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Margaret of Urbs #2
The Black Flame: Dystopian Novel
"The Black Flame" starts several hundred years after most of mankind is wiped out by a plague and tells the story of a family of immortals who seek to conquer the world with advanced science. Its story concerns a brother and sister who have become immortal.
147 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1939
23 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Stanley G. Weinbaum
358 books71 followersFull name: Stanley Grauman Weinbaum.
"In his short career, Stanley G. Weinbaum revolutionized science fiction. We are still exploring the themes he gave us." —Poul Anderson
"Stanley G. Weinbaum's name deserves to rank with those of Wells and Heinlein—and no more than a handful of others—as among the great shapers of modern science fiction." —Frederik Pohl
"In his short career, Stanley G. Weinbaum revolutionized science fiction. We are still exploring the themes he gave us." —Poul Anderson
"Stanley G. Weinbaum's name deserves to rank with those of Wells and Heinlein—and no more than a handful of others—as among the great shapers of modern science fiction." —Frederik Pohl
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 15, 2018
Although Kentucky-born sci-fi author Stanley G. Weinbaum is today considered a seminal writer in his chosen field, his actual career was, sadly, an exceedingly brief one. After making a huge splash with his short story "A Martian Odyssey," featuring the truly alien, ostrichlike Tweel, in the July '34 issue of "Wonder Stories," Weinbaum shifted into high gear, creating some two dozen short pieces and three novels before succumbing to cancer in December '35, at the age of 33. His entire career, thus, spanned a mere 18 months. I had previously enjoyed "The Best of Stanley G. Weinbaum," which contains half of those short stories, as well as his terrific posthumous novel "The New Adam" (1939). A lucky day for me, then, when I snagged still another posthumous work by this marvelous writer, "The Black Flame," in its original Fantasy Press hardcover edition from 1948, and for a mere six bucks, at NYC bookstore extraordinaire The Strand. (It is a beautiful hardcover book, with stunning illustrations by one A.J. Donnell.) "The Black Flame" consists of two linked novellas that Weinbaum had never been able to sell, cobbled together to make a perfectly paired, 240-page whole. The first novella, "Dawn of Flame," originally appeared in a 1936 memorial volume that the author's friends had compiled, while the second, "The Black Flame," appeared in the very first issue of "Startling Stories" in January '39. Today, readers will invariably wonder why the author was never able to market these two wonderful pieces while he lived, as they are both elegantly written, fascinating stories, replete with well-drawn characters, a far-future setting, mind-blowing instruments of superscience, and yes, even a few love stories thrown in, for good measure.
The novel is a postapocalyptic one that begins some 300 years after ¾ of Earth's population had been wiped out, due to both wars and plague. In Part 1, "Dawn of Flame," the year is 186 (of the second Enlightenment). The reader encounters a young mountain man of the "Ozarky" region, Hull Tarvish, who sets out to see the world. That world, for the last 80 years or so, has been ruled from the city of N'Orleans by Joaquin Smith and his half-sister Margaret, sometimes called Black Margot. The two rulers have been endowed with immortality by one of their cohorts, the scientist Martin Sair, and, as Weinbaum's story begins, are in the process of consolidating their empire. Hull enters into a failed battle against the Immortals' army, falls in love with mountain girl Vail Ormiston, and later meets the Immortal brother and sister after the doomed Battle of Eaglefoot Flow. Margot, a bored, taunting, voluptuous beauty, takes a liking to the husky country youth and uses all her tempting wiles to seduce him, while Tarvish plots to foment rebellion and vainly resists those advances.
Part 2, "The Black Flame," takes place 660 years later, in the year 846. Joaquin and Margot still rule (!), but now from their vast metropolis of Urbs (in an unspecified area of the former United States), which contains 30 million people. Into this far future age awakens one Thomas Connor, who had been electrocuted for involuntary manslaughter back in the 1930s. But that electrocution, miraculously, had only put Connor into a state of "electrolepsis." In a disturbing segment, Connor awakens, a living skeleton, and digs his way to the open air, his coffin long since crumbled away after a millennium in the ground. Connor is nursed back to health by Evanie Sair, a distant relation of the Immortal Martin Sair. As in Part 1, Connor falls in love with this normal country girl, gets involved in a failed revolution against the Urban rulers, and is ultimately brought to the capital city, where he meets Smith and Black Margot, now known as the Black Flame. Margot, we find, is even more bored and unhappy with her unending life than ever, and is drawn to the strong and resolute 20th century man. The two enter into a decided love-hate relationship, while Evanie looks on in contempt, and her anti-government plotting continues....
Although Weinbaum had seemingly been trying, in "The New Adam," to pen a book that could aspire to the realms of "the great American novel," but with a few sci-fi elements thrown in, "The Black Flame" finds the author reveling in the science fiction arena in which he had recently made such a splash. His compulsively readable book is just brimming with touches of the superscience that so appealed to readers of the 1930s. Thus, we are given the Erden resonators, which can explode guns and gunpowder from afar; pistols that emit ionic beams and electric discharges; Eartheye, a mirror contraption atop Mt. Everest that enables close-up examination of the moon and Mars; Paige deflectors, a surefire protection from metallic bullets; vitergons, an electric field of sorts that Master Smith is able to send out to harass his enemies; and the Sky-Rat, Margot's sleek cruiser with which she takes Connor on a trip into outer space. And then there are the metamorphs, a race of amphibianlike mutants that has arisen as a result of failed attempts by others to replicate Martin Sair’s immortality-inducing hard radiations. Weinbaum adds convincing detail to his story to flesh out his future world, and so, we are told of the "hot-house cities of Antarctica under their crystal domes," and the new artificial sea that has been created in the Sahara. Visiscreens are of course ubiquitous, and Weinbaum even has Connor watching something called 'the vision," which strikes the reader as being very much like a two-foot-wide television set. The author even evinces a startling knowledge of atomic power as well as the A bomb, the latter of which is detonated in the book's exciting conclusion, although it is a far different A bomb than the one the world actually witnessed in 1945. Rather, Weinbaum's atomic bomb, "instead of venting its force in a single blast, kept on exploding as successive billions of atoms shattered," and Connor is able to even walk through this gamma-storm nightmare to save Princess Margot, suffering only some bad burns! The reader can only marvel.
Weinbaum was a wonderful author, and if "The New Adam" had proved a challenging read, with its densely written philosophizing and literary allusions, "The Black Flame" seems made for compulsive page turning. The book's central character, the Flame herself, is nicely nuanced, conflicted and almost tragic: a centuries-old woman with the body of a 20-year-old; the mind of a seasoned politician, campaigner and scientist; and the wistfulness that only 800 years of friendless sterility can bring. Although she is continually teasing and taunting the men who come into her life, the reader--just like those poor, helpless males--cannot help but be drawn to her. Weinbaum's style ranges from pure pulp--as when Connor thinks it would have been "better never to have emerged from under the prison than to live again, loving a mask of beauty hiding a daughter of Satan"--to beautifully rendered words of wisdom, as when Connor tells Margot, "I concede your beauty and your brilliance, but Evanie is sweet, kind, honest, and lovable. One loves character, not characteristics...." And then there is this wonderful nugget, delivered by Master Smith; some words of wisdom that the America of today would do well to consider:
"Civilization grows out of differences. No race can produce a high culture by itself. There must be an exchange of ideas, and that means that there must be differences...."
To be honest, Weinbaum does make a few slight flubs in his work here, such as when Connor tells Evanie that Aristotle had predated him by 25 centuries. But if Aristotle had lived from 384 - 322 B.C., shouldn't that be more like 23 centuries? (I know, picky picky and who cares, right?) The other flub that Weinbaum makes here is not so much a mistake as a statement guaranteed to tick off a lot of people. He mentions that the Earth forests of the year 846 are virtually insect-free, thanks to the manufactured Feliphage parasite that had wiped out all cats, thus enabling the insect-eating birds to thrive. I can almost sense all the cat lovers out there sharpening their own claws as they read this. But other than these two very minor goofs, "The Black Flame" is a splendid read that all fans of Golden Age sci-fi should enjoy immensely.
I now find myself wanting to get my hands on that third novel of Weinbaum's, still another posthumous affair, "The Dark Other" (1950), in which (I believe) a man has a second brain growing in his head (as opposed to the central character of "The New Adam," whose brain was divided into two discrete, independently functioning halves). Sounds good to me! Stay tuned....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Stanley G. Weinbaum....)
The novel is a postapocalyptic one that begins some 300 years after ¾ of Earth's population had been wiped out, due to both wars and plague. In Part 1, "Dawn of Flame," the year is 186 (of the second Enlightenment). The reader encounters a young mountain man of the "Ozarky" region, Hull Tarvish, who sets out to see the world. That world, for the last 80 years or so, has been ruled from the city of N'Orleans by Joaquin Smith and his half-sister Margaret, sometimes called Black Margot. The two rulers have been endowed with immortality by one of their cohorts, the scientist Martin Sair, and, as Weinbaum's story begins, are in the process of consolidating their empire. Hull enters into a failed battle against the Immortals' army, falls in love with mountain girl Vail Ormiston, and later meets the Immortal brother and sister after the doomed Battle of Eaglefoot Flow. Margot, a bored, taunting, voluptuous beauty, takes a liking to the husky country youth and uses all her tempting wiles to seduce him, while Tarvish plots to foment rebellion and vainly resists those advances.
Part 2, "The Black Flame," takes place 660 years later, in the year 846. Joaquin and Margot still rule (!), but now from their vast metropolis of Urbs (in an unspecified area of the former United States), which contains 30 million people. Into this far future age awakens one Thomas Connor, who had been electrocuted for involuntary manslaughter back in the 1930s. But that electrocution, miraculously, had only put Connor into a state of "electrolepsis." In a disturbing segment, Connor awakens, a living skeleton, and digs his way to the open air, his coffin long since crumbled away after a millennium in the ground. Connor is nursed back to health by Evanie Sair, a distant relation of the Immortal Martin Sair. As in Part 1, Connor falls in love with this normal country girl, gets involved in a failed revolution against the Urban rulers, and is ultimately brought to the capital city, where he meets Smith and Black Margot, now known as the Black Flame. Margot, we find, is even more bored and unhappy with her unending life than ever, and is drawn to the strong and resolute 20th century man. The two enter into a decided love-hate relationship, while Evanie looks on in contempt, and her anti-government plotting continues....
