VALLEY OF THE FLAME follows up an idea that’s not too new in science-fiction—an intelligent race evolved from a different species. On earth, as far as we know, we’re the dominant species. We’ve never clashed with another dominant. If we should, some odd things might happen.
Cats and monkeys follow different patterns of logic and motivation. So do ants, of course. For all we know, ants may be the real dominant species here and now, perfectly adjusted to their environment, and not finding it necessary to let “humans” know how the situation stands.
But the thought-processes of ants might be utterly alien and incomprehensible to our minds. The logic of cats would be less so. Imagine a race of humans evolved from the feline stock—and in conflict with simian-evolved humans. Such a conflict would certainly be a basic one—and the idea seemed to me to be worth a story.
My sixteen cats helped me write it, and I hope the readers will feel that the cats and 1 have done an acceptable job.
—Keith Hammond.
Originally appeared in Startling Stories, March 1946
Meet the Author
IT IS our very definite impression that, since he was honorably discharged from the Army early last year, Henry Kuttner has been forging ahead by leaps and bounds—and he already had most of file rest of the stf field lapped a couple of times.
In THE DARK WORLD, he steps right up into the spot left vacant by the death of the revered A. Merritt. Surely no one else has shown so masterful a grip on this particular sort of high imaginative fantasy. It seems to us that he has at all times a clarity which was occasionally lacking in Merritt’s somewhat surrealistic prose poems.
Furthermore, so ingenious is Kuttner that he is always able at least to suggest some convincing causation for even the most fantastic of his themes and gadgets. In this respect, he is almost certainly unmatched.
But those of you who have already read THE DARK WORLD in this issue need no editorial puffs as to its virtues. And those who haven’t will learn for themselves in short order that here is a great fantastic novel. Meanwhile, the author, in jesting spirit, takes time out to explain a little about himself. He is usually clearer when explaining some unearthly happening on a distant planet, but it should give you some idea. Says the author of THE DARK WORLD:
This is no time to ask me for my biography. The papers say we’ve just hit radar with the Moon—or something like that, anyhow—and I’ve decided to live on a California mountain-top, where I can reach up with a long-handled spoon and dig off valuable mineral deposits from our satellite. I never knew it was so close.
I’ve decided against having a swimming-pool, though, because I don’t want all the water sucked up out of it by the Moon’s gravitational attraction, and I’ve almost decided against having an atmosphere, for the same reason. I don’t know why people do those things to me.
All I-ask is to be left alone to write science-fiction when I get ideas that intrigue me. How can I write with the Moon shooting radar at me and I don’t know what-all else happening around Orion? I never look up any more.
Well, I was born, grew a while, and here I am.
That looks unsatisfactory, even to me. A biography ought to have more details in it, but the, trouble is, I don’t know what details. Things that interest me don’t always interest other people. I am five feet something—I’m not sure exactly—weigh 135, slender as a reed, and am deeply attached to a small dark moustache named Quentin. Went to school. Worked abortively at various things. Wrote. Had army service. Since then, my ambition is to be as phenomenally lazy as possible.
Part of the year I live on—or, rather, overlooking—the Hudson River, far enough away from New York to be in the country. As this is written, though, it’s winter, so I’m in California, catching up with my sleep and staying warm at the same time.
Eels and soft-shell crabs—not to wear around. What else? I hate shoes and neckties. I like my neck, of course, but to eat. C. L. Moore is my favorite author. And I think that’s all—except for the date of my demise, which I don’t know yet. But you can’t have everything, can you?
