talking about him. And he has this weird ability to find things that are lost. His weird talents get him in trouble when he publishes a story about International Wheat being charged with price-fixing before the news is actually leaked by the government. Then he gets in more trouble—sensing he might be psychic, he sells International Wheat short, the only one to do so, and makes a bunch of money.
Confused, he sets out to figure out what is happening with him, consulting wight he Fortean Society, the parapsychologist at university, and the psychical research society. He also reads through likely books in the library. Combining what he learns from Dunne’s An Experiment with Time, Korzybski’s General Semantics, and the parapsychologist, Dr. Todd, Caiden is on the brink of controlling his new-found psychic powers—and Dr. Todd on the verge of understanding them mathematically—when the FBI, the SEC, his Caiden’s budding love interest (and her gargantuan brother) all descend on his apartment, interrupting the studies. Caiden escapes the frying pan, only to end up in the fire: he runs to the psychical research society, but there he is imprisoned and slotted for death.
Another escape brings him back to a friend, Sean Hennessy, who it turns out is in league with the Fortean Society in a battle against the psychical research society. The PRS is muddle-headed, not understanding psychic powers, but uses them for ill gains, anyway, controlling gamblers and playing the market. It was the PRS that had fixed the prices, and made International Wheat look guilty. Caiden and Hennessy plot together to rescue Todd, Caiden’s lady love, and stop the PRS. And, of course, they succeed.
The plot shows more than a little influence by A E Van Vogt, what with the complications upon complications and the call outs to Korzybski. But ti doesn’t bog down into pure chase scenes: rather it showcases that classic science fiction technique of the protagonist reasoning through abstruse scientific theories to re-interpret the structure of the universe—solve the mystery—and then act.
The last bit, with Caiden having to move through different possible futures, is just shy of a tour de force, especially in a book this short and fast moving, It was a bravura idea, but the problem is there is no real threat to it. Caiden can move through each of the possible tomorrows—strange or horrible as they might seem—never having to interact with it.
The story is also interesting in light of Blish’s convictions. He did not really like the Fortean Society—and gives his reasons here: the Forteans were too likely to support the odd merely because it was odd—and had little patience for John W. Campbell’s interest in Psi—but here he wrote a novel about psi being real.
Some of the book will seem dated—the references to Gypsies, the boy-girl relationship, the patter, and the ease with which Caiden can remember scientific concepts. But the fairly solid structure, quick pace, precise language, and brevity make the book worthwhile.
This is the first book-form novel published by James Blish, one of the well-known names of science fiction’s golden age, and it stands up more than sixty years later as a good read.
The story focuses on Danny Caiden, who thought he was normal; a bachelor, ex-soldier, drone for agricultural publications (a job very similar to Blish’s own early career), except that he keeps hearing voices talking about him. And he has this weird ability to find things that are lost. His weird talents get him in trouble when he publishes a story about International Wheat being charged with price-fixing before the news is actually leaked by the government. Then he gets in more trouble—sensing he might be psychic, he sells International Wheat short, the only one to do so, and makes a bunch of money.
Confused, he sets out to figure out what is happening with him, consulting wight he Fortean Society, the parapsychologist at university, and the psychical research society. He also reads through likely books in the library. Combining what he learns from Dunne’s An Experiment with Time, Korzybski’s General Semantics, and the parapsychologist, Dr. Todd, Caiden is on the brink of controlling his new-found psychic powers—and Dr. Todd on the verge of understanding them mathematically—when the FBI, the SEC, his Caiden’s budding love interest (and her gargantuan brother) all descend on his apartment, interrupting the studies. Caiden escapes the frying pan, only to end up in the fire: he runs to the psychical research society, but there he is imprisoned and slotted for death.
Another escape brings him back to a friend, Sean Hennessy, who it turns out is in league with the Fortean Society in a battle against the psychical research society. The PRS is muddle-headed, not understanding psychic powers, but uses them for ill gains, anyway, controlling gamblers and playing the market. It was the PRS that had fixed the prices, and made International Wheat look guilty. Caiden and Hennessy plot together to rescue Todd, Caiden’s lady love, and stop the PRS. And, of course, they succeed.
The plot shows more than a little influence by A E Van Vogt, what with the complications upon complications and the call outs to Korzybski. But ti doesn’t bog down into pure chase scenes: rather it showcases that classic science fiction technique of the protagonist reasoning through abstruse scientific theories to re-interpret the structure of the universe—solve the mystery—and then act.
The last bit, with Caiden having to move through different possible futures, is just shy of a tour de force, especially in a book this short and fast moving, It was a bravura idea, but the problem is there is no real threat to it. Caiden can move through each of the possible tomorrows—strange or horrible as they might seem—never having to interact with it.
The story is also interesting in light of Blish’s convictions. He did not really like the Fortean Society—and gives his reasons here: the Forteans were too likely to support the odd merely because it was odd—and had little patience for John W. Campbell’s interest in Psi—but here he wrote a novel about psi being real.
Some of the book will seem dated—the references to Gypsies, the boy-girl relationship, the patter, and the ease with which Caiden can remember scientific concepts. But the fairly solid structure, quick pace, precise language, and brevity make the book worthwhile.
April 8, 2015
Jack of Eagles (1952) 192 pages by James Blish.
This is me, but I think Blish tried to incorporate too many ideas into too few pages. I went online and saw theoriginal cover had a man and a transparent staircase with several flights of steps. That's the part of the story that gets a little abstract, and I think unnecessary plot element. The story starts with Danny Caiden, a junior reporter for a food sector newspaper, having a couple visions of the future, one that he unwittingly uses as an element in his newpaper story. That gets him fired from the paper, and he uses his free time trying to figure out what is happening to him. He goes several places, a psychic, the parapsychology department of the local university, an organization of people believing they have mind powers, and he picks up lots of books on the subject.
The psychic teaches him nothing, but he meets the daughter who becomes the love interest, and while he is there he gets angry and uses some telekinetic power on a chair. The group of espers are nice to him, but he decides to leave. The guy at the University is very intrigues and agrees to run some tests on him. At the same time Danny has taken his money from the bank, invested some in the stock market, and bet some on horses. He lost at the horses, but a few days later turned up a winner in the stock market. That brought investigators to his door wondering how he knew to short that particular stock. The girl shows up, and he sends her to bet on horses trying a different approach. While she's out the girls brother shows up wanting to protect his sister's honor. Danny is able to distract him. The girl comes back with winnings, which Danny to uses for lab equipment to test his powers. He brings the professor to his apartment. They start making headway into understanging the phenomena until the mob shows up wanting to know how Danny rigged the betting. The plot builds until we find a group of people with mental powers using them to try to control the world and a smaller group that tries to keep them in check. Danny ends up being a critical player, a Jack of Eagles so to say. Eagles being the fifth suit in a 65-card deck of playing cards.
A lot of the book was fun to read, just the one part that I had to slag through. The story was written in 1952, before the books started running four hundred pages or going into trilogies. If you read three books a week this can be one of them, but if it's one a month be more selective.
This is me, but I think Blish tried to incorporate too many ideas into too few pages. I went online and saw theoriginal cover had a man and a transparent staircase with several flights of steps. That's the part of the story that gets a little abstract, and I think unnecessary plot element. The story starts with Danny Caiden, a junior reporter for a food sector newspaper, having a couple visions of the future, one that he unwittingly uses as an element in his newpaper story. That gets him fired from the paper, and he uses his free time trying to figure out what is happening to him. He goes several places, a psychic, the parapsychology department of the local university, an organization of people believing they have mind powers, and he picks up lots of books on the subject.
The psychic teaches him nothing, but he meets the daughter who becomes the love interest, and while he is there he gets angry and uses some telekinetic power on a chair. The group of espers are nice to him, but he decides to leave. The guy at the University is very intrigues and agrees to run some tests on him. At the same time Danny has taken his money from the bank, invested some in the stock market, and bet some on horses. He lost at the horses, but a few days later turned up a winner in the stock market. That brought investigators to his door wondering how he knew to short that particular stock. The girl shows up, and he sends her to bet on horses trying a different approach. While she's out the girls brother shows up wanting to protect his sister's honor. Danny is able to distract him. The girl comes back with winnings, which Danny to uses for lab equipment to test his powers. He brings the professor to his apartment. They start making headway into understanging the phenomena until the mob shows up wanting to know how Danny rigged the betting. The plot builds until we find a group of people with mental powers using them to try to control the world and a smaller group that tries to keep them in check. Danny ends up being a critical player, a Jack of Eagles so to say. Eagles being the fifth suit in a 65-card deck of playing cards.
A lot of the book was fun to read, just the one part that I had to slag through. The story was written in 1952, before the books started running four hundred pages or going into trilogies. If you read three books a week this can be one of them, but if it's one a month be more selective.
January 1, 2026
At just 176 pages, barely a novel, this book is still a slog. The construction is clean, but not very interesting. This is a sci-fi pulp novel written in 1952, and reads like it. The characters have little appeal. It's pretty grounded in midcentury 1952, and I enjoy that. It has the flavor of a noir novel, maybe just because of the setting, and I like that too. It was funny towards the beginning when Danny's ESP powers were working and yet the rigged systems of society ensured he didn't actually benefit from them. I don't think ESP is a very interesting premise for a novel, and this is no exception, but I thought the treatment of ESP, psi powers, etc. as potentially scientific phenomena firmly within the scope of science fiction, without any intimation of magic, was kind of interesting and unusual. And why shouldn't it be? Blish's more well-known work (Cities in Flight) is just as fantastical, but we regard it as clearly science fiction.
The novel itself is certainly not good, but not horrible either. My two-star rating is a bit harsh. It's a 2.5 star book. More interesting than the book itself is its place in time and in the space of ideas. We're all familiar, I think, with 60s-weird, 70s-weird, 80s-weird, etc. 50s-weird is a different beast, and that's what this is: Scientific investigation and mathematical analysis giving us access to new and greater powers that change the way we live. And having read the distilled version of this, I remember the way psionics, psychic powers, precognition, ESP, telekinesis, etc lives in other works of science fiction: Stranger in a Strange Land, Dune, The City and the Stars, Star Wars, most of Dick's work. Dianetics (the pseudoscience that underlies Scientology) got a quick callout. And you can even see the way this flavor of 50s-weird was baked into UFOlogy under desert heat, meth, whiskey, and cigarettes. "UFO" is even the same flavor of acronym as "ESP".
