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The Return of Ul Quorn #Vol. 2, Book 4
Captain Future: The Horror at Jupiter
Blistering space warfare with the fate of the Solar System in the balance awaits CAPTAIN FUTURE and the Futuremen as they face Ul Quorn and his plans to unleash THE HORROR AT JUPITER.
Charged with the assassination of Solar Coalition president James Carthew, Curt Newton has been taken into custody by the Interplanetary Police Force and imprisoned on Earth. Yet even as he awaits trial for murder and high treason, his nemesis Ul Quorn has suddenly returned from a distant star, bringing with him an alien superweapon capable of wiping out life on entire worlds ... and he intends to use it against Earth!Yet the Magician of Mars isn’t the only one with a scheme in mind. Captain Future and his strange crew, together with secret allies, are preparing to bring Ul Quorn and his renegade gang to justice. In orbit above the mightiest planet of the system, the two forces come together in fierce combat … and only will survive!
The epic space adventure featuring Golden Age SF’s most famous hero reaches its conclusion in this fantastic adventure.
SPECIAL a NEW essay by Allen Steele on the history … and future … of Space Opera!
“Great read with clever plotting. Can’t wait to get my eyeballs on the conclusion.” — The Digest Enthusiast
- GenresPulpScience Fiction
186 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 8, 2021
2 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Allen M. Steele
235 books418 followersBefore becoming a science fiction writer, Allen Steele was a journalist for newspapers and magazines in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Missouri, and his home state of Tennessee. But science fiction was his first love, so he eventually ditched journalism and began producing that which had made him decide to become a writer in the first place.
Since then, Steele has published eighteen novels and nearly one hundred short stories. His work has received numerous accolades, including three Hugo Awards, and has been translated worldwide, mainly into languages he can’t read. He serves on the board of advisors for the Space Frontier Foundation and is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He also belongs to Sigma, a group of science fiction writers who frequently serve as unpaid consultants on matters regarding technology and security.
Allen Steele is a lifelong space buff, and this interest has not only influenced his writing, it has taken him to some interesting places. He has witnessed numerous space shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center and has flown NASA’s shuttle cockpit simulator at the Johnson Space Center. In 2001, he testified before the US House of Representatives in hearings regarding the future of space exploration. He would like very much to go into orbit, and hopes that one day he’ll be able to afford to do so.
Steele lives in western Massachusetts with his wife, Linda, and a continual procession of adopted dogs. He collects vintage science fiction books and magazines, spacecraft model kits, and dreams.
Since then, Steele has published eighteen novels and nearly one hundred short stories. His work has received numerous accolades, including three Hugo Awards, and has been translated worldwide, mainly into languages he can’t read. He serves on the board of advisors for the Space Frontier Foundation and is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He also belongs to Sigma, a group of science fiction writers who frequently serve as unpaid consultants on matters regarding technology and security.
Allen Steele is a lifelong space buff, and this interest has not only influenced his writing, it has taken him to some interesting places. He has witnessed numerous space shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center and has flown NASA’s shuttle cockpit simulator at the Johnson Space Center. In 2001, he testified before the US House of Representatives in hearings regarding the future of space exploration. He would like very much to go into orbit, and hopes that one day he’ll be able to afford to do so.
Steele lives in western Massachusetts with his wife, Linda, and a continual procession of adopted dogs. He collects vintage science fiction books and magazines, spacecraft model kits, and dreams.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 20, 2021
This is the fourth and concluding volume in Steele's The Return of Ul Quorn saga, following Captain Future in Love, The Guns of Pluto, and 1,500 Light Years From Home. It's a sequel to Steele's first Captain Future novel, Avengers of the Moon, which appeared from Tor Books some years back. These books are a re-boot/re-imagining of the popular character created by Leo Margulies and Mort Weisinger in 1939 who starred in his own magazine from 1940-1944, and then occasionally in the pages of Startling Stories magazine from 1945-1951. All but three of the pulp adventures were written by Edmond Hamilton. Captain Future was Curt Newton, space-traveling adventurer and scientific genius, who's aided by an android named Otho, a robot named Grag, his brain-in-a-box mentor, Prof. Simon Wright, and occasional members of the government and Planetary Police, most notably his girl friend Joan Randall. Hamilton made some silly assumptions in his stories, and Steele has re-framed the series in a scientifically plausible way without losing the pulp flair and flavor. As this one opens, Ul Quorn, the evil criminal genius who murdered Curt's parents, had escaped from his prison on Pluto, stolen control of an incomparable interstellar weapon, and brain-washed Curt into attempting to assassinate President Carthew. Through a series of ingenious bits of misdirection, scientific acumen, and bravery, Curt tracks Ul Quorn to his lair near Jupiter for a final, fatal showdown... It's a grand old pulp story, and I found it to be lots of fun. There were a couple of points that gave me pause (a disco ball? really?), and several typography problems detracted from the overall experience, but it was still a fine read. There are several interior illustrations that are pretty good, but I thought the cover was below par. Steele has appended a long essay detailing the history of the space opera genre and offering significant amounts of commentary, with which I mostly agreed. Just when I was thinking that they don't write 'em like that anymore...
