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The Thirty-First of February
Nelson Bond. INSCRIBED/LIMITED. The Thirty-first of February. New York: Gnome Press, [1949]. First edition, limited to 112 numbered copies. Inscribed by Bond on limitation page. Octavo. 272 pages.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1949
15 people want to read
About the author
Nelson S. Bond
231 books9 followersNelson Slade Bond was a writer, primarily of short stories, antiquarian bookseller, and playwright. His works included books, magazine articles, and scripts used in radio, for television and on the stage.
The 1998 recipient of the Nebula Author Emeritus award for lifetime achievement, Bond was a pioneer in early science fiction and fantasy. His published fiction is mainly short stories, most of which appeared in pulp magazines in the 1930s and 1940s. Many were published in Blue Book magazine, though Bond largely retired from fiction writing after the 1950s. He is noted for his "Lancelot Biggs" series of stories and for his "Meg the Priestess" tales, which introduced one of the first powerful female characters in science fiction.
The 1998 recipient of the Nebula Author Emeritus award for lifetime achievement, Bond was a pioneer in early science fiction and fantasy. His published fiction is mainly short stories, most of which appeared in pulp magazines in the 1930s and 1940s. Many were published in Blue Book magazine, though Bond largely retired from fiction writing after the 1950s. He is noted for his "Lancelot Biggs" series of stories and for his "Meg the Priestess" tales, which introduced one of the first powerful female characters in science fiction.
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January 20, 2022"The Priestess Who Rebelled" aka "Pilgrimage" in this collection
February 15, 2025
Back in 1997, give or take a few years, I was a member of a literary chatroom on AOL, and met a bona fide author, who sent a First Edition of one of his books to me, and inscribed to me. I first read this book in 2000, the author died just short of ninety-eight years old in 2006, and I have now re-read the book, which is a collection of science fiction stories of good quality.
The title of this collection was bequeathed to him by a fellow author, James Branch Cabell (who died in 1958, a few months before I was born), who was going to use the phrase in a book, but changed his mind. Of these short stories, all written before 1949, are several that I think are quite good; “My Nephew Norvell” has to do with time travel, “The Gripes of Wraith” is a ghost story, “The Cunning of the Beast” has to do with creation, “The Monster from Nowhere” is about other-dimensional concepts, and the last short story, “Pilgrimage”, is set in a time far after some sort of apocalyptic event (and is cheerfully what would now be called “meta”.
I very much enjoyed reading this book, and plan to bring it to my son when we go visit him and his family in June, as he lusts after my Signed First Editions, and I would like to save him from trying to find it in my bookcases.
The title of this collection was bequeathed to him by a fellow author, James Branch Cabell (who died in 1958, a few months before I was born), who was going to use the phrase in a book, but changed his mind. Of these short stories, all written before 1949, are several that I think are quite good; “My Nephew Norvell” has to do with time travel, “The Gripes of Wraith” is a ghost story, “The Cunning of the Beast” has to do with creation, “The Monster from Nowhere” is about other-dimensional concepts, and the last short story, “Pilgrimage”, is set in a time far after some sort of apocalyptic event (and is cheerfully what would now be called “meta”.
I very much enjoyed reading this book, and plan to bring it to my son when we go visit him and his family in June, as he lusts after my Signed First Editions, and I would like to save him from trying to find it in my bookcases.
February 15, 2014
Marvelous reading. These tales of fantasy and even science fiction come from before I was born, but are almost timeless in their appeal. The jargon and culture of the 1940s comes through, but the search for answers and the appeal of the future does also. There is a certain amount of the sort of shameless sensationalism that was the vogue in writing such stories at the time, but the stories are nevertheless fun. These are the kind of stories that presaged The Twilight Zone or Night Gallery, or The Outer Limits. Good stuff.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews