tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post380461411867882479..comments2024-03-28T19:49:24.277-07:00Comments on Strange at Ecbatan: Three SF Novels from the Scholastic Book Club (Del Rey, Key, Silverberg)Rich Hortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07659613066689174738noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-44649676670694310612020-03-31T20:28:13.687-07:002020-03-31T20:28:13.687-07:00Confused ... a) Del Rey probably didn't write ...Confused ... a) Del Rey probably didn't write much if any of THE RUNAWAY ROBOT; and b) I actually indicated that I pretty much liked THE RUNAWAY ROBOT despite some rather obvious shortcomings.Rich Hortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07659613066689174738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-72670699932763390462020-03-31T19:49:51.579-07:002020-03-31T19:49:51.579-07:00Lester del Ray didn't write "pretty bad b...Lester del Ray didn't write "pretty bad books," - sorry - '...Robot' is a fine novel in all respectsGandalfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12851946763377731513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-30115735523086006442017-05-21T12:35:35.431-07:002017-05-21T12:35:35.431-07:00I, too, remember the Scholastic Book Service from ...I, too, remember the Scholastic Book Service from elementary school, and it was there I also got my copy of "Revolt on Alpha C." It's one of the best-remembered reading experiences of my Golden Age. I loved the darn thing. It helped make a fan of me. I saved my lunch money to order from Scholastic and couldn't wait until the next weekly issue came out. Ah, those were the days!Carl Gloverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16620165790019990936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-25240681770473846702017-05-13T03:32:38.409-07:002017-05-13T03:32:38.409-07:00While I had a number of sf titles in the early/mid...While I had a number of sf titles in the early/mid '70s...Gordon Dickson's SECRET UNDER THE SEA was a great favorite (though Dickson never let them have, or someone didn't. any of the sequels and I never found them). Lots of books from writers not well known for adult sf... Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104399586348314594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-88535030171633153952017-05-12T15:06:12.706-07:002017-05-12T15:06:12.706-07:00I remember Scholastic Weekly and the order forms a...I remember Scholastic Weekly and the order forms and the rest. I know I got some of the books, but I sure don't remember any science fiction. For that I had to rely on the city library and the Winston books.Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-72493060366497889542017-05-12T12:42:20.025-07:002017-05-12T12:42:20.025-07:00I read "Runaway Robot" when I was still ...I read "Runaway Robot" when I was still learning to read, so I remember sitting on my grandmother's porch and pestering my cousin for the meanings of words like "custody."<br /><br />I was also about 10 when I read "Revolt on Alpha C" and I remember being so absorbed in it that I rushed through lunch to get back to my desk at school so I could continue reading it. When I got to my classroom, no one else was there yet. Somewhere around the time the hero escaped from the Tyrannosaur, I heard my name and looked up. The room was full, and the teacher was yelling at the class. I had caught her saying "the only one I'm sure wasn't involved is Greg, since he's obviously been buried in that book." <br /><br />I never did find out what had happened. The jungles of Alpha C IV were a much better place to be.Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-25068113235483221462017-05-12T07:17:46.589-07:002017-05-12T07:17:46.589-07:00Silverberg wrote the story "Boiling Point&quo...Silverberg wrote the story "Boiling Point", in the May 1964 Amazing, after Del Rey had agreed to write a story based on the cover, but then was blocked -- he asked Silverberg to write it for him.Rich Hortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07659613066689174738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-91031995236162780832017-05-12T06:31:21.268-07:002017-05-12T06:31:21.268-07:00Once a month in my four year-old's locker at h...Once a month in my four year-old's locker at his daycare there are newsprint copies of the Scholastic catalogs. Still going strong despite the age of the internet. I use these forms to order books for him. Aside from convenience the prices are very reasonable & these booklets encourage reading as my son loves flipping through its pages.Casual Debrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08098608670682517783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-76802886059022421462017-05-11T21:58:56.774-07:002017-05-11T21:58:56.774-07:00Actually, I owned copies of seven of these, and re...Actually, I owned copies of seven of these, and read at least three others from classroom collections and the like. I assumed too much...the Apollo book was about the program, rather than needing to be published after mission 11, and that and the prices might indicate these being bought as early as, say, 1968...about five/six years before I had the option...I don't think they offered the Silverberg in my years, nor even that Key. My copy of RUNAWAY was an olg tag-sale item.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104399586348314594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-2407919722458794852017-05-11T21:50:37.028-07:002017-05-11T21:50:37.028-07:00Given that one of the Arrow offers that month was ...Given that one of the Arrow offers that month was an account of Apollo 11, this was an order form from not too long before I was buying SBS books through the Arrow Book Club offers...I had no less than six of the books on offer from one source or another, and read one or two others.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104399586348314594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257559067333970126.post-51441836705993302802017-05-11T21:44:36.268-07:002017-05-11T21:44:36.268-07:00The Arrow Book Club was the version aimed at older...The Arrow Book Club was the version aimed at older elementary school students...grades 3-6 (I've forgotten what the beginning-readers/picture book offers were called instead), while the Teen Age Books or TAB were offerers for 7-12th graders, and more likely to be in standard mass market, or short/original Pocket Book-sized paperbacks (while the Arrow offers tended to default to digest-sized, as with your examples here)...though larger and smaller dimensions were common as well for the Arrow items (each with its own T-code from SBS...the digest-sized all bore TX codes. <br /><br />THE RUNAWAY ROBOT was damned near unreadably boring for me as a kid, though I liked Key's two Witch Mountain books. As I wrote some time back, Silverberg's adult writing and editing work (and YA anthologies featuring adult sf, TRAVELERS IN TIME and BEYOND CONTROL) were all very influential on my young reading life...moreso than I fully realized till shortly before I wrote the review.<br /><br />I'm curious as to what Silverberg ghosted for Del Rey...Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104399586348314594noreply@blogger.com