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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 10, Spring 1946

Page 236

236    FANTASY COMMENTATOR
This-'n'-That
Spring has rolled around again, and it is time for our annual glance at Arkham House productions. In this column a year ago we gave a list of those volumes that were scheduled to appear. All but the last four thereon have actually done so, and three of these are expected in 1946; Shambleau and Others, by C. L. Moore, will not be published by Arkham House but there is a reason to expect that it will be issued under another aegis. Here, however, are those books expected within the coming year, in the probable order of appearance:
The Doll and the Others by Algernon Blackwood   $ 1.50
The House on the Borderland and Other Novels, by  Wm. Hope Hodgson   5.00
Fearful Pleasures, by A. E. Coppard     3.00
Reflections in Black, by Carl Jacobi   3.00
Skull-Face and Others, by Robert E. Howard   5.00
West India Lights, by Henry S. Whitehead   3.00
This Mortal Coil, by Lady Cynthia Asquith   3.00
Dark Carnival, by Ray Bradbury   3.00
Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt   2.50
Night's Black Agents, Fritz Leiber, Jr.   3.00
The Traveling Grave and Other Stories, by L. P. Hartley   3.00
Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder, by William Hope Hodgson   2.50
Dark of the Moon: Poems of Fantasy and the Macabre, by A.W. Darleth   2.50
The first title above is already available; the next three are anticipated by the summer of this year; the half-dozen then following by fall; and the final trio are scheduled for appearance in the winter of 1946-7.
Among the anthologies that have appeared since our last issue are the following: Who Knocks?, edited by August Derleth (Rinehart, $2 1/2); And the Darkness Falls, edited by Boris Karloff (World, $2 3/4); Rue Morgue No. 1, edited by Rex Stout and Louis Greenfield (Creative Age, $2 3/4); and The Best of Science Fiction, edited by Groff Conklin and bearing an introduction by John W. Campbell, Jr. (Crown, $3). The first two and the last bear our unqualified approval--especially the fine collection assembled by Mr. Conklin; Rue Morgue No. 1, however, is definitely an item to steer clear of, for it is predominately an assembly of mediocre mystery stories, with a couple of markedly inferior yarns from Weird Tales (One by Seabury Quinn!) tossed in.
Three science-fiction novels have recently appeared, of which the most noted is perhaps Franz Werfel's Star of the Unborn (Viking, $3). In this, the author's last work, we are subjected to a sort of utopian travelogue through the world of 100,000 A.D. Werfel toys with many themes, but manages to develop few of them; as a result the book's dramatic high points are few, and in totality the structure verges on the pedestrian. More interesting than this are two volumes put out by the Buffalo Book Co.: John Taine's Time Stream and The Skylark of  Space by E. B. Smith, novels which appeared originally in pre-1930 issues of science-fiction magazines, and which have not since been available. These are priced at $3 apiece, and may be obtained by remitting to the publishers at 271 Doyle Ave., Providence 6, R. I. Fantasy Commentator recommends both.
In the realm of pure fantasy we have Frank Tashlin's Bear that Wasn't (Dutton, $1 1/4), a delightful tale that is simply a must; Peabody's Mermaid, by Guy and Constance Jones (Random, $2 1/2), an equally charming tale spiced with humor and just a dash of allegorical satire; Jerome Dreifuss' Furlough from Heaven, wherein a survey of our civilization is conducted by the shade of Leonardo da Vinci (Crown, $2 1/2); Frank Baker's Embers (Coward-McCann, $2 1/2), which tells of an Englishman who lives happily with his five cats and whose real company is the dream of the woman he loved and lost; and The Pale Blonde of Sands Street, by William (concluded on page 252)

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236 FANTASY COMMENTATOR This-'n'-That Spring has rolled around again, and it is time for our annual glance at Arkham House productions. In this column a year ago we gave a list of those volumes that were scheduled to appear. All but the last four thereon have actually done so, and three of these are expected in 1946; Shambleau and Others, by C. L. Moore, will not be published by Arkham House but there is a reason to expect that it will be issued under another aegis. Here, however, are those books expected within the coming year, in the probable order of appearance: The Doll and the Others by Algernon Blackwood $ 1.50 The House on the Borderland and Other Novels, by Wm. Hope Hodgson 5.00 Fearful Pleasures, by A. E. Coppard 3.00 Reflections in Black, by Carl Jacobi 3.00 Skull-Face and Others, by Robert E. Howard 5.00 West India Lights, by Henry S. Whitehead 3.00 This Mortal Coil, by Lady Cynthia Asquith 3.00 Dark Carnival, by Ray Bradbury 3.00 Slan, by A. E. Van Vogt 2.50 Night's Black Agents, Fritz Leiber, Jr. 3.00 The Traveling Grave and Other Stories, by L. P. Hartley 3.00 Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder, by William Hope Hodgson 2.50 Dark of the Moon: Poems of Fantasy and the Macabre, by A.W. Darleth 2.50 The first title above is already available; the next three are anticipated by the summer of this year; the half-dozen then following by fall; and the final trio are scheduled for appearance in the winter of 1946-7. Among the anthologies that have appeared since our last issue are the following: Who Knocks?, edited by August Derleth (Rinehart, $2 1/2); And the Darkness Falls, edited by Boris Karloff (World, $2 3/4); Rue Morgue No. 1, edited by Rex Stout and Louis Greenfield (Creative Age, $2 3/4); and The Best of Science Fiction, edited by Groff Conklin and bearing an introduction by John W. Campbell, Jr. (Crown, $3). The first two and the last bear our unqualified approval--especially the fine collection assembled by Mr. Conklin; Rue Morgue No. 1, however, is definitely an item to steer clear of, for it is predominately an assembly of mediocre mystery stories, with a couple of markedly inferior yarns from Weird Tales (One by Seabury Quinn!) tossed in. Three science-fiction novels have recently appeared, of which the most noted is perhaps Franz Werfel's Star of the Unborn (Viking, $3). In this, the author's last work, we are subjected to a sort of utopian travelogue through the world of 100,000 A.D. Werfel toys with many themes, but manages to develop few of them; as a result the book's dramatic high points are few, and in totality the structure verges on the pedestrian. More interesting than this are two volumes put out by the Buffalo Book Co.: John Taine's Time Stream and The Skylark of Space by E. B. Smith, novels which appeared originally in pre-1930 issues of science-fiction magazines, and which have not since been available. These are priced at $3 apiece, and may be obtained by remitting to the publishers at 271 Doyle Ave., Providence 6, R. I. Fantasy Commentator recommends both. In the realm of pure fantasy we have Frank Tashlin's Bear that Wasn't (Dutton, $1 1/4), a delightful tale that is simply a must; Peabody's Mermaid, by Guy and Constance Jones (Random, $2 1/2), an equally charming tale spiced with humor and just a dash of allegorical satire; Jerome Dreifuss' Furlough from Heaven, wherein a survey of our civilization is conducted by the shade of Leonardo da Vinci (Crown, $2 1/2); Frank Baker's Embers (Coward-McCann, $2 1/2), which tells of an Englishman who lives happily with his five cats and whose real company is the dream of the woman he loved and lost; and The Pale Blonde of Sands Street, by William (concluded on page 252)