Spider Island: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Four [Hardcover]

Jack Williamson (Author), Rudolph Belarski (Illustrator), Margaret Brundage (Illustrator), Edward R. Bryant (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 2002

The fourth volume of a project to collect, in order of original publication, the short fiction of Science Fiction Grand Master Jack Williamson. Volume Four includes twelve stories from 1936 to 1938, and a foreword by SF & Horror author and scholar Edward Bryant. An appendix includes a novelty feature and an unreprinted story preface. The author provides an afterword commenting on the genesis of these stories, and reflecting on the economic and cultural mood of the nation during the early years of American Science Fiction.

Contents include:
"The Ruler of Fate" (from Weird Tales)
"Death's Cold Daughter" (from Thrilling Mystery)
"The Great Illusion" (from Fantasy Magazine)
"The Blue Spot" (from Astounding Stories)
"The Ice Entity" (from Thrilling Wonder Stories)
"Spider Island" (from Thrilling Mystery)
"The Mark of the Monster" (from Weird Tales)
"The Devil in Steel" (from Thrilling Mystery)
"Released Entropy" (from Astounding Stories)
"Dreadful Sleep" (from Weird Tales)
"The Infinite Enemy" (from Thrilling Wonder Stories)
"The Legion of Time" (from Astounding Science-Fiction)

As with the previous volumes in THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JACK WILLIAMSON, SPIDER ISLAND is a smythe-sewn 6" x 9" hardcover bound in a custom-dyed cloth, and typeset in a format designed in honor of the Fantasy Press editions of Williamson's first books from the 1940s & 50s. Full-color endpapers reproduce the pulp magazine cover art for each story's first appearance.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Williamson was one of the gods of the old pulp sf/adventure magazines of yesteryear such as Weird Tales, Astounding Stories, Thrilling Mystery, etc., and at age 93 is still writing as well as teaching. The dozen stories included in this fourth volume of his collected works range in publication from 1936 to 1938. In addition to the title piece, there are "The Ice Entity," "The Devil in Steel," "Dreadful Sleep," and "The Legion of Time." This also sports an introduction and afterword by Williamson and an appendix. The series includes Vol. 1: The Metal Man and Others (ISBN 1-893887-02-2), Vol. 2: Wolves of Darkness (ISBN 1-893887-04-9), and Vol. 3: Wizard's Isle (ISBN 1-893887-08-1). Vintage sf at its best.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Jack Williamson has been in the forefront of science fiction since his first published story in 1928. Now in his ninth decade as a published author, Williamson is the acclaimed author of such trailblazing science fiction as The Humanoids and The Legion of Time. The Oxford English Dictionary credits Williamson with inventing the terms "genetic engineering" (in Dragon’s Island) and "terraforming" (in Seetee Ship). His seminal novel Darker Than You Think was a landmark speculation on the nature of shape-changing.

Williamson has also been active academically. He has taught since in the 1950s and is professor emeritus at Eastern New Mexico University. He live and works in Portales, New Mexico.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 603 pages
• Publisher: Haffner Pr; First Ed edition (March 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893887146
• ISBN-13: 978-1893887145
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,738,153 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Series, May 28, 2006

By 

Bill from CA (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spider Island: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Four (Hardcover)

I just finished the fourth book in this series, Spider Island. Most of the stories span from the mid to late 1930's, and one can clearly see Mr. Williamson's writing begin to mature when compared to earlier volumes in the series, especially volume one.

This book has it all: sci-fi, rockets, time travel, parallel universes, mystery stories disguised as scifi, and even a little humor. A couple of the stories do not date well, but still overall this is one that's staying in my collection.

Recommended.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Overwrought, melodramatic prose, September 9, 2010

By 

Jack Of Alltrades "Just another soul" (Loth Ethtadoth Unidoth) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spider Island: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Four (Hardcover)

As a collector of golden age SF, I hoped to like this, but I couldn't take it seriously.

These stories were written in the 1930's for the pulps. The prose is way over the top as suited the venue at the time. The target audience was poorly educated, young and unsophisticated. They wanted cheap thrills and they got it with the pulps.

I wish Haffner Press good fortune with their efforts. The series is attractively bound on quality paper and will be a find for collectors. I did notice a few word substitutions few readers are apt to notice. Given the size of the task, the prose is quite clean.

If you enjoy being told rather than shown and enjoy colorful adjectives and radio play quality melodrama, you'll find this a treasure trove. But if you want to be entertained while reading well crafted prose, look instead to: Campbell, Van Vogt, Vance, Asimov, Pohl, Silverberg, Tiptree, Leiber, Kornbluth, Russell or Bester.