World in Reverse. John Russell Fearn
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BORGO PRESS BOOKS BY JOHN RUSSELL FEARN
1,000-Year Voyage: A Science Fiction Novel
Anjani the Mighty: A Lost Race Novel (Anjani #2)
Black Maria, M.A.: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #1)
A Case for Brutus Lloyd
The Crimson Rambler: A Crime Novel
Death in Silhouette (Black Maria #5)
Don’t Touch Me: A Crime Novel
Dynasty of the Small: Classic Science Fiction Stories
The Empty Coffins: A Mystery of Horror
The Fourth Door: A Mystery Novel
From Afar: A Science Fiction Mystery
Fugitive of Time: A Classic Science Fiction Novel
The G-Bomb: A Science Fiction Novel
The Genial Dinosaur (Herbert the Dinosaur #2)
The Gold of Akada: A Jungle Adventure Novel (Anjani #1)
Here and Now: A Science Fiction Novel
Into the Unknown: A Science Fiction Tale
Last Conflict: Classic Science Fiction Stories
Legacy from Sirius: A Classic Science Fiction Novel
The Man from Hell: Classic Science Fiction Stories
The Man Who Was Not: A Crime Novel
Manton’s World: A Classic Science Fiction Novel
Moon Magic: A Novel of Romance (as Elizabeth Rutland)
The Murdered Schoolgirl: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #2)
One Remained Seated: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #3)
One Way Out: A Crime Novel (with Philip Harbottle)
Pattern of Murder: A Classic Crime Novel
Reflected Glory: A Dr. Castle Classic Crime Novel
Robbery Without Violence: Two Science Fiction Crime Stories
Rule of the Brains: Classic Science Fiction Stories
Shattering Glass: A Crime Novel
The Silvered Cage: A Scientific Murder Mystery
Slaves of Ijax: A Science Fiction Novel
Something from Mercury: Classic Science Fiction Stories
The Space Warp: A Science Fiction Novel
A Thing of the Past (Herbert the Dinosaur #1)
Thy Arm Alone: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #4)
The Time Trap: A Science Fiction Novel
Vision Sinister: A Scientific Detective Thriller
Voice of the Conqueror: A Classic Science Fiction Novel
What Happened to Hammond? A Scientific Mystery
Within That Room!: A Classic Crime Novel
World Without Chance
THE GOLDEN AMAZON SAGA
1. World Beneath Ice
2. Lord of Atlantis
3. Triangle of Power
4. The Amethyst City
5. Daughter of the Amazon
6. Quorne Returns
7. The Central Intelligence
8. The Cosmic Crusaders
9. Parasite Planet
10. World Out of Step
11. The Shadow People
12. Kingpin Planet
13. World in Reverse
14. Dwellers in Darkness
15. World in Duplicate
16. Lords of Creation
17. Duel with Colossus
18. Standstill Planet
19. Ghost World
20. Earth Divided
21. Chameleon Planet (with Philip Harbottle)
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Copyright © 1958 by John Russell Fearn
Copyright © 2003, 2013 by Philip Harbottle
Published by Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidebooks.com
DEDICATION
To the Memory of Iris Weigh
THE GOLDEN AMAZON, by Philip Harbottle
In 1943 British writer John Russell Fearn decided to quit writing for the American pulp science fiction magazines, and to concentrate instead on books for the English market. Within a very few years he became established as a leading novelist in several genres, not only science fiction, but also mystery and detective fiction, and westerns.
His first new SF novel, The Golden Amazon, was published by World’s Work in April 1944. In this story, a little girl of three years of age is made the subject of an idealistic scientist’s illegal glandular experiments. The scientist’s dream is to end world wars by creating a woman devoid of the usual lusts and frailties of mankind, who upon reaching maturity would institute a benign scientific rule. But the apparently successful experiment has a flaw: it instills into the girl a hatred for all men, and a ruthless cruelty. Her supernatural scientific gifts enable her to master atomic power, and practically leads her to destroy the world. She breaks the will and strength of men, and elevates women to positions of wealth and power. She also discovers human synthesis, and by this means she is able to escape retribution when she is eventually overthrown. She is seen to collapse and die, a victim of consuming ketabolism, echoing the memorable finale of Rider Haggard’s She. In actuality, it was only her synthetic image, and this paved the way for the Golden Amazon Returns, and further sequels
Fearn sold reprint rights in the first novel to the prestigious Canadian magazine, the Toronto Star Weekly. The magazine carried a special Comics Supplement, the centre section of which was a ‘complete novel’, published in newspaper format. Aimed at a general readership, the novels were written by the top popular novelists of the day, including John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, and P. G. Wodehouse. They sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and the novels were syndicated to several American newspapers in the Maine and New York areas. The Amazon novels enjoyed extraordinary popularity (especially with Canadian housewives), and ran for the next sixteen years following the appearance of the first novel in the March 3, 1945 issue, ending with Fearn’s sudden death in September 1960, aged only fifty-two. His final two Amazon novels appeared posthumously.
During Fearn’s lifetime, only the first six novels were published in British hardcover editions from the World’s Work in England, after appearing in the Star Weekly. This was because the publishers discontinued their entire fiction line in 1954. However, the Amazon novels continued to appear in the Star Weekly, eventually notching up twenty-four titles.
Fearn had resold paperback rights to the Canadian publisher Harlequin Books, but after publishing only the first three titles, they stopped publishing SF and other genre fiction to concentrate on their famous Romances line.
Meanwhile, as early as 1949, Fearn had realized that the Amazon series had the potential to run indefinitely. This presented him with a problem, however. The ‘origin story’ of the Golden Amazon was conceived and actually set during the Second World War. Subsequent novels were written during the war and the immediate postwar period, and projected their stories only a few decades into the future.
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