Anton York, Immortal

by Eando Binder

Anton York has discovered the secret of voluntary suspended animation and requires no food or air. He can live where he pleases, when he pleases, for as long as he wants. Somewhere in the dim future ages this man-made God must die. But how? A science fiction classic!

Genres: Science Fiction, Pulp

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1965

About the author

A pseudonym used by brothers
Earl Andrew Binder and Otto Oscar Binder

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a minor classic of pre-Golden Age pulp science fiction. It has the four Anton York stories that were published in Thrilling Wonder Stories magazine 1937 - '40, which was edited by Mort Weisinger, who moved on to become the editor of Superman comics and the George Reeves television stories for many years. Otto Binder was one of his main writers at DC. (Eando Binder was the name under which brothers Earl and Otto Binder published their stories; Earl dropped out before WWII but was still active for the Anton York stories.) Anton York is a sort of Doc Savage superman character who has become immortal by cosmic rays and radiation applied by his father. His wife, Vera, has the same treatment. They fight thieves and then interstellar aliens and then invaders from another universe. It's pretty over-the-top at times, but it's a fun old-time series of adventures, with many science fiction tropes piled atop one another.

[Phil Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a detour in my usual reading preferences for my first book of 2013. I've read some science fiction in the past, but usually the type of that uses the genre to comment on greater issues. Think Ray Bradbury. In reality, I'm fairly ignorant of the genre, even though I've enjoyed such shows as The Twilight Zone and other mainstream instances of the genre. I've been wanting for a long time to read more of the stuff, to immerse myself in these hugely imaginative works. I've read about the genre, read about many books that sound downright awesome, but until now I haven't done anything about my thirst for space stories.

I read a book called Anton York, Immortal. It consists of four stories written written between 1937 and 1940 by Eando Binder (a pseudonym for brothers Earl and Otto Binder) and collected within the copy I have in 1965. Check out the Goodreads page for the cover alone (that's what caught my eye when I came across this book in a used bookstore): http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15....

I loved this book. It tells the story of Anton York who as a child is injected with an elixir by his scientist father. There are two outcomes for Anton: immortality or death. Some father, huh? Of course the elixir works and Anton ages until 35 at which point his body is immune to disease and the aging process. In all, he lives for 2,000 years. He packs those years with scientific space adventures, from moving planets and rendering uninhabitable planets habitable for pioneering humans to defeating a number of villains who've also achieved immortality. York's adventures are improbable and his escapes from danger are impossible. But that's what makes the stories so good. This is the type of reading I remember as a kid, the kind in which you allow the story to take you places, many times down narrow dangerous roads that seem to lead to a dead end. Except every time there's something right before that dead end that allows the hero to escape. Or perhaps there was no dead end to begin with, only the allusion of one. It's escapist reading at its best, and though I'm not yet well-versed in the genre, it seems this book is a fairly decent one since it did incorporate many technical terms and scientific theories, yet never allowed those usually pedantic topics to slow the pace of the all-important story.

Happy reading.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as teenager and loved it. Remembered the name Anton York. The story impressed me so much that at age 23 I named my son Anton York.

Looking to buy, read again and gift to my son. At this time he has no idea this was the inspiration for his name.

[Librarianocnj · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite pulp scifi novels. Read it about once a year.

[Luisg2099 Eduardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulosa, la leí en secundaria o prepa, llena de imaginación, impresionante. Excelentes recuerdos.

[Gary Daly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ludicrous story. It’s amusing at times but ultimately this book, ‘Anton York Immortal’ would have been great as film made by Ed Wood (Plan 9 From Outer Space). The book has all the grandeur of total abandonment. A character who can do anything and he does. All challenges are overcome after one or two difficult delays. It’s so smooth one could almost believe it’s a documentary of an acid trip. I think the foundations of the novel (as it was published by Belmont Books in 1968) is sourced from the late 1930s. Still the book survives out in the world and finally reached me to read in the 21st Century. Authentic effort but ultimately difficult to recommend when we have so many books to read and so little time. Bought from Gould’s Books for $9.90.

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pure Sci-fi pulp, and it's fantastic. Anton York has developed a serum for eternal life and spends his thousands of years defending Earth from the evils of others that have the same gift of life he has. It's very much in the vein of E.R.B adventure books. The first few parts of the book are fairly bland and predictable, but the last section deals with him exploding into a different universe and taking on new perils there and trying to figure out the different physics that make up that universe. I thought those were some cool ideas and fun to read. Not bad stuff overall.

[Tracy Thorleifson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earl Andrew and Otto (Eando) Binder were prolific authors of the pulp Sci-Fi age. Anton York, Immortal (the 1965 Belmont paperback edition) was the very first book I ever purchased with my own money (from a spinning book rack at at a Stuckey's road stop restaurant, no less). Although it was published in 1965, the book is derived from stories the Binder brothers were publishing in the pulps in the '30s and '40s, and is a perfect example of the science fiction of that era. It's a real treat. :-)