Master Storyteller: An Illustrated Tour of the Fiction of L. Ron Hubbard

Rating:
Summary: Lots of fun
Review: If you grew up on Star Trek or Star Wars, if you stayed up late to catch yet another showing of "War of the Worlds," or if you rushed to the bookstore for the next installment of the Ringworld series, maybe once in a while you also wondered where the heck all of this began.
Bill Widder's new book "Master Storyteller: An Illustrated Tour of the Fiction of L. Ron Hubbard," shows you. ...
Turns out that L. Ron Hubbard may have done more to invent modern science fiction and fantasy than most any other writer of the 1930s - something many have forgotten. Then too, not everyone agrees with Hubbard's later creation of Scientology so perhaps like me you've decided to know as little about the man's work as possible.
Widder's book showed me I've been missing a heck of a good time.
The author has an encyclopedic knowledge of everything Hubbard wrote and begins by setting the scene with an explanation of pulp fiction's origins. Best of all, the terrific and colorful artwork of this book lets you see exactly how the stories of Hubbard and friends first appeared while Widder tells his tale. On page four for example, you get to see the February 1934 cover of Thrilling Adventures - the issue that published Hubbard's first story, "The Green God."
Check out the increasing visual fireworks by Gerry Grace, Frank Frazetta, and others in the second half of the work.
Therein lies a possible problem I have with all this. It's so much fun you'll want to cut it up and frame various parts of it around the apartment. Another danger is that if you put it on the coffee table, your guests will no longer have time for you.
Widder's prose is also good enough to give you a sense of Hubbard's literary peers during his lengthy career. Read what Stephen King has to say about Hubbard's "Fear" for example, on page 84. See Heinlein's letter to Hubbard about "Battlefield Earth" on page 104. As I remember, there's even a fan letter from a young guy named Isaac Asimov.
It's great fun, this book. It'll give you a sense of how we all got where we are and why busloads of people still line up for hours to take a peek at a planet called Mars when it gets a little nearer. Hubbard - no matter what you think of him - worked for decades to put such stuff in our souls.
After finishing the work at about 2 a.m., I decided that while there is much about Hubbard I'll never understand, there is one thing about him that -thanks to Mr. Widder - I now know and admire.
Hubbard could write.
He could write very, very well.

Rating:
Summary: Hagiography for Scientology
Review: The best part of this book - the ONLY reason to recommend it - is the artwork. There are a plethora of pictures from Pulp Fiction magazines from the thrities and forties.

Unfortunately, the praise the author lavashes on Hubbard is too syrupy. Many quotes from reviewers about these stories do not give any citation. L. Ron Hubbard was a good pulp fiction writer, but he was a pulp fiction writer all the same. We're not talking about Nathaniel Hawthorne here, folks.

I would prefer a reprint of Hubbard's fiction over this book.
any day.

P.S. Hagiography: biography of a saint. Some people believe that I found some sort of religious angle to this tome. Nothing of the sort. In this context, the "hagiography" reference meant that this was not a critical analysis of Hubbard as a writer. I enjoy many of Hubbard's work . . . and I may be one of the few non-Scientologists to admit that. I would prefer a collection of the pulp stories Hubbard wrote rather than someone talking about how great they are to this tripe. I can't think of any author I love that didn't write something I thought sucked. The author of this book is not as exacting in his analysis ... neither are other reviewers, apparently, based on some hyper-active reactions this review received. To sum up: The art is fantastic, but Hubbard's writing often wasn't. To pretend that everything Hubbard ever wrote was great is ridiculous - no author is that good.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: This book is a tribute to a literary giant.

It appropriately treats the subject with the same love and respect any fan does, whether the subject is Roddenberry, Asimov, Poe or Hawthorn.

It has nothing to do with the man's religious beliefs or accomplishments. Why any reviewer would throw that curve into it is beyond me.

As a tribute, the book is tremendous. A real gem.

It took me back to my youth reading the sci-fi pulps that carried me on journeys to distant worlds where I met wonderful characters and stretch the limits of my imagination.

What more could any reader want?