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Fury
The Earth is long dead and the human survivors live in huge citadels beneath the Venusian seas, ruled by the Immortals, genetic mutations with a lifespan of 1000 years. Sam Reed was born an immortal, but his deranged father had him mutilated as a baby. He is determined to overthrow the immortals and lead the people of Earth off of the floor of the oceans of Venus.
224 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1947
About the author
Henry Kuttner
727 books185 followersHenry Kuttner was, alone and in collaboration with his wife, the great science fiction and fantasy writer C.L. Moore, one of the four or five most important writers of the 1940s, the writer whose work went furthest in its sociological and psychological insight to making science fiction a human as well as technological literature. He was an important influence upon every contemporary and every science fiction writer who succeeded him. In the early 1940s and under many pseudonyms, Kuttner and Moore published very widely through the range of the science fiction and fantasy pulp markets.
Their fantasy novels, all of them for the lower grade markets like Future, Thrilling Wonder, and Planet Stories, are forgotten now; their science fiction novels, Fury and Mutant, are however well regarded. There is no question but that Kuttner's talent lay primarily in the shorter form; Mutant is an amalgamation of five novelettes and Fury, his only true science fiction novel, is considered as secondary material. There are, however, 40 or 50 shorter works which are among the most significant achievements in the field and they remain consistently in print. The critic James Blish, quoting a passage from Mutant about the telepathic perception of the little blank, silvery minds of goldfish, noted that writing of this quality was not only rare in science fiction but rare throughout literature: "The Kuttners learned a few thing writing for the pulp magazines, however, that one doesn't learn reading Henry James."
In the early 1950s, Kuttner and Moore, both citing weariness with writing, even creative exhaustion, turned away from science fiction; both obtained undergraduate degrees in psychology from the University of Southern California and Henry Kuttner, enrolled in an MA program, planned to be a clinical psychologist. A few science fiction short stories and novelettes appeared (Humpty Dumpty finished the Baldy series in 1953). Those stories -- Home There Is No Returning, Home Is the Hunter, Two-Handed Engine, and Rite of Passage -- were at the highest level of Kuttner's work. He also published three mystery novels with Harper & Row (of which only the first is certainly his; the other two, apparently, were farmed out by Kuttner to other writers when he found himself incapable of finishing them).
Henry Kuttner died suddenly in his sleep, probably from a stroke, in February 1958; Catherine Moore remarried a physician and survived him by almost three decades but she never published again. She remained in touch with the science fiction community, however, and was Guest of Honor at the World Convention in Denver in 198l. She died of complications of Alzheimer's Disease in 1987.
His pseudonyms include:
Edward J. Bellin
Paul Edmonds
Noel Gardner
Will Garth
James Hall
Keith Hammond
Hudson Hastings
Peter Horn
Kelvin Kent
Robert O. Kenyon
C. H. Liddell
Hugh Maepenn
Scott Morgan
Lawrence O'Donnell
Lewis Padgett
Woodrow Wilson Smith
Charles Stoddard
Their fantasy novels, all of them for the lower grade markets like Future, Thrilling Wonder, and Planet Stories, are forgotten now; their science fiction novels, Fury and Mutant, are however well regarded. There is no question but that Kuttner's talent lay primarily in the shorter form; Mutant is an amalgamation of five novelettes and Fury, his only true science fiction novel, is considered as secondary material. There are, however, 40 or 50 shorter works which are among the most significant achievements in the field and they remain consistently in print. The critic James Blish, quoting a passage from Mutant about the telepathic perception of the little blank, silvery minds of goldfish, noted that writing of this quality was not only rare in science fiction but rare throughout literature: "The Kuttners learned a few thing writing for the pulp magazines, however, that one doesn't learn reading Henry James."
In the early 1950s, Kuttner and Moore, both citing weariness with writing, even creative exhaustion, turned away from science fiction; both obtained undergraduate degrees in psychology from the University of Southern California and Henry Kuttner, enrolled in an MA program, planned to be a clinical psychologist. A few science fiction short stories and novelettes appeared (Humpty Dumpty finished the Baldy series in 1953). Those stories -- Home There Is No Returning, Home Is the Hunter, Two-Handed Engine, and Rite of Passage -- were at the highest level of Kuttner's work. He also published three mystery novels with Harper & Row (of which only the first is certainly his; the other two, apparently, were farmed out by Kuttner to other writers when he found himself incapable of finishing them).
Henry Kuttner died suddenly in his sleep, probably from a stroke, in February 1958; Catherine Moore remarried a physician and survived him by almost three decades but she never published again. She remained in touch with the science fiction community, however, and was Guest of Honor at the World Convention in Denver in 198l. She died of complications of Alzheimer's Disease in 1987.
His pseudonyms include:
Edward J. Bellin
Paul Edmonds
Noel Gardner
Will Garth
James Hall
Keith Hammond
Hudson Hastings
Peter Horn
Kelvin Kent
Robert O. Kenyon
C. H. Liddell
Hugh Maepenn
Scott Morgan
Lawrence O'Donnell
Lewis Padgett
Woodrow Wilson Smith
Charles Stoddard
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
January 17, 2022
Fury is arguably Kuttner's most renowned novel, with the title referring to both the untamed ferocity of the protagonist, Sam Reed, as well as the savage environment of Venus. While the plot regarding the subversion of an oppressive ruling class of immortals in the undersea citadels of Venus hardly feels unique, Reed makes for an unusual hero. Kuttner went out of his way to make Reed a detestable SOB. He's a deceitful, ruthless and incredibly forceful criminal who does the right things for the wrong reasons. His plan to throw off the yoke of the immortals by resettling humanity on the overgrown savage jungles on the Venusian surface promises to infuse an effete, stagnant society with vitality. Yet his motivations are personal revenge and a lust for power. He's got good reason for the former, but still, there's no two ways about the fact that he's a bastard.
The story is generally light on action and heavy on intrigue, at times weighed down with the excessive contemplation and inner dialogue that was the style of the time. Despite minimal effort by Kuttner, a few interesting secondary characters emerge, particularly an immortal oracle who's the only living person with first hand memories of Earth. He's got a penchant for dishing out prescient yet cryptic advice, and may be manipulating people and events towards some unknown goal.
Kuttner's wife, C.L. Moore, shared in the writing and provides a brief, yet enlightening intro for the edition I read, outlining the collaborative approach they employed and describing the distinctive flavor that each lent to the story. Kuttner's relating to the dangers of authority, and Moore's to the treachery of love.
The story is generally light on action and heavy on intrigue, at times weighed down with the excessive contemplation and inner dialogue that was the style of the time. Despite minimal effort by Kuttner, a few interesting secondary characters emerge, particularly an immortal oracle who's the only living person with first hand memories of Earth. He's got a penchant for dishing out prescient yet cryptic advice, and may be manipulating people and events towards some unknown goal.
Kuttner's wife, C.L. Moore, shared in the writing and provides a brief, yet enlightening intro for the edition I read, outlining the collaborative approach they employed and describing the distinctive flavor that each lent to the story. Kuttner's relating to the dangers of authority, and Moore's to the treachery of love.
May 11, 2018
Classic SF from '47. It isn't bad and it has a solid plot thread and a very streamlined theme, from breaking off the yoke of immortals only to realize you are one, to founding a rebellion allowing all the people to earn their own immortality and a place in the sun. (On Venus, nonetheless.)
I don't have any outright complaints about this tale. No embarrassing idiocies and I can tolerate a climate-controlled venus just fine when it's in service to a decent tale.
However, all in all, it's just too simple for my taste. It's pretty much golden age pulp fiction designed for people hankering for adventure. Throw in a smattering of telepathy, the prejudice that might come from immortals, and a somewhat exotic location, and it's a pretty classic SF theme. Simple.
Get the rebellion on. Forward the Fury!
Like I said, no complaints, but no great accolades, either.
I don't have any outright complaints about this tale. No embarrassing idiocies and I can tolerate a climate-controlled venus just fine when it's in service to a decent tale.
However, all in all, it's just too simple for my taste. It's pretty much golden age pulp fiction designed for people hankering for adventure. Throw in a smattering of telepathy, the prejudice that might come from immortals, and a somewhat exotic location, and it's a pretty classic SF theme. Simple.
Get the rebellion on. Forward the Fury!
Like I said, no complaints, but no great accolades, either.
August 18, 2011
1946 had been a very good year indeed for Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore, with a full dozen stories published plus three fine novels ("The Fairy Chessmen," "Valley of the Flame" and "The Dark World"), and in 1947, sci-fi's preeminent husband-and-wife writing team continued its prolific ways. Before the year was out, the two had succeeded in placing another 15 stories into the pulp magazines of the day, in addition to the novel for which Kuttner is best remembered: "Fury." A classic of Golden Age sci-fi, "Fury" originally appeared in the May, June and July issues of "Astounding Science-Fiction" under one of the pair's many pseudonyms, Lawrence O'Donnell. The story goes that legendary editor John W. Campbell needed a quick novel from the team, and that Part 1 of the serialized novel was in print before the story was even close to being finished. "Fury" was finally released in book form in 1950. Though hurriedly composed, the tale betrays no signs of its rushed origins, and is indeed an elegantly written (I love that line about libation inducing libration), fast-moving novel that is nevertheless multigenerational and epic in scope.
It tells the story of the Landside colonization of Venus in the 27th century, long after Earth has been destroyed by atomic wars. Mankind now lives in Venusian undersea cities known as Keeps, as the surface of the planet is virtually uninhabitable, with deadly forms of plant and animal life in riotous abundance. The book's hero (or should I say "antihero"?), Sam Harker, is born into one of the families of Immortals that rule the Keeps. When his mother dies during childbirth, Sam's enraged father has the infant genetically altered so that he looks nothing like the tall, graceful folk of the Immortal clans. Sam grows up in foster care, with no knowledge of his background, his heritage, or even the fact that he will probably live to be 1,000 years old. The story of how Sam climbs up the criminal ladder, inadvertently becomes one of the most despised and influential men on Venus, and ultimately causes mankind to migrate out of the undersea Keeps, is the story of "Fury," a book whose title refers not only to the vengeful force inherent in its lead character, but to the Landside Venusian environment as well.
But a capsule description of "Fury"'s plot really doesn't do the book justice; it's like saying that "Gone With the Wind" is a story about a Civil War gal trying to get her house back. Kuttner & Moore generously supply the reader with an abundance of interesting characters, colorful backdrops and unforeseeable plot developments. Among those interesting characters are Sam's Immortal foes, Zachariah Harker and Kedre Walton; Robin Hale, a mercenary Immortal determined to colonize Landside; the Slider, a Fagin-like underworld figure who helps Sam in his illicit projects; and the Logician, an immensely old man given to dispensing homespun, commonsense oracles. Among those colorful backdrops, of course, are the Keeps themselves, nestled on the Venusian sea bottoms under their impervium domes, and the surface of Venus. Readers who are interested in seeing the various terrible life-forms alluded to in the novel's early sections will not be disappointed in the book's latter half, as the Landside settlers encounter giant lizards, foot-long beetles, the monstrosities known as the mud-wolf and the siren web, etc. (Indeed, the life-forms of Venus seem to be so very aggressive in "Fury" that they might cause the reader to wonder whether or not Harry Harrison was influenced here when he wrote his first novel, "Deathworld," in 1960. Likewise, this reader was compelled to entertain the possibility that the vengeful Gully Foyle, of my favorite sci-fi novel of all time, Alfred Bester's 1956 classic "The Stars My Destination," might have been patterned after the driven Sam Harker character here, in addition to Bester's admitted debt to "The Count of Monte Cristo.") As for those unforeseeable plot developments I mentioned...well, the less said, the better. I would be the last to deprive potential first-time readers of any of the many surprises that this cleverly plotted book dishes out.