October 24, 2021
The Deneb system couldn't hold them. The Comet tore them away and brought them back to Sol...and home. But escape and freedom may only be a heartbeat of time in the universe as Curt Newton finds himself committing an unspeakable act. And now home has become a prison. But prison has no meaning when an evil so foul turns its hatred and need for revenge upon an entire solar system and only Captain Future and the Futuremen have any hope of stopping the death of worlds.
With the HORROR AT JUPITER, Allen Steele brings the stirring finale to the four book series - THE RETURN OF UL QUORN. Steele has become the acknowledged successor to Edmund Hamilton's Captain Future. But this continues to be a newer, grittier, and more adult Captain Future than those that populated the newstands during the middle of the 20th century. The pulpy adventures of the past are now modern Space Opera as the new stories spin tales of heroes and villains raging across multiple systems and galaxies, Steele continues to turn his contemporary view and voice to Hamilton's champion with the result being very 21st century. His characters are more mature with realistic emptions and drives, while his villains are nastier with even less morality and inhibitions.
While this wraps up the story, hopefully Steele has plans for more to come.
With the HORROR AT JUPITER, Allen Steele brings the stirring finale to the four book series - THE RETURN OF UL QUORN. Steele has become the acknowledged successor to Edmund Hamilton's Captain Future. But this continues to be a newer, grittier, and more adult Captain Future than those that populated the newstands during the middle of the 20th century. The pulpy adventures of the past are now modern Space Opera as the new stories spin tales of heroes and villains raging across multiple systems and galaxies, Steele continues to turn his contemporary view and voice to Hamilton's champion with the result being very 21st century. His characters are more mature with realistic emptions and drives, while his villains are nastier with even less morality and inhibitions.
While this wraps up the story, hopefully Steele has plans for more to come.
May 24, 2023
Part IV and conclusion of the The Return of Ul Quorn. Part III ended with our hero turned into a Manchurian Candidate. This plot of Ul Quorn to get rid of his two greatest threats (Curt Newton and President Carthew) at once can't really have worked. Can it? That's not even the big problem. Ul Quorn has subverted the Vengeance of Kosk to his will, has brought this planet destroyer into the solar system and given SolCol an ultimatum or he'll destroy something, if not Earth this time, it will be next time.
Ul Quorn has so far been a step ahead of Captain Future. Can Curt turn the tables? Use this failed assassination to his advantage and somehow save Earth?
The preface to part I claims to have kept the space opera feel of old, but update the characters where it's not always rescuing a damsel in distress. Don't tell me (the cover scene) Curt rescuing a woman being held hostage is really in the story. I think that Steele kept the old time space opera and didn't update it to contemporary standards, too much of the plot revolved around the characters being gullible and not enough around character development. Assuming the latter is a constraint of keeping true to the series, 4.0 stars.
Ul Quorn has so far been a step ahead of Captain Future. Can Curt turn the tables? Use this failed assassination to his advantage and somehow save Earth?
The preface to part I claims to have kept the space opera feel of old, but update the characters where it's not always rescuing a damsel in distress. Don't tell me (the cover scene) Curt rescuing a woman being held hostage is really in the story. I think that Steele kept the old time space opera and didn't update it to contemporary standards, too much of the plot revolved around the characters being gullible and not enough around character development. Assuming the latter is a constraint of keeping true to the series, 4.0 stars.
January 2, 2022
The final book in Steele’s Captain Future series builds to an action-packed, satisfying conclusion to the epic adventure that began four books ago with the first Amazing Selects novel from the publisher of the Amazing Stories reboot. And there’s enough background in this concluding segment that you don’t have to have read the earlier books to enjoy it. The tale is topped with Steele’s essay on the origins and evolution of space opera and his personal stake and challenges in writing this series.
At this point, most readers are too young to have experienced any of the pulp era firsthand, but this series provides an appealing glimpse into what that age of adventure may have felt like. We’re lucky Steele felt the calling to revive the series, and had the talent to pull it off flawlessly.
At this point, most readers are too young to have experienced any of the pulp era firsthand, but this series provides an appealing glimpse into what that age of adventure may have felt like. We’re lucky Steele felt the calling to revive the series, and had the talent to pull it off flawlessly.
November 27, 2021
A Wonderful Reinvention of a Classic Series
Steele’s Captain Future series is a love story to classic space opera, pulp fiction, and serials. But this modern take on a 40’s space hero stands on its own as a fun, exciting adventure series written with reverence to the source material, without ever descending into parodying the cheesier aspects of the original materials. Edmond Hamilton would be proud of Allen, I think.
Steele’s Captain Future series is a love story to classic space opera, pulp fiction, and serials. But this modern take on a 40’s space hero stands on its own as a fun, exciting adventure series written with reverence to the source material, without ever descending into parodying the cheesier aspects of the original materials. Edmond Hamilton would be proud of Allen, I think.
June 28, 2024
I love the cover of this book. It totally captures the climax of the story, so I won’t explain the details as it will spoil the story. This and book 1, Captain Future in Love, are my equal favourite covers. The others aren’t bad, but just don’t have the same level of pulpishness about them.
This book finishes on a sort of cliff-hanger, but not an Ul Quorn story arc cliffhanger. It’s more a what will Captain Future do next cliff-hanger. The Ul Quorn Magician of Mars story is fully and satisfactorily completed.
Some things that made me smile in this book where the names of the Solar Guards newly commissioned space cruisers - the Brin, the Cambias, the Haldeman, the Varley, and the McIntyre. These are exactly the sorts of names I’d chose if I was building an interplanetary space fleet. There’s also nods towards other classic early space opera with a shuttle called Skylark.
Now we get to the bad part of this particular book. Page 132 has a sentence that reads -
Then the ray reappeared once more, and within instants the third torpedo was destroyed as well, this time, the laconic jovian didn’t bother to Ul Quorn sank bank in his seat.
Ul Quorn isn’t a mistake, that’s the name of the villain. The sentence starts well, up until the third torpedo is destroyed. Then it comes completely off the rails. The essence of the sentence is perfectly comprehensible, but the editing/proof reading of this volume is woeful in comparison to the 3 previous ones.
It may seem I’m unjustly harping on a single small glitch, but this is just one example. It seemed like every couple of pages there was sentences with similar obvious glitches. It made reading very disjointed as I’d be thrown out of the story while I tried to decipher what the sentence is supposed to be. I don’t think I’ve every read a book that had zero errors, but this had so many it became annoying.
And it’s a real pity the production standards have slipped so badly. It’s a really good and enjoyable story. If the editing had been better I would have given it 4 stars.
As with the other books there’s extras. In this one its an essay on the early history of space opera. It’s a well-researched and structured article and serves to put the Captain Future stories into a wider context. It’s a great book-end to the sequence.
This book finishes on a sort of cliff-hanger, but not an Ul Quorn story arc cliffhanger. It’s more a what will Captain Future do next cliff-hanger. The Ul Quorn Magician of Mars story is fully and satisfactorily completed.
Some things that made me smile in this book where the names of the Solar Guards newly commissioned space cruisers - the Brin, the Cambias, the Haldeman, the Varley, and the McIntyre. These are exactly the sorts of names I’d chose if I was building an interplanetary space fleet. There’s also nods towards other classic early space opera with a shuttle called Skylark.
Now we get to the bad part of this particular book. Page 132 has a sentence that reads -
Then the ray reappeared once more, and within instants the third torpedo was destroyed as well, this time, the laconic jovian didn’t bother to Ul Quorn sank bank in his seat.
Ul Quorn isn’t a mistake, that’s the name of the villain. The sentence starts well, up until the third torpedo is destroyed. Then it comes completely off the rails. The essence of the sentence is perfectly comprehensible, but the editing/proof reading of this volume is woeful in comparison to the 3 previous ones.
It may seem I’m unjustly harping on a single small glitch, but this is just one example. It seemed like every couple of pages there was sentences with similar obvious glitches. It made reading very disjointed as I’d be thrown out of the story while I tried to decipher what the sentence is supposed to be. I don’t think I’ve every read a book that had zero errors, but this had so many it became annoying.
And it’s a real pity the production standards have slipped so badly. It’s a really good and enjoyable story. If the editing had been better I would have given it 4 stars.
As with the other books there’s extras. In this one its an essay on the early history of space opera. It’s a well-researched and structured article and serves to put the Captain Future stories into a wider context. It’s a great book-end to the sequence.
June 27, 2023
The last of the four-book series had a few twists and turns. I found the ending satisfying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews