Author: jmstine

A Golden Age Gillian Hazeltine classic!

Margaret Kenton is killed in the Silver Moon nightclub, and circumstantial evidence points to Bob O'Neil, the dead woman's fiancé (and as it later turns out, heir). But Gladys Ingham, one-time court reporter who is herself in love with O'Neil, appeals to the detective firm of Bryce and Glace.

Soon the pair discover the dead woman was behind a city-wide blackmail ring, and that O'Neil is only the first in a long line of suspects that includes Gladys Ingham, herself; Joe Palloni, gangster and owner of the Silver Moon; Giovanni Cerra (alias Jumping Jack), a dancer-gigolo; Tommy Tovallo, Palloni's chief "chopper" (killer); a gangland lawyer named Richfield; debutante Allison Martin, daughter of one of the city's wealthy families; a shady bail bondsman named Doobie; and danseuse Violet de Lisle (whose real name is Maud Slade).

When Allison Martin is kidnapped, even the police are stumped and agree with Bryce and Glace that only a man of uncommon gifts can unravel the case, so they call in the extraordinary astrologer and seer, the Persian mystic known as Semi-Dual. Yet, Semi-Dual doesn't just rely on his psychic insights to solve cases; as he says, "Material proof for material man." For he is an expert unearther and reader of clues as well.

When the stars reveal that someone in the underworld has put out a contract on his friends, Bryce and Glace, Semi-Dual realizes he will have to work swiftly if the Ledger of Life is to balance and a ruthless murderer brought to account for his crimes.

Never-Reprinted Extravaganza from the Legendary Fantastic Adventures!

Only the wild, anything-goes imagination of Don Wilcox could have dreamed up this science fantasy of an Earthman who wakes up on an alien world in the body of a gigantic serpent!

All knowledge of who he is or how he came to be where he is has been lost. The first damsel he meets is distressed by his ferocious appearance. But when he learns she is the target of scheming Earthmen and aliens alike, he decides to protect her from afar, even if there is no hope of her even knowing of his love.

Breathtaking action, heart-rending romance, unforgettable characters, and nonstop action make this one of Don Wilcox's most memorable pulp creations. Find out why we are woo-woo for Wilcox!

An Adventure Classic of "Hard" Science Fiction!

Scientific adventure, protofeminism, and romance are just the beginning of this enthralling SF classic. When Marjorie Driscott, of the famous Brassey seed house, is put in charge of an expedition to the ice-clad Himalayas of Central Asia, she knows she is in for trouble from chauvinistic American geologist Robert Vartan and his paleobotanist partner, Frank Shane. Their goal is a strange blue delphinium, like no other known plant on earth—and a shovelful of soil worth $1,000,000.

But others have learned of the delphinium and are determined to do whatever it takes to sabotage the Brassey expedition and claim the prize for themselves. Soon, Marjorie discovers she and her colleagues are enmeshed in a web of scientific mystery, international intrigue, and perilous adventure amid the icy peaks and hostile tribes of Central Asia. Mystery is piled on mystery as they progress through the mystery of tangled purposes and masked personalities which is the surface pattern of the plot, but also the basic scientific mystery—to which the rest are secondary—of the source of the unearthly flowers out of nowhere, and of the strange and powerful forces behind their origin.

Mishap follows misadventure—queer discoveries crowd one upon another in a scientific romance that involves gorgeous delphinium, hereditary insanity, black ice, radioactivity, a visitant from cosmic distances and remote ages, seeds of madness, and the strangest garden ever imagined. The Forbidden Garden is an enthralling epic that will hold fans of science fiction and fantasy spellbound until the last page is turned.

"An engrossing example of what can be accomplished when a prominent scientist with a vivid imagination and a gift for writing applies his talents to science fiction." —Analog

John Taine, under his real name, Eric Temple Bell, was a professor of mathematics at the California Institute of Technology.

The SF Classic of a Futuristic 007!

He stole men's bodies to betray their minds. No matter where he was, and no matter whose body he happened to be inhabiting, the traitor in his heart stayed right with him.