I should also add at this point that I recommend all potential readers of "Fury" to search out the Magnum Library edition, as this volume contains an introduction by C.L. Moore herself. In it, Moore tells us how she and her husband were accustomed to work; a fascinating look at how this famous team operated. While most of the Kuttner-Moore pieces of fiction were indeed collaborative, Moore confirms in this intro that her actual contribution to "Fury" was minimal, adding up to perhaps 1/8 of the novel's total word count. If I read her correctly, her contributions here deal mainly with colorful descriptions and sections pertaining to male-female relationships. Still, as usual, the melding of talents is quite seamless, resulting in one of the best pieces of science fiction that I've read in a good long while. The novel concludes with a two-word epilogue that is just wonderful, certainly opening up the possibility of a "Fury" sequel. Sadly, that sequel was never to be. Kuttner, who writes somewhere in "Fury" that "the life-span of an ordinary man was too short," died of a heart attack in 1958, at the age of 44. Though the man himself was far from immortal, I'd like to think that his works may indeed be....
It tells the story of the Landside colonization of Venus in the 27th century, long after Earth has been destroyed by atomic wars. Mankind now lives in Venusian undersea cities known as Keeps, as the surface of the planet is virtually uninhabitable, with deadly forms of plant and animal life in riotous abundance. The book's hero (or should I say "antihero"?), Sam Harker, is born into one of the families of Immortals that rule the Keeps. When his mother dies during childbirth, Sam's enraged father has the infant genetically altered so that he looks nothing like the tall, graceful folk of the Immortal clans. Sam grows up in foster care, with no knowledge of his background, his heritage, or even the fact that he will probably live to be 1,000 years old. The story of how Sam climbs up the criminal ladder, inadvertently becomes one of the most despised and influential men on Venus, and ultimately causes mankind to migrate out of the undersea Keeps, is the story of "Fury," a book whose title refers not only to the vengeful force inherent in its lead character, but to the Landside Venusian environment as well.
But a capsule description of "Fury"'s plot really doesn't do the book justice; it's like saying that "Gone With the Wind" is a story about a Civil War gal trying to get her house back. Kuttner & Moore generously supply the reader with an abundance of interesting characters, colorful backdrops and unforeseeable plot developments. Among those interesting characters are Sam's Immortal foes, Zachariah Harker and Kedre Walton; Robin Hale, a mercenary Immortal determined to colonize Landside; the Slider, a Fagin-like underworld figure who helps Sam in his illicit projects; and the Logician, an immensely old man given to dispensing homespun, commonsense oracles. Among those colorful backdrops, of course, are the Keeps themselves, nestled on the Venusian sea bottoms under their impervium domes, and the surface of Venus. Readers who are interested in seeing the various terrible life-forms alluded to in the novel's early sections will not be disappointed in the book's latter half, as the Landside settlers encounter giant lizards, foot-long beetles, the monstrosities known as the mud-wolf and the siren web, etc. (Indeed, the life-forms of Venus seem to be so very aggressive in "Fury" that they might cause the reader to wonder whether or not Harry Harrison was influenced here when he wrote his first novel, "Deathworld," in 1960. Likewise, this reader was compelled to entertain the possibility that the vengeful Gully Foyle, of my favorite sci-fi novel of all time, Alfred Bester's 1956 classic "The Stars My Destination," might have been patterned after the driven Sam Harker character here, in addition to Bester's admitted debt to "The Count of Monte Cristo.") As for those unforeseeable plot developments I mentioned...well, the less said, the better. I would be the last to deprive potential first-time readers of any of the many surprises that this cleverly plotted book dishes out.
I should also add at this point that I recommend all potential readers of "Fury" to search out the Magnum Library edition, as this volume contains an introduction by C.L. Moore herself. In it, Moore tells us how she and her husband were accustomed to work; a fascinating look at how this famous team operated. While most of the Kuttner-Moore pieces of fiction were indeed collaborative, Moore confirms in this intro that her actual contribution to "Fury" was minimal, adding up to perhaps 1/8 of the novel's total word count. If I read her correctly, her contributions here deal mainly with colorful descriptions and sections pertaining to male-female relationships. Still, as usual, the melding of talents is quite seamless, resulting in one of the best pieces of science fiction that I've read in a good long while. The novel concludes with a two-word epilogue that is just wonderful, certainly opening up the possibility of a "Fury" sequel. Sadly, that sequel was never to be. Kuttner, who writes somewhere in "Fury" that "the life-span of an ordinary man was too short," died of a heart attack in 1958, at the age of 44. Though the man himself was far from immortal, I'd like to think that his works may indeed be....
May 21, 2010
5.5 stars. One of my favorite "classic" science ficiton novels. A truly under-rated work that deserves a lot more recoginition than it gets. Clearly, Henry Kuttner's best work (with some uncredited help from his wife, C.L. Moore. Classic Science Fiction at its best and a ton of fun!!!
March 17, 2014
Originally published in Astounding magazine in 1947 under the pseudonym Lawrence O'Donnell who is Henry Kuttner co-authoring with his wife Catherine L. Moore.
The book is set on Venus several centuries after an atomic armageddon has destroyed Earth. Mankind lives in a series of domed undersea keeps, because the land-life is so awful that earlier attempts to settle Venus have all failed. The race is slowly stagnating inside those domes, despite the more or less benevolent wardship of the Immortals, a group of long-lived mutants.
The book is set on Venus several centuries after an atomic armageddon has destroyed Earth. Mankind lives in a series of domed undersea keeps, because the land-life is so awful that earlier attempts to settle Venus have all failed. The race is slowly stagnating inside those domes, despite the more or less benevolent wardship of the Immortals, a group of long-lived mutants.
July 7, 2024
Check out my full, spoiler free, video review HERE. A classic of the golden age of SF written by Henry Kuttner and his wife C.L. Moore. After earth was blown up and radiated, mankind has settled in undersea domes on Venus. There is a branch of humanity that is sort of immortal, living up to 1000 years. The main character Sam Reed is one of these immortals but due to some events that happened early in his life he is unaware of his immortality. I wasn’t sure where Kuttner/Moore were going with this one but in the end I felt like they pulled off a great conclusion to a mostly enjoyable novel. Also, the 2 word epilogue was great.
June 14, 2017
Sam Reed/Harker is resourceful, relentless, and unscrupulous, and the sheer force of his will bleeds into the narration, so it takes on his straight-line impetus that bulldozes everything in the way. He is a wild cannon who can be counted on to do the most destructive thing, even if that thing was not intentional. His automatic reaction is to towards destruction--crime, swindle, violence, strong-arm persuasion, blackmail, all driven by an inexplicable fury.
The rest of the story curlicues around him, revealing strange intricacies. The long-lived puppeteers of society, the Immortals, are put in positions where they want to discourage colonization but because of previously stated goals must support it publicly, and play an impossibly long game against their rivals.
The rest of the story curlicues around him, revealing strange intricacies. The long-lived puppeteers of society, the Immortals, are put in positions where they want to discourage colonization but because of previously stated goals must support it publicly, and play an impossibly long game against their rivals.
August 7, 2022
Ich bekam es geschenkt, gerade als herauskam. Eine mehr ganz frühen SF-Lektüren. Ich habe sie in guter Erinnerung, ein fesselnder Roman.
Read
May 19, 2018Pretty sure I read it, back in the day. No real recollection, though....
February 23, 2014
Earth has been rendered uninhabitable by nuclear war. Humans have fled to live in ‘Keep’s far below the surface of the oceans of Venus since the planet’s land masses are covered in jungles inhabited by deadly flora and fauna. The ruling government of this remainder of Humanity is an Oligarchy of immortals, the rest of the race destined to live out normal lifespans.
Against this background is told the story of Sam, the son of Blaze Harker, youngest in a dynasty of a powerful family of immortals. Blaze, however, is borderline insane and, for reasons we need not go into here, has his baby son surgically altered and abandons him to be brought up among the short-lived humans.
The child grows up with the name of Sam Reed, working initially under the tutelage of the Fagin-like Slider.
Meanwhile, the immortal Robin Hale believes that Humanity should be moving out onto the surface of Venus, a policy that the ruling immortals currently oppose.
Sam decides to help Hale; a decision which brings him into conflict with Zachariah Harker, while neither of them are aware of the fact that they are closely related.
Sam manipulates the media to raise volunteers and money to establish a colony on the surface, but is betrayed by his mistress.
The narrative jumps fifty years ahead to where Sam awakens in a street, having been helped there by a mysterious stranger. He discovers that he was discredited as a drug addict after his disappearance, but the surface colony is just surviving. He also discovers, to his surprise, that he has not aged and realises the fact of his immortality.
Once more, he rejoins Hale and launches a new campaign to establish Humanity on the planet’s surface.
The immortals, however, set up a long term plan to deal with Sam permanently.
It has elements of both a Shakespearean tragedy and a Dickens novel. Sam seems driven by his fury on a predestinate path. Indeed, Kuttner also includes the character of The Logician, a mysterious immortal, born on Earth, who has been masquerading as public logic machine, to which anyone can submit questions.
It was The Logician who advised Hale to start his surface colonisation programme. The Logician (who describes himself as a sort of oracle in the text, and who seems to extrapolate the future in much the same way as EE Doc Smith’s Arisians) explains that his talent depends on guiding people, rather than telling them what to do and it seems clear later that he has manipulated both Hale and Sam in order that Humanity can return to the surface.
Sam is eventually betrayed by another woman, programmed from birth for the role and placed in a position of trust, but Sam is not killed, merely put to sleep again by The Logician to be reawakened at a time when his drive and fury may be needed again.
Stylistically it has that odd juxtaposition of the feudal and the futuristic. For its time the use of drugs and narcotics in a narrative was not standard practice. Addiction features several times, the female surgeon who originally altered Sam’s physical appearance for instance was addicted to the lethal embrace of a native life-form which stimulated pure pleasure in her body as it slowly fed on her.
As is common for novels of this period, the concept of genocide (not just a species, but an entire biosphere) is not considered an issue.
Against this background is told the story of Sam, the son of Blaze Harker, youngest in a dynasty of a powerful family of immortals. Blaze, however, is borderline insane and, for reasons we need not go into here, has his baby son surgically altered and abandons him to be brought up among the short-lived humans.
The child grows up with the name of Sam Reed, working initially under the tutelage of the Fagin-like Slider.
Meanwhile, the immortal Robin Hale believes that Humanity should be moving out onto the surface of Venus, a policy that the ruling immortals currently oppose.
Sam decides to help Hale; a decision which brings him into conflict with Zachariah Harker, while neither of them are aware of the fact that they are closely related.
Sam manipulates the media to raise volunteers and money to establish a colony on the surface, but is betrayed by his mistress.
The narrative jumps fifty years ahead to where Sam awakens in a street, having been helped there by a mysterious stranger. He discovers that he was discredited as a drug addict after his disappearance, but the surface colony is just surviving. He also discovers, to his surprise, that he has not aged and realises the fact of his immortality.
Once more, he rejoins Hale and launches a new campaign to establish Humanity on the planet’s surface.
The immortals, however, set up a long term plan to deal with Sam permanently.
It has elements of both a Shakespearean tragedy and a Dickens novel. Sam seems driven by his fury on a predestinate path. Indeed, Kuttner also includes the character of The Logician, a mysterious immortal, born on Earth, who has been masquerading as public logic machine, to which anyone can submit questions.
