Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Best of Philip E. High by Philip E. High The Best of Philip E High. I have fond memories of the novels of Philip E. High. I recall finding an Ace Double edition of The Mad Metropolis in a secondhand bookshop in Melbourne when I was in my teens, and being swept away by its heady rush of ideas and action-adventure. Months later I tracked down Prodigal Sun and, my favourite, The Time Mercenaries --the latter about a submarine's crew revived from death and brought to a future age to fight off alien invaders on behalf of an evolved, effete human race. Over the course of the next few years I read every book-length work by High (with the exception of Blindfold from the Stars , still a hard book to locate) and enjoyed them all. It has been said that High is a pessimistic writer, a Dystopian; it has also been said that he begins his novels (and it's often true of his short stories, too) from a 'worse-case-scenario' standpoint, after which things get increasingly better--an effective dynamic for the propulsion of an exciting storyline. Two stories in this collection (High's first, published almost twenty-five years after his last novel) employ the same method. "To See Ourselves" has a series of volunteers descend to an alien planet, and to almost certain death, in the spirit of exploration; yet what the explorers discover there will effect a dramatic and improving change on humanity. "Psycho-Land" starts with the premise of an entire village sent mad when a psychiatric experiment goes wrong: the malaise spreads, threatening to engulf the entire land, until a man of integrity is sent in to solve the problem--with uplifting effect. Other stories fuse pessimistic scenarios with possible solutions. High often pin-points humankind's failings, and then offers a grain of hope: in "A Schoolroom for the Teacher" human expansion is commented upon thus: "I hate to think," said Lange, "what they thought of Federation history. The number of worlds we have - er - acquired, during our expansion, the number of life forms pushed into reservations. " But it is humankind which is about to be taught a lesson when a vegetable hive-mind hitches a ride aboard the returning exploration vessel. In "Fallen Angel" an evil human city is used as a testing ground for the probity of a superior alien being--again with optimistic consequences. The best stories in this volume are each quite different. "The Collaborator" falls into the 'hope from despair' category: humanity is depicted as corrupt and cynical, though one good man's collaboration with the alien 'invaders' suggests hope for the future. It's a spare, economical, and incredibly fast-paced story, without a wasted word, a pastiche of the American hard-boiled school of detective fiction, and excellently done. "Risk Economy" posits a fascinating premise: a lone star-traveller returns to Earth after nine hundred years to find a new form of economy holding sway. Humankind is immortal, and in an effort to curb the population growth, citizens earn credits in return for risks taken: there are enough ideas in this story alone to furnish a complete novel. "Routine Exercise" is my personal favourite. The crew of a Royal Navy submarine falls through a hole in time and finds itself in the distant past, there to encounter alien visitors to Earth. The detail of life aboard the submarine is convincing, and the dark, dank mood, and the sense of threat, is well conjured. The story closes with an interesting twist, an effect High handles well in a number of his stories. In "The Jackson Killer"--High's favourite of all the stories in this volume--an assassin is sent to a colony planet to execute a 'Jackson', a man deemed to be a threat to the stability of society: it's intriguing and fast-paced and closes with another twist-in-the-tale dénouement. These stories, edited for this collection with an informative introduction by Philip Harbottle, were first published between 1956 and 1970, most of them in the late fifties and early sixties. They are very much of their time, an era in the genre when pace and ideas were valued above such literary considerations as style and characterisation, and if a cavil were to be levelled at the stories it would be on this count. But it would be churlish to criticise High for not doing something he never intended in the first place! What he does do, and does well, is to present often interesting ideas in fast-paced, exciting and entertaining stories typical of the best of the Golden Age of science fiction. High, Philip E. 1914- Born April 28, 1914, in Biggleswade, England; son of William (a bank clerk) and Muriel High; married Pamela Baker, August 17, 1950 (died, September, 1997); children: Jacqueline, Beverly. Education: Attended high school in Canterbury, England. Politics: "Tory." Religion: "Raised Church of England, now unorthodox believer." ADDRESSES: Home— Canterbury, Kent, England. Agent— Philip Harbottle, 32 Tynedale Ave., Wallsend, Tyne and Wear N28 9LS, England. CAREER: Worked as insurance agent, realtor, shop assistant, psychic medium, and journalist, 1935-50; East Kent Road Car Co. Ltd., Kent, England, bus driver, 1950-79; writer, 1955—. Military service: Royal Navy; served during World War II. WRITINGS: SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS, EXCEPT WHERE NOTED. No Truce with Terra, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1964. The Prodigal Sun, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1964. The Mad Metropolis, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1966, published as Double Illusion, Dobson (London, England), 1970. Reality Forbidden, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1967. These Savage Futurians, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1967. Twin Planets, Paperback Library (New York, NY), 1967. The Time Mercenaries, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1968. Invader on My Back, Robert Hale (London, England), 1968. Butterfly Planet, Robert Hale (London, England), 1968, reprinted, Wildside Press (Rockville, MD), 2002. Come, Hunt an Earthman, Robert Hale (London, England), 1973. Sold—for a Spaceship, Robert Hale (London, England), 1973. Speaking of Dinosaurs, Robert Hale (London, England), 1974. Fugitive from Time, Robert Hale (London, England), 1978. Blindfold from the Stars, Dennis Dobson (London, England), 1979. The Best of Philip E. High, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press (Rockville, MD), 2002. A Step to the Stars, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press (Rockville, MD), 2004. Contributor to magazines and newspapers, including Authentic Science Fiction . SIDELIGHTS: Philip High once told CA: "I write because I have to write. Once an idea is formed, it prods and nags until I begin. Once started, I keep hours that no work union would tolerate. My wife keeps calling me for meals, my friends write and ask if I am dead because I don't answer letters. I am hooked on the damn thing and my Muse stands over me with a whip. "I have never claimed to be a great literary figure. I am a storyteller and a square one to boot. I like all the loose ends tied up by the last page and I am psychologically incapable of writing anything but a happy ending. I suppose, deep down, I write as an off-beat do-gooder, hence the happy ending solution. "My advice to young writers is to write the type of yarn you like reading the best. If you like reading Westerns more than anything else, don't try to write a detective story. Soak yourself in Westerns, then try your hand. I papered an entire wall with rejection slips until I tried the form of literature I like most, science fiction. My first short story in this field was accepted at first attempt. Note: I don't think this rule applies to poetry. I love verse, but have written only nine poems (never considered for publication) which I can read without shuddering." High's novels are characterized by well-constructed story lines and bizarre settings without stylistic flamboyance. In Twin Planets, alien invaders wreak havoc on a future alternate Earth, and the humans are compelled to try to help this Earth avoid the same fate. Aliens are the antagonists in Invader on My Back, as well. In this book, the aliens have separated people into groups by personality type, but they all have one thing in common —a fear of looking up as the result of their subservient status. In Reality Forbidden, dream machines exist that are capable of lulling humans into conformity. Don D'Ammassa observed in Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers, "Indeed, one of the many recurring themes in High's novels is a dread of conformity and the value of the individual." BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES: BOOKS. Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers, 3rd edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1991. PERIODICALS. Books and Bookmen, April, 1970, review of The Time Mercenaries, p. 26. Times Literary Supplement, November 28, 1968, review of Reality Forbidden, p. 1346. Philip E High. Philip E High was an English science fiction author. Born in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire on 28 April 1914 his writing career spanned over 50 years before his death in Canterbury, Kent on 9 August, 2006. In the course of his career he published some 14 novels and numerous short stories. Philip E High made his name initially in the 1950s with a series of short stories for magazines such as Authentic Science Fiction, New Worlds and Nebula. A collection of these short stories The Best of Philip E High was published in 2002. The Best of Philip E. High by Philip E. High. A Brief Biography of Philip E. High (1914-2006) Philip Empson High was an English science fiction author.