A dictatorship ruled the solar system, but the Society of Mechanists dreamed of the perfect world that would result if science and logic, not politics, called the shots. Operator Forty-four was the Society's top secret agent, a man who could change bodies whenever pursuit began breathing down his neck. General Aneido, head of the government's Secret Service, never knew when such an enemy might be walking among Earth's billions—perhaps in the body of the general's own best friend.

Then Forty-four was assigned to steal the secret of a new invention from the woman he had once loved. That was bad enough, for their love suddenly rekindled. But what he actually discovered made him wonder if he was really on the right side? Suddenly both the general's Secret Service and the Society of Mechanists were after Forty-four. Can even an invisible secret agent survive when he is surrounded on all sides? His only hope lay in two women: one who hated him and one who was unreliable!

"A stand out science fiction novel!" —Donald A. Wollheim

Third Book in Nebula Nominee's Cosmic Kalevala!

Based on the myths and legends of the Finns, Emil Petaja spins an enthralling tale chronicling the fate of the last of the three genetic reincarnations of their great hero-Gods of ancient times.

In the distant future, Wayne Panu, captain of a battleship, undergoes terrible psychic trauma when he is forced to kill innocent alien children and then sacrifice his best friend, all in the name of duty. When Wayne looks out a viewport and sees an ancient copper canoe floating in space, bearing a bearded elder of great psychic and physical strength, Wayne knows he has suffered a mental breakdown. But the copper boat is real, and its passenger is the greatest sorcerer of the past, the present and the future, Wainomoinen.

For behind the Terran-alien war is the near-immortal hag-witch, Louhi, the vessel through which the Pahaliset, cruel forces from another dimension, scheme to conquer our own. To stop them, Wayne will have to accompany Wainomoinen across time and space, learn the secrets of the Vanhat (the ancient Finns), beguile Louhi, craftiest of all the Star-Witches, trick her greatest trick from her, and then allow himself to be totally consumed by the Pahaliset!

Author-editor-publisher Donald A. Wollheim wrote that "from the Kalevala's mind-stunning material, Petaja has created a cycle of novels—science fiction fantasy adventure of the highest order—retelling in the eyes of modern scientific conjecture the great worlds-shaking events that may be concealed by the folklore of an ancient and mysterious people."

Don't miss the earlier books in this classic saga, The Saga of Lost Earths and The Star Mill (found in the "Related Products" tab).

SF Based on Finnish Mythology from the Nebula Nominee Author!

In a bland, planned, regimented future, a strange new alloy extruded from another dimension is used in millions of products, triggering murderous impulses in everyone who touches them. The rational, benign leaders of government are helpless, but two daring scientists, Dr. Clifford Enoch and his niece, Silia, believe they have the answer.

Through a dimensional gap, the metal has come into contact with the Pahaliset—evil, God-like aliens who attempted to invade Earth long ago, but who were driven back by the four legendary heroes of Finnish mythology, whose powers and exploits were chronicled in the Finnish national saga, the Kalevala. To stop these destructive, near omnipotent beings, Enoch and Silia suggest scanning all computer records to find the genetic descendent of the greatest of the heroes of the Kalevala, the lover, warrior Lemminkainen. Enter Carl Lempi, a restless misfit in the perfectly designed future utopia, who just may have the power to overcome the Pahaliset. But, first he and Silia must journey alone to the frozen north, then cross the dimensional barrier to seek out Ilmarinen, the wonder-smith who hammers out magical weapons.

Then, when Silia is kidnapped, Carl Lempi he must confront the vile star witch, Louhi, in her own demon-haunted island in spacetime, the dark realm known as Pohyola, where imprisonment and ignominy wait. Finally, defenseless and unarmed he must face the assembled Pahaliset. In all its might—armed only with his own uncertain beliefs and the help of a Goddess who may not exist!

Emil Petaja, who was nominated for a Nebula Award by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1967 for Best Short Story, was of Finnish descent and first learned the lore of the Kalevala in childhood. From it he crafted a quartet of science-fantasy masterpieces inspired by the four heroes of Kalevala—the Cosmic Kalevala—which begins here!

