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Science Fiction Fan, v. 3, issue 12, whole no. 36, July 1939
Page 8
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teresting summer reading look up this intense novel of the lunar demise. ARGOSY, gone wild over fantastics swings into its newest with the August 5 issue. "THE NINTH LIFE" by Jack Mann is the tale of a strange immortal Goddess spawned of Satan. Yet to be released, advance news of "FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES," a companion magazine to the Argosy, promises great. Stories by Merritt, Wandrei, Wellman and Leath are slated for the first issue, which is due out soon selling at 15c. —————— YE FANTAISIE BOOKES by Ye Olde Booke Collector Breaking from our regular field of old books, we review here a new book GENERAL MANPOWER by John S. Martin (1938, Simon & Schuster). Mr. Martin is an editor of TIME the weekly "newsmagazine" and much has been made of this by various reviewers of the book. It is laid about ten years from now after one Orestes Jones, a former Roxy usher, has discovered his method of making men super-strong and extra-healthy. Using this method to build up the under-nourished unemployed he gathers about him a great array of supermen whom he organizes into a sort of co-operative outfit known as "General Manpower". This corporation sells labor in much the same fashion that General Electric and General Motors sell their products. By utilizing his superfinks, G.M. is able to break up any strike and any labor trouble in the country and Jones soon becomes a sort of fascist strong-man in America. He then trains his men for military war and sets out on a contract to clean up the Dutch East [Indecipherable] here he restores the shaky rule of the Dutch imperialists. Returning home he finds that the plug-ugly he has left in charge of his home base has set up in business for himself. Jones' gang and the rebel gang clash and of course General Manpower comes out on top. The book closes with Jones becoming humanitarian and deciding to use his men as a world-police force to keep peace and plutocracy happy. It's a well printed book anyway, illustrated with neat maps. The thing we can say is that if this is the sort of future and political viewpoint regarded as de- [NEW COLUMN] sirable by one high on the staff of a responsible weekly news-review, there is something rotten somewhere. Going back a bit to our columns of last year, we recently picked up a book entitled THE INVASION OF 1910 by William LeQuex. (1906, Mac Millan's, Toronto). Its' another story of how the Germans attacked England and how unprepared G.B. was. Bound with it is a facsimile of a note from Earl Roberts praising the book and quoting from a speech he made in the House of Lords in 1905. The book is replete with maps of battles. lines of attacks, facsimile proclamations, notices, etc. Germany attacked England without any hit or warning. Troops had landed on the British coast, and a naval battle had been fought. The Germans, after heavy struggle, capture London. The British lay seige to it and hold them there. Much of the book deals with London in German hands. Eventually the grip of the conqueror is loosened by riots of the Londoners and finally the British army succeeds in driving the invaders into the sea. However, the result of the war, despite the nominal victory of Britain and the as yet intact condition of the empire is ceded to be a defeat, for Germany has won control of the European continent and has greatly enlarged herself. Holland and Denmark and their colonial possessions had been added to the Reich (the first Reich if you please). One point is noticable [sic], at least the writer assumed that England fought against such expansion, today one wonders. ————— CAMPBELL AND THE FRUSTRATIONS OF INVENTION by Donald A. Wolheim In his editorial in ASTOUNDING for May, Editor Campbell goes out of his way to defend the monopolists in this country (and the rest of the world) and to poo-poo those who say that monopoly capitalism is becoming increasingly a hindrance to scientific advancement and invention. Citing two examples which he himself had seen as proof that the marvelous inventions supposedly frustrated were really economic greed from any blame He says "the reason for the shelving of the scientifically possible gadgets is not that given—to protect some established interest." The reason he would have us believe, without any qualifying remarks or possible exceptions, is due en-
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teresting summer reading look up this intense novel of the lunar demise. ARGOSY, gone wild over fantastics swings into its newest with the August 5 issue. "THE NINTH LIFE" by Jack Mann is the tale of a strange immortal Goddess spawned of Satan. Yet to be released, advance news of "FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES," a companion magazine to the Argosy, promises great. Stories by Merritt, Wandrei, Wellman and Leath are slated for the first issue, which is due out soon selling at 15c. —————— YE FANTAISIE BOOKES by Ye Olde Booke Collector Breaking from our regular field of old books, we review here a new book GENERAL MANPOWER by John S. Martin (1938, Simon & Schuster). Mr. Martin is an editor of TIME the weekly "newsmagazine" and much has been made of this by various reviewers of the book. It is laid about ten years from now after one Orestes Jones, a former Roxy usher, has discovered his method of making men super-strong and extra-healthy. Using this method to build up the under-nourished unemployed he gathers about him a great array of supermen whom he organizes into a sort of co-operative outfit known as "General Manpower". This corporation sells labor in much the same fashion that General Electric and General Motors sell their products. By utilizing his superfinks, G.M. is able to break up any strike and any labor trouble in the country and Jones soon becomes a sort of fascist strong-man in America. He then trains his men for military war and sets out on a contract to clean up the Dutch East [Indecipherable] here he restores the shaky rule of the Dutch imperialists. Returning home he finds that the plug-ugly he has left in charge of his home base has set up in business for himself. Jones' gang and the rebel gang clash and of course General Manpower comes out on top. The book closes with Jones becoming humanitarian and deciding to use his men as a world-police force to keep peace and plutocracy happy. It's a well printed book anyway, illustrated with neat maps. The thing we can say is that if this is the sort of future and political viewpoint regarded as de- [NEW COLUMN] sirable by one high on the staff of a responsible weekly news-review, there is something rotten somewhere. Going back a bit to our columns of last year, we recently picked up a book entitled THE INVASION OF 1910 by William LeQuex. (1906, Mac Millan's, Toronto). Its' another story of how the Germans attacked England and how unprepared G.B. was. Bound with it is a facsimile of a note from Earl Roberts praising the book and quoting from a speech he made in the House of Lords in 1905. The book is replete with maps of battles. lines of attacks, facsimile proclamations, notices, etc. Germany attacked England without any hit or warning. Troops had landed on the British coast, and a naval battle had been fought. The Germans, after heavy struggle, capture London. The British lay seige to it and hold them there. Much of the book deals with London in German hands. Eventually the grip of the conqueror is loosened by riots of the Londoners and finally the British army succeeds in driving the invaders into the sea. However, the result of the war, despite the nominal victory of Britain and the as yet intact condition of the empire is ceded to be a defeat, for Germany has won control of the European continent and has greatly enlarged herself. Holland and Denmark and their colonial possessions had been added to the Reich (the first Reich if you please). One point is noticable [sic], at least the writer assumed that England fought against such expansion, today one wonders. ————— CAMPBELL AND THE FRUSTRATIONS OF INVENTION by Donald A. Wolheim In his editorial in ASTOUNDING for May, Editor Campbell goes out of his way to defend the monopolists in this country (and the rest of the world) and to poo-poo those who say that monopoly capitalism is becoming increasingly a hindrance to scientific advancement and invention. Citing two examples which he himself had seen as proof that the marvelous inventions supposedly frustrated were really economic greed from any blame He says "the reason for the shelving of the scientifically possible gadgets is not that given—to protect some established interest." The reason he would have us believe, without any qualifying remarks or possible exceptions, is due en-
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