| Title: | Arcana Caelestia |
| Notice: | Directory listings are in topic 2 |
| Moderator: | NETRIX::thomas |
| Created: | Thu Dec 08 1983 |
| Last Modified: | Thu Jun 05 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1300 |
| Total number of notes: | 18728 |
Has anyone ever heard of any books by Christopher Anvil? I have an attic full of old Astounding SF/Analog magazines with some really good stories by this guy but I have never seen any books by him. Maybe he was a pen name for someone else, I don't know. One of the best yarns was a series that could have been collected into a book about some derrilick Space Force guys who invented a long range emotion manipulator while they were on this hell hole of a planet and they got caught up with some other outfit called the Interstellar Patrol or something. Anyway they had this amazing ship that they picked up from a junk yard that forced its captain to conform to its own idea of clean living etc. It wouldn't produce breakfast until he got through his morning workout etc. It also had some great gadgets. Actually I think I liked the stories most for the gadgets, and the bugs they often had. Like the 'running boots' that unfortunately worked at different speeds for each foot, and the rotating helmet that swivelled to protect the wearer's face when anything approached it. The latter sounds good, but the hero could not figure out how to get it off, and therefore he couldn't wipe his nose, or eat, or drink... He wrote several others that featured hell hole planets that were much worse than Harry Harrison's Deathworlds. They usually seemed to feature variations on the idea of the hero(s) being cut off out in the wilderness somewhere and somehow staying alive until some fool tourist thinks he's part of the scenery and takes pictures from his luxury (and well protected) space yacht, and gets his just desserts for not attempting to rescue the poor guy. So who was Anvil?
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 184.1 | AKOV68::BOYAJIAN | Wed Mar 13 1985 04:29 | 30 | ||
"Christopher Anvil" is a pseudonym for Harry Crosby, Jr., and he's still occasionally tossing out short stories (let's see, the last ones he's had were in 1982). He has had some books out, though they are all out of print right now. They are: STRANGERS IN PARADISE (Tower Books, paperback, 1969) Includes 3 Interstellar Patrol stories: "Strangers to Paradise", "The Dukes of Desire", and "The King's Legions" WARLORD'S WORLD (DAW Books, paperback, 1975) Another Interstellar Patrol story about, like the above book, Vaughn Roberts. PANDORA'S PLANET (Doubleday, hardcover, 1972; DAW Books, paperback, 1973) Part of another series in the same future history as the IP series. THE DAY THE MACHINES STOPPED (Monarch Books, paperback, 1964) Part of yet another series, unrelated to the above. THE STEEL, THE MIST, AND THE BLAZING SUN (Ace Books, 1982) Not part of any series. I'm not totally positive about the title or year of publication of this book. My references aren't that up to date. I'd have to check my copy at home. It so happens that about a year ago, I went on an Anvil-reading binge, and devoured everything I had by him. It's a shame that none of his stuff is in print. The Vaughn Roberts stories are a scream. The Earl of Greme, indeed! --- jerry | |||||
| 184.2 | NZO75B::ROGERP | Thu Mar 14 1985 20:07 | 7 | ||
Those are the ones! Thanks very much Jerry. It's a shame they are not in print but I can stop looking for 'Anvil' in the second hand book stores. The Robert Vaughn(sp?) stories really were a scream. It was, of course, Strangers in Paradise that I was writing about in .0 Thanks again. Roger | |||||