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Nine Rarities
This Ray Bradbury collection is comprised of nine early short stories rarely or never reprinted since first publication. Included are three stories originally published in Mr. Bradbury's own science fiction fanzine, Futuria Fantasia.
"Don't Get Technatal" Jumping Jigwheels! If you enjoy exclamation points, this story was written for you! In the distant year of 1975 a dissatisfied writer rants about the state of society! Could robosexuality be the answer he seeks?(!)
"The Pendulum" A delightful little story with delightfully unconventional spelling.
"The Flight of the Good Ship Clarissa" Not entirely lucid but entertaining nevertheless.
"I, Rocket" There may be an unwholesome subtext to this story.
"Mass is the sexual drive of space, and gravity the intensified yearning of that mass, the gravitic libido of one tremendous body for the love, the following of any and all smaller bodies who transgress its void boundaries."
"Undersea Guardians" Half-naked sea-dwelling zombies battle the Nazi Kriegsmarine!
"Final Victim" "Hunting a criminal is tough enough, but it's even tougher when it's on a bit of Hell's own rock in the void of space."
"Defense Mech" There are no giant, Japanese-speaking robots in this story. It is, however, a riveting tale of the effects of space on the human psyche.
"Lorelei of the Red Mist" A second chance in someone else's body becomes complicated when its previous owner was universally hated.
"Jonah of the Jove-Run" "They hated this little beat-up old guy. Even if his crazy cosmic brain could track an asteroid clear across the Galaxy, why did he have to smash the super-sensitive meteor detectors?"
About 55,000 words in total.
Punctuation and apparent typographical errors in the Futuria Fantasia stories have been left as originally published.
"Don't Get Technatal" (as Ron Reynolds) Futuria Fantasia (1939)
"The Pendulum" (uncredited) Futuria Fantasia (1939)
"The Flight of the Good Ship Clarissa" (uncredited) Futuria Fantasia (1940)
"I, Rocket" Amazing Stories (May 1944)
"Undersea Guardians" Amazing Stories (December 1944)
"Final Victim" Amazing Stories (February 1946)
"Defense Mech" Planet Stories (February 1946)
"Lorelei of the Red Mist" Planet Stories (May 1946)
"Jonah of the Jove-Run" Planet Stories (Spring 1948)
"Don't Get Technatal" Jumping Jigwheels! If you enjoy exclamation points, this story was written for you! In the distant year of 1975 a dissatisfied writer rants about the state of society! Could robosexuality be the answer he seeks?(!)
"The Pendulum" A delightful little story with delightfully unconventional spelling.
"The Flight of the Good Ship Clarissa" Not entirely lucid but entertaining nevertheless.
"I, Rocket" There may be an unwholesome subtext to this story.
"Mass is the sexual drive of space, and gravity the intensified yearning of that mass, the gravitic libido of one tremendous body for the love, the following of any and all smaller bodies who transgress its void boundaries."
"Undersea Guardians" Half-naked sea-dwelling zombies battle the Nazi Kriegsmarine!
"Final Victim" "Hunting a criminal is tough enough, but it's even tougher when it's on a bit of Hell's own rock in the void of space."
"Defense Mech" There are no giant, Japanese-speaking robots in this story. It is, however, a riveting tale of the effects of space on the human psyche.
"Lorelei of the Red Mist" A second chance in someone else's body becomes complicated when its previous owner was universally hated.
"Jonah of the Jove-Run" "They hated this little beat-up old guy. Even if his crazy cosmic brain could track an asteroid clear across the Galaxy, why did he have to smash the super-sensitive meteor detectors?"
About 55,000 words in total.
Punctuation and apparent typographical errors in the Futuria Fantasia stories have been left as originally published.
"Don't Get Technatal" (as Ron Reynolds) Futuria Fantasia (1939)
"The Pendulum" (uncredited) Futuria Fantasia (1939)
"The Flight of the Good Ship Clarissa" (uncredited) Futuria Fantasia (1940)
"I, Rocket" Amazing Stories (May 1944)
"Undersea Guardians" Amazing Stories (December 1944)
"Final Victim" Amazing Stories (February 1946)
"Defense Mech" Planet Stories (February 1946)
"Lorelei of the Red Mist" Planet Stories (May 1946)
"Jonah of the Jove-Run" Planet Stories (Spring 1948)
175 pages, ebook
First published May 10, 2012
8 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Ray Bradbury
2,561 books25.2k followersRay Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.
Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).
The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".
Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).
The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 6, 2014
As I neared the end of The Bradbury Project, I discovered that this volume was only available in digital form. So I downloaded it using a Kindle app and alternated between reading it on my laptop and my smartphone. It becomes the first official e-Book on my Goodreads list.
These nine Bradbury short stories are previously unpublished in collected form. They are all from early in his career and are most definitely a mixed bag. Some of the stories deal with predictable Bradbury themes such as the emotional bond between a spaceship and her captain ("I, Rocket") and the psychological effects of space travel ("Defense Mech") whereas others deal with less usual topics, such as a group of underwater ghosts who wreak havoc on German U-boats during WWII ("Undersea Guardians") while at least one is downright incoherent (can anyone tell me what "The Flight of the Good Ship Clarissa" is really about?).
In many ways, the centerpiece of this short collection is a novella that Bradbury wrote with golden-age pulp writer Leigh Brackett, "Lorelei of the Red Mist." This story deals with an interplanetary con-man on Venus whose ship crash lands after a botched job, causing him severe injuries. He is given a second lease on life when his intellect is transferred into the body of a native Venusian (named Conan of all things), a hulking man caught in the midst of a long battle between two warring nations. The bulk of the story deals with the new Conan trying to understand where he is, making decisions as to what side he is on and figuring out if he can ever get back to his own body - and if that is even desirable. It is a strange tale, in both tone and construction. As I understand it, Bradbury was brought in to finish this story on Brackett's behalf. So the original fantasy-adventure format is hers and the tone and pace could easily be at home in say, a John Carter story. But about halfway through the style of writing changes; you can almost draw a line in the middle of the page where Bradbury took over. The tale becomes much more philosophical, poetic and even melancholy. It is less about battles and creatures and warrior princesses and much more about the meaning of life. So the novella feels like two stories hammered together - albeit with the same characters in each. It is entertaining and intriguing, but ultimately a little unsatisfying.
Altogether this is an odd little collection. It's all over the map and feels a little like it was thrown together indiscriminately rather than with active curation. But it is fun for a Bradbury completist to see the early threads of Bradbury's storytelling style. However I probably wouldn't recommend it to the more casual fan.
These nine Bradbury short stories are previously unpublished in collected form. They are all from early in his career and are most definitely a mixed bag. Some of the stories deal with predictable Bradbury themes such as the emotional bond between a spaceship and her captain ("I, Rocket") and the psychological effects of space travel ("Defense Mech") whereas others deal with less usual topics, such as a group of underwater ghosts who wreak havoc on German U-boats during WWII ("Undersea Guardians") while at least one is downright incoherent (can anyone tell me what "The Flight of the Good Ship Clarissa" is really about?).
In many ways, the centerpiece of this short collection is a novella that Bradbury wrote with golden-age pulp writer Leigh Brackett, "Lorelei of the Red Mist." This story deals with an interplanetary con-man on Venus whose ship crash lands after a botched job, causing him severe injuries. He is given a second lease on life when his intellect is transferred into the body of a native Venusian (named Conan of all things), a hulking man caught in the midst of a long battle between two warring nations. The bulk of the story deals with the new Conan trying to understand where he is, making decisions as to what side he is on and figuring out if he can ever get back to his own body - and if that is even desirable. It is a strange tale, in both tone and construction. As I understand it, Bradbury was brought in to finish this story on Brackett's behalf. So the original fantasy-adventure format is hers and the tone and pace could easily be at home in say, a John Carter story. But about halfway through the style of writing changes; you can almost draw a line in the middle of the page where Bradbury took over. The tale becomes much more philosophical, poetic and even melancholy. It is less about battles and creatures and warrior princesses and much more about the meaning of life. So the novella feels like two stories hammered together - albeit with the same characters in each. It is entertaining and intriguing, but ultimately a little unsatisfying.
Altogether this is an odd little collection. It's all over the map and feels a little like it was thrown together indiscriminately rather than with active curation. But it is fun for a Bradbury completist to see the early threads of Bradbury's storytelling style. However I probably wouldn't recommend it to the more casual fan.
February 20, 2017
Early Ray
Ever want to try and read everything from a particular author. Some things are ment to be read and somethings savored. This one is somewhere in between.
Ever want to try and read everything from a particular author. Some things are ment to be read and somethings savored. This one is somewhere in between.
October 24, 2015
Welp. Two stars mean it was ok. And it was just that. Ok. Don't expect your usual Bradbury, 'cuz you won't find it. Maybe just faint lines in the sand between a page or two, but it is not Bradbury in his best form.
I liked the last history though.
I liked the last history though.
October 10, 2014
I like the stories at the beginning and at the end, but there was a fantasy novella towards the very end that I just couldn't get into. It kind of ruined it for me.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews