Fear that Man / Toyman

by Dean R. Koontz, E.C. Tubb

Ace Double
Fear that Man by Dean R. Koontz: The galaxy had forgotten war and evil-until the man without a past intervened.
Toyman by E.C. Tubb: They called their planet toy, but the games the toymen played involved the fate of worlds.

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Librarian's Note: This author writes under the name Dean R. Koontz and Dean Koontz. As both names appear on his works, both should be kept.

Acknowledged as "America's most popular suspense novelist" (Rolling Stone) and as one of today's most celebrated and successful writers, Dean Ray Koontz has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human.

Known Pseudonyms:
Leigh Nichols,
Brian Coffey,
David Axton,
Owen West,
Deanna Dwyer
Aaron Wolfe.
K.R. Dwyer
John Hill
Richard Paige
Anthony North

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fear That Man was a very early science fiction novel by Koontz. It's a fix-up of two novelettes that were originally published in 1969 issues of If Science Fiction magazine (which was edited by none other than Frederik Pohl), entitled In the Shield and Where the Beast Runs. It's a very cosmic meditation of good and evil; Koontz quotes both Nietzsche and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" as a preface and proceeds to portray God as slug. (At the time we called it "Trippy!") The writing is rough but shows the carefully constructed complex arrangements for which Koontz was later to become quite famous. For example, I always liked the last paragraph: "In the city, the gutters were clogged with the flow of blood as it poured silently into the sewers. The stars were bright. The sky was without a roof. And darkness spoke to the wind." Fear that Man was published back-to-back with Toyman by E.C. Tubb as part of the Ace Doubles program. Toyman is an installment in Tubb's long running series of adventures about Dumarest of Terra. It's a far-future space opera in which Dumarest is on a quest (that lasted thirty-some volumes) to find the fabled, lost Earth. It was a fun series, much better than many of the other similar books of the time. Koontz's novel has a quirky Jack Gaughan cover that shows a topless green alien lady with pointy ears, and Toyman has a very striking Kelly Freas painting of what looks like Roman centurions perched on computer tape. Cool stuff from the '60s... you shoulda been there.

[Jim C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This edition has two stories from two different authors.

The first one is Fear That Man by Dean Koontz. This is written before Koontz was a well known author. It is a science fiction story so this is not your typical Koontz story. In this one, the universe inhabitants do not know how or desire to fight. But a threat might destroy their universe and they cannot fight back. I thought this was a decent idea for a story but the follow thru was lacking. There were parts that I truly enjoyed but for the most part including the ending was lackluster. One can tell Koontz was not a refined author at this point of his career. I can only recommend this story as a curiosity read from an established author.

The second story is Toyman and is part of a series but can be read as a standalone. This story reminded me of ancient Rome meets the corporate sector. Earl lands on a planet and must fight his way to continue his quest of making it back home to Earth. Once again there were parts I enjoyed but also parts I did not. This story was a little better than the other one. The setting was a little off to me and maybe this is attributed to me not knowing the story so far.

I read this book as I am curious of the author's early works. I had a feeling this wouldn't be the most entertaining book and I was right. It did meet my goals in satisfying my curiosity factor.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first thing I ever read by Dean Koontz, and I've been disappointed that it's nothing like anything else I've read by him. Perhaps that's why the reviews here are so negative; they're from people who want the Koontz they've come to expect.

Anyway, this is an insane, wildly funny creation, and to hell with everyone knocking it. It's just brilliant.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Koontz's third novel. While it's an interesting read, it is not quite as good as his first two. It's enjoyable.

[wally · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is something like #75 (76) from koontz for me. one of his early stories.
this is actually the copy (ace double) that has Toyman on the flip side, but heathen that i am, i'm listing it separately so as to pad my numbers. ooga booga.

fear that man, 1969, by dean r. koontz
cover by jack gaughan

a dedication:
to vaughn for comradeship in the alleyways of imagination
and to andy for enthusiasms shared

two parts...so far
three parts...
the story has two parts...part one, purpose, the beginning below...and the second, soul drift...and men shall be torn between the old way and the new...has a parenthetical after: (compiled from several entries in the diary of andrew coro)...part three is called dimensional ladder, "you shall know antiquity floating dragon-head on new waters"


story begins:
one: purpose
and ye shall seek a new order of things

when he woke from a featureless dream of silver, there was nothing but endless blackness on three sides, a blackness so intense that it almost coughed out a breath and nearly moved. and when he woke, he did not know who he was.

okee dokee then, as the good doctor said, (the wash-king laundromat, 1981)...onward & upward

update...to the page-37-0f-131 point
interesting start. better than a handful of his titles that are listed on the "also by dean koontz" page of his recent (the last 20 years?) stories. sci-fi, yes. this is one of many that koontz has...what? not claimed? does not include in that list "also by dean koontz". note the "dean r. koontz" as author. he has since dropped the "r". ooga booga.

there have been three characters introduced...now a 4th...but one named sam...who awakens on a spaceship...meets another who is adrift in space (hurkos)...the two meet/greet on sam's ship...then, voices tell sam to boogie to hope...a capital city...and they meet gnossos, the poet, on his ship...they go to hope...there are christians...who are a dying breed. there are maus, a kind of fabricated human...of sorts...many generations after man's attempt to do this that the other, one result is a "mau"...which is hurkos.

time place scene setting
*it is the year 3456
*a control console of a spaceship
*the scavenger...a kind of capsule/pod on sam's first ship...only ship...a ship that is unlabelled, carries weapons, carries some sort of jelly-type intelligent being
*space razzle, a ship that hurkos, a mue, signed on as a cargo handler
*hope, the capital
*ship of the soul gnossos mikos spaceship
*the shield...still being defined...a product of the breadloaf family/fortune
*a hotel, hotel room, in hope, the capital city
*the inferno, a bar
*the breadloaf building...where...god is held behind the shield...i think...prisoner behind the shield, anyway.
*harrisburg crater...place where one trio hunts the beast
*raceship...gigantic spaceship of the slugs. (reminiscent of independence day, the movie, will smith, may it do ya fine)
*chaplain alpha, chaplain beta...two cities on a planet decimated by the slugs
*chaplain-alpha's space port...a single spaceship, one among many there...used by the four to escape

characters
*sam, initial 3rd-person hero/character, opening scene & following. he is named sam by hurkos, after a dog he purchased on callileo...as "sam" does not who he is...a kind of rip van winkle...or is it wrinkle? rip van wrinkle. the guy who slept a lot.
*hurkos, a mue, the product of generations of reproduction by some sort/manner of being fabricated/made by man for war.
*gnossos mikos, a poet...flies a spaceship...writes a books called, on god's demise
*robosurgeons...as the name suggests...some sort of machine-doctor.
*a jelly substance on sam's ship...what/why/how is not defined in-total as yet...page 37
*500 mutated children...to do w/the mue-history
*characters from dreams...belina, the monster in her womb, doctors, god/christians, hospital attendants...from hurkos's dreams
*more dream characters: man on cross/god, angels, demons, dwarfs, wolves...from sam's dreams
*an old (50, may it do ya fine) christian on hope, the capital
*a crowd had begun to form around the debate (the christian/gnossos)
*breadloaf...alexander breadloaf iii, some rich guy whose father w/the help of engineers brought to the world, "the shield"...and..."the thing behind the shield" or "the prisoner of the shield"
*scantily-dressed performers (at the inferno)
*clowns in imagi-color costumes
*robotenders at the center of the table (machine)
*two dozen or so characters in the bar
*scooterbeasts...at the zoo.
*unnaturals...people who want to kill...still...though the great this that the other (i forget the actual word) but this, although utopia has been reached.
*black jack buronto, an unnatural.
*a christian and a dozen others
*andrew "andy" coro...one of 3 protag-s in the 2nd part
*his mother...his grandparents...his mother was witch-killed-burned, streets of changeover
*he had a myna bird, ceasar
*congressman horner
*a psychologist
*a particularly lovely young woman
*crazy, another, 2nd of 3 protag-s....crazy horse....jackson lincoln puicca...or just crazy. friend of andy's and lotus's
*lotus, she is on the cover...sprite-like being, female, flies, wings, she is also a botanist
*sam penuel, congressman's aide, penual is hebrew for "the face of god"
*garner, is crazy's twin brother, killed by the beast on fanner ii
*a 30' spider
*knights of the dragon to preserve humanity...past...for one
*a pilot
*various slugs...not much in the way of description here...a sense that they come in a variety of size/shape...they breed slugs to feed slugs...imgaine a slug worker-bee colony...plus
*the central being...actually a god...goes crazy...

note on that
a neato idea...this shield/prisoner behind the shield...still being defined in the telling...but it has to do w/a molecule being expanded and expanded...the molecules remaining...the same or something...and a by-product of this event is a doorway to a higher dimension. in more than a few of koontz's ladder-day stories, there's this bizz-ness about dimensions...moving sideways, this that the other. say like in
Seize the Night, Fear Nothing,Dragon Tears,From the Corner of His Eye...the first two, christopher snow and and his rich surfer buddy...and in dragon tears...unless i'm mistaken, there's some cool dimension changing/travel there...as in the last one...and. i'd hazard the same idea is present in other stories, though specific references escape me now.

