Perry Books

The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll, by Erle Stanley Gardner

This book is dedicated to Theodore J. Curphey, M.D., Coroner of Los Angeles County, who is trying to get legal medicine used properly. If autopsies do not use current scientific methods then crimes can escape detection, or innocent persons can be convicted of crimes they did not commit. Dr. Curphey formed the Institute of Legal Medicine to combin the medical schools, the law schools, and the police and sheriff's departments in a practical partnership.

This story is about Mildred Crest, whose world collapses when her boyfriend breaks their engagement, and confesses to embezzlement from the company they work for. Mildred goes for a ride, and picks up a hitchhiker. The car crashes and burns, but Mildred decides to assume the hitchhiker's identity - Fern Driscoll. She finds a new job and apartment, and lives a more reclusive life. But an insurance investigator shows up, and asks "Fern Driscoll" to write a statement about the accident. Mildred went from the frying pan into the fire! So now she consults with Perry Mason about a "personal matter". "Fern" tells about the crash from her point of view (Chapter Three); but Mason knows she didn't tell the whole truth. A stranger shows up, tells "Fern" a story, and Mildred confesses she isn't Fern! And this is just the beginning of this story. Then the insurance investigator is stabbed, and the police investigate this murder.

Circumstantial evidence is the best evidence, unless it is misinterpreted. Eyewitness evidence can be deadly and dangerous because there is often no corroboration for this testimony (Chapter Twelve). Whenever a person was unjustly convicted, it is usually on eyewitness evidence. Most people cannot recognize a stranger seen for a few seconds (Chapter Thirteen). Would a prosecution witness who testified falsely be liable for perjury (Chapter Fifteen)? [NO!] Chapter Seventeen has the last day of the preliminary hearing. Mason's cross-examination brings out the hidden facts that will clear his client. It wasn't just the ice picks that were duplicated! There is another shocking surprise, and a happy ending. Mildred Crest has all charges dismissed, current and potential. [Does part of this story remind you of "The Talented Mr. Ripley"?]

In book 16 of this Space Opera, we're in the middle of a short quartet of adventures on Venus.

Thora, beautiful Arkonide military commander, is still in the hands of the rebels against Perry Rhodan's New Power government. Perry takes a spaceship and attempt to rescue her, only to realize that the ship he has flown has no radio code for the secret Venusian base. Accordingly, the super computer turns on all Venusian defenses, effectively sealing the planet against any further landings. Perry and his small crew must fight on land - a land swarming with Venusian monsters and storms.

Thora's group is eventually captured by a second rebel group - a group that does not like the first rebel group, nor do they like the rule of the New Power. Perry allows Thora to remain in their camp - not only to teach her a lesson, but to allow her to cause confusion and strife among the rebels. The story concludes in #17 - "The Venus Trap".

I've never been this impressed by a series. I'm reminded of old cliffhangers like "Buck Rodgers" or "Flash Gordon" when reading these marvelous books. This series is still being published in Germany and is now well over 1,800 volumes. It's too bad American publishers stopped these after only about 120 books. I had to learn to speak, read, and write German in order to continue reading Perry Rhodan.

This book also contains another editorial, and another science fiction movie section. There is no fan letters page in this volume. But there are two stories - one continuing adventure, and one short story - beginning a series of science fiction shorts at the end of each volume of Rhodan stories. Although these stories have nothing to do with Perry Rhodan, they are worth looking at. Well worth reading the entire series.

Book # 25 of this Space Opera continues the first huge story arc, which began in book # 21, "The Cosmic Decoy", and concludes in Book # 41, "The Earth Dies".

These mega-stories are called "bands" in the original German. This band deals with the first encounter between the fledgling fleet of Terra and the might of the galactic empire.

Perry Rhodan, fresh from his meeting with the inhabitant of the Planet of Eternal Life, returns to the icy world where a few of his cadets bravely stayed to keep some of the Springer fleet near Snowman, rather than following Rhodan to his destination. Rhodan uses the teletransmitters and the 'secret' weapon he received on his mission to destroy several of the Springer fleet, but not before the leader of the Springers sets off a bomb on Snowman that will turn it into an atomic fireball. Perry and Pucky barely manage to rescue Tifflor and his cadet friends from Snowman before it is destroyed. Pucky also discovers that there are aliens living on this icy world - aliens in the form of intelligent plants with mild hypnotic and telepathic powers. Pucky and the cadets manage to rescue a small number of these "semi-sleepers" before the atomic fire consumes Snowman and the rest of the semi-sleeper's race. Tifflor also finds out from Pucky why he was so important to Rhodan's plan.

Next "episode" - Number 26 - "Cosmic Traitor".

I've never been this impressed by a series. I'm reminded of old cliffhanger serials like "Buck Rodgers" or "Flash Gordon" when reading these marvelous books. This series is still being published in Germany and is now well over 2,000 stories. It's too bad American publishers stopped after only about 120 books. I had to learn to speak, read, and write German in order to continue reading Perry Rhodan.

