The Great Prince Shan (novel)

Last updated

The Great Prince Shan
The Great Prince Shan (novel).jpg
First US edition
Author E. Phillips Oppenheim
Country United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreThriller
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton (UK)
Little, Brown (US)
Publication date
1922
Media typePrint

The Great Prince Shan is a 1922 thriller novel by E. Phillips Oppenheim. [1]

Contents

Adaptation

In 1922, the columnist 'Lucette' described, and critiqued, the book thus:

With scene laid in the year 1934, in an England whose navy and army have almost disappeared and where the Briton puts his faith in peaceful, commercial enterprises and the League of Nations, Phillips Oppenheim has built his latest story... It is, of course, well told, chatty, witty , and the tale of how catastrophe is averted is cleverly unfolded. Not, perhaps, quite as good as others from the same pen, but not a volume to be passed over, for all that.. [2]

In 1924 it was adapted by Stoll Pictures into a film The Great Prince Shan directed by A. E. Coleby and starring Sessue Hayakawa.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert W. Chambers</span> American artist, novelist, short story writer (1865–1933)

Robert William Chambers was an American artist and fiction writer, best known for his book of short stories titled The King in Yellow, published in 1895.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon R. Dickson</span> Canadian-American science fiction writer (1923–2001)

Gordon Rupert Dickson was a Canadian-American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. E. Dikty</span> American novelist

Thaddeus Maxim Eugene (Ted) Dikty was an American editor who also played a role as one of the earliest science fiction anthologists, and as a publisher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. Phillips Oppenheim</span> English novelist (1866–1946)

Edward Phillips Oppenheim was an English novelist, a prolific writer of best-selling genre fiction, featuring glamorous characters, international intrigue and fast action. Notably easy to read, they were viewed as popular entertainments. He was featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Tower of the Elephant</span> Short story by Robert E. Howard

"The Tower of the Elephant" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard. Set in the fictional Hyborian Age, it concerns Conan infiltrating a perilous tower to steal a fabled gem from an evil sorcerer named Yara. Its unique insights into the Hyborian world and atypical science fiction elements have led the story to be considered a classic of Conan lore, and it is often cited by Howard scholars as one of his best tales.

Donald Henry Tuck was an Australian bibliographer of science fiction, fantasy and weird fiction. His works were "among the most extensive produced since the pioneering work of Everett F. Bleiler."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jupiter in fiction</span> Depictions of the planet

Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, has appeared in works of fiction across several centuries. The way the planet has been depicted has evolved as more has become known about its composition; it was initially portrayed as being entirely solid, later as having a high-pressure atmosphere with a solid surface underneath, and finally as being entirely gaseous. It was a popular setting during the pulp era of science fiction. Life on the planet has variously been depicted as identical to humans, larger versions of humans, and non-human. Non-human life on Jupiter has been portrayed as primitive in some works and more advanced than humans in others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asteroids in fiction</span>

Asteroids have appeared in fiction since at least the late 1800s, the first one—Ceres—having been discovered in 1801. They were initially only used infrequently as writers preferred the planets as settings. The once-popular Phaëton hypothesis, which states that the asteroid belt consists of the remnants of the former fifth planet that existed in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter before somehow being destroyed, has been a recurring theme with various explanations for the planet's destruction proposed. This hypothetical former planet is in science fiction often called "Bodia" in reference to Johann Elert Bode, for whom the since-discredited Titius–Bode law that predicts the planet's existence is named.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neptune in fiction</span> Depictions of the planet

Neptune has appeared in fiction since shortly after its 1846 discovery, albeit infrequently. It initially made appearances indirectly—e.g. through its inhabitants—rather than as a setting. The earliest stories set on Neptune itself portrayed it as a rocky planet rather than as having its actual gaseous composition; later works rectified this error. Extraterrestrial life on Neptune is uncommon in fiction, though the exceptions have ranged from humanoids to gaseous lifeforms. Neptune's largest moon Triton has also appeared in fiction, especially in the late 20th century onwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uranus in fiction</span> Depictions of the planet

Uranus has been used as a setting in works of fiction since shortly after its 1781 discovery, albeit infrequently. The earliest depictions portrayed it as having a solid surface, whereas later stories portrayed it more accurately as a gaseous planet. Its moons have also appeared in a handful of works. Both the planet and its moons have experienced a slight trend of increased representation in fiction over time.

