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Dream Quest, v. 1, issue 1, July 1947

Page 19

20    DREAM QUEST

nobody being killed or enslaved and everybody happy. How else could it happen?

HIDDEN CITY is easily the best novel that AMAZING has printed yet this year. It is so much better than TITANS' BATTLE and ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON that there is no comparison whatever. Geier has great writing skill, there is no doubt about it. That has already been proved to the satisfaction of fen by "Environment." The characterization in Hidden City is above reproach -- the characters sound convincing, which is the final test, needless to say. While the plot may not be the greatest ever, and a wee bit of formula creeps in here and there, the weaknesses, which are inevitable in any pulp story, are far transcended by the novel's good points. Geier does some really beautiful writing at times -- especially near the end, where he does some descriptive passages which are worthy of praise. The basic idea for the novel is an excellent one for writing an intrigue-ish and mysterious narrative, and Geier, naturally, is easily equal to the task of developing it. We would go so far as to say that Hidden City is the best first-trip-to-the-moon novel since "Empire of Jegga," David V Reed's vastly under-rated and unsung classic in AS for November 1943. Here's hoping for many more Geier sagas. After too many end of the world novels and gruesome horror drivel, they are refreshing, to say the least.

As for the shorts, the best of the three is a 6200-worder by Robert Moore Williams called "The Weapon." Earth has been at peace, with nary a war for 600 years; war was eliminated by the use of a ghastly weapon which has been then destroyed and all the plans burned. Then along come invaders from the general direction of Sirius, who intend to conquer Earth. ((For some reason that plot sounds vaguely familiar. We wonder why.)) The weapon is dug out, and proves to be an instrument for increasing phobias, hence destroying the enemy by fear. His own phobias, intensified by the machine, kill him. The idea may not be too grand, but after all it's only a 6200-word short. The thing that seems queer to us is that this weapon, all traces of which had supposedly been removed from the surface of the earth, was on display in the museum right along beside all the other weapons of history! Rather improbable, but convenient for pulp authors in distress, we suppose. This theme is very difficult to handle -- for the task of thinking up a weapon which will conform to the qualifications of being too horrible to use, and still not merely be an engine of physical destruction, is not an easy one, and many is the author who has foundered in those dangerous waters. We think Williams did remarkably well -- and the fact that it was all done for a measly short makes it all the better. We are inclined to rate this yarn a little above the lead novel. ... the other two shorts are average-quality space operas which would be pretty good for Planet. "Treasure Derelict," by Guy Archette[[?]] concerns a greedy space-captain and his young assistant who run into a derelict full of treasure, and near it the empty hulk of a two-years-missing Uranus expedition. Boarding the former, they find here and there in it the skeletons of the crew of the Uranus expedition, all

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20 DREAM QUEST nobody being killed or enslaved and everybody happy. How else could it happen? HIDDEN CITY is easily the best novel that AMAZING has printed yet this year. It is so much better than TITANS' BATTLE and ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON that there is no comparison whatever. Geier has great writing skill, there is no doubt about it. That has already been proved to the satisfaction of fen by "Environment." The characterization in Hidden City is above reproach -- the characters sound convincing, which is the final test, needless to say. While the plot may not be the greatest ever, and a wee bit of formula creeps in here and there, the weaknesses, which are inevitable in any pulp story, are far transcended by the novel's good points. Geier does some really beautiful writing at times -- especially near the end, where he does some descriptive passages which are worthy of praise. The basic idea for the novel is an excellent one for writing an intrigue-ish and mysterious narrative, and Geier, naturally, is easily equal to the task of developing it. We would go so far as to say that Hidden City is the best first-trip-to-the-moon novel since "Empire of Jegga," David V Reed's vastly under-rated and unsung classic in AS for November 1943. Here's hoping for many more Geier sagas. After too many end of the world novels and gruesome horror drivel, they are refreshing, to say the least. As for the shorts, the best of the three is a 6200-worder by Robert Moore Williams called "The Weapon." Earth has been at peace, with nary a war for 600 years; war was eliminated by the use of a ghastly weapon which has been then destroyed and all the plans burned. Then along come invaders from the general direction of Sirius, who intend to conquer Earth. ((For some reason that plot sounds vaguely familiar. We wonder why.)) The weapon is dug out, and proves to be an instrument for increasing phobias, hence destroying the enemy by fear. His own phobias, intensified by the machine, kill him. The idea may not be too grand, but after all it's only a 6200-word short. The thing that seems queer to us is that this weapon, all traces of which had supposedly been removed from the surface of the earth, was on display in the museum right along beside all the other weapons of history! Rather improbable, but convenient for pulp authors in distress, we suppose. This theme is very difficult to handle -- for the task of thinking up a weapon which will conform to the qualifications of being too horrible to use, and still not merely be an engine of physical destruction, is not an easy one, and many is the author who has foundered in those dangerous waters. We think Williams did remarkably well -- and the fact that it was all done for a measly short makes it all the better. We are inclined to rate this yarn a little above the lead novel. ... the other two shorts are average-quality space operas which would be pretty good for Planet. "Treasure Derelict," by Guy Archette[[?]] concerns a greedy space-captain and his young assistant who run into a derelict full of treasure, and near it the empty hulk of a two-years-missing Uranus expedition. Boarding the former, they find here and there in it the skeletons of the crew of the Uranus expedition, all