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Slaves of Sleep #1
Slaves of Sleep
Explore an exotic new world in this fantastic tale. Millionaire Jan Palmer's fortunes abruptly change when the seal on an ancient Arabian copper jar is broken and a powerful and relentless evil is released - Zongri the Jinn. Imprisoned for thousands of years, Zongri has sworn that whoever sets him free will die. But when he fulfills this vow by slashing Professor Frobish in two, it is Jan Palmer, holding the bloody scimitar, who is caught by the police. For Jan, his problems have just Zongri, before departing, curses him with "Eternal Wakefulness." Locked in a prison cell, charged with murder, Jan comes to a horrible realization of what this means. As he drifts into slumber he finds himself in a strange world, one where humans rank below slaves, where evil Jinn reign and danger is all too real. On Earth he is Jan Palmer, imprisoned for murder, and in the land of the Jinn he is "Tiger," the swashbuckling rogue - but in both, he faces death at every turn. Acclaimed as one of Hubbard's most powerful and timeless fantasy stories. " A master of adventure ."--Anne McCaffrey.
- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
190 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
About the author
L. Ron Hubbard
2,015 books673 followersWith 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 350 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most enduring and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and '40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard. Then too, of course, there is all L. Ron Hubbard represents as the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology and thus the only major religion born in the 20th century.
source: Amazon
source: Amazon
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 22, 2011
Potential readers of L. Ron Hubbard's "Slaves of Sleep" who might be put off by the author's association with the cult of Dianetics and Scientology need not be concerned here. This novel first appeared in "Unknown" magazine in 1939, more than a decade before Hubbard's first Dianetics article was published (in "Astounding Science Fiction") in May 1950. Thus, in "Slaves of Sleep," there's not a mention of "auditors," "clears" or E-meters to be found. Rather, this is an extremely fast-moving and colorful fantasy tale, told with much brio and panache. In it, we meet Seattle shipping magnate Jan Palmer, a rather pusillanimous young man who is falsely accused of the murder of a visiting professor. I'm not giving anything away by saying that this murder was actually the work of the hairy, fanged and 15-foot-tall jinni Zongri, who's not at all grateful after being released from his bottle. (Barbara Eden he ain't!) Jan, the innocent bystander, is cursed by Zongri with "eternal wakefulness." Thus, whenever he nods off in his jail cell, his "sleep spirit" is tranported to an Arabian Nights-style empire, where humans are slaves and jinnis rule, and where he is the swashbuckling pirate Tiger.
This reader has always been fond of any book or film that dishes out two exciting parallel story lines. You know the kind I mean: Just as things come to a head with one of the stories, the scene jumps to the other, and back and forth. Well, "Slaves of Sleep" does this to a turn, alternating between Jan's plight in his earthly jail cell and his adventures as Tiger the pirate. While back on Earth, Jan faces that murder charge and tries to prevent himself from being locked away in a sanatorium; in the otherworldly Tarbuton, he is captured by the jinni queen and must somehow escape. He is aided in his latter task when he comes to acquire the mystical Seal of Sulayman, and when the personalities of Jan and Tiger start to meld. Yes, this is all pretty way-out stuff, but as I mentioned up top, Hubbard carries it off with great flair.
There are, however, some problems that pop up and prevent me from giving the book a top grade. Hubbard was a notoriously rapid writer, and there are scenes in the book that would have benefitted from some more detail. For example, the descriptions of the Rani temple, which Tiger infiltrates, are very vague, at best; most readers will have to tax their imaginations to adequately picture this stuff. And as some other readers have quite accurately pointed out, the book's conclusion IS rather rushed. In addition, once Jan acquires that Seal of Sulayman, his tasks are waaaay too easily accomplished. When all our hero has to do to sink a ship is say, in so many words, "Seal of Sulayman, sink that ship," much of the dramatic tension is removed, although the reader still gets a kick out of this vicarious wish fulfillment. It is easy to tell that Hubbard greatly enjoyed writing this tale, and that enjoyment IS communicated to the reader, but still, this reader was somehow left wanting more. I originally picked up this out-of-print book because of the glowing review in Cawthorn and Moorcock's excellent overview volume entitled "Fantasy: The 100 Best Books." Well, I'm not sure that "Slaves of Sleep" deserves to be on that top 100 list, but I did have fun reading it, and marginally recommend it to all lovers of fast-moving, swashbuckling fantasy fare.
This reader has always been fond of any book or film that dishes out two exciting parallel story lines. You know the kind I mean: Just as things come to a head with one of the stories, the scene jumps to the other, and back and forth. Well, "Slaves of Sleep" does this to a turn, alternating between Jan's plight in his earthly jail cell and his adventures as Tiger the pirate. While back on Earth, Jan faces that murder charge and tries to prevent himself from being locked away in a sanatorium; in the otherworldly Tarbuton, he is captured by the jinni queen and must somehow escape. He is aided in his latter task when he comes to acquire the mystical Seal of Sulayman, and when the personalities of Jan and Tiger start to meld. Yes, this is all pretty way-out stuff, but as I mentioned up top, Hubbard carries it off with great flair.
There are, however, some problems that pop up and prevent me from giving the book a top grade. Hubbard was a notoriously rapid writer, and there are scenes in the book that would have benefitted from some more detail. For example, the descriptions of the Rani temple, which Tiger infiltrates, are very vague, at best; most readers will have to tax their imaginations to adequately picture this stuff. And as some other readers have quite accurately pointed out, the book's conclusion IS rather rushed. In addition, once Jan acquires that Seal of Sulayman, his tasks are waaaay too easily accomplished. When all our hero has to do to sink a ship is say, in so many words, "Seal of Sulayman, sink that ship," much of the dramatic tension is removed, although the reader still gets a kick out of this vicarious wish fulfillment. It is easy to tell that Hubbard greatly enjoyed writing this tale, and that enjoyment IS communicated to the reader, but still, this reader was somehow left wanting more. I originally picked up this out-of-print book because of the glowing review in Cawthorn and Moorcock's excellent overview volume entitled "Fantasy: The 100 Best Books." Well, I'm not sure that "Slaves of Sleep" deserves to be on that top 100 list, but I did have fun reading it, and marginally recommend it to all lovers of fast-moving, swashbuckling fantasy fare.
May 25, 2020
A wealthy meek man Jan Palmer is cursed with Eternal Wakefulness after a Djinn is released from an ancient copper jar by a burglar. Palmer shifts back and forth between Earth and an Arabian Nights-esque world when he falls asleep. This book is very enjoyable but problematic in places. The biggest problem I had is that while Jan gets to the Arabian Nights world by page 33/159 it takes until page 116/159 for Jan to start becoming an active protagonist. Secondly, the ring of Solomon that Jan acquires is a bit too powerful of a magical weapon for him to use. It would have been more satisfying for the book to have been longer and for Jan to rely less on the ring. But those two things aside Slaves of Sleep is a short fun adventure story with a great premise that I enjoyed very much. (3.5/5)
May 19, 2026
The premise is interesting but I find that it's written poorly and does nothing to hold your interest. DNF at page 90.
March 25, 2025
Quality pulp by the founder of Scientology. I read Battlefield Earth book 1 awhile ago but I don't think it was nearly as good as this.
A millionaire's son is a weakling when he is thrown into a land of the genie, discovering his strong and boisterous alter ego and finding true love. What a surprise! I find myself actually reading and not skipping fighting sequences for they are snappy and do advance the plot.
A millionaire's son is a weakling when he is thrown into a land of the genie, discovering his strong and boisterous alter ego and finding true love. What a surprise! I find myself actually reading and not skipping fighting sequences for they are snappy and do advance the plot.
July 16, 2026
L. Ron Hubbard's 1950 Slaves of Sleep, which originally was published in 1939 in the fantasy pulp magazine Unknown--presumably, though I could be wrong, in a shorter version--is an enjoyable, amusing, none-too-deep fantasy that takes us back and forth from the prosaic world and posh estate and local calaboose to the secret world of genies and swordplay and palaces and dancing girls, with the put-upon and bewildered main character slowly coming into his own in each.
Jan Palmer, twenty-seven-year-old (page 10)heir to the great Bering Steamship Corporation of "fifteen Alaskan liners" (page 6), is something of a milquetoast dreamer, and yet he also also possesses strengths he does not yet realize. Initially we see him hemmed in by his uncertainties and his self-perceived inadequacies. It's frustrating for the reader, but the caricatures of his frenemy foils are broad enough, with mustache-twirling visible even from the balcony seats, that we know roughly where it will be headed.
Jan has "been under the thumb of" various overbearing older people "from the days of his childhood" (1948 Shasta hardcover, page 19). One is Thompson, an "ancient bird of a secretary" (page 7) who "had found out long ago, when Jan was hardly big enough to feed himself, that it was no difficult matter to bully the boy, since there would never be any redress" (page 6). Another is Nathaniel Green, the "general manager" to his late father's company (page 13), which for some reason--"[j]ust why" Jan "d[oes] not know," for "[h]e ha[s] never peeped into the books"--is "not showing much of a profit" (page 21); Green "spent all his life in the service of the late Palmer and then [had] not one share of stock left to him" (page 14), and he complains significantly about not having the younger Palmer's "power of attorney" (pages 14, 22). And the entire estate, from "the path from the beach to the huge, garden-entrenched mansion" may be "[t]heoretically" Jan's, "[a]ll his," this is "only theoretically," for "[a]ctually it [is] overlorded by a whiskered grandaunt whose already sharp temper ha[s] been whetted by the recent injustice of the probate court" (page 7).
Thompson calls Jan "a spoiled child to his face" (page 7). Green, on the occasion that Jan--who though uninterested in it, by definition is the man's employer, after all--actually did try to make an appearance at the office, "browbeat him before clerks" (page 14). And Aunt Ethel as he enters the house literally "looks down her nose" and immediately begins nagging about the house that belongs to the youth himself: "Jan! Don't you dare soak that rug with salt water! Indeed! One would think you had been raised on a tidal flat for all the regard you have for my efforts to give you a decent home. Jan! Don't throw your cap on that table! What would a visitor think?" (page 7). Jan "wishe[s] he had nerve enough" to sass Aunt Ethel, just as he knows, "[r]esentfully," that he "should push" Thompson "into his proper position" (page 7), but he cannot. Instead he "replie[s] with resignation" (page 7), rather stagily weeps an even more stagey "Oh, why...can't people leave me alone?" (page 7), and with unneeded glasses "us[es] nearsightedness as his usual excuse" for avoiding people (page 5).
And yet... Well, when we first encounter Jan, he has just come in to his private dock from hours of sailing "the wind-patterned Puget Sound" alone (page 9). A little later, as from his study containing "flotsam from many a strange sea" sailed by earlier Palmers--"spears and headdresses," a "truly beautiful blackwood desk all inlaid with pearl and ivory" (page 8), and whatnot--he "contemplat[es] the azure waters backed by the rising green hills and, finally, by the glory of the shining, snow-capped Olympics," he thinks that "[n]ext time he would take his cabin sloop and enough food to last a day or two--" (page 9).
And in addition to this physical courage, at least against raw nature rather than in the face of humans who "make [him] nervous" (page 6), the
15
19
frenemies in his late father's steamship line...versus
[IN PROGRESS]
Jan Palmer, twenty-seven-year-old (page 10)heir to the great Bering Steamship Corporation of "fifteen Alaskan liners" (page 6), is something of a milquetoast dreamer, and yet he also also possesses strengths he does not yet realize. Initially we see him hemmed in by his uncertainties and his self-perceived inadequacies. It's frustrating for the reader, but the caricatures of his frenemy foils are broad enough, with mustache-twirling visible even from the balcony seats, that we know roughly where it will be headed.
Jan has "been under the thumb of" various overbearing older people "from the days of his childhood" (1948 Shasta hardcover, page 19). One is Thompson, an "ancient bird of a secretary" (page 7) who "had found out long ago, when Jan was hardly big enough to feed himself, that it was no difficult matter to bully the boy, since there would never be any redress" (page 6). Another is Nathaniel Green, the "general manager" to his late father's company (page 13), which for some reason--"[j]ust why" Jan "d[oes] not know," for "[h]e ha[s] never peeped into the books"--is "not showing much of a profit" (page 21); Green "spent all his life in the service of the late Palmer and then [had] not one share of stock left to him" (page 14), and he complains significantly about not having the younger Palmer's "power of attorney" (pages 14, 22). And the entire estate, from "the path from the beach to the huge, garden-entrenched mansion" may be "[t]heoretically" Jan's, "[a]ll his," this is "only theoretically," for "[a]ctually it [is] overlorded by a whiskered grandaunt whose already sharp temper ha[s] been whetted by the recent injustice of the probate court" (page 7).
Thompson calls Jan "a spoiled child to his face" (page 7). Green, on the occasion that Jan--who though uninterested in it, by definition is the man's employer, after all--actually did try to make an appearance at the office, "browbeat him before clerks" (page 14). And Aunt Ethel as he enters the house literally "looks down her nose" and immediately begins nagging about the house that belongs to the youth himself: "Jan! Don't you dare soak that rug with salt water! Indeed! One would think you had been raised on a tidal flat for all the regard you have for my efforts to give you a decent home. Jan! Don't throw your cap on that table! What would a visitor think?" (page 7). Jan "wishe[s] he had nerve enough" to sass Aunt Ethel, just as he knows, "[r]esentfully," that he "should push" Thompson "into his proper position" (page 7), but he cannot. Instead he "replie[s] with resignation" (page 7), rather stagily weeps an even more stagey "Oh, why...can't people leave me alone?" (page 7), and with unneeded glasses "us[es] nearsightedness as his usual excuse" for avoiding people (page 5).
And yet... Well, when we first encounter Jan, he has just come in to his private dock from hours of sailing "the wind-patterned Puget Sound" alone (page 9). A little later, as from his study containing "flotsam from many a strange sea" sailed by earlier Palmers--"spears and headdresses," a "truly beautiful blackwood desk all inlaid with pearl and ivory" (page 8), and whatnot--he "contemplat[es] the azure waters backed by the rising green hills and, finally, by the glory of the shining, snow-capped Olympics," he thinks that "[n]ext time he would take his cabin sloop and enough food to last a day or two--" (page 9).
And in addition to this physical courage, at least against raw nature rather than in the face of humans who "make [him] nervous" (page 6), the
15
19
frenemies in his late father's steamship line...versus
[IN PROGRESS]
March 27, 2019
This is no masterpiece, but it is a well-told fantasy adventure with a good angle.
This is a short and fun read. The Dell paperback includes illustration from the original magazine appearance.
This is a short and fun read. The Dell paperback includes illustration from the original magazine appearance.
December 4, 2024
The first third of the book was intriguing, but then it went downhill from there.
I think basing the story on real world mythology did not work well in this case - maybe it was supposed to give a vaguely familiar background to a broader audience, but to me it seemed more like sloppy worldbuilding.
I think basing the story on real world mythology did not work well in this case - maybe it was supposed to give a vaguely familiar background to a broader audience, but to me it seemed more like sloppy worldbuilding.
January 27, 2024
I read this a long time ago and it began my fascination with dreams and dream logic. Very much a pulp novel, it was fun and had some interesting ideas. People forget that Hubbard was a fairly successful science fiction writer before his religion days.
May 18, 2021
One quirky ass book.
July 26, 2008
First published in 1938, this is the story of Jan Palmer, a shy, bookish young man who heads a steamship company inherited from his late father. He has no interest in the company, and would dearly love to get rid of it. One night, Professor Frobish visits and pleads with Jan for a chance to open, and analyze, the contents of a sealed copper jar in Jan’s possession. It’s said to contain the remains of a member of an ancient race called the jinn. Palmer promised an old friend a long time ago, that the jar would never be opened, and he intends to keep that promise.
Later that night, Frobish returns, now obsessed with the copper jar. The two men fight over it, and the jar is opened. A very large being, with shaggy hair and tusks, named Zongri appears in the room. Having been imprisoned since the time of Sulayman the Magnificent, Zongri decided long ago that whoever released him would receive instant death. Before Frobish can escape, Zongri grabs a nearby sword and chops him nearly in half. Instead of killing Jan, Zongri curses him with eternal wakefulness. Right after Jan finds himself alone in the room, the police burst in and haul him off to jail. Jan sticks to his innocence. The best his lawyer can do is maybe get him a one-way trip to a mental hospital. When he lays down to sleep, he suddenly finds himself on a sailing ship in the middle of nowhere, and he is strong and muscular.
He knows that his name is Tiger, and while he may look like a bodybuilder, he is still shy, bookish Jan Palmer on the inside. He is in a world of sorcery and pirates, kind of like a Robert E. Howard novel. He sees people that he knows from “his”world, but they don’t know him. Jan (as Tiger) finds some astronomical instruments, and discovers that he has not, as he thought, traveled into the past. The date is the same in both worlds. When he lays down to sleep, Tiger finds himself back in the jail cell, as Jan. Tiger also discovers that people in the other world, run by the jinn and where humans are slaves, know of the “real” world. He is able to get to the bottom of a lot of things, in both worlds.
This one is really good. Starting life as a magazine serial, it’s entertaining, it moves very quickly, and it’s a fine example of lighter reading. If you can find a copy, it’s worth checking out.
Later that night, Frobish returns, now obsessed with the copper jar. The two men fight over it, and the jar is opened. A very large being, with shaggy hair and tusks, named Zongri appears in the room. Having been imprisoned since the time of Sulayman the Magnificent, Zongri decided long ago that whoever released him would receive instant death. Before Frobish can escape, Zongri grabs a nearby sword and chops him nearly in half. Instead of killing Jan, Zongri curses him with eternal wakefulness. Right after Jan finds himself alone in the room, the police burst in and haul him off to jail. Jan sticks to his innocence. The best his lawyer can do is maybe get him a one-way trip to a mental hospital. When he lays down to sleep, he suddenly finds himself on a sailing ship in the middle of nowhere, and he is strong and muscular.
He knows that his name is Tiger, and while he may look like a bodybuilder, he is still shy, bookish Jan Palmer on the inside. He is in a world of sorcery and pirates, kind of like a Robert E. Howard novel. He sees people that he knows from “his”world, but they don’t know him. Jan (as Tiger) finds some astronomical instruments, and discovers that he has not, as he thought, traveled into the past. The date is the same in both worlds. When he lays down to sleep, Tiger finds himself back in the jail cell, as Jan. Tiger also discovers that people in the other world, run by the jinn and where humans are slaves, know of the “real” world. He is able to get to the bottom of a lot of things, in both worlds.
This one is really good. Starting life as a magazine serial, it’s entertaining, it moves very quickly, and it’s a fine example of lighter reading. If you can find a copy, it’s worth checking out.
July 6, 2024
This story is an excellent pulping adventure, a great novella. It is stars a mild-mannered millionaire shipping magnate named Jan Palmer, who is henpecked and has very little self-confidence. He is cursed by a jinn to remember what happens when he falls asleep. Like every human, Jan doesn’t actually dream. Instead, he is transported into a fantastical Arabian Nights world in the guise of the adventurous swashbuckler Tiger.
Tiger is a bit like the opposite of Jan. Tiger is an arrogant, anti-heroic rogue who gets things done. He lives in a world where humans are oppressed by evil jinn, including the humans Jan knows in daily life, who don’t remember anything about living on Earth. This story is surprisingly philosophical, the mark of a writer who hadn’t made up what he thought was the truth yet. This story aims to answer the question of “when we all fall asleep, where do we go?”
Eventually, Jan and Tiger get character development, and they become the same personality. Jan gains self-confidence, and Tiger becomes more genuinely heroic. However, their modus operandi still isn’t liberating humanity, at least not yet. Instead, Tiger gains a high position in the jinn-controlled society and material wealth. Jan, at least, gets out of prison.
This pulp fantasy story contains epic action, good tension, and a main character duo that isn’t really a duo. This portal fantasy is not cliche, thankfully enough. It contains that old school pulp style that has enough charm that I love.
Tiger is a bit like the opposite of Jan. Tiger is an arrogant, anti-heroic rogue who gets things done. He lives in a world where humans are oppressed by evil jinn, including the humans Jan knows in daily life, who don’t remember anything about living on Earth. This story is surprisingly philosophical, the mark of a writer who hadn’t made up what he thought was the truth yet. This story aims to answer the question of “when we all fall asleep, where do we go?”
Eventually, Jan and Tiger get character development, and they become the same personality. Jan gains self-confidence, and Tiger becomes more genuinely heroic. However, their modus operandi still isn’t liberating humanity, at least not yet. Instead, Tiger gains a high position in the jinn-controlled society and material wealth. Jan, at least, gets out of prison.
This pulp fantasy story contains epic action, good tension, and a main character duo that isn’t really a duo. This portal fantasy is not cliche, thankfully enough. It contains that old school pulp style that has enough charm that I love.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2010
L Ron Hubbard was one of the original American fantasy authors of the 30's and 40's. 'Slaves of Sleep' is one of his better regarded efforts. Set in interwar Seattle, it tells the story of shy, withdrawn Jan Palmer. He is the heir of a shipping company, but he has no interest in running his Dad's business which is being embezzled by his father's friend. Jan has two interests, sailing and collecting ancient artifacts, including a mysterious copper jar. This copper jar attracts the interest of a local academic who breaks into Jan's house and opens the jar releasing a Jinn. The Jinn kills the professor and curses Jan with eternal wakefulness. Jan is arrested for the murder, and while in jail he discovers the nature of his curse, and what happens when you fall asleep.
'Slaves of Sleep' reminded me a bit of Abraham Merritt's 'The Ship of Ishtar' with it's Arabian Tales milieu. However Hubbard, is not as good a writer as Merritt. It's virtues are that it's short and full of action but it does not have a compelling plot or characters. For readers interested in pre WWII pulp fantasy only.
'Slaves of Sleep' reminded me a bit of Abraham Merritt's 'The Ship of Ishtar' with it's Arabian Tales milieu. However Hubbard, is not as good a writer as Merritt. It's virtues are that it's short and full of action but it does not have a compelling plot or characters. For readers interested in pre WWII pulp fantasy only.
January 2, 2016
Not brilliant literature, but a fun pulp romp. Its only weakness was an ending that felt rushed, and which seemed a little brutal in terms of the fate of one of the bad guys.
Still, if you want to read an older pulp fantasy, this one was worth reading, and it was interesting to see how Hubbard dealt with Arabian Nights fantasy. A pirate battle between Djinns was one of the highlights, but there were other good parts, including the conflict between the earlier polytheistic beliefs of the Djinns and the monotheism forced on them by Solomon.
Still, if you want to read an older pulp fantasy, this one was worth reading, and it was interesting to see how Hubbard dealt with Arabian Nights fantasy. A pirate battle between Djinns was one of the highlights, but there were other good parts, including the conflict between the earlier polytheistic beliefs of the Djinns and the monotheism forced on them by Solomon.
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February 1, 20163 stars from Sandy: Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
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