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Stories from the Golden Age #4
The Great Secret
Fanner Marston was raised a slave as a child, became a petty street thief as a teen, and now masters his own craft and crew as a grown man. He's also gone completely mad. Driven by privation, with a vicious greed and slavering lust for power, Marston alone of forty men has survived the perilous trek through a blistering desert to the magical city of Parva, where legend says a secret awaits which will give him absolute control over the Universe. However, Marston finds the key to all power is not at all what he expected. . . .
140 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1943
33 people are currently reading
245 people want to read
About the author
L. Ron Hubbard
1,927 books650 followersL. Ron Hubbard is universally acclaimed as the single most influential author and humanitarian of this modern age. His definitive works on the mind and spirit—comprising over 350 million copies in circulation and more than 40 international bestsellers—have resulted in a legacy benefiting millions and a movement spanning all cultures.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
October 17, 2016
ACTUAL RATING: 3.5
For the past several years, there has been a growing trend of republished old pulps in new monthly or quarterly series with flashy pulpy or pulp-inspired covers, and Hubbard’s classics have been no exception. Amongst its peers, Stories from the Golden Age has the distinction of actually being sold on magazine stands. There’s no attempt to mitigate or obscure the sometimes trashy origins of the stories therein—the publisher has fully embraced the genre to its core, and it is glorious to behold.
Despite the back cover only advertising the title story, THE GREAT SECRET contains four short works: “The Great Secret,” “Space Can,” “The Beast,” and “The Slaver.” The book also includes a brief overview of pulp fiction and Hubbard’s contributions to the genre, a glossary to 1940s’ slang and terminology, and a short preview for the following issue. The introduction isn’t very useful, as it focuses on a self-congratulatory and almost snobby bias toward pulp fandom, while providing only the most basic facts about Hubbard and the pulps to the reader. Hubbard’s founding of Scientology is left completely uncommented upon.
The titular story, “The Great Secret,” is essentially El Dorado in space. It follows a mad man, Fanner Marston, who undertakes a harrowing journey to the lost city of Parva, which he believes will grant him the power to warp the astrophysics of the Universe. The story covers the tale-end of his journey, where he is dying of thirst, hunger, and exposure, while the dead city taunts him in the distance. It’s a decent short story, even if the ending twist is a touch predictable. The only real problem is that little is established outside of Marston’s rambling thoughts, so the setting and context is ill-defined at best.
“Space Can,” meanwhile, is about a tiny spaceship alone in the middle of a space war with Saturn. It’s sent to the remains of a deadly battle, only to discover that the enemy ships are still in the area. The captain realizes that fleeing is not an option despite being outmatched and outgunned—if they fail here, the war in its entirety will be lost. The ensuing battle is an enjoyable read, if a little over reliant on Navy terminology and maneuvering. Definitely the best story in the entire book.
The worst story in the book is “The Beast.” It follows a Venusian game hunter tracking a vaguely described dangerous creature. It’s also racist and boring.
The final story, “The Slaver,” regards a nobleman who winds up on a slaver spaceship by pure ill-chance. In truth, it’s not much different from “The Beast,” if slavers replace the alien monster and captured slaves replace the racist villagers. Both stories are more about the emotional journey of their leads, particularly in how they fall to their lowest points before overcoming the odds. “The Slaver” is the only story to have a female main character, but she’s a generic angry damsel in distress. At the end of the day, the story isn’t terrible, but it’s not particularly noteworthy either.
THE GREAT SECRET isn’t as great as the title suggests, but it’s not a terrible read either. Hubbard was a very talented author in his day, and even his bad stories have charm to them. His works are far more character driven than typical Golden Age of Scifi fluff, which modern readers might appreciate. There are worse ways to waste an evening reading, if nothing else.
For the past several years, there has been a growing trend of republished old pulps in new monthly or quarterly series with flashy pulpy or pulp-inspired covers, and Hubbard’s classics have been no exception. Amongst its peers, Stories from the Golden Age has the distinction of actually being sold on magazine stands. There’s no attempt to mitigate or obscure the sometimes trashy origins of the stories therein—the publisher has fully embraced the genre to its core, and it is glorious to behold.
Despite the back cover only advertising the title story, THE GREAT SECRET contains four short works: “The Great Secret,” “Space Can,” “The Beast,” and “The Slaver.” The book also includes a brief overview of pulp fiction and Hubbard’s contributions to the genre, a glossary to 1940s’ slang and terminology, and a short preview for the following issue. The introduction isn’t very useful, as it focuses on a self-congratulatory and almost snobby bias toward pulp fandom, while providing only the most basic facts about Hubbard and the pulps to the reader. Hubbard’s founding of Scientology is left completely uncommented upon.
The titular story, “The Great Secret,” is essentially El Dorado in space. It follows a mad man, Fanner Marston, who undertakes a harrowing journey to the lost city of Parva, which he believes will grant him the power to warp the astrophysics of the Universe. The story covers the tale-end of his journey, where he is dying of thirst, hunger, and exposure, while the dead city taunts him in the distance. It’s a decent short story, even if the ending twist is a touch predictable. The only real problem is that little is established outside of Marston’s rambling thoughts, so the setting and context is ill-defined at best.
