Wolves of Darkness: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Two

More pulpy goodness awaits from the pen of one of the SF Grand Masters. In this volume, I found the stories even more enjoyable than in volume one.

Yes, they may be dated, but the writing still has the power to grab you, albeit perhaps not to the same extent as today's proponents. If you can look beyond what now seems silly, there is genuine excitement to be discovered. These stories were penned when the Theory of Relativity was still relatively new, and a few of them even mention it by name. The heroes have square jaws, the women are invariably pretty, and usually, by the end of the story, they end up together.

Once again, the stories are reprinted in date order. Submitted to five different magazines within a space of less than a year and a half, there are a couple of recurring themes. They come from a time when vast underground alien civilizations could exist in the Antarctic, Martians could invade either aggressively or benignly, rockets could be built by individuals in their backyards, unexplained portals could transport you to alien worlds, and scientists could create miniature planets in a lab (although Williamson himself admits he didn't fully think this one through). Space Opera is represented by the two-part "The Stone From The Green Star," while alien invasion, werewolves, and even zombies are mashed up in "The Wolves Of Darkness." Perhaps the strangest story is the endless "Twelve Hours To Live," which was published as a competition to find an ending after Williamson's original was rejected by the publishers. Thankfully, the appendix also reprints the winning entries.