—Henry Kuttner
Originally appeared in Startling Stories, Summer, July 1946
PS’s Feature Flash
C.H. Liddell, whose novelet CARRY ME HOME is spotlighted in this issue, is one of our newest and most valued contributors. After reading—and swiftly buying—several of his tales, we got to wondering about the man himself . . . so we asked . . . so he answered. Meet the creator of Red Rohan:
“You are embarrassing me, you know, by inquiring into my quite ordinary way of life and what makes me tick. However, I will answer your specific questions the best I can, and as to my peculiarities, I can only say that I have had a terrific interest in science and fantasy literature ever since I can remember. Being an only child, I found a lot of time to read—and I read everything I could get my hands on. I remember that once my father gave me a paperback copy of THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, by Jules Verne, to read. My mother, God love her, found that book in my room before I had finished reading it and took it away from me, upbraiding. Dad for letting me read such wild trash. Dad, ever a gentle man, mildly defended Mr. Verne to no avail. I believe this incident instilled in me a deadly curiosity to know more about such marvelous adventures which Dad said were scientific and Mother said were “trash.” I fear the thirst has become an unquenchable flame.
“I do not have a great deal of time for interests outside of my work, but I consider writing science fiction and fantasy my hobby, avocation—relaxation. I think I first got started doing it because of my impatience with many radio programs which built up suspense and interest in their plays and then fizzled out miserably in the climax. And more recently the television shows have been doing the same thing. Only rarely have I found a fantasy play which builds up to a good climax and then has a decent one. I guess I grumbled too much, for my wife finally got exasperated and told me that if I didn’t like the endings of the plays I listened to, to write some of my own.
“So I did. And to my unbounded amazement my stories are beginning to sell. I’ve been forbidden by my agent to give him a plug, so all I can say is that I am grateful to the editor and readers of Planet Stories for liking my material, and I’ll try never to let you down.”
There we have a thumbnail sketch of Charles H. Liddell, industrial research chemist of Kansas City, Missouri—one of the few writers who turns out science-fantasy because he loves it, and not because he has to eat. Still in his thirties, Charles H. Liddell is happily married to a Kansas City girl and commutes five days a week to K.C., Mo., to do laboratory research. On week-ends, when Mrs. Liddell hasn’t other plans, he loses himself in the spinning of such stories as CARRY ME HOME.
Originally appeared in Planet Stories, November 1950
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Novels
The Brass Ring (1946)
The Day He Died (1947)
Fury (1950)
Man Drowning (1952)
Beyond Earth’s Gates (1954)
The Murder of Eleanor Pope (1956)
The Murder of Ann Avery (1956)
Murder of a Mistress (1957)
Murder of a Wife (1958)
Earth’s Last Citadel (1964)
Valley of the Flame (1964)
The Dark World (1965)
The Time Axis (1965)
The Well of the Worlds (1965)
The Creature from Beyond Infinity (1968)
The Mask of Circe (1971)
Magazine-published Novels
Avengers of Space, Marvel Science Stories, August 1938
The Time Trap, Marvel Science Stories, November 1938
When New York Vanished, Startling Stories, March 1940
The Seven Sleepers, Thrilling Wonder Stories, May 1940
A Million Years to Conquer, Startling Stories, November 1940
Remember Tomorrow, Thrilling Wonder Stories, January 1941
The Land of Time to Come, Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1941
&n
bsp; The Infinite Moment, Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1942
Secret of the Earth Star, Amazing Stories, August 1942
Wet Magic, Unknown Worlds, February 1943
Crypt-City of the Deathless One, Planet Stories, Winter, November 1943
A God Named Kroo, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Winter, February 1944
The Black Sun Rises, Super Science Stories, (Canada) June 1944
Sword of Tomorrow, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Fall, November 1945
Valley of the Flame, Startling Stories, March 1946
The Dark World, Startling Stories, Summer 1946
I Am Eden, Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1946
Way of the Gods, Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1947
Lands of the Earthquake, Startling Stories, May 1947
Lord of the Storm, Startling Stories, September 1947
The Power and the Glory, Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1947
The Mask of Circe, Startling Stories, May 1948
The Time Axis, Startling Stories, January 1949
The Portal in the Picture, Startling Stories, September 1949
Earth’s Last Citadel, Fantastic Novels Magazine, July 1950
We Shall Come Back!, Science Fiction Quarterly, November 1951
The Well of the Worlds, Startling Stories, March 1952
Serials
Earth’s Last Citadel, Argosy, April-July 1943
The Fairy Chessmen, Astounding, January-February 1946
Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Astounding, January-February 1947
Fury, Astounding, May-July 1947
Anthologies
Mountain Magic (2004) with Ryk E. Spoor, David Drake and Eric Flint
The Time Trap/The Lunar Lichen (2013) with Hal Clement
Thunder in the Dawn/The Uncanny Experiments of Dr. Varsag (2015) with David V. Reed
Lands of the Earthquake/Under a Dim Blue Sun (2017) with Howie K. Bentley
Chapbooks
Chessboard Planet (1956)
The Far Reality (1963)
Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1963)
Waters of Death (1992)
Reader, I Hate You! (2009)
Where the World is Quiet (2010)
The Ego Machine (2010)
The Secret of Kralitz (2010)
Man’s Conquest of Space or Upside-Down in Time (2016)
Lands of the Earthquake (2017)
As You Were (2018)
War-Gods of the Void (2018)
Collections
A Gnome There Was and Other Tales of Science Fiction and Fantasy (1950)
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and the Fairy Chessmen (1951)
Ahead of Time (1953)
Mutant (1953)
Line to Tomorrow (1954)
No Boundaries (1955)
Bypass to Otherness (1961)
Return to Otherness (1962)
The Best of Kuttner 1 (1965)
The Best of Kuttner 2 (1966)
The Best of Henry Kuttner (1975)
Clash by Night and Other Stories (1980)
Chessboard Planet and Other Stories (1983)
Elak of Atlantis (1985)
Prince Raynor (1987)
Kuttner Times Three (1988)
Secret of the Earth Star and Others (1991)
The Book of Iod (1995)
Two-Handed Engine (2005)
Thunder Jim Wade: The Complete Series (2008)
Don’t Look Now and Two Others (2009)
The Graveyard Rats and Other Stories (2010)
Detour to Otherness (2010)
Terror in the House: The Early Kuttner, Volume One (2010)
Henry Kuttner (2011)
Thunder in the Void (2011)
The Hogben Chronicles (2013)
The Watcher at the Door: The Early Henry Kuttner, Volume Two (2016)
Omnibii
Beyond Earth’s Gates/Daybreak—2250 A.D. (1954) with Andre Norton
The Startling Worlds of Henry Kuttner (1987)
Fury/Mutant/The Best of Henry Kuttner (2013)
Poems
Ballad of the Gods (1936)
Ballad of the Wolf (1936)
The Sunken Towers (1936)
Ragnarok (1937)
H.P.L. (1937)
Where He Walked (1988)
SHORT FICTION BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHRONOLOGICAL
1931
The Monkey Wrench, Jungle Stories, August 1931
1936
Ballad of the Gods, Weird Tales, February 1936
The Graveyard Rats, Weird Tales, March 1936
Ballad of the Wolf, Weird Tales, June 1936
Bamboo Death, Thrilling Mystery, June 1936
The Devil Rides, Thrilling Mystery, September 1936
The Secret of Kralitz, Weird Tales, October 1936
Power of the Snake, Thrilling Mystery, November 1936
Coffins for Six, Thrilling Mystery, December 1936
It Walks by Night, Weird Tales, December 1936
Laughter of the Dead, Thrilling Mystery, December 1936
The Sunken Towers, The Phantagraph, December 1936
1937
The Faceless Fiend, Thrilling Mystery, January 1937
Terror in the House, Thrilling Mystery, January 1937
The Dweller in the Tomb, Thrilling Mystery, February 1937
The Eater of Souls, Weird Tales, January 1937
I, the Vampire, Weird Tales, February 1937
Nightmare Woman, Thrilling Mystery, March 1937
We Are the Dead, Weird Tales, April 1937
The Salem Horror, Weird Tales, May 1937
Ragnarok, Weird Tales, June 1937
The Black Kiss, Weird Tales, June 1937
My Brother, The Ghoul, Thrilling Mystery, June 1937
I Am the Wolf, Thrilling Mystery, July 1937
Raider of the Spaceways, Weird Tales, July 1937
The Jest of Droom-Avista, Weird Tales, August 1937
Four Frightful Men, Thrilling Mystery, September 1937
H.P.L., Weird Tales, September 1937
Terror on the Stage, Thrilling Mystery, September 1937
When the Earth Lived, Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1937
Quest of the Starstone, Weird Tales, November 1937
The Case of Herbert Thorp, Weird Tales, November 1937
Lord of the Lions, Thrilling Mystery, November 1937
The Malignant Peezle, Fantascience Digest, November/December, 1937
The Bloodless Peril, Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1937
1938
Messer Orsini’s Hands, Spicy Mystery Stories, January 1938
Invasion from the Fourth Dimension, Thrilling Mystery, January 1938
World’s End, Weird Tales, February 1938
The Graveyard Curse, Spicy Mystery Stories, March 1938
The Shadow on the Screen, Weird Tales, March 1938
The Unresting Dead, Thrilling Mystery, March 1938
Hell’s Archangel, Spicy Mystery Stories, April 1938
Hollywood on the Moon, Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1938
My Name Is Death, Spicy Mystery Stories, May 1938
Thunder in the Dawn (Part One), Weird Tales May 1938
Thunder in the Dawn (Conclusion), Weird Tales June 1938
Devil’s Masquerade, Mystery Tales, June 1938
Spawn of Dagon, Weird Tales, July 1938
Avengers of Space, Marvel Science Stories, August 1938
The Dark Heritage, Marvel Science Stories, August 1938
Dictator of the Americas, Marvel Science Stories, August 1938
Doom World, Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1938
The Disinherited, Astounding Science-Fiction, August 1938
Beyond the Phoenix, Weird Tales, October 1938
Master of the Damned, Fantasmagoria, November 1938
The Time Trap, Marvel Science Stories, November 1938
Hands Across the Void, Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1938
The Star Parade, Thrilling
Wonder Stories, December 1938
1939
The Invaders, Strange Stories, February 1939
The Frog, Strange Stories, February 1939
The Transgressor, Weird Tales, February 1939
The Strange Case of Mr. Geech, Fantascience Digest, March/April 1939
Cursed Be the City, Strange Stories, April 1939
Bells of Horror, Strange Stories, April 1939
Beyond Annihilation, Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1939
Hydra, Weird Tales, April 1939
Murder for Fun, Thrilling Mystery, May 1939
The Watcher at the Door, Weird Tales, May 1939
Ironing-Board Derby, Popular Sports Magazine, June 1939
“Telepathy Is News!”, Science Fiction, June 1939
The Body and the Brain, Strange Stories, June 1939
The Hunt, Strange Stories, June 1939
Death Is Where You Find It, Thrilling Mystery, July 1939
The Curse of the Crocodile, Strange Stories, August 1939
The Citadel of Darkness, Strange Stories, August 1939
The Misguided Halo, Unknown, August 1939
Roman Holiday, Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1939
The Devil’s Brood, Thrilling Mystery, September 1939
The Truth About Goldfish, Futuria Fantasia, Fall 1939
The Energy Eaters, Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1939
Corpse Castle, Thrilling Mystery, November 1939
Towers of Death, Weird Tales, November 1939
The Grip of Death, Strange Stories, December 1939
Suicide Squad, Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1939
World’s Pharaoh, Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1939
1940
Death Has Three Sisters, Thrilling Mystery, January 1940
The Lifestone, Astonishing Stories, February 1940
When New York Vanished, Startling Stories, March 1940
Thots on the Worldstate, Future Fantasia, Spring 1940
All Is Illusion, Unknown, April 1940
Beauty and the Beast, Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1940
Science is Golden, Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1940
The Shining Man, Fantastic Adventures, May 1940
50 Miles Down, Fantastic Adventures, May 1940