“Space Can,” meanwhile, is about a tiny spaceship alone in the middle of a space war with Saturn. It’s sent to the remains of a deadly battle, only to discover that the enemy ships are still in the area. The captain realizes that fleeing is not an option despite being outmatched and outgunned—if they fail here, the war in its entirety will be lost. The ensuing battle is an enjoyable read, if a little over reliant on Navy terminology and maneuvering. Definitely the best story in the entire book.
The worst story in the book is “The Beast.” It follows a Venusian game hunter tracking a vaguely described dangerous creature. It’s also racist and boring.
The final story, “The Slaver,” regards a nobleman who winds up on a slaver spaceship by pure ill-chance. In truth, it’s not much different from “The Beast,” if slavers replace the alien monster and captured slaves replace the racist villagers. Both stories are more about the emotional journey of their leads, particularly in how they fall to their lowest points before overcoming the odds. “The Slaver” is the only story to have a female main character, but she’s a generic angry damsel in distress. At the end of the day, the story isn’t terrible, but it’s not particularly noteworthy either.
THE GREAT SECRET isn’t as great as the title suggests, but it’s not a terrible read either. Hubbard was a very talented author in his day, and even his bad stories have charm to them. His works are far more character driven than typical Golden Age of Scifi fluff, which modern readers might appreciate. There are worse ways to waste an evening reading, if nothing else.
January 26, 2011
“The Great Secret” played The Great Trick on me; I didn’t know it was a short story collection, so I kept waiting for Marsten from the first story to pop up later. I, being very smart, eventually figured it all out. This was my first sci-fi book by Hubbard, and was probably the most distinct from his other dime novel work. The style is literary and the stories a bit deeper; our space sailors and hunters had more realism than the be-muscled hunks of “The Iron Duke”. But will devoted pulp fans miss bulletproof heroes and dames worthy of “a second glance”? EZ Read is on the case!
Our first short story “The Great Secret” explores one man’s painful desert crawl across a planet with (unfortunately) two suns, all in order to uncover the secrets of the Universe. Does he find them? Tsk tsk for asking! “Space Can”, our second adventure, uses a unique style to contrast a spaceship battle by with old navy ship battles; the kind with cannons, sails flying, ship boarding, battle cries and exploding masculinity. My personal favorite in the collection “The Beast”, relates a hunter’s revenge on a man-eating beast on Venus who has destroyed his confidence and courage. Apparently, Venus is a lush jungle planet with massive monsters and blue natives…if it sounds like the inspiration for “Avatar”, I would not doubt it. Someone call James Cameron for a comment.
Finally and most poignantly, we have “The Slaver”, a story about a captured prince about to be sold into slavery when he encounters a girl he had crushed on in the past. It’s her disappointment in him and her own strength that inspires him to escape, or at least stand up to, his captors. The prince, Kree, has a similar internal journey at the hunter in “The Beast”. More than their opponent, it’s their doubt that spanks them. For a reader used to heroes with unlimited manhood and confidence set on ‘eleven’, it’s actually a nice change to see some character growth and development.
Short though these stories are, they are loaded with flavor and style, like a can of condensed soup.
EZ Read Staffer Jenifer
Our first short story “The Great Secret” explores one man’s painful desert crawl across a planet with (unfortunately) two suns, all in order to uncover the secrets of the Universe. Does he find them? Tsk tsk for asking! “Space Can”, our second adventure, uses a unique style to contrast a spaceship battle by with old navy ship battles; the kind with cannons, sails flying, ship boarding, battle cries and exploding masculinity. My personal favorite in the collection “The Beast”, relates a hunter’s revenge on a man-eating beast on Venus who has destroyed his confidence and courage. Apparently, Venus is a lush jungle planet with massive monsters and blue natives…if it sounds like the inspiration for “Avatar”, I would not doubt it. Someone call James Cameron for a comment.
Finally and most poignantly, we have “The Slaver”, a story about a captured prince about to be sold into slavery when he encounters a girl he had crushed on in the past. It’s her disappointment in him and her own strength that inspires him to escape, or at least stand up to, his captors. The prince, Kree, has a similar internal journey at the hunter in “The Beast”. More than their opponent, it’s their doubt that spanks them. For a reader used to heroes with unlimited manhood and confidence set on ‘eleven’, it’s actually a nice change to see some character growth and development.
Short though these stories are, they are loaded with flavor and style, like a can of condensed soup.
EZ Read Staffer Jenifer
January 20, 2021
I love old pulp fiction books and stories. They're a lot of fun to read. This book, this series, is really a masturbation to L. Ron Hubbard. Starts out and ends with praise after praise. Ok, I get it, this is his company, you want to sel the books, make some money for the aliens. Got it.
But they just keep going.
As far as pulp goes, this was ok. A lot of the visualization wasn't there. I had a hard time visualizing what was going on. I've read so much better.
This has a few short stories. "The Beast" was pretty bad. The descriptions were hard to picture.
They drone on and on about how much he wrote and how inhuman it was and blah, blah, blah. Maybe he should have spent a tad more time on descriptors.
But they just keep going.
As far as pulp goes, this was ok. A lot of the visualization wasn't there. I had a hard time visualizing what was going on. I've read so much better.
This has a few short stories. "The Beast" was pretty bad. The descriptions were hard to picture.
They drone on and on about how much he wrote and how inhuman it was and blah, blah, blah. Maybe he should have spent a tad more time on descriptors.
