Tag Archives: book reviews

WONDERWORLDS (1911) ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

WONDERWORLDS (Wunderwelten) (1911) – Written by Friedrich W. Mader. This novel was published in its native German in 1911 but not translated into English until 1932 under the title Distant Worlds. Some sources mistakenly list 1932 as its original year of publication. 

Wonderworlds is basically what we today call Steampunk. Lord Charles Flitmore has had a spaceship constructed in the form of a large globe which works via antigravity.

Flitmore puts together an expedition to explore the solar system. Members of the expedition include his wife Lady Mietje Flitmore, biologist Professor Heinrich Schultze, Hans Friedung, Schultze’s protege, Johann Rieger, Flitmore’s manservant, and Captain Hugo von Munchhausen, a fat, boastful liar who is a comic relief figure in the mold of the fictional Baron Munchhausen.   

Flitmore’s spaceship, called the Sannah, takes off on its expedition, with two monkeys named Dick and Bobs along for the ride. The Sannah first visits the moon, where our explorers discover that the Dark Side is unexpectedly vibrant with life. There are lush forests and ample sources of water. Continue reading

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CAPTAIN MORS THE AIR PIRATE (1908-1911) STORIES TWENTY-SIX TO THIRTY

For Balladeer’s Blog’s overview of the entire Kapitan Mors der Luftpirat series click HERE. For my look at the first five stories in the weekly text series click HERE.

THE GHOST RAILWAY BRIDGE ON THE SHAHO – Our masked hero and his crew on their Luftschiff are in the sky above the River Shaho. They observe the Russian and Japanese armies preparing for another monumental battle. NOTE: The Kapitan Mors tales are like the Sherlock Holmes stories in that they often jump around in time. This one is set during the Russo-Japanese War, so much earlier than most of the Mors stories.

To avoid the mass casualties of the previous battle at Shaho, Kapitan Mors and his men do a psy-op against his hated Russians. They stage seemingly supernatural events surrounding a “ghost railway” and push the Russian commander to the brink. Continue reading

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ARKON AND XEMU VS THE FANTASTIC FOUR AND THE INHUMANS

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog will look at 6 issues in a row from a memorable Fantastic 4 run.

FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #158 (May 1975)

Title: Invasion from the Fifth Dimension

Villain: Xemu

Synopsis: Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) and his wife Invisible Woman (Susan Storm-Richards) are debating the pluses and minuses of her rejoining the team full-time. Medusa from the Inhumans has been substituting for Sue during her and Reed’s son Franklin’s problems with his mutant powers. With Franklin now cured, Invisible Woman wants to come back.

The former Avenger Quicksilver, now a member of the Inhuman Royal Family through his marriage to Crystal (who had replaced Invisible Woman during her pregnancy with Franklin), uses his speed powers to break into the Baxter Building headquarters of the Fantastic Four. The Human Torch (Johnny Storm), annoyed after striking out at a singles bar, arrives home and, encountering Quicksilver, attacks him. 

The pair fight it out, fueled largely by their former romantic rivalry for Crystal. The Thing (Ben Grimm) and his girlfriend – the blind sculptress Alicia Masters – arrive back from a night at the Metropolitan Opera and the Thing joins the Human Torch in attacking Quicksilver. Mr. Fantastic calls a halt to the fighting and asks Quicksilver why he invaded the Baxter Building.   

Pietro (Quicksilver) explains to the Fantastic Four, including Medusa and Invisible Woman (which makes 5) why he came. The Human Torch’s old foe Xemu, the ruler of the Fifth Dimension, led an interdimensional army in an invasion of Attilan, the Inhumans’ high-tech hidden city in the Himalayas. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: A TRIP TO THE MOON BY MR. MURTAGH MCDERMOT (1728)

A TRIP TO THE MOON BY MR. MURTAGH MCDERMOT, CONTAINING OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS MADE BY HIM (1728) – The real author of this is unknown, since it was published using the pen name Murtagh McDermot. Unless, of course, the writer used their real name for the main character.

McDermot, the story’s narrator, tells us he sailed from Dublin to the island of Tenerife. Once there he climbed to the top of Mount Teide where a massive windstorm carried him into outer space. He was able to breathe (hey, it’s 1728) but found himself trapped when he was equidistant from the Earth and the moon.

Murtagh tried maneuvering his body to break free but instead wound up moving a tiny bit closer to the moon, and the lunar gravity pulled him toward it. Luckily for him he landed in a lake on the moon, so he wasn’t killed.

Our narrator was rescued by an inhabitant of the moon, who was fishing at the lake. McDermot saw that the moon’s landscape was similar to that of the Earth and the beings who lived there, like his rescuer, were intelligent humanoid animals. Think Planet of the Apes if a variety of animals were featured, not just primates. Continue reading

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CAPTAIN MORS THE AIR PIRATE (1908-1911) STORIES TWENTY-ONE TO TWENTY-FIVE

For Balladeer’s Blog’s overview of the entire Kapitan Mors der Luftpirat series click HERE. For my look at the first five stories in the weekly text series click HERE.

THE PRISON ON DEVIL’S ISLAND – Near the mouth of the Orinoco River in French Guyana a huge deposit of diamonds has been discovered. Inmates of the notoriously hellish prison on nearby Devil’s Island have been making frenzied attempts at escape to go diamond hunting.

From around the world other people with a lust for diamonds are descending on the area. Our hero Kapitan Mors has also gotten word and has flown his air ship and its mixed European and Indian crew to grab their own share of precious gems to share with the world’s poor. The man running Devil’s Island uses the opportunity to try trapping Mors. Continue reading

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BRITISH SUPERHEROES OF THE 1960s

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at some of Great Britain’s homegrown superheroes from the 1960s. For their 1940s heroes click HERE.

GADGETMAN

Secret Identity: Burt Travis

Debuted: 1968

Origin: Burt Travis was the scientific genius who ran Travis Corporation. He used some of his inventions and the costumed identity of Gadgetman to fight criminals, aliens and other menaces. 

Powers: Burt Travis had a hidden teleportation device in his office. When he wanted to become Gadgetman he would teleport to his secret headquarters and go into action. This hero could fly via jet-shoes, shoot assorted ray-guns called Gadget Guns and release a substance from his costume that made him slick and impossible to hold onto.

Gadgetman also piloted a flying Gadgetcar and Gadgetcycle. Burt Travis’ lab apprentice Gary Stewart was really Gimmick-Kid, with a costume and gadgetry similar to Gadgetman.

CAT-GIRL

Secret Identity: Cathy Carter

Debuted: 1969

Origin: Cathy Carter was the daughter of a widower private investigator. In their home’s attic she found an old cat costume that was a gift from an African head of state her father had helped. Putting on the costume, she gained various powers and fought crime as Cat-Girl. 

Powers: Cat-Girl has greater than human strength, speed and incredible agility. She can see in the dark and gains magnified senses of smell and hearing. Her claws can cut through metal and other objects. In costume she can control the prehensile tail. Continue reading

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CAPTAIN MORS THE AIR PIRATE (1908-1911) STORIES SIXTEEN TO TWENTY

For Balladeer’s Blog’s overview of the entire Kapitan Mors der Luftpirat series click HERE. For my look at the first five stories in the weekly text series click HERE.

CAPTAIN MORS IMPRISONED – Far above the ocean, Kapitan Mors commands his Luftschiff (Air Ship) on its latest voyage along with its part European and part Indian crew. A carrier pigeon brings our masked hero a distress call from Miss Else Martens. She is in the clutches of a tinpot dictator who wants to force her into a marriage.

Our main character and his men set out to free Else and loot the dictator’s riches. They will, as usual, share those riches with the suffering poor around the world. What they keep will go toward completing Mors’ spaceship. And speaking of that, this adventure introduces the Dutch astrophysicist Van Halen, who becomes vital to the captain’s outer space adventures. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: A STORY OF THE YEAR 2236 (1900)

Struggle for EmpireTHE STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE: A STORY OF THE YEAR 2236 (1900) – Written by Robert W Cole. I left out the first half of the title for the headline, since The Struggle For Empire sounds like a mundane history book. In reality this novel was a very, very early example of the Space Opera sub-genre.  

In 2236 A.D. Earth’s dominant geopolitical entity is the Anglo-Saxon Federal Union, consisting of Great Britain, the United States and Germany. This union of nations came about during a World War that was fought during the early Twentieth Century. That conflict pitted the Americans, British and Germans against the French and the Russians.

The Anglo-Saxon Federal Union emerged triumphant, with France carved up and lost to the mists of history. (The author was British.) London, now a megalopolis spreading out for hundreds of miles, is the Earth’s capital city. It also serves as the capital for the star-spanning empire which Earthlings have established.

Mascot sword and pistolInitially the Earth colonized and inhabited the planets and certain moons of our own solar system all the way out to Neptune. (Pluto was not discovered until 1930.) In a quaint quasi-Steam-Punk way, all of those planets and moons have Earth-like atmospheres and conditions.

The perfection of anti-gravity and other technology led to the construction of space ships that could fly at the speed of ten million miles per hour. Robert W Cole takes H.G. Wells’ colonialism analogy from War of the Worlds into space, as humanity is depicted settling and colonizing planets in multiple star systems.

Earthlings also stripped uninhabitable planets of all their minerals, precious metals and other natural resources. Power and greed rule the zeitgeist. Complications arise when humanity at last encounters another intelligent race in the 23rd Century.     Continue reading

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GOLDEN GIRL AND CAPTAIN AMERICA: 1940s ADVENTURES

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog will look at the late 1940s stories with Captain America teamed up with Golden Girl, who replaced Bucky after he was seriously injured.

GOLDEN GIRL 

Secret Identity: Betsy Ross

First Appearance: As Betsy Ross – Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) As Golden Girl – Captain America Comics #66 (April 1948) Her final Golden Age appearance came in July of 1949.

Origin: After years of working off and on with Captain America in her capacity as a federal agent, Betsy Ross adopted the costumed identity of Golden Girl in 1948 to serve as Cap’s new partner when Bucky was out of commission after suffering injuries at the hands of the supervillainess called Lavender.

Powers: Golden Girl was in peak physical condition and excelled at unarmed combat. She was more agile than an acrobat and wore a bulletproof cape which she could wrap around herself or innocent bystanders as needed. Continue reading

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CAPTAIN MORS THE AIR PIRATE (1908-1911) STORIES ELEVEN TO FIFTEEN

For Balladeer’s Blog’s overview of the entire Kapitan Mors der Luftpirat series click HERE. For my look at the first five stories in the weekly text series click HERE.

THE AIRSHIP IN A WHIRLWIND – As the early pulp adventures of Kapitan Mors continue, his Luftschiff (Air Ship) is still incredibly damaged in the aftermath of his first clash with Ned Gully, his archenemy. That battle happened in the previous installment.

Gully himself turns out to have survived, after all, and he finds allies to help him try to stop Mors from repairing the Luftschiff piecemeal in a running battle from France to Italy across the Mediterranean and culminating over the Red Sea. A “high tech” (for 1908) inflatable raft is used at one point. Continue reading

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