It was The Logician who advised Hale to start his surface colonisation programme. The Logician (who describes himself as a sort of oracle in the text, and who seems to extrapolate the future in much the same way as EE Doc Smith’s Arisians) explains that his talent depends on guiding people, rather than telling them what to do and it seems clear later that he has manipulated both Hale and Sam in order that Humanity can return to the surface.
Sam is eventually betrayed by another woman, programmed from birth for the role and placed in a position of trust, but Sam is not killed, merely put to sleep again by The Logician to be reawakened at a time when his drive and fury may be needed again.
Stylistically it has that odd juxtaposition of the feudal and the futuristic. For its time the use of drugs and narcotics in a narrative was not standard practice. Addiction features several times, the female surgeon who originally altered Sam’s physical appearance for instance was addicted to the lethal embrace of a native life-form which stimulated pure pleasure in her body as it slowly fed on her.
As is common for novels of this period, the concept of genocide (not just a species, but an entire biosphere) is not considered an issue.
June 16, 2013
Henry Kuttner and his wife C L Moore began writing in the pulps during the 30s. Both contributed to Weird Tales and were part of the "Lovecraft Circle". He was a very influential Sci Fi, Horror, Fantasy writer who mentored the likes of Ray Bradbury. You can also see his influences on others such as Roger Zelazny who stated the Kuttner's book "Dark World" was an inspiration for his "Amber series.
After they married just about everything they produced was a collaboration and this book is no exception although Ms Moore said that about 70% of the book was his including the idea. Many of Kuttner's themes are anti authority and this one is no different.
This book was published in 1947 so it is a bit dated in parts. It takes place on Venus several hundred years after the destruction of Earth. Venus is populated by carnivorous and deadly flora and fauna and as a result the remainder of Earth's population escaping Earth's destruction eventually settles under Venus' oceans. They live in "Keeps" named after US states (Delaware Keep, Montana Keep) and this world is ruled over by families of Mutants called "Immortals" who are taller, more graceful,and live up to 1000 years.
The protagonist in the story is an immortal born to the most powerful of the Immortal families, The Harkers. His father who is grieved over the death of his wife in childbirth has his son Sam surgically altered at birth to appear as a "short-lived" human and is given to a normal family to be raised. No one is aware of his true origins. He eventually rises up to challenge the status quo of the Immortals and strives to bring what's left of the human race to the surface world.
After they married just about everything they produced was a collaboration and this book is no exception although Ms Moore said that about 70% of the book was his including the idea. Many of Kuttner's themes are anti authority and this one is no different.
This book was published in 1947 so it is a bit dated in parts. It takes place on Venus several hundred years after the destruction of Earth. Venus is populated by carnivorous and deadly flora and fauna and as a result the remainder of Earth's population escaping Earth's destruction eventually settles under Venus' oceans. They live in "Keeps" named after US states (Delaware Keep, Montana Keep) and this world is ruled over by families of Mutants called "Immortals" who are taller, more graceful,and live up to 1000 years.
The protagonist in the story is an immortal born to the most powerful of the Immortal families, The Harkers. His father who is grieved over the death of his wife in childbirth has his son Sam surgically altered at birth to appear as a "short-lived" human and is given to a normal family to be raised. No one is aware of his true origins. He eventually rises up to challenge the status quo of the Immortals and strives to bring what's left of the human race to the surface world.
March 29, 2015
Nach einem atomaren Desaster auf der Erde hat sich die Menschheit in Unterwasserstädten auf der Venus zurückgezogen. Doch das Überleben der Rasse ist fraglich, da eine Kaste von Unsterblichen die Städte beherrscht und Ihre Macht brutal ausnützt.
Doch einer der Unsterblichen erkennt die drohende Gefähr des Untergangs der Menschheit und verspricht das Überleben der Rasse zu gewährleisten...
Einer der Klassiker der SF in einer Neuauflage, nachdem der Roman in diversen Heftromanen in Deutschland erstveröffentlicht wurde.
Doch einer der Unsterblichen erkennt die drohende Gefähr des Untergangs der Menschheit und verspricht das Überleben der Rasse zu gewährleisten...
Einer der Klassiker der SF in einer Neuauflage, nachdem der Roman in diversen Heftromanen in Deutschland erstveröffentlicht wurde.
February 13, 2016
Published in 1950, this book is a classic if not well know work of science fiction from Henry Kuttner, an author who deserves to be remembered – and read – more often than is the case these days. Fury is the story of a man named Sam Reed, a resident of Venus in a future when all that's left of Humanity exists in domed keeps under the seas of that world. Earth was destroyed seven hundred years before the tale begins, and the survivors colonized Venus. Sam is an angry man, one who uses his anger and his formidable intelligence as tools to carve a niche for himself in a society that is steadily decaying around him. Life in the keeps is too easy, lacking in meaningful challenge; the human species is slowly fading away. The salvation of Humanity exists in colonization of the hostile lands of the continents of Venus, places with insanely dangerous creatures that are sometimes both plant and animal. How Sam becomes involved in this colonization scheme, and the consequences of his involvement, make up the tale told in Fury.
Fury is very much character driven, and these characters have something in common. None of them are heroes in any sense of the word. There are no simple good guys or bad guys in this story, though Sam Reed certainly qualifies as an anti-hero. Each has motives and morals that, when they intersect, move the story forward.
While it is clear from its style that this book was written before the current obsession with "show, don't tell," the book reads well all these decades later. It doesn't even matter that the Venus of Kuttner's imagination is impossible. When Kuttner wrote this book (likely in the late 1940s) the possibility of a swampy, jungle Venus had not yet been ruled out. The book is beautifully written, the characters thoroughly realized, and the exotic setting works even in the face of current knowledge. Well worth the time it would take to read this short (less than 200 pages) novel.
Note: Fury was later (1958) republished under the title Destination: Infinity. The original title definitely suits the book better!
Fury is very much character driven, and these characters have something in common. None of them are heroes in any sense of the word. There are no simple good guys or bad guys in this story, though Sam Reed certainly qualifies as an anti-hero. Each has motives and morals that, when they intersect, move the story forward.
While it is clear from its style that this book was written before the current obsession with "show, don't tell," the book reads well all these decades later. It doesn't even matter that the Venus of Kuttner's imagination is impossible. When Kuttner wrote this book (likely in the late 1940s) the possibility of a swampy, jungle Venus had not yet been ruled out. The book is beautifully written, the characters thoroughly realized, and the exotic setting works even in the face of current knowledge. Well worth the time it would take to read this short (less than 200 pages) novel.
Note: Fury was later (1958) republished under the title Destination: Infinity. The original title definitely suits the book better!
November 4, 2016
This is the second Fury I’ve read recently; I wouldn’t be surprised if both titles were partially inspired by Lewis Carroll’s mouse poem, though there isn’t anything else Carrollian in here as far as I could tell.
Fury takes place on Venus after mankind destroyed the Earth in nuclear fire; if I’m reading the first chapter correctly, the Earth still burns in the night sky. The only survivors live on Venus, in underwater domes, because Venus on land is too dangerous. The book was published in 1947 when science fiction writers could still hope that Venus would be some kind of super-jungle.
Kuttner (and possibly to a smaller extent C.L. Moore) really put the super into this stereotypically super jungle: it’s a jungle that can overrun any attempt to clear it as fast as the clearing takes place. The bugs and fungi and strange bacteria are impossible to get rid of once they get into you. And boy do they want to get into you! There’s a wonderful idea for a cursed cloak that is really a sort of manta ray that makes its wearer soporifically happy while slowly eating them; and a relative that lives on land, a “siren web” that pulses strange colors to draw victims into its strands, where it sings while it eats them.
The book also has some neat ideas about oracles, and why they need to speak obliquely when they foretell the future. If they didn’t, their clients would act too passively, more passively than they otherwise would have if they’d made the decision themselves; and so the future foretold won’t come to pass as it would otherwise have.
Fury takes place on Venus after mankind destroyed the Earth in nuclear fire; if I’m reading the first chapter correctly, the Earth still burns in the night sky. The only survivors live on Venus, in underwater domes, because Venus on land is too dangerous. The book was published in 1947 when science fiction writers could still hope that Venus would be some kind of super-jungle.
Kuttner (and possibly to a smaller extent C.L. Moore) really put the super into this stereotypically super jungle: it’s a jungle that can overrun any attempt to clear it as fast as the clearing takes place. The bugs and fungi and strange bacteria are impossible to get rid of once they get into you. And boy do they want to get into you! There’s a wonderful idea for a cursed cloak that is really a sort of manta ray that makes its wearer soporifically happy while slowly eating them; and a relative that lives on land, a “siren web” that pulses strange colors to draw victims into its strands, where it sings while it eats them.
The book also has some neat ideas about oracles, and why they need to speak obliquely when they foretell the future. If they didn’t, their clients would act too passively, more passively than they otherwise would have if they’d made the decision themselves; and so the future foretold won’t come to pass as it would otherwise have.
October 18, 2011
I stumbled upon this book while scavenging through someone else's trash Hey, don't look at me that way!... I live in Venezuela, where such activity is a time honored tradition for everyday survival. Plus, I'm a starving writer so that's ok) and came up with a ragged and dog-eared paperback copy of this novel.
Since I'm an equal opportunity reader (I read and give everything a chance to tell me a story... even trash) I went into it... and was hooked.
Now this tattered paperback it's one of my most prized books.
Give it a try if you're into classic sci-fi; it may become one of yours!
Since I'm an equal opportunity reader (I read and give everything a chance to tell me a story... even trash) I went into it... and was hooked.
Now this tattered paperback it's one of my most prized books.
Give it a try if you're into classic sci-fi; it may become one of yours!
November 18, 2010
This book was suggested to me by a friend from Sweden when she visited the States. Classic SF is always a mixed bag - some of it very good, some of it bearable, some of it is just silly, some of it not worth reading even once. I'm happy to report that Fury is one of the very good ones, and surely a much overlooked gem.
Thanks, my friend, for the wonderful suggestion (and for demanding that I purchase it when we took time to browse through Kankakee's Paperback Reader used book store)!
Thanks, my friend, for the wonderful suggestion (and for demanding that I purchase it when we took time to browse through Kankakee's Paperback Reader used book store)!
January 3, 2016
It's a fast moving, enjoyable book. It's pacing, language, and tone remind me a lot of The Stars My Destination. I'd be very surprised if Harry Harrison hadn't read this before he wrote Deathworld as Venus is described exactly like Deathworld.
May 18, 2010
I have a Hamlyn 1981 edition
July 17, 2022
Dnešní optikou je Zuřivec překonaný, v aktuální sci-fi produkci by s ním Kuttner pravděpodobně neobstál. Nicméně retro čtení mě vlastně bavil. Doporučila bych ho ale spíš jen velkým fandům žánru. S hlavním hrdinou ani jinými postavami cítit nebudete a z pohledu poznatků vědy příběh není uvěřitelný, místy spíš až vtipný či směšný. Či asi nejlépe: zábavný. Někdy asi chtěně, někdy nechtěně.
July 27, 2024
3.5 stars. The angriest man on Venus is out for revenge and drags the apathetic, dome-dwelling settlers kicking and screaming towards their destiny, for all the wrong reasons. Well written golden age pulp focused on mortality, power and vengeance.
The ubiquitous Powers cover puts a bow on this package.
The ubiquitous Powers cover puts a bow on this package.