June 26, 2010
Enjoyable, but not his best by any means. The title story was a variation on a very old story, fairly well told but not exceptional. Space Can was decent military science fiction, all action and no development. The Beast would have made a good Twilight Zone or Outer Limits story, weird enough that it worked well. For me, it was the highlight of the book. The Slaver was the weakest of the bunch, and the least believable to me.
June 19, 2011
The title story was just amazing.Highly reccommended for any lover of the pulps.
December 28, 2012
Supremely, spectacularly bad!
September 26, 2018
Golden Age science fiction/adventure stories full of pulp and trope. The first story "The Great Secret" is read by Bruce Boxleitner (of Tron and Scarecrow and Mrs. King fame). Not only does he have a great voice and perfect command of the character, he REALLY gets how these pulpy shorts should be read. It's full of self-important delusional manly man characters that refer to themselves in the first person "and he, (insert name here) would be the one to conquer the mountain! For only he (insert name here again) had the fortitude and strength of sheer will to make it happen." and Boxleitner relishes in the performance. The other stories are honestly a bit of a let down after that intro, but they're all good in their way, as long as you are a fan of these types of golden age tales. I wouldn't devote myself to an entire book written this way, but for an afternoon's diversion, it was quite entertaining.
July 16, 2018
Reissue of a set of four short stories by L. Ron Hubbard. Interesting to see what qualified as "science fiction" in 1948, and I guess this was trailblazing, though there wasn't much science, just monsters and slavers and beasts in space. Entertaining anyhow. The publisher re-released these titles under the series "Stories from the Golden Age" (of pulp fiction), which conspicuously contains stories entirely from Hubbard. The one explicit clue I got in support of the Scientology-proselytizing mission of the publisher came from the 9-page biography of Hubbard at the end of the book in which the following statement appeared: "He...thus resolved to say farewell to pulp fiction and devote himself to what it had supported these many years - namely, his serious research." Hmm.
October 21, 2023
The first two stories in this short anthology—“The Great Secret” and “Space Can”—were entertaining but nothing amazing for me personally. However, I greatly enjoyed the second two stories, “The Beast” and “The Slaver.” The former is an intense hunt of an unknown monster in the forests of Venus and the latter is an enslaved man’s attempt at escape from a spaceship. While both stories have elements that I’d consider problematic today, recognizing the time in which these stories were written made these faults tolerable, and when I looked past them, the writing was rich, the characters surprisingly deep, and the stories incredibly engaging.
June 18, 2020
Though this was a rather spare book, the classic stories offered were well worth what little time it took to finish it. I really did enjoy the older pulp fiction books for all the reasons Mr. Hubbard lists in his brief history of the genre. Sometimes it's refreshing to read something that isn't so tangled up in psychoanalysis of each and every character.
January 17, 2021
Before Scientology, L Ron Hubbard was a very prolific pulp author, writing many genres, including Westerns , mysteries, and SF. There is a glossary of terms most of which are pretty basic. For example, slug = bullet and G-men = government men. Mostly of interest to me as a period piece. An early example of purple people as the Other in one story.
February 15, 2020
Was a skeptic going in to it. I think because in my mind the name L Ron Hubbard brings only one thing to mind: Scientology. The Language is repetitive, and the use of so many invented words makes some stories unreadable.
August 18, 2021
I get keeping the past alive, but not as a vanity project. The first two stories in here were bad, and the second two were fine. There's little here of value despite the fawning claims of the accompanying material.
April 27, 2024
This was a tough read cuz I literally can't stand the way he writes. I don't know what it is about it, but I just kept finding myself extremely bored. But to each their own. He's just not for me. At least this particular collection of stories wasn't.
December 8, 2025
Bermula menjalani kehidupan sebagai budak, Fanner Marston, beralih menjadi pencuri jalanan dan pemimpin 40 anak buah. Karena sifat tamak dan serakah, ia berusaha mencari sesuatu yang digadang-gadang memiliki kekuatan besar.
Membaca buku ini kok merasa sedang diracuni paham Scientology,
Membaca buku ini kok merasa sedang diracuni paham Scientology,
May 21, 2017
Several short stories most were really good but in a way made me feel cheated because they all could continue. Left me wanting to read more by the end.
Read
June 21, 2019Secret 3/10
Space Can 3/10
Beast 4/10
Slaver 3/10
Space Can 3/10
Beast 4/10
Slaver 3/10
November 20, 2019
very average
February 24, 2021
Production values were good. Stories were mostly forgettable.
March 3, 2021
nostalgic and fun to know he was at the beginning of sci fi writings
January 14, 2024
The writing is richer and plots more plotted than he probably gets credit for, if indeed anyone notices.
November 21, 2024
Great old fiction
Enjoyable old fiction stories by a master of the craft! Highly recommend that you take the time and read his work!
Enjoyable old fiction stories by a master of the craft! Highly recommend that you take the time and read his work!
January 25, 2017
This is another in the line of Galaxy Press reprints of L. Ron Hubbard’s pulp magazine stories. As always, the physical presentation is excellent. This time, we have four short science fiction stories. The cover doesn’t actually apply to any of them.
“The Great Secret” is focused on Fanner Marston, the sole survivor of an expedition to find a lost city of the great star-spanning civilization that once ruled the universe. Hidden in that city is the Great Secret that gave them mastery–once Marston learns it he will be all-powerful and able to rule the current civilization. His single-minded focus allows him to ignore pain, starvation and thirst to some degree. At last he finds the lost city and learns the Great Secret. What is it? Sorry, spoilers.
