- Dreadful Sanctuary
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Dreadful Sanctuary 
Dust-jacket from the first editionAuthor(s) Eric Frank Russell Cover artist Edd Cartier Country United States Language English Genre(s) Science fiction novel Publisher Fantasy Press Publication date 1951 Media type Print (Hardback) Pages 275 pp ISBN NA OCLC Number 2080056 Dreadful Sanctuary is a science fiction novel by author Eric Frank Russell. It was first published in book form in 1951 by Fantasy Press in an edition of 2,975 copies. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine Astounding beginning in 1948. Russell completely rewrote the novel for the paperback edition published by Lancer Books in 1967.
Plot introduction
The novel concerns an international conspiracy to prevent mankind from achieving space travel.
Reception
Boucher and McComas gave the original edition of Dreadful Sanctuary a mixed review, praising "its vivid whodunit plotting and its magnificent concept," but castigating its "ridiculously anticlimactic ending."[1]. New York Times reviewer Basil Davenport described the novel as "essentially a spy story, a good and exciting one, full of suspense."[2] P. Schuyler Miller similarly described it as one of the few successful fusions of the detective novel with SF, saying it was "one of the most believable science-fiction books in years."[3]
References
- ^ "Recommended Reading," F&SF, October 1951, p.59
- ^ "Spacemen's Realm", The New York Times, August 5, 1951
- ^ "The Reference Library", Astounding Science Fiction, January 1952, p.134
- Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd.. pp. 238.
- Tuck, Donald H. (1978). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. pp. 373–374. ISBN 0-911682-22-8.
Categories:- 1940s science fiction novels
- Novels first published in serial form
- Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact
- 1940s novel stubs
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