Entities: The Selected Novels

by Eric Frank Russell, Rick Katze (Editor), Jack L. Chalker (Introduction)

This volume contains five novels (Wasp, Sinister Barrier, Sentinels from Space, Next of Kin, and Call Him Dead) plus some short fiction (including “Legwork,” “Mechanical Mice,” and “Mana”). Introduction by Jack L. Chalker. Dustjacket art by Bob Eggleton.

Contents:

9 • Editor's Introduction (Entities: The Selected Novels of Eric Frank Russell) • essay by Rick Katze
11 • Wasp: Introduction • essay by Jack L. Chalker
13 • Wasp • (1957) • novel by Eric Frank Russell
135 • Sentinels From Space: Introduction • essay by Jack L. Chalker
137 • Sentinels from Space • (1953) • novel by Eric Frank Russell
275 • Call Him Dead: Introduction • essay by Jack L. Chalker
277 • Call Him Dead • novel by Eric Frank Russell (variant of Three to Conquer 1956)
399 • Next of Kin: Introduction • essay by Jack L. Chalker
401 • Next of Kin • (1959) • novel by Eric Frank Russell (variant of The Space Willies 1958)
499 • Sinister Barrier: Introduction • essay by Jack L. Chalker
501 • Sinister Barrier • (1939) • novel by Eric Frank Russell
633 • Legwork • (1956) • novelette by Eric Frank Russell
669 • Mana • (1937) • shortstory by Eric Frank Russell
673 • Mechanical Mice • (1941) • novelette by Eric Frank Russell and Maurice G. Hugi (variant of The Mechanical Mice) [as by Eric Frank Russell ]

Genres: Science Fiction, Novels, Anthologies

691 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Eric Frank Russell was a British author best known for his science fiction novels and short stories. Much of his work was first published in the United States, in John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction and other pulp magazines. Russell also wrote horror fiction for Weird Tales, and non-fiction articles on Fortean topics. A few of his stories were published under pseudonyms, of which Duncan H. Munro was used most often.

Reviews

[Christopher Gerrib · Rating 5 out of 5]

A while back at a science fiction convention one of my fellow panelists mentioned that the novel Wasp was “the best military SF novel he’d ever read.” Google being my friend, I discovered that Wasp had been written in the 1950s by Eric Frank Russell, and re-issued with other novels in 2001 by the New England Science Fiction Association. Based on this recommendation, I purchased the book, which at 691 pages is a bit of a doorstopper. Trust me – it’s well worth the purchase.

The lead novel in the collection is what’s considered Russell’s very best work, the novel Wasp. In this book, set in an undefined future, one intrepid Earth-man, James Mowry, is surgically altered to look like an alien race and dropped behind enemy lines. Mowry’s orders are to act like a wasp, and keep stinging the enemy, causing panic and draining resources while a conventional war is being waged.

Mowry is, in short, to be a terrorist. Aided by a conveniently repressive government and a stack of cash with which to purchase cooperation from the local criminal gangs, Mowry busily and rather gleefully creates terror. Assassinations, bombs, propaganda stickers and barrels with curved pipes sticking out the top all play their rolls. The famous SF writer Neil Gaiman optioned the book as a movie, but after 9/11 decided the market for merry terrorist movies had dried up.

Wasp in particular and the rest of the novels in the collection suffer somewhat from being written when they were. As Jo Walton said, they were apparently written before women were invented, and so have few if any female characters. They also feel a bit dated technologically – people rely on phone booths, printed newspapers and physically-mailed letters. Still, Wasp holds up as a truly engaging novel. It probably should – Russell, a Brit, spent his war working with one Ian Fleming, and so at least some of the dirty tricks applied in Wasp were tested elsewhere.

The rest of the collection is secondary only in comparison to the masterpiece. Russell frequently explored the theme of hidden powers, and two of the works, Sinister Barrier (in Russell’s preferred and later version) as well as Sentinels from Space feature aliens either controlling or protecting humans. Both are gripping reads. Call Him Dead takes the hidden aliens theme a step further, involving a (hidden) human telepath who is the only person that can detect the aliens. Lastly, returning to the One Versus the World theme, we have Next of Kin, in which one military misfit helps win the war for the human race.

Three short stories round out the collection, of which the one that stuck with me was Legwork. In this short story, an alien is scouting out Earth circa 1950s as a potential invasion target. The alien has some cool tech, but his biggest ability is use hypnosis to convince any member of any intelligent species anything. One would think that the invader would be invincible, but cracking that knot is what Russell does in the short story.

Entities is highly recommended for any SF fan.

[Sean Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasp is one of my all-time favourites, but I'd not read the original version before. What a delight!
Call him dead I new by a different name, but was still my second favourite of the collection.

I also felt as if I'd read the start of Next of Kin before but certainly didn't remember much beyond the opener. Withal, I am most satisfied with this delightful collection.

[Philip Challinor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Russell is almost always great fun, even if he does commit enormities such as using "accusative" when he means "accusing". His best books, Wasp and Next of Kin, feature prankster protagonists at war with very human aliens, who are defeated by a combination of cunning, chutzpah and bloody-minded awkwardness. Call Him Dead, also known as Three to Conquer, is an entertaining variation on the Invasion of the Body Snatchers theme.

[Reet · Rating 3 out of 5]

There're barely any women in his stories and novels. I wonder why?

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book collecting all the novels of Eric Frank Russell with a few short stories thrown in.