Mercury Awaits

by Dylan
(Chicago, Illinois, USA)

Mercury Anthology Ho!

Zendexor, your Mercurian Anthology list got my blood pumping! I wracked my brain for more Mercury tales, and when that failed, I turned to the internet for help, as I did back when I wanted more Mars tales. I am excited to say that I was met with success!

There IS an anthology of OSS Mercury! It's called "Something from Mercury", edited by John Russell Fearn. The description, as given on Amazon, lists six Mercurian adventures you've not mentioned in your collection:

It came originally from the merciless, frost-bound wilderness of the night side of Mercury, the hellish planet nearest to the Sun. But when space explorer Harry Dagenham brings a long-dead, petrified snake--or something--back to Earth from Mercury, he discovers--quite suddenly--that the rock-hard creature is not quite so inert as it first appears! Here are six extraordinary stories from the golden age of the pulps: "Something from Mercury," "The World That Dissolved," "Pre-Natal," "Beyond Zero," "Across the Ages," and "Twilight Planet." Great science-fiction adventure from the pulp magazine era!
-Amazon Book Description

That's six potential new stories, although which are good, and which are passable, I don't yet know. (You or Mr. Greer may be familiar with them, but they are new to me, at least.)

Of course, I think it would be important for our anthology to have some NOSS offerings as well, if only to show that the Twilight Belt lives on. Valeddom would be the primary contributor to that. There is another possible source- although its quality is questionable. One could, in theory, use a story published in the "Space:1889" ebook series.

The story is "Ghosts of Mercury" by Mark Michalowski. I've not yet read it, as I felt the first story, "Journey to the Heart of Luna" took a dip in quality halfway through and I moved on to other books. I may have to give the series another chance, though, as the other books are written by different authors and hint at some tantalizing stories in the descriptions! One can't let a potential Mercury tale slip through one's fingers because of prejudice! (Also, there's a Ceresian tale in there. "Mundus Cerialis" by S. Bidwell and A. Frankham-Allen. Apparently it involves something ancient and Ceresian awakening- could be interesting!)

Another potentially cool antholgy could be one that takes you to the major moons of the Solar System, starting on Luna and ending on Charon. Although I've never heard of a Charon story, sadly.

{Excited note from Zendexor: so, Dylan, a "shot in the dark" and your optimism has paid off! Wow, what a discovery. I'll take steps to order the book, pronto.}

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Dec 26, 2016
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More Mercury!
by: Dylan Jeninga

Our collection of known Mercury Stories continues to grow, with "The Coldest Place" and "Battle on Mercury" both seeming like fine additions! Perhaps we could work them into the do-it-yourself anthology?

I apologize, by the way, for never suggesting stories for another such anthology. I regret that my knowledge of OSS stories is still in its fledgling stages, and I have a lot more to read. I could, perhaps, make an anthology of NOSS short stories, since I am decently familiar with those! (They are somewhat easier to keep track of, as they are published only occasionally.)

{Z: "Battle on Mercury" - from what I have read so far - is written in an extremely simple, not very evocative style, but still, its ideas are good, and apart from Valeddom it's the only serious novel I've ever seen that is set on that world. "The Coldest Place" is very short, only five pages, and just touches on the theme of Mercurian life, but deserves, as you suggest, a place in our growing anthology.

If you could suggest an anthology of NOSS short stories, that would be great. It would certainly deserve a page to itself on this site.}

Sep 27, 2016
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New Author Awaits
by: Dylan

Alas for the Mercury Anthology I thought there was, huzzah for the discovery of a new OSS author! If your enjoyment of Something from Mercury is any indication, he will be a worthwhile writer to explore. I look forward to reading it, as my copy STILL has not arrived. And you thought the British post was slow.

"Twilight Planet" sounds like a Mercury tale, I'm almost surprised it isn't. But I'm glad that there's another progenitor story to add to that page.

We are still left with our lack of a Mercurian anthology. I'll keep looking, and maybe get as lucky as I thought I was, but in the meantime we can add "Something from Mercury" to our imagined anthology.

It might be helpful to make "do it yourself anthologies" on the site. So, if the reader were interested in, say, stories about the Asteroid Progenitor Planet, then we could make a page with links to places online where each story we know of may be bought. We could even write up little blurbs for each story, and give the collections titles like they might have had if they were published. It could be a good way to get the good stuff all in one place.

{Z: Now that is a tremendous idea, Dylan. You've already got me thinking of titles for the anthologies. On the topic of the Progenitor Planet, a tempting title for the collection would be "Atlantis of the Solar System". We could also think up an anthology of Transplutonian Planet tales... haven't so far thought up a snappy title for that one. Of course the real meat of your idea would be the links, and the blurbs.}

Sep 27, 2016
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A memorable Thing
by: Zendexor

I've now read the title story in Something From Mercury. Definitely not a tale to miss if you are into Mercurian wildlife.

Note - as mentioned a short while back in the OSS Diary - the book is a collection of stories by Fearn, not an anthology of OSS Mercury. However I consider it a worth-while addition to my collection, for four reasons - the creature in the lead story, the asteroid-progenitor-planet story "Twilight Planet", the book's attractive cover and the list of Fearn's books opposite the title page - which suggests that he's worth looking into and that Borgo Press is really something.

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