This book contains another editorial, another science fiction movie section, and another letters column. There are also extra stories - one continuing adventure, similar to a serial, and some "Shock Shorts" - continuing a series of SF short stories at the end of each book. Although these stories have nothing to do with Perry Rhodan, they are worth looking at.

It's well worth reading the entire Rhodan series.

Book # 21 of this Space Opera is the beginning of a huge story arc, which concludes in Book # 41, "The Earth Dies".

These mega-stories are called "bands" in the original German. This band deals with the first true encounter between the fledgling fleet of Terra and the might of the galactic empire.

In "The Cosmic Decoy" we are reunited with Cadet Julian Tifflor, whom we met in the Mutant Master trilogy of stories. Cadet Tifflor is chosen by Perry Rhodan to become a Cosmic Decoy. At least four of the ships of the Terranian fleet have disappeared, and Rhodan wants to know where they went.

In just the first book, we discover that the four missing ships were stolen by the Springers, a race of space-faring traders with no morals other than their own. Julian is prepared for this mission with a "secret" message - and a hidden special transmitter that is only capable of being received by people with telepathic powers, such as several members of Rhodan's Mutant Corps. Even Tifflor is unaware that he is a living psychic transmitter. According to plan, Tifflor is kidnapped by the Springers, but he is whisked away to a secret base before Rhodan and his men can catch up. We meet a few of the Springers and begin the process via which Rhodan plans to make the universe believe that the Earth has been destroyed.

Next episode - Number 23 - "Fleet of the Springers".

I've never been this impressed by a series. I'm reminded of old cliffhanger serials like "Buck Rodgers" or "Flash Gordon" when reading these marvelous books. This series is still being published in Germany and is now well over 2,000 stories. It's too bad American publishers stopped after only about 120 books. I had to learn to speak, read, and write German in order to continue reading Perry Rhodan.

This book contains another editorial, another science fiction movie section, and another letters column. There are also extra stories - one continuing adventure, similar to a serial, and some "Shock Shorts" - continuing a series of SF short stories at the end of each book. Although these stories have nothing to do with Perry Rhodan, they are worth looking at.

It's well worth reading the entire Rhodan series.

Book # 22 of this Space Opera continues the first huge story arc, which began in book # 21 "The Cosmic Decoy", and concludes in Book # 41, "The Earth Dies".

These mega-stories are called "bands" in the original German. This band deals with the first true encounter between the fledgling fleet of Terra and the might of the galactic empire.

Cadet Tifflor, captured by the Springers in "episode" # 21, now faces even more peril. Although his rescuers from Terra apparently have shown up to reclaim him and his crew, so have even more of the Springer ships. A battle ensues with Perry Rhodan and some of his starfleet, against about 30 woefully undermatched Springer vessels. Although Rhodan prevails against the Springer fleet, Tifflor and a few of his crew manage to escape their captors during the battle and take a small ship to a nearby icy planet that can barely sustain human life. Meanwhile, Rhodan and Krest escape from a Springer trap aboard one of the Springer derelicts. Rhodan, knowing that he needs more information about the Springer threat to Terra, allows Tifflor and his remaining crew to stay on the icy planet that Julian discovered, although he sends a message to Tifflor and his crew so that they know they are not alone in this adventure.

Next "episode" - Number 23 - "Peril of the Ice Planet".

I've never been this impressed by a series. I'm reminded of old cliffhanger serials like "Buck Rodgers" or "Flash Gordon" when reading these marvelous books. This series is still being published in Germany and is now well over 2,000 stories. It's too bad American publishers stopped after only about 120 books. I had to learn to speak, read, and write German in order to continue reading Perry Rhodan.

This book contains another editorial, another science fiction movie section, and another letters column. There are also extra stories - one continuing adventure, similar to a serial, and some "Shock Shorts" - continuing a series of SF short stories at the end of each book. Although these stories have nothing to do with Perry Rhodan, they are worth looking at.

It's well worth reading the entire Rhodan series.

This book consists of 2 stories from the German science fiction series. In the first, Rhodan and his 3rd Power group must stave off the world's attempts to stop his plan to bring peace to the earth before it even starts. He's forced to call on the Arkonide pilot Thora to help which leaves the Arkonide moon ship unguarded.

In the 2nd story, the story of the Mutant Corps is started as Perry leaves his base to obtain supplies. Written about 2 years before the original X-men run, the story postulates the existence of mutant humans fostered by the first A Bomb tests.

In "The Radiant Dome" we are treated to translations of two German stories - "The Radiant Dome" and "Twilight of the Gods". These are just two of the over 125 American translations of the over 1800 German stories of Perry Rhodan - the Peacelord of the Universe.

In the first section, "The Radiant Dome", we find out more about Rhodan and his cause - as well as the attempts by the three major world powers to prevent it from happening. However, the combined forces of the American Bloc, the Russian Bloc, and the Asian Bloc succeed in seemingly destroying what remains of the Arkonide vessel on the moon.

However, it is the second section, "Twilight of the Gods" where we begin to see how Rhodan will actually be able to succeed in his quest to not only unify Earth's governments into a single Terran power, but to extend that reach into space.

The Mutants begin to appear in this novel - John Marshall the telepath, Anne Sloane the telekinetic, Ras Tschubai the teleporter, and Ernst Elbert - the time traveller. Fans of the X-Men will like the similarities to their favorite characters in these individuals, and readers will meet many more of Rhodan's "Mutant Corps" eventually.

Readers will enjoy the faster pace of discoveries that continue to lead you deeper and deeper into this wonderful world. It's easy to see why there's been over 1800 stories of Rhodan and hundreds of related books about Rhodan's friends. I've managed (finally!) to collect all of the American editions, and I felt moved to learn to speak, read, and write German so that I could continue the stories after they unfortunately left off with only 125 or so printed in English. Hopefully, new readers will discover this fantastic Space Opera and cause it to come back into print in English.

Book 20 of this Space Opera is the finale of a trilogy of adventures with an Evil Mutant Master.

Monterny, the master of long distance hypnotism, makes a stand on Mars with the aid of his last mind controlled Mutant. This monster of a man, by the name of Ivan Ivanovich Goratschin, has two heads - and the power to make anything with either calcium or carbon in it to detonate explosively. Rhodan's Mutant Corps eventually makes Ivan one of their own, and Monterny, the evil hypnotist, escapes to the asteroid belt. I won't ruin the end of this trilogy except by saying that Monterny is defeated.

A new series of stories begins with number 22 - "The Cosmic Decoy".

I've never been this impressed by a series. I'm reminded of old cliffhanger serials like "Buck Rodgers" or "Flash Gordon" when reading these marvelous books. This series is still being published in Germany and is now well over 2,000 volumes. It's too bad American publishers stopped after only about 120 books. I had to learn to speak, read, and write German in order to continue reading Perry Rhodan.

This book contains another editorial, another science fiction movie section, and another letters column. There are also extra stories - one continuing adventure, similar to a serial, and some "Shock Shorts" - continuing a series of SF short stories at the end of each book. Although these stories have nothing to do with Perry Rhodan, they are worth looking at. It's well worth reading the entire Rhodan series.

Book 17 of this Space Opera is the conclusion of a short quartet of adventures on Venus.

Rhodan and his crew finally rescue Thora from captivity - but not before both the rebels and Rhodan's men have a couple adventures of their own. Rhodan has Marshall contact the Venusian seals - semi-intelligent animals that live in the seas of Venus to help them get into the Venusian secret base. Meanwhile, Rhodan's enemies, the rebels against the new power, who have Thora (the Arkonide beauty) captive, are also nearing the Venusian base. Thora's captors are menaced by a Venusian Tyrex - a monster similar to the Terran Tyrannosaurus, but far larger and more voracious. There's also a cool scene with gigantic ants.

Of course, everyone knows that Perry will resuce Thora and put down the rebellion. But it's how he does it that's interesting.

The next short series begins with number 18 - "Menace of the Mutant Master", a trilogy about a man who can control mutants.

I've never been this impressed by a series. I'm reminded of old cliffhangers like "Buck Rodgers" or "Flash Gordon" when reading these marvelous books. This series is still being published in Germany and is now well over 1,800 volumes. It's too bad American publishers stopped these after only about 120 books. I had to learn to speak, read, and write German in order to continue reading Perry Rhodan.

This book also contains another editorial, another science fiction movie section, and another fan letters page. And there are three stories - one continuing adventure, similar to a serial, and two "Shock Shorts" - continuing a series of science fiction shorts at the end of each volume of Rhodan stories. Although these stories have nothing to do with Perry Rhodan, they are worth looking at. It's well worth reading the entire Rhodan series.

In book 14 of this Space Opera, we start a short quartet of adventures on Venus.

In this book Perry and friends arrive back in Sol's system to find that they have been gone almost five years in search of the Planet of Eternal Life. But there is no time for shore leave. Rhodan and his men find that their secret base on Venus is threatened by - not the usual bug-eyed aliens, but a group of determined humans. These rebels against the new power of Perry Rhodan attempt to take over the Venus base without success, but they do succeed in activating the base defenses - forcing Rhodan and crew to approach the base on foot in order to deliver a secret code to deactivate the base defenses. The crawl thru the swamps of Venus - infested with huge snails and winged monsters should remind anyone of the time when we knew very little about this cloud shrouded planet. Not to mention the giant hurricanes (which are quickly dubbed "horrorcanes") that lash both friends and foes. The story continues in the next book - "Escape to Venus".

I've never been this impressed by a series. I'm reminded of old cliffhangers like "Buck Rodgers" or "Flash Gordon" when reading these marvelous books. This series that is still being published in Germany and is now well over 1,800 volumes. It's too bad American publishers stopped these after only about 120 books. I had to learn to speak, read, and write German in order to continue reading Perry Rhodan.

This book also contains another editorial, another science fiction movie section, and another fan letters page. Well worth reading the entire series.