update, 28 sep 13
okay...so i'm reading along, getting into the three characters, gnossos, sam, hurkos...until hurkos kills god...with a chair. major bummer. hey? they unwind at the inferno, a bar, where the mood is atmospheric. and then...boom-slang. there's a part two...the diary entries of one andrew coro...

i'm thinking, whoa man! wuzz happening? i mean, this is early koontz, right? can't be "good"...otherwise he'd...what? own it? it'd be listed on the "also by dean koontz" page? something.

anyway, part two begins w/this andrew "andy" (may it do you well) coro...and his two friends, horse, or crazy...a big dude w/a horse's behind...literally...and lotus...she is on the cover. some king of sprite-like female character what can fly. they hunt a beast. and a 30' spider attacks them. whoa. getting into this section now.

i skimmed ahead, to see if sam and company rejoin the story...and they do. that bitt about god is a...curious thing. was disappointed it was dropped...what w/god being done in...with a chair.

update, finished, 29 sep 13, sunday afternoon, 2:51 p.m. e.s.t.
3-stars, i liked it. no more no less. in the first part of the story, turns out god is a pink slug, the prisoner behind the breadloaf shield, killed w/a chair by hurkos and all assembled retire to the inferno bar.

then the story changes directions as noted above. we got the creature on the cover, goes by the name "lotus" and she's a botanist...a couple other characters...they go beast hunting. and discover another race, a race of slugs, hell-bent on destroying the human world. humans have, with the lock-up and death of god, done away with all their murderous impulses. yeah.

anyway, an interesting tale. science fiction. w/some of the characters, i dunno what happened...perhaps they were thrown down the well.


a quote
he felt like a moth trying to lift the candle and take it home.

good read.

[Leahna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the characters Andy and Crazy and wish the story had been more about them. The whole "man is sane and lacking in violence without god" and the idea that god has a bloodlust just left a bad taste for me. Having so many different levels and a god for each one (each one seemingly more bloodthirsty than the last) was just a weird mythology.

[Nyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for Fear that Man.

I loved it! I went in a little hesitant but it was so good! It was interesting and fun and not at all boring :)

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

His third novel. Fairly immature writing overall and SF concept is wildly imaginative and clunky.

[A.C. Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow I actually finished this one. Probably because it was only 100 pages. Good thing I've read so many great books by Dean Koontz. If this had been the first, I probably wouldn't have even considered picking another one up. Started with promise, and then it was quickly downhill from there. Somehow the characters kill God. Twice. Or were there two gods? The only reason I actually made it to the end was that I was hoping there would be some kind of redeeming explanation for the abysmal storytelling. I was disappointed. On to the next book...

Until next time, stay safe, and above all, be true to yourself.

That Aaron Guy

[Dustin Manning · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book collects two earlier short stories and gives a new third story to complete the cycle. the first tries to be funny and falters because of it. the second was the best of the three and the third, well I just couldn't get though it. its begining to seem as if koontzs first forays into sci-fi all deal with the same overall idea in different shades. Star Quest ( his first published work) dealt with Muties, mutant aberstions created by the after effects of war. this, his second, deals with Mues, mutant abberations created by human inginuity in trying to eradicate war.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ace Double Fear that Man by Dean R. Koontz: The galaxy had forgotten war and evil-until the man without a past intervened. Toyman by E.C. Tubb: They called their planet toy, but the games the toymen played involved the fate of worlds.

[Jewelee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fear That Man...I couldn't even finish this book. I don't know what's worse, killing the almighty maker of the universe or saying that he's a slug...what the? I guess I have to say it's very imaginative, at least.

[Stephen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poo Poo.

[Joyce · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't know what to think yet. Probably would have been good if read 40 years ago.
Finished the book, but didn't really like it.

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ace Double Novel 020-23140-060
Fear That Man, Dean R Koontz, grade C-
Toyman, EC Tubb, grade C, Dumarest book 3 (D3)

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had this been the first ever book I read from Koontz, I would never have touched another one... ever. Started out okay, but went downhill from there very quickly.

[Diana H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was good (for a science fiction title), but the back and forth style (telling one character's part and then skipping to a different character) was difficult to really enjoy.

[Ruven Naidoo · Rating 2 out of 5]

not worth reading

[Jeannie]

Old Dean Koontz.