Austin Hall (1880–1933)

And it started so well........

I thought I was reading a science fiction novel written in 1951, but that was the date it was published: this strange concoction was written in 1921; a collaboration by two 'hack' writers. Austin Hall claimed to be the author of over 600 stories mainly westerns and he died in 1933. Homer Eon Flint died in 1924 in suspicious circumstances; he earned his living as a script writer and was found dead in his crashed car after having driven into the country with a show more known criminal.

The first half of this novel is a mystery story something like Connie Willis might have written. Strange happenings in a building in San Francisco where people have been known to appear and disappear. College friends and their professor each tell their story which centres on a ring discovered in the building. The ring exerts a power that weakens and finally seems to kill male wearers after about six months, but the only hope of discovering it's secret is to keep the ring active. Meanwhile a highly intelligent but strange man named the Rhamada seems to be on some sort of a mission in the city. It is a story of a parallel world which has a gateway (the blind spot) in the building, but why and how it works is all part of the mystery. This first half of the book as a series of memories written by the protagonist before they enter the Blind Spot, promised something a bit out of the ordinary, but once we are told of what happens to them on the other side we are in Edgar Rice Burroughs country. The mysterious atmosphere of the first half dissolves into a story of increasingly poor fantasy writing. An attempt is made to bring it all together at the end, but I was just pleased to have finally got to the end.
2.5 stars. show less

When Detective Flanning sees an oddly dressed but very handsome man walking down the street in San Francisco, his curiosity overtakes him and he offers to show the man the way to an address he has written on a scrap of paper (the home of a professor and Spinoza scholar). The stranger causes quite a scene and Flanning then follows him to a mysterious house that gives off weird vibes to everyone in the neighborhood. After Flanning enters the house, things really start getting weird: Strange show more lights flash, bells toll, odd people are alive, then dead, then disappear completely. Then the Spinoza scholar is found dead, and Flanning finds himself teaming up with the professor's son -- a science whiz who is also the captain of the college football team. Together they hope to solve the mystery of the weird spot in the mysterious house, learn a few things about Life and Death, and save humanity from an inter-dimensional invasion.

The Spot of Life isn't great, but it is representative of a solid 1930s sci-fi serial with lots of action, a small amount of romance, and plenty of science.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2009/08/spot-of-life-1932.html ] show less

This was my third reading. Was a teen the first time I read it and was enthralled. This time not so much. The first half of the book is great as it reads like a mystery, but the last half of the book is mostly a yawner at best and mumbo jumbo at worst.

illos by Hannes Bok