Psionics is now regarded not just as pseudoscience but as magical thinking with no pretensions to scientific thought. The best thing I can say for this book is that it showed how this was, at one time, not the case.
The novel itself is certainly not good, but not horrible either. My two-star rating is a bit harsh. It's a 2.5 star book. More interesting than the book itself is its place in time and in the space of ideas. We're all familiar, I think, with 60s-weird, 70s-weird, 80s-weird, etc. 50s-weird is a different beast, and that's what this is: Scientific investigation and mathematical analysis giving us access to new and greater powers that change the way we live. And having read the distilled version of this, I remember the way psionics, psychic powers, precognition, ESP, telekinesis, etc lives in other works of science fiction: Stranger in a Strange Land, Dune, The City and the Stars, Star Wars, most of Dick's work. Dianetics (the pseudoscience that underlies Scientology) got a quick callout. And you can even see the way this flavor of 50s-weird was baked into UFOlogy under desert heat, meth, whiskey, and cigarettes. "UFO" is even the same flavor of acronym as "ESP".
Psionics is now regarded not just as pseudoscience but as magical thinking with no pretensions to scientific thought. The best thing I can say for this book is that it showed how this was, at one time, not the case.
June 14, 2015
Danny Caiden is a newspaper writer who discovers one day that he has psychic powers. These powers emerge painfully and chaotically, getting him in trouble with local mobsters, earning him an accusation of insider trading, and attracting the attention of a particularly attractive girl.
At first he is a victim of the conflict that his newly-emerged powers create, but as the story progresses he learns to understand and then control them, by use of engineering to enhance these powers. As his understanding increases, eventually he is able to turn the tables on his oppressors, and to take control of his own destiny ... and that of people around him.
This book is written in a sort of 1950s noir style, which suits its action pace. As with many James Blish novels, there is some exploration of physical laws here, but I did not find them offputting, even given the age of the book. But the assumption is very much that if psi powers exist, that they should be susceptible to scientific investigation and explanation.
All in all, a good book.
At first he is a victim of the conflict that his newly-emerged powers create, but as the story progresses he learns to understand and then control them, by use of engineering to enhance these powers. As his understanding increases, eventually he is able to turn the tables on his oppressors, and to take control of his own destiny ... and that of people around him.
This book is written in a sort of 1950s noir style, which suits its action pace. As with many James Blish novels, there is some exploration of physical laws here, but I did not find them offputting, even given the age of the book. But the assumption is very much that if psi powers exist, that they should be susceptible to scientific investigation and explanation.
All in all, a good book.
December 31, 2022
An average guy finds that he has visions of the future. Has he gone mad? He gets fired from his job, makes a stock market speculation based on a vision and wins a lot of money. The FBI gets suspicious.
He develops more and more paranormal abilities. He finds out that there are 2 organizations of other people like him, that are fighting each other. And so on...
The plot gets more and more messy and unbelievable. I wanted to read this book to the end, but after about 3/4 I just had to quit.
The beginning was quite decent though, so I give it 2 points instead of 1.
He develops more and more paranormal abilities. He finds out that there are 2 organizations of other people like him, that are fighting each other. And so on...
The plot gets more and more messy and unbelievable. I wanted to read this book to the end, but after about 3/4 I just had to quit.
The beginning was quite decent though, so I give it 2 points instead of 1.
January 3, 2021
It must have been cutting edge at it's time, conceptually, and probably deserves more stars from fans of the genre. I'm however just rating it based on my experience rading it today. Found it too brainy, and sometimes the characters or plot were a little overtly/conviently made to serve the concept of the book. Some parts were pretty good and interesting, but I'm guessing this isn't my typ of genre.
August 22, 2023
An average guy finds that he has visions of the future. Has he gone mad? He gets fired from his job, makes a stock market speculation based on a vision and wins a lot of money. The FBI gets suspicious.
He develops more and more paranormal abilities. He finds out that there are 2 organizations of other people like him, that are fighting each other. And so on...
The plot gets more and more messy and unbelievable. I wanted to read this book to the end, but after about 3/4 I just had to quit.
The beginning was quite decent though, so I give it 2 points instead of 1.
He develops more and more paranormal abilities. He finds out that there are 2 organizations of other people like him, that are fighting each other. And so on...
The plot gets more and more messy and unbelievable. I wanted to read this book to the end, but after about 3/4 I just had to quit.
The beginning was quite decent though, so I give it 2 points instead of 1.
December 5, 2016
This book shows a bit of what a world (in 1952, when it was written) would be like if some people really did have psionic powers, although the plot is fantastic even beyond that premise. Some of the background in it might interest those whose interests include psionics (and its debunking). Plus, it is mostly entertaining.
March 11, 2011
Grade B+
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