The Legion of Space

Last updated
The Legion of Space
Legion of space.jpg
Dust-jacket from the first edition
Author Jack Williamson
IllustratorA. J. Donnell
Cover artistA. J. Donnell
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Legion of Space Series
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Fantasy Press
Publication date
1947
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages259
Followed by The Cometeers  

The Legion of Space is a science fiction novel by the American writer Jack Williamson. It was originally serialized in Astounding Stories in 1934, then published in book form (with some revisions) by Fantasy Press in 1947 in an edition of 2,970 copies. A magazine-sized reprint was issued by Galaxy in 1950, with a standard paperback following from Pyramid Books in 1967. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in 1977. The Legion of Space has been translated into German, French, Italian and Japanese . [1] It has also appeared in the omnibus Three from the Legion , which compiles the novel and all but one of its sequels. [2]

Contents

Plot background

The story takes place in an era in which humans have colonized the Solar System but dare not go farther, as the first extra-solar expedition to Barnard's Star failed and the survivors came back as babbling, grotesque, diseased madmen. These survivors spoke of a gigantic planet, populated by ferocious animals, and of the single city of the evil "Medusae". The Medusae are elephant-sized, four-eyed, flying 'jellyfish' with hundreds of tentacles. The Medusae cannot hear or speak, but communicate with one another via radio waves.

Plot summary

The Legion is the military and police force of the Solar System. It was created to keep the peace after the overthrow of the "Purples", a dynasty that ruled all humanity for generations. John Ulnar, a young graduate of the Legion academy, shares a surname with the Purples but is an enthusiastic supporter of the Legion.

A weapon called AKKA was used to defeat the Purples. Using a space/time distortion, it erases matter from the Universe—any matter, of any size, even a star or a planet. The secret of AKKA is kept in one family, descended from its creator, and is passed down from mother to daughter. One of the Legion's most important tasks is to guard the current Keeper, a beautiful young woman named Aladoree Anthar.

Through the machinations of his uncle, a powerful politician with a hidden agenda, John Ulnar is assigned to Aladoree's guard force at a secret fort on Mars. When she is kidnapped by a huge alien spaceship, John and the three other survivors of the guard force follow her kidnappers to a planet of Barnard's Star. They crash-land and must battle their way across a savage continent to the sole remaining citadel of the Medusae.

John Ulnar's uncle and his nephew have allied with the Medusae as a means to regain their empire, and have kidnapped Aladoree to ensure that AKKA is not used against them. The Medusae, however, turn on the Purples, seeking to destroy all humans and move to the Solar System, as their own world, far older than Earth, is spiraling into Barnard's Star.

John Ulnar and his companions rescue Aladoree, but the invasion of the Solar System has already begun. The Medusae conquer the Moon, set up bases there, and bombard Earth with gas projectiles. John, Aladoree, and their companions land on a ravaged Earth. Fighting off cannibals maddened by the gas, they build AKKA and destroy the Medusae fleets (and Earth's Moon as well).

Critical reception

Brian W. Aldiss and David Wingrove, noting that Williamson had produced much better work, dismissed The Legion of Space as a Gosh-wow! epic which thundered along "on the cloven heels of Doc Smith." [3] Everett F. Bleiler, although faulting the novel's "stylistic and developmental problems . . . notably the irritating characterizations of the musketeers and John Ulnar," concluded that The Legion of Space is carried along by a drive and verve that make it one of the better early space operas. [4]

Thrilling Wonder Stories found the novel to be "space opera with a vengeance -- with passably good characterization imbedded in an interplanetary chamber of horrors that . . . seems to go on forever [and becomes] a little tiresome". [5] P. Schuyler Miller wrote that the novel "does not pretend to be anything more than a good space-adventure yarn in the swashbuckling tradition -- and formula -- of The Three Musketeers ". [6] Lester del Rey. writing in 1978, praised The Legion of Space as "a classic adventure story". [7]

Related Research Articles

Murray Leinster American science fiction writer

Murray Leinster was a nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays.

Leigh Brackett American novelist and screenwriter (1915–1978)

Leigh Douglass Brackett was an American science fiction writer called "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter known for The Big Sleep (1946), Rio Bravo (1959), and The Long Goodbye (1973). She also worked on an early draft of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), elements of which remained in the film; she died before the film went into production. She was the first woman shortlisted for the Hugo Award. In 2020, she won a Retro Hugo for her novel The Nemesis From Terra, originally published as "Shadow Over Mars".

Harry Harrison (writer) American science fiction author (1925–2012)

Harry Max Harrison was an American science fiction author, known mostly for his character The Stainless Steel Rat and for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The latter was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973). Long resident in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, Harrison was involved in the foundation of the Irish Science Fiction Association, and was, with Brian Aldiss, co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.

Stanley G. Weinbaum American writer (1902–1935)

Stanley Grauman Weinbaum was an American science fiction writer. His first story, "A Martian Odyssey", was published to great acclaim in July 1934; the alien Tweel was arguably the first character to satisfy John W. Campbell's challenge: "Write me a creature who thinks as well as a man, or better than a man, but not like a man." Weinbaum wrote more short stories and a few novels, but died from lung cancer less than a year and a half later.

Jack Williamson American science fiction writer (1908–2006)

John Stewart Williamson, who wrote as Jack Williamson, was an American science fiction writer, often called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of the first uses of the term genetic engineering. Early in his career he sometimes used the pseudonyms Will Stewart and Nils O. Sonderlund.

Charles Leonard Harness was an American science fiction writer.

Jupiter in fiction Depictions of the planet Jupiter in works of fiction

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.

Saturn has made appearances in fiction since the 1752 novel Micromégas by Voltaire. In many of these works, the planet is inhabited by aliens that are usually portrayed as being more advanced than humans. The planet is occasionally visited by humans and its rings are sometimes mined for resources. The moons of Saturn have been depicted in a large number of stories, especially Titan with its Earth-like environment suggesting the possibility of colonization by humans and alien lifeforms living there.

Pluto was discovered in 1930 and has made several appearances in fiction since. It was initially popular as it was newly discovered and thought to be the outermost object of the Solar System. Alien life, sometimes intelligent life and occasionally an entire ecosphere, is a common motif in fictional depictions of Pluto.

The Legion of Space is a space opera science fiction series by American writer Jack Williamson. The story takes place in an era when humans have colonized the Solar System but dare not go farther, as the first extra-solar expedition to Barnard's Star failed and the survivors came back as babbling, grotesque, diseased madmen. They spoke of a gigantic planet, populated by ferocious animals and the single city left of the evil "Medusae". The Medusae bear a vague resemblance to jellyfish, but are actually elephant-sized, four-eyed, flying beings with hundreds of tentacles. The Medusae cannot speak, and communicate with one another via a microwave code.

<i>Darker Than You Think</i> 1948 novel by Jack Williamson

Darker Than You Think is a science fantasy novel by American writer Jack Williamson. Originally a novelette, it was expanded into novel length and published by Fantasy Press in 1948. The short version was published in Unknown in 1940. It was reprinted by UK-based Orion Books in 2003 as volume 38 of their Fantasy Masterworks series.

<i>Triplanetary</i> (novel) 1934 novel by Edward Elmer Smith

Triplanetary is a science fiction novel and space opera by American writer E. E. Smith. It was first serialized in the magazine Amazing Stories in 1934. After the original four novels of the Lensman series were published, Smith expanded and reworked Triplanetary into the first of two prequels for the series. The fix-up novel Triplanetary was published in book form in 1948 by Fantasy Press. The second prequel, First Lensman, was a new original novel published in 1950 by Fantasy Press.

<i>The Incredible Planet</i>

The Incredible Planet is a science fiction fix-up novel by American author John W. Campbell, Jr. It was published in 1949 by Fantasy Press in an edition of 3,998 copies. The novel is a collection of three linked novelettes that were not accepted for the magazine Astounding SF. The stories are sequels to Campbell's 1934 novel The Mightiest Machine.

<i>The Cometeers</i> 1950 novel by Jack Williamson

The Cometeers is a collection of two science fiction novels by the American writer Jack Williamson. It was first published by Fantasy Press in 1950 in an edition of 3,162 copies. The novels were originally serialized in the magazine Astounding in 1936 and 1939, and later released as individual paperbacks by Pyramid Books.

<i>The Legion of Time</i>

The Legion of Time is a collection of two science fiction novels by the American writer Jack Williamson. It was first published by Fantasy Press in 1952 in an edition of 4,604 copies. The novels were originally serialized in the magazines Astounding Science Fiction and Marvel Stories.

<i>The Mightiest Machine</i>

The Mightiest Machine is a science fiction novel by American writer John W. Campbell, Jr. The novel was originally serialized in 5 parts in Astounding Stories magazine from December 1934 to April 1935, and was published in book form in 1947 by The Hadley Publishing Co. in an edition of 1,200 copies. Campbell was a leading figure in the Golden Age of Science Fiction.

<i>Ring Around the Sun</i> (novel) 1953 novel by Clifford D. Simak

Ring Around the Sun is a science fiction novel by American writer Clifford D. Simak. Its anti-urban and pro-agrarian sentiments are typical of much of Simak's work.

<i>Of All Possible Worlds</i>

Of All Possible Worlds is a collection of science fiction stories by American writer William Tenn. It was published in hardcover by Ballantine Books in 1955, with a cover by Richard Powers. Ballantine issued paperback editions in 1955, 1960, and 1968; a British hardcover appeared in 1956 with a paperback following in 1963. It was Tenn's first collection.

<i>The Paradox Men</i> 1949 novel by Charles L. Harness

The Paradox Men is a science fiction novel by American writer Charles L. Harness, his first novel. Initially published as a novella, "Flight into Yesterday", in the May 1949 issue of Startling Stories, it was republished as The Paradox Men in 1953. The "science-fiction classic" is both "a tale dominated by space-opera extravagances" and "a severely articulate narrative analysis of the implications of Arnold J. Toynbee's A Study of History." Boucher and McComas described it as "fine swashbuckling adventure ... so infinitely intricate that you may never quite understand what it's about." P. Schuyler Miller described it as "action-entertainment, fast-paced enough that you don't stop to bother with inconsistencies or improbabilities."

History of US science fiction and fantasy magazines to 1950 Science-fiction and fantasy magazine history

Science-fiction and fantasy magazines began to be published in the United States in the 1920s. Stories with science-fiction themes had been appearing for decades in pulp magazines such as Argosy, but there were no magazines that specialized in a single genre until 1915, when Street & Smith, one of the major pulp publishers, brought out Detective Story Magazine. The first magazine to focus solely on fantasy and horror was Weird Tales, which was launched in 1923, and established itself as the leading weird fiction magazine over the next two decades; writers such as H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E. Howard became regular contributors. In 1926 Weird Tales was joined by Amazing Stories, published by Hugo Gernsback; Amazing printed only science fiction, and no fantasy. Gernsback included a letter column in Amazing Stories, and this led to the creation of organized science-fiction fandom, as fans contacted each other using the addresses published with the letters. Gernsback wanted the fiction he printed to be scientifically accurate, and educational, as well as entertaining, but found it difficult to obtain stories that met his goals; he printed "The Moon Pool" by Abraham Merritt in 1927, despite it being completely unscientific. Gernsback lost control of Amazing Stories in 1929, but quickly started several new magazines. Wonder Stories, one of Gernsback's titles, was edited by David Lasser, who worked to improve the quality of the fiction he received. Another early competitor was Astounding Stories of Super-Science, which appeared in 1930, edited by Harry Bates, but Bates printed only the most basic adventure stories with minimal scientific content, and little of the material from his era is now remembered.

References

  1. ジャック・ウィリアムスン (1977-01-01). 宇宙軍団. Translated by 野田 昌宏. 早川書房(ハヤカワ文庫SF).
  2. ISFDB publication history
  3. Aldiss & Wingrove, Trillion Year Spree , Victor Gollancz, 1986, p.411
  4. Everett F. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years, Kent State University Press, 1998, p.507
  5. "Science Fiction Book Review", Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1947, p. 111-12
  6. "Science Fiction Between Boards", Astounding Stories, May 1948, p.94
  7. "The Reference Library", Analog , July 1978, p.171

Sources