"On looking back over his long and influential career, I have no hesitation in placing Jack Williamson on a level with the two other American giants, Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein." — Arthur C. Clarke

While Entropy Reversed rings enough of a bell that I believe I’ve encountered it, I simply can’t recall much about it. Since I’ll never forget The Blue Spot, this review will focus on how wonderful that pulp story is. Published at the beginning of 1937 in the legendary, Astounding Stories Magazine, the man who became the Dean of Science Fiction, and was one of its founders, confessed toward the latter years of his life that he didn’t remember this one! That surprised him, because when he read it back, he realized it contained all the elements for a good science fiction story. He was being much too modest. It is no wonder that Connie Willis wrote of Williamson:

"He is a man of extraordinary talent and consummate humility, of penetrating intelligence and great kindness, a scholar and a gentleman. We are unbelievably lucky to have him as one of the forefathers of the field."

The Blue Spot is a gem of a story that is pure science fiction at it’s most entertaining. The science sounds great, even if some elements might not hold up today, and the storytelling is littered with beautiful passages often only seen in the best Fantasy rather than science fiction —

“Flitting out of the gardens, the two darted between colossal scarlet pillars, and through a pointed ebon arch into a long, colossal hall of darkness. Silently, upon swift wings of apprehension, they flashed through that tremendous dark corridor, and upward through a maze of gem-glittering passages and of lofty empty spaces, cold with dead and austere splendor.”

Without giving away too much, the premise of the story is that a nebula will pass through our solar system and absorb all the sun’s radiation, causing a new Ice Age. Ivec Andrel’s father has found a similar occurrence in the far reaches of space, but there is no way to reach it in time and return to save all life by technological means. But wait! There is a way, but in order for Ivec to succeed, he will have to die.

That ominous premise is only the beginning of a wondrous journey through space which includes the telling of another world and its dark history, a tremendous battle, and possibly, in the end, the most beautiful cosmic romance in pulp history. The story is simply wonderful.

Williamson can be forgiven for forgetting a story or two that he kicked out while he and a handful of other great talents created the science fiction genre. Williamson’s connection to the pulps was deeper than most, however. He was one of the very few to bridge the gap between the early days of Science Fiction, those days of wonder when anything could be imagined, to the more realistic Science Fiction ushered in later. Yet as a writer, Williamson never lost that sense of wonder, nor did he forget how important movement was within a narrative. For some, this is a knock on him, but to me, it is what separates him from his peers. Williamson retained the best elements of pulp even in much of his later work, and he was still writing — and relevant — into his nineties. In other words, he was still a great read.

The Blue Spot can also be found in Spider Island, Volume 4 in the Haffner Press collection of early pulp stories by Jack Williamson. Wherever you find it, it’s worth a read. ( )