Although Weinbaum had seemingly been trying, in "The New Adam," to pen a book that could aspire to the realms of "the great American novel," but with a few sci-fi elements thrown in, "The Black Flame" finds the author reveling in the science fiction arena in which he had recently made such a splash. His compulsively readable book is just brimming with touches of the superscience that so appealed to readers of the 1930s. Thus, we are given the Erden resonators, which can explode guns and gunpowder from afar; pistols that emit ionic beams and electric discharges; Eartheye, a mirror contraption atop Mt. Everest that enables close-up examination of the moon and Mars; Paige deflectors, a surefire protection from metallic bullets; vitergons, an electric field of sorts that Master Smith is able to send out to harass his enemies; and the Sky-Rat, Margot's sleek cruiser with which she takes Connor on a trip into outer space. And then there are the metamorphs, a race of amphibianlike mutants that has arisen as a result of failed attempts by others to replicate Martin Sair’s immortality-inducing hard radiations. Weinbaum adds convincing detail to his story to flesh out his future world, and so, we are told of the "hot-house cities of Antarctica under their crystal domes," and the new artificial sea that has been created in the Sahara. Visiscreens are of course ubiquitous, and Weinbaum even has Connor watching something called 'the vision," which strikes the reader as being very much like a two-foot-wide television set. The author even evinces a startling knowledge of atomic power as well as the A bomb, the latter of which is detonated in the book's exciting conclusion, although it is a far different A bomb than the one the world actually witnessed in 1945. Rather, Weinbaum's atomic bomb, "instead of venting its force in a single blast, kept on exploding as successive billions of atoms shattered," and Connor is able to even walk through this gamma-storm nightmare to save Princess Margot, suffering only some bad burns! The reader can only marvel.
Weinbaum was a wonderful author, and if "The New Adam" had proved a challenging read, with its densely written philosophizing and literary allusions, "The Black Flame" seems made for compulsive page turning. The book's central character, the Flame herself, is nicely nuanced, conflicted and almost tragic: a centuries-old woman with the body of a 20-year-old; the mind of a seasoned politician, campaigner and scientist; and the wistfulness that only 800 years of friendless sterility can bring. Although she is continually teasing and taunting the men who come into her life, the reader--just like those poor, helpless males--cannot help but be drawn to her. Weinbaum's style ranges from pure pulp--as when Connor thinks it would have been "better never to have emerged from under the prison than to live again, loving a mask of beauty hiding a daughter of Satan"--to beautifully rendered words of wisdom, as when Connor tells Margot, "I concede your beauty and your brilliance, but Evanie is sweet, kind, honest, and lovable. One loves character, not characteristics...." And then there is this wonderful nugget, delivered by Master Smith; some words of wisdom that the America of today would do well to consider:
"Civilization grows out of differences. No race can produce a high culture by itself. There must be an exchange of ideas, and that means that there must be differences...."
To be honest, Weinbaum does make a few slight flubs in his work here, such as when Connor tells Evanie that Aristotle had predated him by 25 centuries. But if Aristotle had lived from 384 - 322 B.C., shouldn't that be more like 23 centuries? (I know, picky picky and who cares, right?) The other flub that Weinbaum makes here is not so much a mistake as a statement guaranteed to tick off a lot of people. He mentions that the Earth forests of the year 846 are virtually insect-free, thanks to the manufactured Feliphage parasite that had wiped out all cats, thus enabling the insect-eating birds to thrive. I can almost sense all the cat lovers out there sharpening their own claws as they read this. But other than these two very minor goofs, "The Black Flame" is a splendid read that all fans of Golden Age sci-fi should enjoy immensely.
I now find myself wanting to get my hands on that third novel of Weinbaum's, still another posthumous affair, "The Dark Other" (1950), in which (I believe) a man has a second brain growing in his head (as opposed to the central character of "The New Adam," whose brain was divided into two discrete, independently functioning halves). Sounds good to me! Stay tuned....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Stanley G. Weinbaum....)
January 1, 2024
Oggi voglio presentarvi il romanzo La Fiamma Nera scritto da Stanley Grauman Weinbaum e pubblicato nel 1939.
Il testo, ristampato da Fanucci qualche anno fa con una nuova veste grafica, ripercorre diverse caratteristiche tipiche del Fantastico. Ci troviamo nel nostro mondo ma non come lo conosciamo noi, a causa di una guerra nucleare la nostra civiltà è caduta e dalle sue ceneri ne è sorta una nuova. La ricostruzione della società umana ha portato a nuove scoperte, armi a raggi laser e macchine volanti, le città sono immense opere d’arte futuristiche, magia e scienza si mescolano tra loro in un connubio perfetto.
Al centro delle vicende c'è Margot, la Fiamma Nera, principessa e maga immortale, sorella del Maestro, colui che ha costruito il nuovo Impero mondiale post-atomico. Nella costruzione dei personaggi Margot eccelle sicuramente: figura femminile potente, misteriosa e sensuale, esercita il suo dominio con forza e determinazione.
In questa nuova era l'immortalità non è più utopia, ma come la maggior parte delle grandi scoperte appartiene a pochi eletti. Alcuni sudditi, ai quali viene richiesta la massima obbedienza e fedeltà, si ribellano, danno vita a una rivoluzione con lo scopo di ottenere ciò che gli è proibito, ciò che gli spetterebbe di diritto. Inizia una drammatica lotta per la libertà.
