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Pegasus, v. 2, issue 1, Summer 1943
Page 20
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tractive [attractive] than present surroundings, but is unable to leave the sphere in which he maintains a material existence. Which naturally causes him to feel somewhat frustrated. An example of this is Hamilton's "Dreamer's Worlds" in the November 1941, WEIRD. A list of this lost land paradise type of story would not be complete without mention of C. A. Smith's "City of the Singing Flame"; an excellent attempt at epic-proportion atmosphere fantasy, which did not seem to me to add up quite properly. Dunsany's trilogy of The Land of Dream in "Tales of Three Hemispheres" belongs in this classification, too. Another type of paradise closely related to this group, is that which has its existence on other planets. And the best example of it is the well-known Balmer-Wylie collaboration, "After Worlds Collide". Remember the silent, shining cities of the Other People? There is a thrill not easily forgotten in the thought of the things to be found in such a city: mechanical perfection, the culture, achievements, arts of a greater race dead over a billion years. It is this idea that probably led Laster del Rey to say, "My ambition is to write a story with the theme of "After Worlds Collide", and the atmosphere of "Final Blackout"." There have been a multitude of such wonderful cities found in the magazines of the '31, '32, '33 Gernsback era, when space-flight was a wonder and not a commonplace. Few ever succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of this book. Other-dimensional paradises are worthy of mention, too. C. L. Moore's "Bright Illusion" with its romantic and slightly absurd plot of love between two beings from different dimensions; and the only two decent stories ever written by Van Lorne, "Strange City" and its excellent sequel are best examples. Future paradises. Ah, here indeed do we find paradise galore! For if a fantasy story of the future is not pessimistic, then it must be optimistic, and we find the world of the future rich in scientific miracles. Stories like Stuart's magnificent "Forgetfulness", one of the greatest -- if not the greatest -- pulp stories ever written; and tales from Feinbaum's "Black Flame" and "Fawn of Flame" are worthy of inclusion in this group. Two splendid stories, even if the slightly laughable heroines and the equally laughable antics of the hero for their benefit did prove that Stanley had a lot to learn about wimmin [women] and guys and such stuff. A similar lack of knowledge where psychological motivation is concerned, was shown in Williamson's "Legion of Time", wherein the beautiful heroine tried with admirable persistence to kill men whenever she saw them -- those men opposed to her, that is -- gave them no encouragement whatever to love her, and still had 'em crawling after her when she had tortured them until they could no longer stand, all because she was booful -- this typical Williamson heroine, I say, is found only in fiction or, if actually existing, are all old maids. Speaking of "Legion of Time", it is a sample of several tales which are difficult to put into this classification since they are concerned 17
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tractive [attractive] than present surroundings, but is unable to leave the sphere in which he maintains a material existence. Which naturally causes him to feel somewhat frustrated. An example of this is Hamilton's "Dreamer's Worlds" in the November 1941, WEIRD. A list of this lost land paradise type of story would not be complete without mention of C. A. Smith's "City of the Singing Flame"; an excellent attempt at epic-proportion atmosphere fantasy, which did not seem to me to add up quite properly. Dunsany's trilogy of The Land of Dream in "Tales of Three Hemispheres" belongs in this classification, too. Another type of paradise closely related to this group, is that which has its existence on other planets. And the best example of it is the well-known Balmer-Wylie collaboration, "After Worlds Collide". Remember the silent, shining cities of the Other People? There is a thrill not easily forgotten in the thought of the things to be found in such a city: mechanical perfection, the culture, achievements, arts of a greater race dead over a billion years. It is this idea that probably led Laster del Rey to say, "My ambition is to write a story with the theme of "After Worlds Collide", and the atmosphere of "Final Blackout"." There have been a multitude of such wonderful cities found in the magazines of the '31, '32, '33 Gernsback era, when space-flight was a wonder and not a commonplace. Few ever succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of this book. Other-dimensional paradises are worthy of mention, too. C. L. Moore's "Bright Illusion" with its romantic and slightly absurd plot of love between two beings from different dimensions; and the only two decent stories ever written by Van Lorne, "Strange City" and its excellent sequel are best examples. Future paradises. Ah, here indeed do we find paradise galore! For if a fantasy story of the future is not pessimistic, then it must be optimistic, and we find the world of the future rich in scientific miracles. Stories like Stuart's magnificent "Forgetfulness", one of the greatest -- if not the greatest -- pulp stories ever written; and tales from Feinbaum's "Black Flame" and "Fawn of Flame" are worthy of inclusion in this group. Two splendid stories, even if the slightly laughable heroines and the equally laughable antics of the hero for their benefit did prove that Stanley had a lot to learn about wimmin [women] and guys and such stuff. A similar lack of knowledge where psychological motivation is concerned, was shown in Williamson's "Legion of Time", wherein the beautiful heroine tried with admirable persistence to kill men whenever she saw them -- those men opposed to her, that is -- gave them no encouragement whatever to love her, and still had 'em crawling after her when she had tortured them until they could no longer stand, all because she was booful -- this typical Williamson heroine, I say, is found only in fiction or, if actually existing, are all old maids. Speaking of "Legion of Time", it is a sample of several tales which are difficult to put into this classification since they are concerned 17
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