Moon Pirates, The, & Callisto at War

Armchair Fiction presents extra large editions of classic science fiction double novels. The first novel is “The Moon Pirates” by the man who gave us the Professor Jameson series, Neil R. Jones. “The Moon Pirates” is an extraordinary science fiction adventure tale. The plot is simple: A group of space liner passengers is abducted by a band of space buccaneers and taken to a secret underground lair on the moon where they face unimaginable brutality from their bloodthirsty captors. No…you’ll find no serious themes or underlying intellectual thought here. It’s a straightforward piece of space opera, written in a style similar to Jones’ wildly successful Professor Jameson tales. Yet this tale stands out for its sheer over-the-top depictions of violence and cruelty. These moon pirates are not nice people, inflicting unthinkable acts of barbarism against their captives. One of the main antagonists, Nez Hulan, is a character out of your worst nightmares—half-man, half machine, consisting of mechanical limbs, an aluminum-plated skull, metal ears, and a rubber heart. “The Moon Pirates” is an outer space roller coaster ride from start to finish. The second novel is Harl Vincent’s “Callisto at War.” Back in the 1930s when Harl Vincent’s wonderful Callisto saga was published, gigantic telescopes of enormous power had been in use for many years. They had helped mankind study all the heavenly orbs within our Solar System in great detail. Even in those days, fairly good charts of the Lunar and Martian surfaces had been carefully plotted. But at that time, Earth’s scientists were essentially clueless about what lay on the other side of the moon, and they concluded—rightfully so—that only a trip into space could ever help us solve the mysteries of the moon’s hidden side. In this non-stop, classic space opera yarn, Harl Vincent gave us that trip to the moon, along with some of the most rousing space battles ever put on paper. The Armchair Fiction edition of “Callisto at War” (originally published as two separate yet wholly connected novelettes) is a gallivanting roller coaster ride into the wilds of outer space.