The fictional portrayal of the Solar System has often included planets, moons, and other celestial objects which do not actually exist. Some of these objects were, at one time, seriously considered as hypothetical planets which were either thought to have been observed, or were hypothesized to be orbiting the Sun in order to explain certain celestial phenomena. Often such objects continued to be used in literature long after the hypotheses upon which they were based had been abandoned.

Everett Franklin Bleiler was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" series of science fiction anthologies, and his Checklist of Fantastic Literature has been called "the foundation of modern SF bibliography". Among his other scholarly works are two Hugo Award–nominated volumes concerning early science fiction—Science-Fiction: The Early Years and Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years—and the massive Guide to Supernatural Fiction.

Richard James Bleiler is an American bibliographer of science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime, and adventure fiction. He was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 2002 and for the Munsey Award in 2019–2022. He won the 2023 Munsey Award, given to “an individual or organization that has bettered the pulp community.” He is the son of bibliographer and publisher Everett F. Bleiler.

<i>Imagination Unlimited</i> 1952 anthology edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty

Imagination Unlimited is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty, first published in hardcover by Farrar, Straus & Young in 1952. As originally published, the anthology includes thirteen stories by various authors, with an introduction and four brief essays by the editors. In the UK The Bodley Head published the work as two separate anthologies in 1953, one, containing the first six stories, under the same title as the American edition and the other, containing the remaining seven stories, as Men of Space and Time. The anthology was also reprinted in an abridged paperback edition containing seven of the stories by Berkley Books in April, 1959. Only the original edition included the introduction and the essays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supernovae in fiction</span>

Supernovae, extremely powerful explosions of stars, have been featured in works of fiction since at least the early 1900s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comets in fiction</span>

Comets have appeared in works of fiction since at least the 1830s. They primarily appear in science fiction as literal objects, but also make occasional symbolical appearances in other genres. In keeping with their traditional cultural associations as omens, they often threaten destruction to Earth. This commonly comes in the form of looming impact events, and occasionally through more novel means such as affecting Earth's atmosphere in different ways. In other stories, humans seek out and visit comets for purposes of research or resource extraction. Comets are inhabited by various forms of life ranging from microbes to vampires in different depictions, and are themselves living beings in some stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space opera</span> Subgenre of science fiction

Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and social advancements in faster-than-light travel, futuristic weapons, and sophisticated technology, on a backdrop of galactic empires and interstellar wars with fictional aliens, often in fictional galaxies. The term does not refer to opera music, but instead originally referred to the melodrama, scope, and formulaicness of operas, much as used in "horse opera", a 1930s phrase for a clichéd and formulaic Western film, and "soap opera", a melodramatic television series. Space operas emerged in the 1930s and continue to be produced in literature, film, comics, television, video games and board games.

<i>The Great Prince Shan</i> 1924 film

The Great Prince Shan is a 1924 British silent drama film directed by A.E. Coleby and featuring Sessue Hayakawa, Ivy Duke, Tsuru Aoki, Valia, David Hawthorne, Fred Raynham and Henry Vibart in important roles. The film is adapted from the 1922 novel of the same title by E. Phillips Oppenheim. It was made at Cricklewood Studios by Stoll Pictures, the largest British production company of the era. Location shooting took place on the French Riviera. It was one of two films former Hollywood star Hayakawa made for Stoll along with Sen Yan's Devotion released later the same year.

<i>A Lost Leader</i> (novel) 1906 novel by E. Phillips Oppenheim

A Lost Leader is a 1906 politically-themed novel by British writer E. Phillips Oppenheim. Later better known for his thrillers, it was one of several novels Oppenheim wrote at the time centred on "social political life". In it, a potential Liberal Party politician, Lawrence Mannering, is lured back from his country estate to London to revive the party's fortunes.

<i>Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo</i> (novel) 1915 novel

Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo is a 1915 spy novel by the British writer E. Phillips Oppenheim. The action takes place in Monaco, a favourite setting in the author's novels. Oppenheim was a pioneer of the modern spy genre, often giving his works a glamorous international setting. Although published in 1915, it was likely to have been written in 1914.

References

  1. Bleiler p.577
  2. 'Lucette in Melbourne', Ballarat Star 23 September 1922 p. 10

Bibliography