Dictator of the Americas E-Book

Henry Kuttner

• Herausgeber: Wildside Press
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 30

Beschreibung

Could John Stone and that lovely green-eyed Aphrodite free themselves from the mad Dictator who ruthlessly ruled the Americas of 2503 A.D.—with every fiendish scientific device of that generation at his hellish call?

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

INTRODUCTION

DICTATOR OF THE AMERICAS

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Copyright © 2021 by Wildside Press LLC.

Introduction copyright © 2021 by Karl Wurf.

Originally published in Marvel Science Stories, August 1938, under the pseudonym “James Hall.”

Published by Wildside Press LLC.

wildsidepress.com | bcmystery.com

INTRODUCTION

Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915. As a young man, he worked in his spare time for the literary agency of his uncle, Laurence D’Orsay (in fact his first cousin by marriage), in Los Angeles before selling his first story, “The Graveyard Rats,” to Weird Tales in early 1936. It was while working for the d’Orsay Agency that Kuttner picked Leigh Brackett’s early manuscripts off the slush pile. It was under his tutelage that she sold her first story (to John W. Campbell at Astounding Stories).

Kuttner was known for his literary prose and worked in close collaboration with his wife, C.L. Moore. They met through their association with the “Lovecraft Circle,” a group of writers and fans who corresponded with H.P. Lovecraft. Their work together spanned the 1940s and 1950s, with most of it credited to pseudonyms (mainly Lewis Padgett and Lawrence O’Donnell).

L. Sprague de Camp, who knew Kuttner and Moore well, has stated that their collaboration was so seamless that, after a story was completed, it was often impossible for either Kuttner or Moore to recall who had written what. According to de Camp, it was typical for either partner to break off from a story in mid-paragraph or even mid-sentence, with the latest page of the manuscript still in the typewriter. The other spouse would routinely continue the story where the first had left off. They alternated in this manner as many times as necessary until the story was finished.

Among Kuttner’s most popular work were the Gallegher stories, published under the Padgett name, about a man who invented high-tech solutions to client problems (assisted by his insufferably egomaniacal robot) when he was stinking drunk, only to be completely unable to remember exactly what he had built or why after sobering up. These stories were later collected in Robots Have No Tails. In her introduction to the 1973 edition, Moore stated that Kuttner wrote all the Gallegher stories himself.

Marion Zimmer Bradley is among many authors who have cited Kuttner as an influence. Her novel The Bloody Sun is dedicated to him. Roger Zelazny has talked about the influence of The Dark World on his Amber series.

Kuttner’s friend Richard Matheson dedicated his 1954 novel I Am Legend to Kuttner, with thanks for his help and encouragement. Ray Bradbury has said that Kuttner actually wrote the last 300 words of Bradbury’s first horror story, “The Candle” (Weird Tales, November 1942). Bradbury has referred to Kuttner as a neglected master and a “pomegranate writer: popping with seeds—full of ideas.”

William S. Burroughs’s novel The Ticket That Exploded contains direct quotes from Kuttner regarding the “Happy Cloak” parasitic pleasure monster from the Venusian seas.

Mary Elizabeth Counselman believed that Kuttner's habit of writing under widely varied pseudonyms deprived him of the fame that should have been his. “I have often wondered why Kuttner chose to hide his talents behind so many false faces for no editorial reason... Admittedly, the fun is in pretending to be someone else. But Kuttner cheated himself of much fame that he richly deserved by hiding his light under a bushel of pen names that many fans did not know were his. Seabury Quinn and I both chided him about this.”

Among his pseudonyms were:

Edward J. Bellin

Paul Edmonds