The Planeteers / The Ultimate Weapon

by John W. Campbell Jr.

Ace Double G-585
The Planeteers by John W. Campbell Jr. (150 pgs)
The Ultimate Weapon By John W. Campbell Jr. (106 pgs)

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

256 pages, paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction (later called Analog Science Fiction and Fact), from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.

Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely."

As a writer, Campbell published super-science space opera under his own name and moody, less pulpish stories as Don A. Stuart. He stopped writing fiction after he became editor of Astounding.

Known Pseudonyms/Alternate Names:

Don A. Stuart
Karl van Campen
John Campbell
J. W. C., Jr.
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell

Reviews

[R.J. Guy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of classic hard science fiction short stories and a novella written in the 1930s and published 30 years later as a double novel. The writing style is a little quaint compared to modern writers, some of the science is both lame yet amazing considering the level of scientific knowledge in the 1930s, and the characterizations are typical of popular (pulp fiction) writing of that time. But in their context, Campbell's stories were highly influencial and blazed trails that many later highly successful science fiction authors followed.
If Campbell had not written his own stories and edited many aspiring authors such as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and countless others while inspiring current writers such as George R.R. Martin, then science fiction may died on the vine at the beginning of World War 2. Hardly any of today's speculative fiction writers have not read John W. Campbell or any of his protégées.
So he can be excused for the pulp fiction quality of his writing because, even today, his ideas in these stories still form the basis of current writing in this genre. Read the yellowed pages of these tales, enjoy, don't be too picky and enjoy the ride through two fun romps in space opera tradition.

[John Peel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very early works by John Campbell, when he was a freelance writer and before he took on editing "Astounding Science Fiction" (later "Analog"). Very gung-ho Twenties tales of derring-do and reaching for frontiers. Sadly, they fall rather flat, with unconvincing characters and settings, and endless pages filled with "explanations" for how his inventions work. None of them really would, of course.

[Roddy Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is actually by John W Campbell rather than Jack Vance, and would be of interest to those researching Campbell's work. It's one of the Ace Double releases from 1966, which featured two novels back to back in one volume (with two front covers).

The Ultimate Weapon (from 1936) is a bit of a vintage piece. Back in the day, heroes of space were built like brick outhouses, had an IQ of 209 and were, for the most part, filthy rich having made a mint from a science-based private business.
Buck Kendall is no exception and, having accepted a bet from his friend and Technical Engineer, Rad Cole, has taken up extraterrestrial mining and is – at the start of this tale – zipping around the outer Solar System hunting for rare minerals. They are therefore the first to witness an advance scouting party from the system of Mira, a vast red variable sun whose output of radiation is getting a bit too much for the residents of its habitable worlds. They have set their sights on our Solar System as a new home and don’t intend to let the humans stand in their way.
Serialised in ‘Amazing’ this is essentially a tale of rapid scientific development on the part of the humans in order to repel the highly advanced invaders.
The Solar System has to suffer a lot of death and space battles before Kendall comes up trumps with the Ultimate Weapon, developed around the concept of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.
It reads a little like EE ‘Doc’ Smith, although Smith at least understood literary concepts such as pace, drama and suspense and whose aliens, however dated they may seem today, came across as fully-rounded alien individuals.

The Planeteers

Consists of:-

The Brain Stealers of Mars (Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1936)
The Double Minds (Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1937)
The Immortality Seekers (Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1937)
The Tenth World (Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1937)
The Brain Pirates (Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1938)

Penton and Blake are pioneers of atomic power, and having caused devastation on Earth with their experiments, have taken to space in a nuclear rocket and through these five stories visit various planets and moons of the Solar System, all of which have life and civilisations of various kinds.

Despite the fact that 'The Brain Stealers of Mars' has to be one of my favourite SF titles, the tales are somewhat dated, but have a nostalgic charm which many may appreciate.