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Hellflower
"Once He had Been a Star Master—Now He Dealt in Soul-Shattering Ruin..."
Farradyne had committed the one unpardonable error a Space Master could make. He didn't die along with the other 32 passengers when his ship smashed into the Bog on Venus.
They broke him—exiled him to the rotting fungus fields of Venus.
Now his only desire in existence was to return to the cool, gleaming sea of deep space.
And there was a way—only one. But he would have to become the vilest parasite in the universe—peddler of a poison that stripped the spirit, before it consumed the body...."
Farradyne had committed the one unpardonable error a Space Master could make. He didn't die along with the other 32 passengers when his ship smashed into the Bog on Venus.
They broke him—exiled him to the rotting fungus fields of Venus.
Now his only desire in existence was to return to the cool, gleaming sea of deep space.
And there was a way—only one. But he would have to become the vilest parasite in the universe—peddler of a poison that stripped the spirit, before it consumed the body...."
- GenresScience Fiction
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
1 person is currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
George O. Smith
213 books11 followersGeorge Oliver Smith (April 9, 1911 - May 27, 1981) (also known as Wesley Long) was an American science fiction author. He is not to be confused with George H. Smith, another American science fiction author.
Smith was an active contributor to Astounding Science Fiction during the Golden Age of Science Fiction in the 1940s. His collaboration with the magazine's editor, John W. Campbell, Jr. was interrupted when Campbell's first wife, Doña, left him in 1949 and married Smith.
Smith continued regularly publishing science fiction novels and stories until 1960. His output greatly diminished in the 1960s and 1970s when he had a job that required his undivided attention. He was given the First Fandom Hall of Fame award in 1980.
He was a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers the Black Widowers.
Smith wrote mainly about outer space, with such works as Operation Interstellar (1950), Lost in Space (1959), and Troubled Star (1957).
He is remembered chiefly for his Venus Equilateral series of short stories about a communications station in outer space. The stories were collected in Venus Equilateral (1947), which was later expanded as The Complete Venus Equilateral (1976).
His novel The Fourth "R" (1959) - re-published as The Brain Machine (1968) - was a digression from his focus on outer space, and provides one of the more interesting examinations of a child prodigy in science fiction.
Smith was an active contributor to Astounding Science Fiction during the Golden Age of Science Fiction in the 1940s. His collaboration with the magazine's editor, John W. Campbell, Jr. was interrupted when Campbell's first wife, Doña, left him in 1949 and married Smith.
Smith continued regularly publishing science fiction novels and stories until 1960. His output greatly diminished in the 1960s and 1970s when he had a job that required his undivided attention. He was given the First Fandom Hall of Fame award in 1980.
He was a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers the Black Widowers.
Smith wrote mainly about outer space, with such works as Operation Interstellar (1950), Lost in Space (1959), and Troubled Star (1957).
He is remembered chiefly for his Venus Equilateral series of short stories about a communications station in outer space. The stories were collected in Venus Equilateral (1947), which was later expanded as The Complete Venus Equilateral (1976).
His novel The Fourth "R" (1959) - re-published as The Brain Machine (1968) - was a digression from his focus on outer space, and provides one of the more interesting examinations of a child prodigy in science fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 13, 2015
A decently done space adventure. Something a little different from the author with a somewhat sharper, darker tone than his usual stuff.
April 5, 2023
Hellflower by George O. Smith
This 1953 novel is a decent enough space adventure with some good ideas which are central to the story. Modern readers will likely find the dialog and mode of expression rather dated. Since the story takes place in the future, I am a little surprised that the author did not try harder to use a less contemporary manner of speech, but the fact is that many of the conversations feel as though they belong in a 1940s spy or gangster movie.
Nevertheless, the story about a wronged and exiled spaceship captain (Farradyne) being recruited by a law enforcement agency in order to bring the leaders of a notorious narcotics ring to justice and thereby win back his place in society was sufficiently interesting to keep me reading until the end. The nature of the narcotic involved (the hellflower) is pretty original (although, strangely, it only works on women), and the truth about the power which lies behind the criminals ensures that everyone gets much more than they bargain for.
Hellflower is primarily an action adventure with little depth of introspection or characterization, and is pretty typical of the pulp fiction of the era. As such, in my opinion, it cannot compare with Smith’s 1959 novel The Fourth “R” (AKA The Brain Machine) in quality, as the latter work exhibits a more mature writing style, and is much more thought-provoking and philosophical.
Here are some representative quotations from the book:
“Funny how a guy gets out of his kid-habits,” mused Cahill. “And even funnier how he wants to go and do it all over again but never quite makes it the same.”
“Cahill was always a damned fool,” nodded Niles. “He was a dame-crazy idiot and it served him right. Some men prefer money, power or model railroads. Women are poison.”
Farradyne burned with resentment at any proposition whereby he, who had not committed anything more than a few misdemeanors and some rather normal fun and games which are listed on the books but are likely to be overlooked, should be less cultured, less successful and less poised than this family of low-grade vultures. If anything, the attitude of Mrs. Niles shocked him more than the acts of her husband.
In the background was the muted sibilant of the reaction motor, a sound like the shush of a distant seashore. Farradyne heard these sounds unconsciously. They were as pleasant to the ears of the spaceman as the sounds of a sailing ship were to the oldtime seaman.
The Lancaster made one more complex turn as the end of the punched tape entered the autopilot.
Coldly and calmly Farradyne scanned the skies. Providing they had not travelled more than forty or fifty light years, the constellations before and behind the direct line of flight should be reasonably undistorted,
Man’s inhumanity to man was a pale and insignificant affair compared to the animal ferocity of a woman about to settle up a long-standing account with another woman.
The warp generator permits a top speed of about two light years per hour in Terran figures.
Excitement would carry a person through a lot of trials.
The law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is only good when there is a higher authority to see that it goes no further.
This 1953 novel is a decent enough space adventure with some good ideas which are central to the story. Modern readers will likely find the dialog and mode of expression rather dated. Since the story takes place in the future, I am a little surprised that the author did not try harder to use a less contemporary manner of speech, but the fact is that many of the conversations feel as though they belong in a 1940s spy or gangster movie.
Nevertheless, the story about a wronged and exiled spaceship captain (Farradyne) being recruited by a law enforcement agency in order to bring the leaders of a notorious narcotics ring to justice and thereby win back his place in society was sufficiently interesting to keep me reading until the end. The nature of the narcotic involved (the hellflower) is pretty original (although, strangely, it only works on women), and the truth about the power which lies behind the criminals ensures that everyone gets much more than they bargain for.
Hellflower is primarily an action adventure with little depth of introspection or characterization, and is pretty typical of the pulp fiction of the era. As such, in my opinion, it cannot compare with Smith’s 1959 novel The Fourth “R” (AKA The Brain Machine) in quality, as the latter work exhibits a more mature writing style, and is much more thought-provoking and philosophical.
Here are some representative quotations from the book:
“Funny how a guy gets out of his kid-habits,” mused Cahill. “And even funnier how he wants to go and do it all over again but never quite makes it the same.”
“Cahill was always a damned fool,” nodded Niles. “He was a dame-crazy idiot and it served him right. Some men prefer money, power or model railroads. Women are poison.”
Farradyne burned with resentment at any proposition whereby he, who had not committed anything more than a few misdemeanors and some rather normal fun and games which are listed on the books but are likely to be overlooked, should be less cultured, less successful and less poised than this family of low-grade vultures. If anything, the attitude of Mrs. Niles shocked him more than the acts of her husband.
In the background was the muted sibilant of the reaction motor, a sound like the shush of a distant seashore. Farradyne heard these sounds unconsciously. They were as pleasant to the ears of the spaceman as the sounds of a sailing ship were to the oldtime seaman.
The Lancaster made one more complex turn as the end of the punched tape entered the autopilot.
Coldly and calmly Farradyne scanned the skies. Providing they had not travelled more than forty or fifty light years, the constellations before and behind the direct line of flight should be reasonably undistorted,
Man’s inhumanity to man was a pale and insignificant affair compared to the animal ferocity of a woman about to settle up a long-standing account with another woman.
The warp generator permits a top speed of about two light years per hour in Terran figures.
Excitement would carry a person through a lot of trials.
The law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is only good when there is a higher authority to see that it goes no further.
March 24, 2023
This one might be my first 10/10 on the yikes meter. This book has it all, sexual assault, drugging women, completely selfish motives, unprovoked violence, false rape claims, and casual misogyny. And that’s all from the “hero”! You have to go beyond him to get to the blackface. This book subverts the “make out with alien as soon as you discover it” trope by just revealing one of the already made out with sexy ladies is actually an alien. Women only exist as sexy ladies (but not dangerous) or moms and schoolteachers. Both sexy ladies repeatedly throw themselves at the hero. Like, they do nothing else at all, just always after him. The only slight “moral” choice the hero makes is not reciprocating the drug fueled sexual advances. The hero is also, somehow, isn’t affected by the drugs that a woman can’t resist. I had to go back to check and see if men were immune. Nope, he’s just too cool to let drugs stop him.
He also has a complete disregard for the people he hurts. In the climax he randomly roped in two truck drivers and the narrative spends the whole time talking down about these two guys.
It also lacks much imagination any interesting sci-fi concepts. It’s just completely normal 1950s life except on mercury. Even a completely alien race is just folks with a different language. Programming (of the autopilot on a spaceship) is done with punch cards. People are impressed to see images in color. The spaceship keeps stacks of printer paper around. Everything is fixed with tape. Guns shoot bullets and there are no other weapons. Bombs are nukes or “mercurite” (never explained as being any different than a nuke). Conveniently also cured an addiction with an overdose.
The half star is for a few brief moments of “sci-fi action” that were fun to read.
He also has a complete disregard for the people he hurts. In the climax he randomly roped in two truck drivers and the narrative spends the whole time talking down about these two guys.
It also lacks much imagination any interesting sci-fi concepts. It’s just completely normal 1950s life except on mercury. Even a completely alien race is just folks with a different language. Programming (of the autopilot on a spaceship) is done with punch cards. People are impressed to see images in color. The spaceship keeps stacks of printer paper around. Everything is fixed with tape. Guns shoot bullets and there are no other weapons. Bombs are nukes or “mercurite” (never explained as being any different than a nuke). Conveniently also cured an addiction with an overdose.
The half star is for a few brief moments of “sci-fi action” that were fun to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2022
I am not an SF reader but a BookTube group is exploring this genre this month, so i joined in. This was free from Project Gutenberg so on the Kindle- with power out for two days- this was on the menu. It is so bad it is good. Ed Wood must be salivating as to what he could do with this material...."Plan 9" could have been over-shadowed if he had his hands on this! Ah just to think. Great company !!!
March 1, 2023
Hellflower
Hellflower... Or Salvation? Farradyne is down and mostly out; then he's approached to become an agent ... And he finds himself in quite a quandary...
Rip roaring and so fast paced, you might get whiplash! Enjoyable read!
Hellflower... Or Salvation? Farradyne is down and mostly out; then he's approached to become an agent ... And he finds himself in quite a quandary...
Rip roaring and so fast paced, you might get whiplash! Enjoyable read!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews