NOLA Bert > Recent Status Updates

Chapter XI: Battle to the Death - the final battle with Elder Zeit and the dero. The few dero that survive flee Mu in migration ships. In the Shaver Mystery Mythos, did they come back to Mu/Earth?

I Remember Lemuria

Chapter IX: The Abandondero & Chapter X: Into The Tunnels of the Dero - we get a description of the dero and how they have been wreaking havoc from within the inner Earth.

I Remember Lemuria

Chapter VII: A Wedding on Nor & Chapter VIII: Return to Mu - Muton Mion and Arl are wedded in a nutrient tank that mixes their life essence. The attack against the dero on Mu commences.

I Remember Lemuria

Chapter V: The Princess Vanue & Chapter VI: Conclave of the Elders - Mutan Mion meets the Elder Princess of the city of Nor on Quanto. A conference of elders occurs to consider the dero problem on Mu.

Chapter IV: Escape Into Space - Mutan Mion, Arl, and other Atlans flee Earth first on a shuttle to a space station then on another ship. They are heading to Quanto, the 11th planet in the solar system. But they had to think otherwise or the dero would know from their mind rays.

Chapter 8: “Top Secret” Forever—The AVRO Alternative - shrouded in secrecy and using the AVRO car as a cover for flying saucer sightings

Chapter 6: Holes in the Cover-up - rumors of recovered craft and ET bodies

Chapter 7: The President and the Captured Saucer - rumors about President Eisenhower sneaking away on vacation to view craft and bodies at Edwards AFB. The cover story? He had an emergency dental procedure.

Chapter 5. Descriptions of the Aliens - purported descriptions of extraterrestrials from people who claim to have seen them on military bases. Three to four and a half feet tall. Basically, greys but without the large wraparound eyes. Last part of chapter includes a photograph from Germany that has now been debunked as a hoax photo of an alien being escorted by military officers.

Chapter 4: Witnesses Speak—the Town Remembers - interviews with witnesses Barney Barnett (second hand since he had died), Jesse Marcel, & Bill Brazel (son of W. W. “Mac” Brazel, the rancher who first found debris).

Chapter 3: The AAF Confronts a Crashed UFO and Dead Extraterrestrials - details of the crash retrieval, the press release on a recovered saucer, and the pivot to a weather balloon explanation

Introduction - the start of the UFO phenomenon in 1947 and prior strange aerial sightings.

Chapter 1: UFOs in the Sky and Space - history of UFO reports including NASA missions.

Chapter 2: Incident at Roswell - the first reports that a flying saucer crashed near Roswell, New Mexico and that there were “little men” on board. Other UFO sightings around the same time.

“The Necromancer and the Forgotten Hero” by D. M. Ritzlin (art by Randy Broecker)

An excellent tale of the necromancer, Xaarxool, in his youth. Xaarxool raises a great warrior from centuries past to protect him from a corrupt and decadent magistrate who wishes him dead. Interesting world and characters with bloody action to propel the story onwards.

“Orphan Maker” by S. E. Lindberg (art by Samuel Dillon)

A weird story about an animated skeleton that serves as the protector of a group of children in a keep. He ventures out to save a maiden in despair only to face his nemesis, his brother, in a corrupted glade. Lindberg calls this “Dyscrasia Fiction,” whatever that means. Short choppy sentences and an uninteresting world made me shrug at this story.

24. Artful Obsession. Shaver pursues “rock books.” Big federal obscenity trial against Hamling in Houston in 1966. Shaver is called to testify for the prosecution.

25. Martian Diary. Rap can’t finish his autobiography. Publishes Shaver’s rock book in The Secret World but doesn’t give him credit on the cover. Shaver dies due to complications of pancreatic cancer

22. The Stigmata of Raymond A. Palmer. Shaver moves to a farm in Wisconsin and convinces Rap to move to Amherst, WI. Rap starts Mystic magazine. Later, it becomes Search magazine. Shaver tries and fails at farming but discovers “rock books.”

23. Big Trouble in Little Amherst. Rap and Shaver get in trouble since they were listed as directors and president of Hamling’s porn companies. Shaver moves to Arkansas.

19. Armistice of 1948. Rap offers a truce to fandom and appears to wrap up the Shaver Mystery to placate Ziff.

20. Reconstructing Ray Palmer. Still publishing FATE, but Rap also started Other Worlds Science Stories.

21. The Unexpected Gafiation of William L. Hamling. Hamling’s connection to Hugh Hefner and the start of his competition to Playboy Magazine, Rogue.

17. Science of the Damned. Debate about the Shaver “Hoax.”

18. Fanfeud From Hell. The beginning of the end of Rap’s editorship at *Amazing*. The new obsession: flying saucers. The debut of FATE magazine to focus on flying saucers and Fortean phenomena.

15. Conflict. The Shaver Mystery takes off. Letters to *Amazing* flood in.

16. Line in the Sand. Despite the popularity of the Shaver Mystery, active SF fandom mostly rises against Rap and Shaver.

Part III: The Rise and Fall of the Shaver Mystery, 1945-1948

13. Howard Browne. Browne becomes editor of *Mammoth Detective* based on two stories he submitted to Bernard G. Davis. But because *Mammoth Detective* is quarterly, Davis makes Browne assistant editor of *Amazing* and *Fantastic*.

14. Lemuria, My Lemuria. The start of the Shaver Mystery in *Amazing* and Shaver and Palmer become friends.

Ionia, 1938-1943. Shaver is committed to the Ionia State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Based on the voices he hears, Shaver developed his knowledge of the Inner Earth. After 5 years, he was released and moved back in with his parents. Also since his release, Dick submitted stories to pulp mags eventually getting his letter about the Mantong alphabet published in *Amazing Stories*.

9. The Wicker School of Fine Art. Shaver takes art classes, does nude modeling, and meets Sophie Gurvitch.

10. Through the Looking Glass. Shaver’s brother, Taylor, dies unexpectedly. Shaver starts hearing voices. Shaver is committed to Ypsilanti State Hospital. His daughter Evelyn Ann Shaver is born. Sophie is electrocuted.

11. Period of Abandonment. Shaver flees to Canada, but is eventually caught.

Part II: Richard Sharpe Shaver

7. Shavertown - Richard Shaver’s ancestors. Both industrious and victims of circumstance, including mental health problems.

8. The Early Years. Dick Shaver’s childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Lots of moving around, both from place to place and job to job.

I Remember Lemuria

Chapter III: Terror in Tean City - the dero attack the Atlans. Mutan Mion has a plan to escape.

5. Politics - East Coast SF leftists vs. Midwest “Mom & Apple Pie”. Campbell vs. Palmer or high-brow SF vs. Everyman SF.

6. The Inner Circle - Rap’s inner circle included William L. Hamling, Howard Browne, and Chester Geier. Leroy Yerxa becomes an important writer for Palmer and introduces him to Marjorie Wilson, who Rap marries. Shaver’s letter about Mantong arrives.

“Pawns’ Gambit” by Nathan Long (Art by Doug Kovacs)

Another great Leiber Fafhrd and Gray Mouser pastiche by Nathan Long. Ningauble and Sheelba wager a bet over who is the most heroic, Fafhrd or Mouser. Manipulating the duo through dream visions, Fafhrd and Mouser plan heroic deeds that can’t go unnoticed they think. Reminiscent of “Lean Times in Lankhmar.”

4. Spilling the Atoms - Rap from editor of fanzine *SFD* to its changed name, *Fantasy Magazine*. Friends with Forry Ackerman. Writer. Death of Stanley Weinbaum. Editor of *Amazing Stories* and *Fantastic Adventures*. Getting Bloch to write his first sci-fi story for *Amazing Stories*.

3. Trauma - The effects of Rap’s medical issues on his psychology. Plus, Rap starts the first Sci-Fi fanzine: *The Comet*, later titled *Cosmology*. Also, his stint with the Milwaukee Fictioneers with the likes of Robert Bloch and Stanley G. Weinbaum. Later he joins the editorial staff of *Science Fiction Digest*.

“Blue Achernar” by Tais Teng (art by Jason Edwards)

A warrior and his sorcerer cousin must protect their kingdom from an apocalyptic plot by a rival wizard-king. Duplicity is the agent in this very high-magic story. The ever expanding magical one-upmanship grew tiresome to me.