“Space Can” is set during the war between the Terrans and the Saturnians. A small battleship is sent to check up on a report that shipping is being attacked. It turns out that the situation is much worse than advertised, but there’s no time for the Menace to wait for backup. The brave officers and men are outnumbered and outgunned, but perhaps they can pull it off. The theme of the story is the anthropomorphic way the crew relates to their ship–with the possibility that the ship reciprocates.
It’s worth noting that we learn almost nothing about the war; the Saturnians have pointy heads, but are otherwise not characterized. For all we know, the Terrans are invaders wiping out the peaceful folk of Saturn.
“The Beast” is a jungle adventure story transplanted to Venus. Great white hunter Ginger Cranston is called upon by the native “blues” when “da juju” starts killing people. At first he’s baffled by the cunning unseen monster, and spends much of the story in a funk due to an early defeat. Period racism is on display here, even if thinly disguised by making the superstitious natives aliens. Apparently they still have segregation in the future. The ending twist is fairly obvious a couple of pages in.
“The Slaver” is set in a future where Earth has been defeated by the forces of Lurga. They apparently just destroyed its military and spacefaring capabilities, but didn’t bother occupying the world. Instead, the Earth people have reverted to a semi-feudal social structure, and suffer slaving raids by the Lurgans.
On this particular trip, the Lurgan slavers have picked up Kree Lorin, a young lord, as well as the usual peasants. Kree had been haughty, and his courtship of the lovely Dana of Palmerton had been based on him elevating her social status, which she had refused. (There’s a sexist slur word used towards her mother.) Now they are chained next to each other on the slave ship Gaffgon, captained by the obese and cruel Voris Shapadin. When Voris decides to sample the merchandise early by taking Dana to his cabin, this gives Kree the motivation to fight for his (and Dana’s) freedom. The other peasants? Forgotten.
Some readers may find the “She rejected me, but when I save her from the much worse guy, she’ll be grateful and love me” plotline a bit obnoxious.
There’s a helpful glossary, but it’s been combined with that for the next book in the series, The Professor Was a Thief, so some of the entries don’t make sense in this volume. There’s a short preview of that story, and the usual potted biography of Mr. Hubbard.
This is midlist pulp SF, enjoyable but no great shakes. Check your local library or used book sales; it really is an attractive book.
For more pulp reviews, visit SKJAM! Reviews at http://www.skjam.com/tag/pulp/
“The Great Secret” is focused on Fanner Marston, the sole survivor of an expedition to find a lost city of the great star-spanning civilization that once ruled the universe. Hidden in that city is the Great Secret that gave them mastery–once Marston learns it he will be all-powerful and able to rule the current civilization. His single-minded focus allows him to ignore pain, starvation and thirst to some degree. At last he finds the lost city and learns the Great Secret. What is it? Sorry, spoilers.
“Space Can” is set during the war between the Terrans and the Saturnians. A small battleship is sent to check up on a report that shipping is being attacked. It turns out that the situation is much worse than advertised, but there’s no time for the Menace to wait for backup. The brave officers and men are outnumbered and outgunned, but perhaps they can pull it off. The theme of the story is the anthropomorphic way the crew relates to their ship–with the possibility that the ship reciprocates.
It’s worth noting that we learn almost nothing about the war; the Saturnians have pointy heads, but are otherwise not characterized. For all we know, the Terrans are invaders wiping out the peaceful folk of Saturn.
“The Beast” is a jungle adventure story transplanted to Venus. Great white hunter Ginger Cranston is called upon by the native “blues” when “da juju” starts killing people. At first he’s baffled by the cunning unseen monster, and spends much of the story in a funk due to an early defeat. Period racism is on display here, even if thinly disguised by making the superstitious natives aliens. Apparently they still have segregation in the future. The ending twist is fairly obvious a couple of pages in.
“The Slaver” is set in a future where Earth has been defeated by the forces of Lurga. They apparently just destroyed its military and spacefaring capabilities, but didn’t bother occupying the world. Instead, the Earth people have reverted to a semi-feudal social structure, and suffer slaving raids by the Lurgans.
On this particular trip, the Lurgan slavers have picked up Kree Lorin, a young lord, as well as the usual peasants. Kree had been haughty, and his courtship of the lovely Dana of Palmerton had been based on him elevating her social status, which she had refused. (There’s a sexist slur word used towards her mother.) Now they are chained next to each other on the slave ship Gaffgon, captained by the obese and cruel Voris Shapadin. When Voris decides to sample the merchandise early by taking Dana to his cabin, this gives Kree the motivation to fight for his (and Dana’s) freedom. The other peasants? Forgotten.
Some readers may find the “She rejected me, but when I save her from the much worse guy, she’ll be grateful and love me” plotline a bit obnoxious.
There’s a helpful glossary, but it’s been combined with that for the next book in the series, The Professor Was a Thief, so some of the entries don’t make sense in this volume. There’s a short preview of that story, and the usual potted biography of Mr. Hubbard.
This is midlist pulp SF, enjoyable but no great shakes. Check your local library or used book sales; it really is an attractive book.
For more pulp reviews, visit SKJAM! Reviews at http://www.skjam.com/tag/pulp/
August 3, 2011
First Impressions:
Behind a veil of science fiction trappings come four stories from pulp fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, a collection of shorts that originally appeared in various magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, when kids during the Great Depression and WWII took some comfort in these fanciful stories.
I've collected or read these kinds of stories for some time now, and found that both Hubbard's and Heinlein's stories teach us lessons of the human condition, each with its own themes of redemption or honor -- or in some cases defeat!
What's In Here?
« The title story The Great Secret was not super exciting but did give a lot of description of one Fanner Marsten, an amoral thief and adventurer, who apparently has killed for the honor of discovering a lost city on a distant planet. Dying of hunger and thirst, he treks cross desert wastes and finds the ancient city. The city with the great secret.
« The "great secret" is on a huge poster, cut into metal. What it says was quite a surprised to me. And to a greedy bastard like Marsten!
Cute video of the first story, interviewing the main character. Liquor! Women! Power! LOL!
« The second story dealt with a skirmish in a war between Saturn and Earth. Clearly a juvenile story, a captain with a love for his vessel, his pride for it, his grief for the loss of it, and his eventual redemption was interesting, but is the weakest of the four stories. Who the enemy was, why the war, and so on is not covered. What's covered is personality and grit and determination.
« The third story I enjoyed the most of all: The Beast! A cocky hunter on Venus, aka the great white hunter (the natives call him), yet he runs into an impossible animal that fights him at every turn, beats him mercilessly and he barely escapes. The natives stop worshipping him and stop following his commands, as the beast kills men, women and children of the village. Here's a story of what courage is based, and that courage is not based on cocky over-confidence. Interesting twist ending I didn't see coming.
« The last tale is about a subjugated Earth called 'Slaver.' A slave ship lands on Earth and collects many men, women and children -- and an elite man by the name of Kree Lorin. As in the other story, he too was arrogant, proud and self-assured -- and stepping his heel on the lower classes -- until captured by the slaver and found out what it was like to be beaten and ground into the nearest slave hole! Hubbard could have easily made this into a novelette -- such potential at the end to continue Kree's adventure. I was disappointed when it was done.
Throughout these four stories are the themes of overconfidence, fear of losing and eventual or potential salvation of the protagonists.
The stories are typical pulp -- not heavy drawn-out plots, no complex characterization. Great for a quick tale while waiting for a bus or having some time to kill at a doctor's office.
Galaxy Press has reprinted dozens of these -- I'd take advantage.
Other Galaxy Press Books:
The Professor Was a Thief (Stories from the Golden Age)
The Iron Duke (Stories from the Golden Age)
And the Writers of the Future anthology series:
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Vol. 22
Behind a veil of science fiction trappings come four stories from pulp fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, a collection of shorts that originally appeared in various magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, when kids during the Great Depression and WWII took some comfort in these fanciful stories.
I've collected or read these kinds of stories for some time now, and found that both Hubbard's and Heinlein's stories teach us lessons of the human condition, each with its own themes of redemption or honor -- or in some cases defeat!
What's In Here?
« The title story The Great Secret was not super exciting but did give a lot of description of one Fanner Marsten, an amoral thief and adventurer, who apparently has killed for the honor of discovering a lost city on a distant planet. Dying of hunger and thirst, he treks cross desert wastes and finds the ancient city. The city with the great secret.
« The "great secret" is on a huge poster, cut into metal. What it says was quite a surprised to me. And to a greedy bastard like Marsten!
Cute video of the first story, interviewing the main character. Liquor! Women! Power! LOL!
« The second story dealt with a skirmish in a war between Saturn and Earth. Clearly a juvenile story, a captain with a love for his vessel, his pride for it, his grief for the loss of it, and his eventual redemption was interesting, but is the weakest of the four stories. Who the enemy was, why the war, and so on is not covered. What's covered is personality and grit and determination.
« The third story I enjoyed the most of all: The Beast! A cocky hunter on Venus, aka the great white hunter (the natives call him), yet he runs into an impossible animal that fights him at every turn, beats him mercilessly and he barely escapes. The natives stop worshipping him and stop following his commands, as the beast kills men, women and children of the village. Here's a story of what courage is based, and that courage is not based on cocky over-confidence. Interesting twist ending I didn't see coming.
« The last tale is about a subjugated Earth called 'Slaver.' A slave ship lands on Earth and collects many men, women and children -- and an elite man by the name of Kree Lorin. As in the other story, he too was arrogant, proud and self-assured -- and stepping his heel on the lower classes -- until captured by the slaver and found out what it was like to be beaten and ground into the nearest slave hole! Hubbard could have easily made this into a novelette -- such potential at the end to continue Kree's adventure. I was disappointed when it was done.
Throughout these four stories are the themes of overconfidence, fear of losing and eventual or potential salvation of the protagonists.
The stories are typical pulp -- not heavy drawn-out plots, no complex characterization. Great for a quick tale while waiting for a bus or having some time to kill at a doctor's office.
Galaxy Press has reprinted dozens of these -- I'd take advantage.
Other Galaxy Press Books:
The Professor Was a Thief (Stories from the Golden Age)
The Iron Duke (Stories from the Golden Age)
And the Writers of the Future anthology series:
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Vol. 22
March 8, 2016
“Golden Age Science Fiction At Its Best.”
Actually, this book contains four stories: THE GREAT SECRET, which was originally published in SCIENCE FICTION STORIES, April 1943; SPACE CAN; THE BEAST, and THE SLAVER.
In THE GREAT SECRET Fanner Marston is the last survivor of a team searching for the mythical Parva, a lost civilization holding the secrets to the universe. Whoever can find those secrets will control the universe. Struggling through the desert half dead under two suns, Marston finds the lost city, only to learn the first secret to his grasp of power may also mean his death.
SPACE CAN, the Menace, is a US Destroyer category ship leading a convoy under the command of Lt. Carter. Two enemy ships attack, and the old space can must take them out in a space battle that will likely destroy his ship and men.
THE BEAST is a monster threatening the village Tohyvo on the planet Venus. The blue natives are in need of a great white hunter and the government sends Ginger Cranston, a man who has never failed. But the planet is known for its giant animal life, so what is the man-size beast that attacks Cranston and almost kills him? A man without fear now has fear, but he plans on tracking the monster and killing it. But is he ready for the revelation once he comes fact to face with the Beast?
The final story is THE SLAVER, and my favorite (though THE GREAT SECRET is a runner up). Voris Shapadin, captain of the slaver, is parked on Earth and his men are capturing slaves to be returned to his home planet, Lurga. They are attacked by a small, slender man, but quickly capture him. He is a high class, named Kree Lorin of Falcon Crest, a soldier and blue blood. Also held captain is the girl Kree was trying to win, Dana of Palmerton, a peasant girl. Chained and locked in cells, the ship departs Earth with their human cargo, but Kree is determined to free himself and Dana, while killing as many Lurga slavers as possible.
The four stories in this collection was a lot of fun, and though they could have been altered as adventure stories, and sea adventures instead of space opera, they worked well as SF. Highly recommended.
Actually, this book contains four stories: THE GREAT SECRET, which was originally published in SCIENCE FICTION STORIES, April 1943; SPACE CAN; THE BEAST, and THE SLAVER.
In THE GREAT SECRET Fanner Marston is the last survivor of a team searching for the mythical Parva, a lost civilization holding the secrets to the universe. Whoever can find those secrets will control the universe. Struggling through the desert half dead under two suns, Marston finds the lost city, only to learn the first secret to his grasp of power may also mean his death.
SPACE CAN, the Menace, is a US Destroyer category ship leading a convoy under the command of Lt. Carter. Two enemy ships attack, and the old space can must take them out in a space battle that will likely destroy his ship and men.
THE BEAST is a monster threatening the village Tohyvo on the planet Venus. The blue natives are in need of a great white hunter and the government sends Ginger Cranston, a man who has never failed. But the planet is known for its giant animal life, so what is the man-size beast that attacks Cranston and almost kills him? A man without fear now has fear, but he plans on tracking the monster and killing it. But is he ready for the revelation once he comes fact to face with the Beast?
The final story is THE SLAVER, and my favorite (though THE GREAT SECRET is a runner up). Voris Shapadin, captain of the slaver, is parked on Earth and his men are capturing slaves to be returned to his home planet, Lurga. They are attacked by a small, slender man, but quickly capture him. He is a high class, named Kree Lorin of Falcon Crest, a soldier and blue blood. Also held captain is the girl Kree was trying to win, Dana of Palmerton, a peasant girl. Chained and locked in cells, the ship departs Earth with their human cargo, but Kree is determined to free himself and Dana, while killing as many Lurga slavers as possible.
The four stories in this collection was a lot of fun, and though they could have been altered as adventure stories, and sea adventures instead of space opera, they worked well as SF. Highly recommended.
December 20, 2016
Perempuan.
Minuman keras.
Kekuasaan.
3 hal yang menjadi MANTRA bagi seorang Fanner Marston.
Bukan tanpa alasan jika Fanner Marston menjadi pemuja 3 mantra tersebut. Masa kecil yang kelam membuat seorang Marston menjadi gila perempuan, gila minuman keras, dan gila kekuasaan. Masa kecilnya penuh dengan kemelaratan. Sedemikian miskin dan melaratnya, Marston kecil menjadi seorang budak, sehingga ketika dewasa ia menjadi pemuja sekaligus budak utama kekuasaan. Masa remaja dilalui sebagai seorang pencuri, sehingga Marston dewasa menjadi amat sangat serakah. Dan sekarang, tiba-tiba ada sebuah rahasia yang menawarkan kekuasaan absolut di dunia ke tangannya. Marston pun menemukan kegairahan dan kegilaan mimpi yang baru.
Demikian kekuatan inti cerita yang ditawarkan Hubbard di kisah The Great Secret.
4 cerita di dalam buku The Great Secret ini terpusat pada genre sci-fi.
Bagi pencinta hal yang terkait dengan alien, disuguhkan kisah Space Can. Bercerita tentang sebuah pesawat militer ruang angkasa bernama "Menace" yang berpatroli di luar angkasa untuk melawan alien super yang berasal dari Saturnus. Full of military-action.
Bagi pencinta hal yang terkait dengan twilight zone and outer limits, disuguhkan The Beast. Bercerita tentang seorang Monster di Venus yang harus dibunuh oleh seorang pemburu dari Bumi.
Bagi pencinta kisah yang lebih "romantis", disuguhkan kisah The Slaver. Bercerita tentang seorang prajurit muda yang tiba-tiba ditangkap oleh segerombolan pelaut yang juga pedagang budak. Di sana, ia juga bertemu seorang gadis yang ia kenal. Dan sang prajurit muda kemudian mengajak sang gadis untuk melarikan diri dari tahanan.
Banyak yang menganggap The Slaver merupakan kisah terlemah di antara kisah lainnya, dan ya, saya sangat sepakat. Bagi saya, idenya terlalu klise dan alurnya membosankan. Beruntung, The Slaver merupakan kisah yang diceritakan paling akhir, sehingga saya tidak memilih menyerah untuk membaca keseluruhan buku - in case The Slaver menjadi kisah pembuka dari buku ini.
http://www.niafajriyani.com/2013/10/j...
Minuman keras.
Kekuasaan.
3 hal yang menjadi MANTRA bagi seorang Fanner Marston.
Bukan tanpa alasan jika Fanner Marston menjadi pemuja 3 mantra tersebut. Masa kecil yang kelam membuat seorang Marston menjadi gila perempuan, gila minuman keras, dan gila kekuasaan. Masa kecilnya penuh dengan kemelaratan. Sedemikian miskin dan melaratnya, Marston kecil menjadi seorang budak, sehingga ketika dewasa ia menjadi pemuja sekaligus budak utama kekuasaan. Masa remaja dilalui sebagai seorang pencuri, sehingga Marston dewasa menjadi amat sangat serakah. Dan sekarang, tiba-tiba ada sebuah rahasia yang menawarkan kekuasaan absolut di dunia ke tangannya. Marston pun menemukan kegairahan dan kegilaan mimpi yang baru.
Demikian kekuatan inti cerita yang ditawarkan Hubbard di kisah The Great Secret.
4 cerita di dalam buku The Great Secret ini terpusat pada genre sci-fi.
Bagi pencinta hal yang terkait dengan alien, disuguhkan kisah Space Can. Bercerita tentang sebuah pesawat militer ruang angkasa bernama "Menace" yang berpatroli di luar angkasa untuk melawan alien super yang berasal dari Saturnus. Full of military-action.
Bagi pencinta hal yang terkait dengan twilight zone and outer limits, disuguhkan The Beast. Bercerita tentang seorang Monster di Venus yang harus dibunuh oleh seorang pemburu dari Bumi.
Bagi pencinta kisah yang lebih "romantis", disuguhkan kisah The Slaver. Bercerita tentang seorang prajurit muda yang tiba-tiba ditangkap oleh segerombolan pelaut yang juga pedagang budak. Di sana, ia juga bertemu seorang gadis yang ia kenal. Dan sang prajurit muda kemudian mengajak sang gadis untuk melarikan diri dari tahanan.
Banyak yang menganggap The Slaver merupakan kisah terlemah di antara kisah lainnya, dan ya, saya sangat sepakat. Bagi saya, idenya terlalu klise dan alurnya membosankan. Beruntung, The Slaver merupakan kisah yang diceritakan paling akhir, sehingga saya tidak memilih menyerah untuk membaca keseluruhan buku - in case The Slaver menjadi kisah pembuka dari buku ini.
http://www.niafajriyani.com/2013/10/j...
May 14, 2014
Comes Up Short When Compared to Other Books in This Series
Re-published by Galaxy Press in 2008
Before L. Ron Hubbard became famous for Scientology and ultimately made Tom Cruise's life a perennial target for the tabloids he wrote a whole bunch of short stories for the pulp magazines from 1936 to 1950. Galaxy Press has been re-releasing them in small collections as paperbacks and audiobooks. This collection consists of four short stories.
The first story is "The Great Secret" which was originally published in Science Fiction Stories in April of 1943. It is an okay story about a man who is willing to give anything to find out what the secret of a great, lost civilization was.
Story number two is "Space Can" - the best story in the bunch. Originally published in Astounding Science Fiction in July of 1942 it features a fight between two space fleets and the hand-to-hand combat that ensues.
"The Beast" is a forgettable safari tale based on Venus rather than Africa. But, it is filled with submissive natives and a great foreign hunter just in case you like to ponder how racist a story can be without actually involving human beings being oppressed. Originally published in Astounding Science Fiction in July of 1942.
"The Slaver" (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1942) would have been a good novel if it had been extended but it is an unsatisfying short story. It features an alien race capturing humans and using them as slaves after the humans lost an interstellar war.
The "Stories from the Golden Age" collection is an admirable attempt to preserve stories from the age of pulp fiction but this particular book is mostly not worth the effort.
Read all of my reviews of more books (mostly much better) in this series by clicking here: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/searc...
Re-published by Galaxy Press in 2008
Before L. Ron Hubbard became famous for Scientology and ultimately made Tom Cruise's life a perennial target for the tabloids he wrote a whole bunch of short stories for the pulp magazines from 1936 to 1950. Galaxy Press has been re-releasing them in small collections as paperbacks and audiobooks. This collection consists of four short stories.
The first story is "The Great Secret" which was originally published in Science Fiction Stories in April of 1943. It is an okay story about a man who is willing to give anything to find out what the secret of a great, lost civilization was.
Story number two is "Space Can" - the best story in the bunch. Originally published in Astounding Science Fiction in July of 1942 it features a fight between two space fleets and the hand-to-hand combat that ensues.
"The Beast" is a forgettable safari tale based on Venus rather than Africa. But, it is filled with submissive natives and a great foreign hunter just in case you like to ponder how racist a story can be without actually involving human beings being oppressed. Originally published in Astounding Science Fiction in July of 1942.
"The Slaver" (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1942) would have been a good novel if it had been extended but it is an unsatisfying short story. It features an alien race capturing humans and using them as slaves after the humans lost an interstellar war.
The "Stories from the Golden Age" collection is an admirable attempt to preserve stories from the age of pulp fiction but this particular book is mostly not worth the effort.
Read all of my reviews of more books (mostly much better) in this series by clicking here: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/searc...
November 14, 2013
Ohkay, so this wasn't a horrible collection of little sci-fi shorts. I have to admit I was a little (perhaps a LOT) skeptical when I began to read these stories, as I am familiar with the person known as L Ron Hubbard as well as his Church of Scientology empire. I got about 5 of these "pulp" collections as a gag-gift from my father, after sitting on the shelf for a brief period collecting dust, i decided to grab "The Great Secret" off the stack and peel right into it...
On the positive side, the stories aren't the worst sci-fi i've read; mildly intriguing plots and boring characters pepper into Hubbard's insane and often improper vocabulary. Comparatively speaking, some of these short stories are actually much better than your standard Ballantine Pulp Novel. The brevity might help, 25 pages doesn't allow much in the ways of exploring literary and story elements, but I found the reads to be quick and easy. The greatest feat would probably be the fact that Hubbard wrote so damn many of these pulp stories that you have to give the man credit for keeping things interesting 50 stories later!
Unfortunately, put this writing up against any other famed science fiction and pulp authors, and Hubbard simply cannot hold his ground. In the biographical supplement to "The Great Secret", Hubbard is scored among the ranks of Bradbury and Asimov, something I simply do not feel is true. With his bizarre gramatical tendencies (which hover VERY close to the style of Scientology writing) Hubbard makes it impossible to be totally immersed in his stories.
Everything aside, not a bad read if you're traveling or fresh out of new books, but this is nothing anyone should go out of their way to experience. Go read some Bradbury and enjoy yourself!!!
On the positive side, the stories aren't the worst sci-fi i've read; mildly intriguing plots and boring characters pepper into Hubbard's insane and often improper vocabulary. Comparatively speaking, some of these short stories are actually much better than your standard Ballantine Pulp Novel. The brevity might help, 25 pages doesn't allow much in the ways of exploring literary and story elements, but I found the reads to be quick and easy. The greatest feat would probably be the fact that Hubbard wrote so damn many of these pulp stories that you have to give the man credit for keeping things interesting 50 stories later!
Unfortunately, put this writing up against any other famed science fiction and pulp authors, and Hubbard simply cannot hold his ground. In the biographical supplement to "The Great Secret", Hubbard is scored among the ranks of Bradbury and Asimov, something I simply do not feel is true. With his bizarre gramatical tendencies (which hover VERY close to the style of Scientology writing) Hubbard makes it impossible to be totally immersed in his stories.
Everything aside, not a bad read if you're traveling or fresh out of new books, but this is nothing anyone should go out of their way to experience. Go read some Bradbury and enjoy yourself!!!
December 22, 2013
This was an extremely short book containing four shorter stories written in the 1940’s by a classic pulp fiction writer.
I don’t usually get much satisfaction from short stories, although they’re ok for an occasional quick read. This collection wasn’t any different -- the stories just didn’t contain much substance. They were too short for any real character development, and each story provided little more than a snapshot of a key moment in a character’s life. I liked some of the stories better than others. The third story, The Beast, was my favorite. It had more character development and it felt more like a full story complete with an interesting ending.
I’ve had this collection on my Kindle for years. I think I probably got it from the Baen free library way back when. For such a quick read, it was worth reading if only for the historical perspective of seeing what was considered popular science fiction back in this era.
I don’t usually get much satisfaction from short stories, although they’re ok for an occasional quick read. This collection wasn’t any different -- the stories just didn’t contain much substance. They were too short for any real character development, and each story provided little more than a snapshot of a key moment in a character’s life. I liked some of the stories better than others. The third story, The Beast, was my favorite. It had more character development and it felt more like a full story complete with an interesting ending.
I’ve had this collection on my Kindle for years. I think I probably got it from the Baen free library way back when. For such a quick read, it was worth reading if only for the historical perspective of seeing what was considered popular science fiction back in this era.
December 9, 2014
The kind folks at Galaxy Press have given me a few copies of their audiobooks over the years at semiannual ALA conferences. I promised one of their booth reps this summer that I'd post reviews of them on Goodreads to repay their generosity.
"The Great Secret" is another collection of L. Ron Hubbard's old pulp stories, science fiction this time. It's a two-disc audiobook with music and effects.
Overall this is a forgettable tome of mediocre tales. The titular story takes place on a far-off wasteland of a planet and is ably read by the great Bruce Boxleitner, but that's about the best thing I can say about it.
The remaining tales take place around Saturn, on Venus, and on a future Earth, respectively, and are passable but not particularly compelling. For an author so capable in Sci Fi, these aren't his best efforts.
Not recommended, but not dreadful, either.
"The Great Secret" is another collection of L. Ron Hubbard's old pulp stories, science fiction this time. It's a two-disc audiobook with music and effects.
Overall this is a forgettable tome of mediocre tales. The titular story takes place on a far-off wasteland of a planet and is ably read by the great Bruce Boxleitner, but that's about the best thing I can say about it.
The remaining tales take place around Saturn, on Venus, and on a future Earth, respectively, and are passable but not particularly compelling. For an author so capable in Sci Fi, these aren't his best efforts.
Not recommended, but not dreadful, either.
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