April 11, 2016
I got this book for my eighteenth birthday and remember really enjoying it. But when I saw it on my shelf a week or two ago I realised I couldn't remember anything about it. Rereading it now it's not hard to see why it didn't stick. The book displays the best technicolour imagination of the pulps, is breathlessly written, with some rare patches of vibrant descriptive writing, but in most ways it is all over the shop.
The story is a straightforward 'Ubermensch takes on stagnant aristocracy by playing to the whims of the mob' job. The author('s/s')* ambiguous attitude to the repellent/charismatic protagonist doesn't really offset the essentially fascist message that mankind needs conflict to avoid effete limpness, and that a 'strong man' prepared to do nasty things is the most efficient way of 'getting things done' - but this isn't really unusual for the pulps, so hey ho.**
What I think makes the book so forgettable is that events unfurl with little rhyme or reason, and the grand schemes of the characters are so tenuous they could only succeed due to authorial fiat. It's frequently unclear what is happening, let alone why, and the frequent timeskips suggest the author(s) often couldn't be bothered to write their way out of the cul-de-sac they'd written themselves into. In most terms I have to chalk this one up as an interesting failure.
*Even the copy of the book I have is unclear whether the book was written by Henry Kuttner alone or in collaboration with his wife CL Moore.
** I had an idle thought the other day about how 'protagonists with superior intellect and drive, taking on a stagnant elite by pretending to be on the side of the mob they secretly disdain' are quite common in SF. Again it has been a few years since I read it, but I think this kind of Donald Trumpesque SF bastard was perfected in 'The Stars my Destination.'
The story is a straightforward 'Ubermensch takes on stagnant aristocracy by playing to the whims of the mob' job. The author('s/s')* ambiguous attitude to the repellent/charismatic protagonist doesn't really offset the essentially fascist message that mankind needs conflict to avoid effete limpness, and that a 'strong man' prepared to do nasty things is the most efficient way of 'getting things done' - but this isn't really unusual for the pulps, so hey ho.**
What I think makes the book so forgettable is that events unfurl with little rhyme or reason, and the grand schemes of the characters are so tenuous they could only succeed due to authorial fiat. It's frequently unclear what is happening, let alone why, and the frequent timeskips suggest the author(s) often couldn't be bothered to write their way out of the cul-de-sac they'd written themselves into. In most terms I have to chalk this one up as an interesting failure.
*Even the copy of the book I have is unclear whether the book was written by Henry Kuttner alone or in collaboration with his wife CL Moore.
** I had an idle thought the other day about how 'protagonists with superior intellect and drive, taking on a stagnant elite by pretending to be on the side of the mob they secretly disdain' are quite common in SF. Again it has been a few years since I read it, but I think this kind of Donald Trumpesque SF bastard was perfected in 'The Stars my Destination.'
January 11, 2015
Libro molto particolare, che tra alti e bassi, racconta l'inizio della colonizzazione di Venere da parte degli ultimi abitanti della Terra, che in seguito alla devastazione di quest'ultima si sono rifugiati in enormi cupole sotto i mari di Venere. Questa nuova società venusiana, è comandata da alcune famiglie che posseggono il dono dell'immortalità, aspetto però non molto approfondito dall'autore, e che guidano il destino di queste riserve. A scombinare il placito vivere è Sam Reed, figlio rinnegato di un Immortale, che viene abbandonato ad una famiglia di poveri mortali, e che non conoscendo la sua vera identità, creare un grosso scompiglio nella società venusiana, prima come deliquente e poi come capo dei colonizzatori della terra ferma venusiana. Questa è in breve, la storia di Furia, titolo che in realtà ha ben poco a che spartire con il suo personaggio principale, che invece risulta estremamente razionale e calcolatore nelle sue scelte. Il libro inizia in maniera abbastanza confusa, con l'autore che non riesce a descrivere con chiarezza la società venusiana, ma man mano che esce fuori il personaggio di Sam, il libro acquista vigore e ritmo, nonchè anche alcuni interessanti colpi di scena. A dispetto di un finale poco convincente, tuttavia Furia è libro interessante per gli amanti della fantascienza d'annata.
May 21, 2018
Come Asimov con le avventure di Lucky Starr anche in Furia l'autore parte dalla considerazione "peregrina", ma comune all'epoca, che su Venere il clima fosse sì caldo ma ricco in CO2 e di acqua (oceani immensi) con flora e fauna rigogliose. Un pianeta quindi ideale in cui l'umanità fuggita dal disastro nucleare terrestre avrebbe potuto rifugiarsi per ricostruire un mondo "ideale". Il tutto all'interno di colonie sottomarine guidate dalla benevola protezione di una casta minoritaria ultra-longeva. Il racconto quindi sconta una visione scientifica che definire datata è poco. Tuttavia il racconto è ben congegnato, incentrato sulla figura del protagonista che spinto dalla sua "furia" di emancipazione dalla condizione di escluso riuscirà coinvolgere i coloni, assuefatti dal benessere, nella sua lotta. Il punto debole del libro è la scarsa scientificità, tipica invece di altri autori (anche Asimov in quei racconti aveva lasciato parecchio a desiderare) o della visione di mondi alieni e di strutture sociali visionarie ma ottimamente costruite di un Jack Vance. L'ultima parte vorrebbe essere l'antefatto della vicenda ma può essere saltato in toto; credo quindi sia un assemblaggio dettato da scelte editoriali più che dell'autore e come tale inutile.
Nonostante tutto la sufficienza è piena. Si legge con piacere.
Nonostante tutto la sufficienza è piena. Si legge con piacere.
December 13, 2015
I first read this maybe fifty years ago. I was just getting into science fiction and a friend at school had told me that Henry Kuttner wrote great short stories so when I saw this novel in the reduced section at Woolworths I bought it. I recall the blurb boasted "This is no novel for the lily livered, Fury is a novel of violence". I read it several times over the years but it must be thirty years since I last read it. I saw this edition (which also contains "Mutant" and "The best of Henry Kuttner") in the two books for £5.00 section recently so I thought I would give it a go. It took me a few weeks to get round to reading it as I had been disappointed by much of the science fiction I had loved as a teenager when I re-read them over forty years later.
However I still enjoyed this one as the author is a great writer who tells a compelling story and gets in a lot of classical allusions too! OK, the characterisation is not great but the characters are believable if somewhat one dimensional. Set on Venus in the future after Earth has become uninhabitable a misfit galvanises a decaying civilisation to one again reach for the stars.
However I still enjoyed this one as the author is a great writer who tells a compelling story and gets in a lot of classical allusions too! OK, the characterisation is not great but the characters are believable if somewhat one dimensional. Set on Venus in the future after Earth has become uninhabitable a misfit galvanises a decaying civilisation to one again reach for the stars.
April 2, 2016
Unlike many other SF protagonists from the 40's, Sam Reed is driven by his overwhelming anger. He's pissed that he's doomed to death after a mere seven decades or so. I can relate. Unlike me, Sam has a counterexample, the lithe immortals who rule the domed keeps of the Venusian seas. Sam's violent, deceitful struggle against society is a compelling, propulsive story that leaps by decades from page to page. The lifeforms that Kuttner (working in uncredited collaboration with his wife, CL Moore) comes up with make for startling, often psychedelic imagery. They were my favorite part of the book. Unfortunately the SF Gateway omnibus edition that I bought has numerous typos. It's a great idea to bring these old SF books back into print but I wish they had been more closely proofed. Or maybe they preserved the typos from the original edition.
November 18, 2012
Set on Venus some centuries in the future, with the Earth literally destroyed by atomic war, this book is equal parts interesting and depressing. Humanity is restricted to domed cities under the seas of Venus, with almost nothing to do. They live in an utopia in one sense, but have lost all will and interest in moving forward.
A young man with the worst background and upbringing sets out to become rich and powerful, worming his way into the confidence of an aging mercenary commander dreaming of restarting the settlements on the mainland. (The novel follows on the earlier novella "Clash by Night", in which the various undersea domes were separate city states using mercenary fleets against each other. The only encroachments on the mainland were the various port bases for these fleets.)
The novel has social critique, family in-fighting, a spy story, hope for the future, and a whole lot else. (I should probably have waited to post this until I was not in a rush to go to work.)
A young man with the worst background and upbringing sets out to become rich and powerful, worming his way into the confidence of an aging mercenary commander dreaming of restarting the settlements on the mainland. (The novel follows on the earlier novella "Clash by Night", in which the various undersea domes were separate city states using mercenary fleets against each other. The only encroachments on the mainland were the various port bases for these fleets.)
The novel has social critique, family in-fighting, a spy story, hope for the future, and a whole lot else. (I should probably have waited to post this until I was not in a rush to go to work.)
January 18, 2013
Both back and front of my beautiful old paperback of this proclaim "This is no story for the lily-livered! This is a novel of violence!" And in many ways, it is exactly that. But not, perhaps, in the ways one might expect. It is an exceptionally well-realised portrait of a colonised Venus, and Sam Reed is a fine and fascinating character. The complexity of the plot is bracketed by marvellously eternal truths about what it is to be human and to age and to exist as a species, just as some of the very best sci-fi should be. I've a feeling this will bear a good few repeat readings to get more out of it, for it isn't what I had expected it to be at all, not least because I am unused to the 1940s sales pitch ;)
March 16, 2015
Libro composto da due racconti "furia" e "scontro della notte"
FURIA ****
L'ho trovato molto bello. Questo mondo su Venere sotto le acque, gli immortali, i cavalieri di ventura??insomma devo dire che mi ha preso proprio. Lui figlio di un immortale ma da piccolo trasformato in un mortale..è dato in affidamento, da grande sconvolge gli equilibri e porta gli umani sulla superficie. Davvero bello!!!!
SCONTRO NELLA NOTTE **
Ma è la storia di un cavaliere di ventura..ma sinceramente mi è piaciuto poco. Le battaglie e la vita militare proprio non è il mio genere.
FURIA ****
L'ho trovato molto bello. Questo mondo su Venere sotto le acque, gli immortali, i cavalieri di ventura??insomma devo dire che mi ha preso proprio. Lui figlio di un immortale ma da piccolo trasformato in un mortale..è dato in affidamento, da grande sconvolge gli equilibri e porta gli umani sulla superficie. Davvero bello!!!!
SCONTRO NELLA NOTTE **
Ma è la storia di un cavaliere di ventura..ma sinceramente mi è piaciuto poco. Le battaglie e la vita militare proprio non è il mio genere.
May 29, 2016
The original printing of this story was published under a pseudonym: Lawrence O'Donnell. It first appeared as a serial in Astounding Science Fiction (May 1947).
Interestingly this same issue contains German defector Willy Ley's exposé on Nazi occultism, which introduced the English-speaking world to the mysterious Vril Society, whose weird theosophy secretly dominated the thinking of many scientists of the Third Reich.
You can find a good scan of this pulp magazine on Archive.org
Interestingly this same issue contains German defector Willy Ley's exposé on Nazi occultism, which introduced the English-speaking world to the mysterious Vril Society, whose weird theosophy secretly dominated the thinking of many scientists of the Third Reich.
You can find a good scan of this pulp magazine on Archive.org
January 22, 2015
Displays many of the typical strengths and weaknesses of golden age SF. Full of ideas, gobbets of undigested philosophy and epoch-spanning vision, but clumsily plotted and with poorly sketched female characters. Much talk of Man's Destiny and the necessity for forceful, manly men to mould the universe to their liking. But worth it for the quirky details (many of which I wish had been expanded upon) and ideas about the consequences of immortality on the human psyche.
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