Come in molti romanzi della prima metà del ‘900 la caratterizzazione dei personaggi secondari non è così dettagliata e approfondita, ma il tutto è compensato da una narrazione molto dinamica e ricca di azione. Insomma, non vi annoierete affatto, ve lo garantisco!
Da molti lettori considerato come un classico, consiglio questo libro ai fan della fantascienza e, per la presenza di qualche elemento più propriamente fantasy, anche agli amanti di quest'ultimo genere.
Il testo, ristampato da Fanucci qualche anno fa con una nuova veste grafica, ripercorre diverse caratteristiche tipiche del Fantastico. Ci troviamo nel nostro mondo ma non come lo conosciamo noi, a causa di una guerra nucleare la nostra civiltà è caduta e dalle sue ceneri ne è sorta una nuova. La ricostruzione della società umana ha portato a nuove scoperte, armi a raggi laser e macchine volanti, le città sono immense opere d’arte futuristiche, magia e scienza si mescolano tra loro in un connubio perfetto.
Al centro delle vicende c'è Margot, la Fiamma Nera, principessa e maga immortale, sorella del Maestro, colui che ha costruito il nuovo Impero mondiale post-atomico. Nella costruzione dei personaggi Margot eccelle sicuramente: figura femminile potente, misteriosa e sensuale, esercita il suo dominio con forza e determinazione.
In questa nuova era l'immortalità non è più utopia, ma come la maggior parte delle grandi scoperte appartiene a pochi eletti. Alcuni sudditi, ai quali viene richiesta la massima obbedienza e fedeltà, si ribellano, danno vita a una rivoluzione con lo scopo di ottenere ciò che gli è proibito, ciò che gli spetterebbe di diritto. Inizia una drammatica lotta per la libertà.
Come in molti romanzi della prima metà del ‘900 la caratterizzazione dei personaggi secondari non è così dettagliata e approfondita, ma il tutto è compensato da una narrazione molto dinamica e ricca di azione. Insomma, non vi annoierete affatto, ve lo garantisco!
Da molti lettori considerato come un classico, consiglio questo libro ai fan della fantascienza e, per la presenza di qualche elemento più propriamente fantasy, anche agli amanti di quest'ultimo genere.
February 22, 2018
Both "Dawn of Flame" and "The Black Flame" quickly focus on Margaret of Urbs / Black Margot / "The Black Flame" as the character of interest. She whipsaws between being desirable, pitiable, and horrifying: her immortality is without her brother's anchor of purpose and without the other Immortals' discipline and maturity (and, presumably, asexuality). Her life and character have turned inward and destructive with ennui and loneliness, and both stories relate how she focuses her attention on some poor slob and proceeds to _torture_ him with affection and abuse, all in the name of amusing herself. In fact, in "Dawn of Flame" she deliberately chooses war strategies that maximize her man-of-the-moment's humiliation, just to drive a wedge between him and his betrothed.
Weinbaum never commits to the pure vision, however. Cracks appear in her facade in "Dawn of Flame", and in the later story she spills it out, that she'd be as right as rain if only she could find a worthy man and pop out a few babies. "The Black Flame" has a disturbingly treacly ending that doesn't do justice to the inherent tragedy, while at the same time belittles Margaret--and by extension all women?--by implying that she would never find satisfaction in her existence without motherhood and homemaking.
Both stories contain items of interest. Particularly "Dawn", which posits a nouveau-frontier landscape of postapocalyptic America, of musket balls and small confederations and city-states and ruins and legends. But also "The Black Flame"'s mutants, the descendants of those who rashly undertook an imperfect Immortality treatment.
Weinbaum never commits to the pure vision, however. Cracks appear in her facade in "Dawn of Flame", and in the later story she spills it out, that she'd be as right as rain if only she could find a worthy man and pop out a few babies. "The Black Flame" has a disturbingly treacly ending that doesn't do justice to the inherent tragedy, while at the same time belittles Margaret--and by extension all women?--by implying that she would never find satisfaction in her existence without motherhood and homemaking.
Both stories contain items of interest. Particularly "Dawn", which posits a nouveau-frontier landscape of postapocalyptic America, of musket balls and small confederations and city-states and ruins and legends. But also "The Black Flame"'s mutants, the descendants of those who rashly undertook an imperfect Immortality treatment.
July 30, 2022
I was happy to grab this on my last alibris order... I definitely haven't read enough of Weinbaum. This is not actually a novel, or course, but two separate novella from the old magazines (based on length, I suspect at least the 2nd was probably a serial).
The first 'Dawn of Flame' pictures a USA being re-united after hundreds of years of barbarism by a group that has rediscovered most modern (for 1938 anyway) tech, including some new tricks, including what are essentially Tasers (nice!)... a 'resonator' that blows up gun powder for miles around, and 'hard radiation' that, in applid just right, makes you immortal. The first story is about a mountain man that discovers this new group, including 'Black Margot', the Princess of the story.
the 2nd story 'The Black Flame' takes place several hundred years, when the world is united, but some people (even though by all accounts it's managed extremely well), resent the rule of the Immortals. Here, the main character is a man of 'current' (1938) times that somehow slept through all this instead of being electrocuted, and gets stuck in the center of a revolution.
Weinbaum has some really interesting views and thoughts about Immortality, and his future vision has the usual fun mix of things that make sense and came true and stuff that is a bit nonsensical. My favorite was his 'atomic bomb' that did no more damage than a bit of plastic explosives.
The 1st story is far better than the 2nd... in the 2nd the plot is such at is quite clear exactly what's going to happen after 5 pages, since nothing else would make any sense, which is never good. THe meldrama between the character was WAY over the top.. worthy of the worst romance novel, and was far too large a chunk of the story. The journey still isn't bad though, not enough to cancel out how fun the 1st one story is.
The first 'Dawn of Flame' pictures a USA being re-united after hundreds of years of barbarism by a group that has rediscovered most modern (for 1938 anyway) tech, including some new tricks, including what are essentially Tasers (nice!)... a 'resonator' that blows up gun powder for miles around, and 'hard radiation' that, in applid just right, makes you immortal. The first story is about a mountain man that discovers this new group, including 'Black Margot', the Princess of the story.
the 2nd story 'The Black Flame' takes place several hundred years, when the world is united, but some people (even though by all accounts it's managed extremely well), resent the rule of the Immortals. Here, the main character is a man of 'current' (1938) times that somehow slept through all this instead of being electrocuted, and gets stuck in the center of a revolution.
Weinbaum has some really interesting views and thoughts about Immortality, and his future vision has the usual fun mix of things that make sense and came true and stuff that is a bit nonsensical. My favorite was his 'atomic bomb' that did no more damage than a bit of plastic explosives.
The 1st story is far better than the 2nd... in the 2nd the plot is such at is quite clear exactly what's going to happen after 5 pages, since nothing else would make any sense, which is never good. THe meldrama between the character was WAY over the top.. worthy of the worst romance novel, and was far too large a chunk of the story. The journey still isn't bad though, not enough to cancel out how fun the 1st one story is.
March 26, 2025
Von Stanley G. Weinbaum sind ganze drei Romane postum erschienen. Er hat für sie zu Lebzeiten keine Verleger gefunden, es gab einfach nicht den Markt dafür.
Die schwarze Flamme ist ein Postdoomsday-Roman. Amerika entwickelt langsam wieder eine Zivilsation. Es gibt einen rebellischen Helden und einen Alleinherrscher. Es ist ein Abenteuer-Roman mit starker wissenschaftlicher wie auch romantischer Komponente. Weinbaum will ich mal sagen, hatte bei diesem Werk durchaus das junge Publikum im Blick, das auch seine Erzählungen gelesen hat. Die kannte ich damals auch schon, zum Teil zumindest. Ich habe den Roman als Teenager gerne gelesen, es war eine sehr unterhaltsame Lektüre, weswegen ich durchaus noch Erinnerungen daran habe.
Die schwarze Flamme ist ein Postdoomsday-Roman. Amerika entwickelt langsam wieder eine Zivilsation. Es gibt einen rebellischen Helden und einen Alleinherrscher. Es ist ein Abenteuer-Roman mit starker wissenschaftlicher wie auch romantischer Komponente. Weinbaum will ich mal sagen, hatte bei diesem Werk durchaus das junge Publikum im Blick, das auch seine Erzählungen gelesen hat. Die kannte ich damals auch schon, zum Teil zumindest. Ich habe den Roman als Teenager gerne gelesen, es war eine sehr unterhaltsame Lektüre, weswegen ich durchaus noch Erinnerungen daran habe.
November 7, 2016
Bought this sci-fi paperback at a bookstore fundraising used book sale in the mid-seventies. The story was already 30+ years old but it is still one of my favorite post-apocalyptic sci-fi stories. And the cover was gorgeous!
March 1, 2016
The Black Flame is a weird book. It's somewhere in between fantasy and science fiction. It consists of two parts that remain unconnected until the end. The first fantasy-like part doesn't even have any importance for the second part of the book and could have been deleted completely. This might be due to the book being published posthumous and in the form of a serialized novel. The weirdest thing is reading about atom bombs in a book from the time before they had been invented. Understandably, the author completely underestimated their power which leads to a melodramatic end of the story when the hero walks through an atomic explosion to rescue the heroine (The Black Flame), doesn't get hurt seriously and even can block the bomb from hurting her more by simply covering her with his body. Finally, he manages to soften her heart which hasn't experienced love in the 900 previous years of her eternal life. That spoils much of what this book sets out for. Except for the last two chapters, this could have been an interesting post-apocalyptic vision where a wise dictator rules with mercy and grants the secret of eternal life to worthy individuals. A few no-go ideas, especially eugenics to create better humans, should be seen in the context of the time before National Socialism reared its ugly face. Unluckily, the story ends on an individual level instead of focussing on the far more interesting societal dimension.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2014
The Black Flame was the first novel I read written by Stanley G. Weinbaum. I am quite a fan of his short stories, they literally spill over with ideas. His writing style is quite modern, considering he wrote his stories in the 1930.
This novel contains of two short novels: Dawn of Flame and The Black Flame. Both are very similar stories, the reason for that is that Weinbaum had not released the first one and reworked it into the longer second part. Most probably he never intended to release the Dawn of Flame version. After his untimely death, simply everything available got released and I'd probably recommend to avoid the first part (Dawn of Flame) if you aren't a die hard Weinbaum fan.
The story itself is a weird SciFi love story set in a very distant future. Mankind had nearly become extinct, but recovers to a good number by the help of scientists who also discover the secret of stopping people from aging and dieing.
