Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 47 — page 115: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION ones—such as Asimov’s Breeds There a Man ...? and Wyndham’s And the Walls Came Tumbling Down—with- out question merit antholo- gizing. Not quite in the first class, but recommended all the same. Rupert Hart-Davis (36 Soho Square, London, W.1) con- tinue their championing of Ray Bradbury with his FAHREN- HEIT 451 at 9s. 6d. By any other author this would be an outstanding book, but it lacks the stamp of Bradbury. Indeed, it could have been written by another author. That cannot be said about Bradbury’s previous books. It seems that _ Bradbury is not happy in the novel form; his peculiar mani- _ pulation of words and ideas is suited best by the shorter pieces. Nevertheless, if one is out for a good story and will not be disappointed by the fact that it is not in the Bradbury manner, then FAHRENHEIT 451 will fit the bill. The title is said to be the temperature at which book-paper catches fire and burns. This is a bit of dramatic license with facts, but justifiable probably. In its original appearance in Galaxy this story was a serial called © Fireman. It follows the epi- sodic career of one Montag, a fireman of the future whose job is not to put out fires but to start them—by burning books which are illegal. He begins to wonder whether books might be good things after all, or at least harmless. Such thinking is treachery, of course, and it is not long before poor Montag is dis- covered at the awful crime of reading a book. He is hunted down for the rest of his life, comes into contact with others with the same feelings, and so on. The basic pattern is unoriginal. Nonetheless, it is an exciting book and very well worth reading. We only wish Bradbury had used a pen-name! NON-FICTION OUR MOON, by H. Percy Wilkins, F.R.A.S., is pub- lished by Frederick Muller (Ludgate House, Fleet Street, London, E.C.4) at 12s. 6d. There is a Foreword by Dr. J. G. Porter. Mr. Wilkins is the Director of the Lunar Section of the British Astronomical Association. He spent sixteen years in cartographic study of the Moon, resulting in what is 114 ComiclOoks.conn |