This Island Earth (Forrest J Ackerman Presents) [Paperback]

Raymond F. Jones (Author), Forrest J. Ackerman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 1999

In 1949 and 1950 a science fiction serial by Raymond F. Jones appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories. Within half a decade that serial would make history as the basis of the first science fiction movie about interstellar travel and interstellar war. The next Hollywood movie to venture to another solar system was Forbidden Planet, a wholly original construct of the prestige studio MGM. But solid, reliable Universal Studios was there first...long before Star Trek.

This Island Earth was really the first Star Wars. Colorful, spectacular, wildly imaginative, it lived up to everything its agent could possibly want, a man who was known as Mr. Science Fiction and who now brings back this classic novel: Forrest J Ackerman. A phrase he coined in another galaxy a long time ago say's it all: Gosh Wow! This story has it all.

The cover of this special edition features Jeff Morrow in the role of one of the most sympathetic aliens in 1950's science fiction film (the other is Michael Rennie in The Day the Earth Stood Still, also adapted from a literary source). In the novel he is Jorgasnovara, in the movie the less jaw Breaking Exeter. In both print and celluloid he comes to respect the Earth scientists essayed by Rex Reason and Faith Domergue.

This Island Earth is a book of heroes. The first half of the film closely follows the novel but then diverges from the intellectual challenges faced by Dr. Cal Meachem to more cinematic fare. Reading the novel now, one cannot help but marvel at how Jones' views everything from labor disputes to the predictability of computers influenced later movies and television, making This Island Earth, the novel, even more influential than-one would guess from ThisIsland Earth the movie.

Pulpless.Com is proud to bring back the printed word in hope that all who see the movie will want to read the book, and vice versa! Turn on your interocitors and prepare to receive transmission!

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This title will immediately be recognized by sf heads as the source for the classic 1955 film, which is still considered one of the best of the 1950s B movies, despite being sniped at in the feature film version of the late, great Mystery Science Theater 3000. The 1952 novelization essentially was a collection of the individual episodes serialized in Thrilling Wonder Stories. This edition sports a new intro by legendary horror/sf film maven Forrest J. Ackerman. The book and film differ greatly, so die-hards will have to read it to get the true story.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Pulpless.Com, Inc. (February 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584450517
• ISBN-13: 978-1584450511
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good novel, bad book, April 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: This Island Earth (Forrest J Ackerman Presents) (Paperback)

This Island Earth, the novel, is indeed different from the movie in the second half -- better, in my opinion, although less special-effects-driven. I don't remember the movie explaining the title, either; Jones is comparing Earth to the Pacific islands in World War II where the fighting washed back and forth, and the inhabitants were dragooned into helping build airstrips and such for either side. Here it's a war involving numberless galaxies (where the movie's was just between two planets).

The novel is good, but the book is terrible. Pulpless.com's typesetters put in more typos than Raymond F. Jones could have made in a couple of centuries of writing. And the editors let it all slip by. But I don't believe there was any mass-market paperback, so this is the only game in town.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great '50s science fiction, May 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: This Island Earth (Forrest J Ackerman Presents) (Paperback)

I was born in 1947 and first read this book when I was in junior high school. I also saw the movie around the same time (say, age 10-13), but it was not as good as the book. Leonard Maltin said of the movie something like "lacks the existential ending of the book." This *really* made me want to reread the book. About 10 years ago, I found a used copy, read it and loved it, then gave it to a friend. So I was thrilled to find this re-issue, produced by Forrest Ackerman, who was the literary agent of Jones and several other science-fiction writers of that era. Jones has a dark view of humanity. As someone who came of age in the '60s, I'm surprised to hear characters in the book (written 1952) express some of the thoughts my friends and I thought were so new during the anti-war movement. Jones is also intrigued by randomness and statistics. This fascination figures in the ending of this book as well as in the theme of his "Non-statistical Man" (also quite worthwhile). As for the existential ending, well, I agree, until we get to the last sentence, which Sartre never could have written. But read it and decide for yourself. Once you do, hook up your interociter and we can trade thoughts.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An imaginitive SF Classic! Dated, but has aged well., May 6, 2004

By 

Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: This Island Earth (Paperback)

This is a true Science Fiction classic. I first read it when I was in Middle School, and it made quite an impression on me as a fantastic story with a wild premise, well-told. Picking it up thirty-five years later, the novel has lost none of its punch or impact. This is a true science fiction classic.

The premise of the novel is simple enough: Earth is being visited by warring factions of a monstrously large inter-galactic conflict. Each side views Earth as an obscure planet of limited importance, much as the US Navy might have viewed certain obscure islands in the Pacific during the Second World War. The protagonists become caught up in this conflict in a very interesting way. More would be telling, but suffice to say, this is a really interesting story, and its premise has not been done better (to my knowledge) in any science fiction novels that have come later.

This one is highly recommended to anyone who enjoys good science fiction.