It isn't my favorite Weinbaum, but still you have to appreciate his amazing abilities for foreseeing future developments. For example CCTV in a time when radio was just coming, TV hadn't been invented and telephone was still operated by switchboards.
This novel contains of two short novels: Dawn of Flame and The Black Flame. Both are very similar stories, the reason for that is that Weinbaum had not released the first one and reworked it into the longer second part. Most probably he never intended to release the Dawn of Flame version. After his untimely death, simply everything available got released and I'd probably recommend to avoid the first part (Dawn of Flame) if you aren't a die hard Weinbaum fan.
The story itself is a weird SciFi love story set in a very distant future. Mankind had nearly become extinct, but recovers to a good number by the help of scientists who also discover the secret of stopping people from aging and dieing.
It isn't my favorite Weinbaum, but still you have to appreciate his amazing abilities for foreseeing future developments. For example CCTV in a time when radio was just coming, TV hadn't been invented and telephone was still operated by switchboards.
December 1, 2016
I lasted through 3 chapters, 10%. The writing is stilted and the story not really my kind of thing. It strikes me as the kind of thing that would be made into a YA movie with fancy costumes, something I would have enjoyed on a Saturday afternoon when I was a teen. I know this was written in the early 1930s, but even as a period piece I am not interested.
May 8, 2023
This is a "Golden Age" science fiction novel written in two parts in the mid-1930s, before World War II and the first nuclear weapons. The world has been utterly devastated by further wars and plagues (reminiscent of World War I and the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918). In the first part, entitled "Dawn of Flame", 300 or so years later, the world has gone through the "Second Enlightenment". Scientific advancements have been made and a certain Martin Sair has been able to make certain chosen people immortal, including himself, Joaquin Smith and Joaquin's half-sister Margaret, also known as Black Margot. Joaquin has become the master of N'Orleans and has been making it into an empire, steadily expanding outwards. The main character in this story is Hull Tarvish, a young guy from Ozarky who leaves home seeking adventure, who meets and falls in love with a mountain girl named Vail Ormiston. Her people are resisting Joaquin's drive north to conquer lands to add to his empire. Black Margot takes a liking to Hull which complicates things.
In the second part, "The Black Flame", it's now hundreds of years later and Joaquin has established his empire over most of the world and the city of Urbs has been built as his capital (somewhere in North America - probably on the upper East Coast I'd guess). Into this world comes Thomas Marshall Connor who was condemned to death by electric chair back in the 1930s for accidental manslaughter. He awakens in his grave and is helped in his recovery by Evanie Sair (a distant relative of Martin Sair) - it seems that he has survived by a process of "electrolepsis" which puts you into a state of suspended animation for a length of time, and Evanie's friend Jan Orm. There are people who voluntarily undergo it, having invested money in specified investments that with compound interest will make them rich by the time they awaken from it in 100 years or so. Evanie and her people hate the Master (Joaquin) and are plotting to overthrow him. Tom joins them in gratitude for their having helped him come back to life. But when walking through the woods one day he meets up with a dark-haired beauty, who he later encounters after Evanie and her people try to infiltrate Urbs. She is the Black Flame, aka Princess Margaret of Urbs, and, yes, she is the immortal Black Margot of the first part. And the story goes from there.
There are two varieties of mutants - panates and amphimorphs - scientists who tried to create immortals as Martin Sair had done were unsuccessful but accidentally created these two types. Evanie herself was part penate and for that reason she hesitated to get married and have children. And there are advanced varieties of weapons and vehicles which can go into lower outer space. But Tom has certain math and scientific knowledge from his era that had been lost and which the Master was anxious to receive, which helps Tom survive in his conflicts.
All in all a scifi classic of the 1930s.
In the second part, "The Black Flame", it's now hundreds of years later and Joaquin has established his empire over most of the world and the city of Urbs has been built as his capital (somewhere in North America - probably on the upper East Coast I'd guess). Into this world comes Thomas Marshall Connor who was condemned to death by electric chair back in the 1930s for accidental manslaughter. He awakens in his grave and is helped in his recovery by Evanie Sair (a distant relative of Martin Sair) - it seems that he has survived by a process of "electrolepsis" which puts you into a state of suspended animation for a length of time, and Evanie's friend Jan Orm. There are people who voluntarily undergo it, having invested money in specified investments that with compound interest will make them rich by the time they awaken from it in 100 years or so. Evanie and her people hate the Master (Joaquin) and are plotting to overthrow him. Tom joins them in gratitude for their having helped him come back to life. But when walking through the woods one day he meets up with a dark-haired beauty, who he later encounters after Evanie and her people try to infiltrate Urbs. She is the Black Flame, aka Princess Margaret of Urbs, and, yes, she is the immortal Black Margot of the first part. And the story goes from there.
There are two varieties of mutants - panates and amphimorphs - scientists who tried to create immortals as Martin Sair had done were unsuccessful but accidentally created these two types. Evanie herself was part penate and for that reason she hesitated to get married and have children. And there are advanced varieties of weapons and vehicles which can go into lower outer space. But Tom has certain math and scientific knowledge from his era that had been lost and which the Master was anxious to receive, which helps Tom survive in his conflicts.
All in all a scifi classic of the 1930s.
November 3, 2017
“The Black Flame” isn’t actually a novel. It’s two separate novellas, both set centuries after our own civilization’s destruction. The tales unfold centuries apart from each other and feature different protagonists to boot. They do, however, share the same pair of antagonists: would-be world emperor Joaquin Smith and his raven-haired femme fatale sister, Margaret (later Black Margot aka “The Black Flame” of the title.) Both are immortal, through scientific techniques that they have discovered-- and which they hold out as a reward to their loyal followers.
Both stories are similar in plot. In both, a rugged ‘outsider’ male hero joins a rebel attack against Joaquin and Margot. In both, the rebels are defeated and our hero is captured. This may seem like a bad thing, but it's not.
That's because “The Black Flame,” despite its post-apocalyptic setting, and futuristic gadgets -- is essentially a romance. In the two stories, the politico-military struggle between rebels and rulers is just the lead-in and metaphor for what proves to be the real conflict— the one in the protagonist's heart when he comes face to face with Margot, The Black Flame. (There’s also a love triangle in both tales, with the protagonist torn between the kindly girl aligned with the rebels, and the cruel, yet irresistible Margot.)
This romance is more developed in the second story (which also explains that Margot’s evil is the result of boredom and depression that are side effects of her immortality). It also gives us a presumably happy ending as Margot falls in love with the hero (due to the fact that he’s far more masculine than any of the immortals she hangs around with) and is essentially ‘cured” of both her depression and cruelty by that love. And then they live happily ever after… or so it’s implied.
In the end, I can’t honestly say that I enjoyed “The Black Flame” or that I’d recommend it. As pulp SF goes, it's passable, and it does contain a few unique setting elements—but overall, other pulp does it better. And as a romance, well, it’s extremely dated, almost painfully so at times. For anyone interested in giving Weinbaum a try, I’d instead recommend one of the short stories that he published back in the 30s, like “A Martian Odyssey,” “Parasite Planet,” "Shifting Seas," or “The Lotus Eaters”.
Both stories are similar in plot. In both, a rugged ‘outsider’ male hero joins a rebel attack against Joaquin and Margot. In both, the rebels are defeated and our hero is captured. This may seem like a bad thing, but it's not.
That's because “The Black Flame,” despite its post-apocalyptic setting, and futuristic gadgets -- is essentially a romance. In the two stories, the politico-military struggle between rebels and rulers is just the lead-in and metaphor for what proves to be the real conflict— the one in the protagonist's heart when he comes face to face with Margot, The Black Flame. (There’s also a love triangle in both tales, with the protagonist torn between the kindly girl aligned with the rebels, and the cruel, yet irresistible Margot.)
This romance is more developed in the second story (which also explains that Margot’s evil is the result of boredom and depression that are side effects of her immortality). It also gives us a presumably happy ending as Margot falls in love with the hero (due to the fact that he’s far more masculine than any of the immortals she hangs around with) and is essentially ‘cured” of both her depression and cruelty by that love. And then they live happily ever after… or so it’s implied.
In the end, I can’t honestly say that I enjoyed “The Black Flame” or that I’d recommend it. As pulp SF goes, it's passable, and it does contain a few unique setting elements—but overall, other pulp does it better. And as a romance, well, it’s extremely dated, almost painfully so at times. For anyone interested in giving Weinbaum a try, I’d instead recommend one of the short stories that he published back in the 30s, like “A Martian Odyssey,” “Parasite Planet,” "Shifting Seas," or “The Lotus Eaters”.
July 4, 2024
Summertime escapism into 1930s era pulp sci-fi! This "novel" is made up of 2 stories "Dawn of Flame" published in THRILLING WONDER STORIES in 1939 and "The Black Flame" published in STARTLING STORIES in 1939. Both stories are set in the far-flung future, as they like to say, after the planet Earth succumbed to atomic and biological warfare. Societies are mostly agrarian and scattered across the states among the remnants of highways and cities. Out of what's left of New Orleans is a community lead by Joaquim Smith, his sister Margaret (the titular Black Flame, or Black Margot) and Martin Sair, all three of whom, through the wonders of science and radiation, are immortal. Joaquim Smith's mission is to conquer the scattered towns and villages and form a single empire over which he'd be the ultimate ruler. His sister, Margaret, rides by his side as a ruthless warrior, earning notoriety for her cruelty, leaving men tortured and ruined in her wake. So with this set-up, we need a couple of square-jawed heroes to spurn Black Margot's advances while remaining faithful to their simple village girlfriends. It's all melodramatic and full of heightened emotion, with declarations of love or death throughout. I would have eaten this book up whole as a kid, succumbing to all of its romance and wonder. Now as a somewhat jaded and cynical adult I enjoyed it for being a fast-paced adventure soaked in faulty science and innocent romance. If you're a fan of high pulp adventure there is a lot to like in this novel. But yes, it's old fashioned and outdated. There are some repetitive scenes and motivations by its characters that push credulity. But that's pulp for you. They don't write them like this anymore. If you accept it for what it is, it's a fun read on long hot summer day.
January 18, 2022
I thought that this book was an interesting Sci-Fi novel. There were a few really well written characters, Margaret, Tom, and Hull just to name a few. The themes of the novel fall well within those of modern literature, such as humanity doesn't really progress with technology as the barbaric urge to kill other humans is what we use much of the technology for. The anti war dialogues were heavy, but they also were quite poignant. The ending felt a little blah but the rest of the novel is quite solid in my opinion, and I would definitely love to read more of Weinbaum's works in the future.
July 19, 2025
Utter waste of time.
Trite, cliched, poorly written. Prince Charming fairy tale clothed in a 'sci-fi' plot, with perhaps 1.5 characters that have any degree of development.
Why did I bother reading it, you might ask? Well, I found it on a long trip at an airbnb, and figured it would fill the slow moments before I fell asleep. After about 20 pages I realized just how bad it was, but continued out of a kind of morbid curiosity (can it actually get worse?) It in fact did get worse.
Caveat emptor.
Trite, cliched, poorly written. Prince Charming fairy tale clothed in a 'sci-fi' plot, with perhaps 1.5 characters that have any degree of development.
Why did I bother reading it, you might ask? Well, I found it on a long trip at an airbnb, and figured it would fill the slow moments before I fell asleep. After about 20 pages I realized just how bad it was, but continued out of a kind of morbid curiosity (can it actually get worse?) It in fact did get worse.
Caveat emptor.
March 26, 2021
Still A Good Read
The science is a little dated, but story is still very good . The character development was a little frustrating early on as the main protagonist seemed to ignore the realities of his new environment. The tension between an ideal society and ultimate freedom was well explored in the book leaving the reader to ponder their thoughts on the matter. The authors writing style carried the story forward in clear and straight forward manner.
The science is a little dated, but story is still very good . The character development was a little frustrating early on as the main protagonist seemed to ignore the realities of his new environment. The tension between an ideal society and ultimate freedom was well explored in the book leaving the reader to ponder their thoughts on the matter. The authors writing style carried the story forward in clear and straight forward manner.
December 29, 2020
"The mountainies pay taxes to no one."
"And no one builds them roads, nor digs them public wells. Where you pay little you get less, and I will say that the roads within the Empire are better than ours."
"And no one builds them roads, nor digs them public wells. Where you pay little you get less, and I will say that the roads within the Empire are better than ours."
October 9, 2021
Un classico della fantascienza da riscoprire. Scritto in modo semplice e scorrevole, una vera e propria fiaba futuristica. Molto interessante e accattivante il worldbuilding. La protagonista femminile, Margaret, è davvero meravigliosa, seppur non immune agli stereotipi dei suoi tempi.
September 9, 2015
Definitely a good book for expanding one's vocabulary, but definitely not a good book for an analysis of the human character. I refuse to believe that a woman as beautiful as the Black Flame who has achieved knowledge, power, and immortality, would be so afraid of physical violence or spend so much of her time actively seeking a man to "conquer" her. Ugh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2012
I do love sci-fi/fantasy, and this was a nice, easy read. The storyline was interesting, though not fully thought out. Some of the ideas, as far as tech and such were pretty cool, and seem super advanced for being written in the 1930s or something- our thoughts become reality.
December 3, 2021
Zwei Versionen einer Geschichte über eine Rebellion gegen einen Diktator und seine unfassbar schöne Schwester.
Anfangs ganz nett, menschlich, realistisch. Dann wird es total unglaubwürdig, darum abgebrochen.
Anfangs ganz nett, menschlich, realistisch. Dann wird es total unglaubwürdig, darum abgebrochen.
October 27, 2011
Five stars if it had a different ending. Weinbaum's writing is impeccable as always, but the ending seemed somehow unsavory.
February 8, 2015
(Audiobook) entertaining but a lot of logic problems with the actions of the main characters.
December 8, 2016
Period piece, dripping with patriarchy, sexism, and eugenics.
April 9, 2018
My copy of this book says that it was written in the late 30's. Knowing this, I feel like I can't be as hard on it as I'd be a book like this written in more recent years.
Given when it was written, it has some concepts that were really ahead of its time! Atomic weapons, television... I'm actually impressed!
There are little problems. For example, civilization was supposed to have been destroyed 300 years before the first part of the book, and supposedly humanity had forgotten nearly all its technology. Even in a day and age when there was no internet, I don't see humanity losing its grasp of things like calculus in that short period of things had been left as intact as they were.
Thing is, civilization doesn't seem to have actually been destroyed. Cities like New Orleans not only remained, but were technologically advanced. So the blurb on the back that said civilization died screaming was a bit of an exaggeration...
The first half was kind of pointless. It was interesting, but unnecessary.
The second half started well enough, but it started to bog down closer to the end. I found myself feeling bored about halfway through part two.
I really think this would've been a LOT better if it were written now rather than back then. It's too bad. With a little more world building, character development, and overall fleshing out, this could've been a really awesome book! Instead, it's just average.
Given when it was written, it has some concepts that were really ahead of its time! Atomic weapons, television... I'm actually impressed!
There are little problems. For example, civilization was supposed to have been destroyed 300 years before the first part of the book, and supposedly humanity had forgotten nearly all its technology. Even in a day and age when there was no internet, I don't see humanity losing its grasp of things like calculus in that short period of things had been left as intact as they were.
Thing is, civilization doesn't seem to have actually been destroyed. Cities like New Orleans not only remained, but were technologically advanced. So the blurb on the back that said civilization died screaming was a bit of an exaggeration...
The first half was kind of pointless. It was interesting, but unnecessary.
The second half started well enough, but it started to bog down closer to the end. I found myself feeling bored about halfway through part two.
I really think this would've been a LOT better if it were written now rather than back then. It's too bad. With a little more world building, character development, and overall fleshing out, this could've been a really awesome book! Instead, it's just average.
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