Science vs. Sorcery from Another Dimension!

From Hugo Award nominee Stanley Mullen comes this classic novel of dimensional warfare. Annwyn, the underworld of Celtic myth, lies side by side with Earth on another plane. When Franchard, the Black Archdruid and servant of the Demon God, Ytal, discovers the portal to our world, he plots to conquer both worlds by spreading his dark cult on Earth.

Fueled by real miracles worked by blackest sorcery, Franchard's Dragon cult soon has recruits by the thousands all over the world. Only a handful of brave souls are aware of the danger—painter Eric Joyce, fearless Ruth Hollings, playboy Roger Grant, and their leader, Sir Rodney Dering—and they must struggle against Franchard's magic and the cult's power. Out-fought at every turn, their only hope lies in a desperate expedition through the sea gate that connects Earth with Annwyn.

Once there, they find a strange world of science and sorcery, long fallen from its height, but still powerful beyond conception. Harried by shadows that slay, the group fights its way from the Black Tower, center of Franchard's power, to the grotto of the Lizard People, to Caer Sidi, home of the Red Archdruid. What they learn from the Red Archdruid gives them clues to defeating Franchard's Dragon cult. But their only hope is the woman Darla, the woman Eric Joyce loves.

Darla, who sometimes seems all purity, sometimes all evil, who seems to exist as three women, one a siren who lures men to their deaths in the seas of Annwyn, and who has already betrayed Eric Joyce twice! Back on Earth, they find a holocaust, with Franchard almost in complete control. Now nothing can save the two worlds but the legendary White Archdruid, who has not been seen for over ten thousand years—and may only be a legend.

Published only once in a limited hardcover edition that sells for over $200 today, here is one of science-fantasy's rarest masterpieces, in an inexpensive eBook edition. (See Mullen's Author Page for Moonworm's Dance & Other SF Stories, and his Hugo nominee novelette, Space to Swing a Cat, also available from Futures Past Editions.)

"The Supreme Fantasy Genius!"

That's how The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy hails A. Merritt, author of The Lightning Witch. Isaac Asimov simply describes him as "the most famous of fantasy writers." In this visionary writer's controversial magnum opus, a small band of explorers— including the famed Dr. Goodwin, Ruth Ventnor, her brother Martin, and the scientific adventurer Alvin Drake—finds itself face to face with a sentient, collective intelligence composed of billions of living geometric metallic forms!

Spawn of an alien race that moves among the stars, seeding their kind on likely planets, the metal being intends to replace all biological lifeforms on Earth. Between it and humanity, between it and the group of adventurers that have inadvertently stumbled into its lair, stands only Norhala, the lightning witch, a mysterious, unearthly woman of incredible beauty and power, who seems at once the metal intelligence's handmaiden, keeper, and secret enemy.

In The Lightning Witch, writes Sam Moskowitz, Merritt "pulled out all the stops," creating a rare masterpiece with "inspired cosmic passages in which the author envisions a world of metal intelligences..." Hugo Award winning SF historian Alexei Panshin writes that "the farthest reaches of Merritt's vision of mystery simultaneously scientific and spiritual are to be found in [The Lightning Witch]. With a direct testimonial to the ubiquity of mystery."

See for yourself why The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy says, "The othersness and mystery that Merritt expressed has seldom been conveyed in SF with such an emotional charge."

Cover art: Virgil Finlay 1940

"An Impressive Innovator; One of the 12 Most Influential Writers of SF!" —Barry Maltzberg

Mark Clifton won the Hugo Award for his novel They'd Rather be Right. But most readers and critics consider his short stories by far his best work. Find out for yourself in this first volume of his complete short fiction. Included are his classic of a young girl with superpowers, "Star Bright"; his early feminist work, "A Woman's Place"; two classics from the pages of Analog, "Clerical Error" and "Solution Delayed"; the bitingly wicked "The Kenzie Report," and other dazzling SF stories.