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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 11, Summer 1946

Page 270

270     FANTASY COMMENTATOR

This-'n'-That

New Fiction
Two leading authors, one American the other English, have produced trilogy-completing works within the past few months. Vardis Fisher's Intimations of Eve (Vanguard, $2 3/4), which continues his saga of prehistoric man, is the first of these, and is equal in quality to the pair of novels which preceeded it. The second is That Hideous Strength of C. S. Lewis (Macmillan, $3; Lane, 8/6); the author continues his basic theme of the struggle between good and evil, this time eschewing Mars and Venus for a terrestrial locale, and falling short of the quality attained in Perelandra and Out of the Silent Planet. Back with us after a considerable absence is Dorothy Macardle, who attempts with The Unforeseen (Doubleday, $2 1/2) to duplicate the success of her earlier novel. This new effort deals with extra-sensory perception, is suspensefully written, and leads to an exciting climax---but it does not quite match The Uninvited. Two of June's arrivals deal more or less seriously with occult-like topics: Four Great Oaks by Mildred McNaughton (Creative Age, $2 3/4) is a smoothly-written variant on the Berkely Square reincarnation theme; Agnes Rothery's Balm of Gilead ( Dodd, Mead, $2 1/2), on the other hand, furnishes an example of hardy Cape Cod ghosts who seem more substantial than the author's real people.
Borderline Stuff
Noted here for the record as well as for the benefit of those who may be completists are three titles. James Phelan's Moon on the River (Wyn, $2 1/2) toys with superstition and black magic, but never quitemakes clear whether dark powers of evil frequently hinted at are actually playing leading roles. Murder Strikes an Atomic Unit by Theodora Du Bois (Doubleday-Doran, $2) reeks faintly of super-science. And The Snake Pit of Mary Jane Ward (Random house, $2 1/2) is a psychiatric history transformed into a well-done, dramatic novel, and is also, incidentally, now a best-seller.

Anthologies, Non-Fiction, Reprints
33 Sardonics, edited by Tiffany Thayer (Philosophical Library, $3 1/2), includes several Fortean fantasies in addition to a few tales of horror and the supernatural. Newton Arvin edits Hawthorne's Short Stories (Knopf, $3), which includes all his familiar fantastics as well as such little-known ones as well as "A Virtuoso's Collection" and "The Celestial Railroad." The Doctor to the Dead: Grotesque Legends and Folk-Tales of Old Charleston (Rinehart, $2 1/2), collected by John Bennett, is composed mostly of supernatural stories. A few are also found in A. L. Rowse's West-Country Stories (Macmillan, $2 1/2), which come from "a land thick with folk rumor and fairy tales and ghosts." If you like authentic history well laced with the supernatural, try Voodoo in New Orleans by Robert Tallant (Macmillan, $2 1/2). The Portable Oscar Wilde edited by Richard Aldington (Viking, $2) includes a reprint of The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as an authoritative discussion of its background. The Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton of Madelene King-Hall, which appeared to years ago in Britain, has finally been published in this country (Rinehart, $2 1/2). 

Radio
Much fantasy has occupied the airlanes of late, and this column has admittedly made no attempt to report on it, for the winnowing of the mature fare from the overpowering mass of juvenilia extant did not seem worth the expended effort that would have been necessary. But it is pleasant to report here at this time that "Lights Out," NBC's famous decade-old feature, is rebroadcasting at 10 P.M. Saturdays (Eastern time) the best from applauded shows of the past. Don't miss this series!

Now and Later
Despite having increased the size of this issue to 36 pages--- we hope you noticed it!---the letter section was crowded out. A lengthy installment of this regular feature will be included in the next issue. And with Fantasy Commentator #12 ends volume one, so an index thereof will doubtless be published too. ---Which emphasizes the fact that "FC" is all of three years old; but we're too tired to celebrate! ---A.L.S.

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270 FANTASY COMMENTATOR This-'n'-That New Fiction Two leading authors, one American the other English, have produced trilogy-completing works within the past few months. Vardis Fisher's Intimations of Eve (Vanguard, $2 3/4), which continues his saga of prehistoric man, is the first of these, and is equal in quality to the pair of novels which preceeded it. The second is That Hideous Strength of C. S. Lewis (Macmillan, $3; Lane, 8/6); the author continues his basic theme of the struggle between good and evil, this time eschewing Mars and Venus for a terrestrial locale, and falling short of the quality attained in Perelandra and Out of the Silent Planet. Back with us after a considerable absence is Dorothy Macardle, who attempts with The Unforeseen (Doubleday, $2 1/2) to duplicate the success of her earlier novel. This new effort deals with extra-sensory perception, is suspensefully written, and leads to an exciting climax---but it does not quite match The Uninvited. Two of June's arrivals deal more or less seriously with occult-like topics: Four Great Oaks by Mildred McNaughton (Creative Age, $2 3/4) is a smoothly-written variant on the Berkely Square reincarnation theme; Agnes Rothery's Balm of Gilead ( Dodd, Mead, $2 1/2), on the other hand, furnishes an example of hardy Cape Cod ghosts who seem more substantial than the author's real people. Borderline Stuff Noted here for the record as well as for the benefit of those who may be completists are three titles. James Phelan's Moon on the River (Wyn, $2 1/2) toys with superstition and black magic, but never quitemakes clear whether dark powers of evil frequently hinted at are actually playing leading roles. Murder Strikes an Atomic Unit by Theodora Du Bois (Doubleday-Doran, $2) reeks faintly of super-science. And The Snake Pit of Mary Jane Ward (Random house, $2 1/2) is a psychiatric history transformed into a well-done, dramatic novel, and is also, incidentally, now a best-seller. Anthologies, Non-Fiction, Reprints 33 Sardonics, edited by Tiffany Thayer (Philosophical Library, $3 1/2), includes several Fortean fantasies in addition to a few tales of horror and the supernatural. Newton Arvin edits Hawthorne's Short Stories (Knopf, $3), which includes all his familiar fantastics as well as such little-known ones as well as "A Virtuoso's Collection" and "The Celestial Railroad." The Doctor to the Dead: Grotesque Legends and Folk-Tales of Old Charleston (Rinehart, $2 1/2), collected by John Bennett, is composed mostly of supernatural stories. A few are also found in A. L. Rowse's West-Country Stories (Macmillan, $2 1/2), which come from "a land thick with folk rumor and fairy tales and ghosts." If you like authentic history well laced with the supernatural, try Voodoo in New Orleans by Robert Tallant (Macmillan, $2 1/2). The Portable Oscar Wilde edited by Richard Aldington (Viking, $2) includes a reprint of The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as an authoritative discussion of its background. The Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton of Madelene King-Hall, which appeared to years ago in Britain, has finally been published in this country (Rinehart, $2 1/2). Radio Much fantasy has occupied the airlanes of late, and this column has admittedly made no attempt to report on it, for the winnowing of the mature fare from the overpowering mass of juvenilia extant did not seem worth the expended effort that would have been necessary. But it is pleasant to report here at this time that "Lights Out," NBC's famous decade-old feature, is rebroadcasting at 10 P.M. Saturdays (Eastern time) the best from applauded shows of the past. Don't miss this series! Now and Later Despite having increased the size of this issue to 36 pages--- we hope you noticed it!---the letter section was crowded out. A lengthy installment of this regular feature will be included in the next issue. And with Fantasy Commentator #12 ends volume one, so an index thereof will doubtless be published too. ---Which emphasizes the fact that "FC" is all of three years old; but we're too tired to celebrate! ---A.L.S.