The Best of Edmond Hamilton

Landed !
by Edmond Hamilton, Leigh Brackett | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
ISBN: Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 7/16/2019
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1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Tuesday, July 16, 2019
I got this fair-condition hardcover at a local Savers thrift shop, for another release copy. I've read some of Hamilton's stories in other collections, and enjoyed these as well. (The collection includes stories from the '20s through the '60s, reflecting Hamilton's long, busy career - and it doesn't even touch on his many novels. The tales were selected by his wife, author Leigh Brackett, with Hamilton's blithe agreement - see his afterword regarding that!)

Despite the delightfully campy B-movie cover-art, most of the stories have a lot of depth to them - and even when they deal with spacemen and monsters, they're very entertaining. Some involve poignant musings that reminded me of Bradbury, such as the one about the SF author whose son is setting out in a real rocket, leaving his father with mingled feelings of jealousy that he can't go himself and dread that he inspired his son to take up a very dangerous profession...

Other favorites include:

"The Accursed Galaxy," with a vaguely Lovecraftian note that suggests a reason why the universe is expanding away from us {wry grin}.

"Fessenden's Worlds" is about a scientist who has created viable worlds at a microscopic level - and who promptly undertakes a series of cruel experiments on them, which his friend (the narrator) strongly opposes.

"He That Hath Wings" is a tragic tale of a winged man who finds that not everyone can accept him as he is.

"Exile," a short story about having to live in the imaginary worlds one creates.

"Alien Earth" is set on a world where people can take drugs and then experience time in the way that plants do - with... enlightening results for some visiting earth-folk.

One of the more harrowing stories is "What's It Like Out There?" - ostensibly about a space-faring man who can't bear to have people ask him that, as the fates of his companions on a Mars mission were tragic, brutal, sometimes self-inflicted, anything but glorious.

And "After a Judgment Day" presents a small handful of astronauts with the knowledge that all human life on Earth has been lost to a horrible plague - and leaving them to decide what to do next.

The introduction is by Hamilton's wife Leigh Hunt, who has some excellent insights to make - and there's an afterword by Hamilton himself with some interesting remarks about the stories and their origins. Good collection!

[There's a TV Tropes page on Hamilton and his work.]

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing at When Pigs Fly Company Store And Pizzeria in Kittery, Maine USA on Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Released 4 yrs ago (7/17/2019 UTC) at When Pigs Fly Company Store And Pizzeria in Kittery, Maine USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I left this book on a bench near the entrance to the restaurant, while there for a really delicious lunch. (I recommend the duck confit grilled cheese!) Hope someone enjoys the book!

[See other recent releases in Maine here.]

*** Released for the 2019 Science Fiction release challenge. ***

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