Phantom out of Time / Myshkin

Armchair Fiction presents extra-large editions of classic science fiction double novels with original illustrations. “Phantom out of Time” is the first novel; a wonderful tale written by Nelson S. Bond. He was known as Graed “Black” Garroway, and his galactic empire was a startling thing to behold. He ruled it with an iron fist, keeping his subjects in abject poverty, outlawing freedom of speech and religion, and showing a willingness to rub out any and all opposition that stood in his way. He was a bloodthirsty madman with an entire galaxy in his grip, including his home planet—Earth! But a crack in his armor had appeared, starting with the efforts of a handful of rebels and the brainchild of a long-dead scientist. But the rebels’ leader, a strutting young fighter named Dirk Morris, had fallen neatly into Garroway’s clutches, and the members of Morris’ fledgling rebellion soon learned it’s hard to maintain an uprising when the leader of your movement has been thrust into the rays of a disintegration machine. The second novel is “Myshkin” by David V. Reed. “Myshkin” is unlike any science fiction novel you’ll ever read. There are no spaceships darting to and fro across the galaxy; no explorations of distant planets; no travels through time; and certainly no invasions by marauding aliens. No…there’s none of that. But “Myshkin” is one of the wildest pieces of science fiction you’ll ever read for a variety of reasons: It’s a true mystery, with more unanswered questions, conspiracy theories, and bizarre clues threaded into 170 pages than one could ever hope for. There’s a crazy scientist, a machine that can create 3-D objects, and a one-foot tall “chicken man” antagonist who has a crush on a gorgeous dame. It is laced with often humorous, sometimes mind-boggling dialogue that will—like the wild ramblings of Richard S. Shaver—often challenge your abilities of comprehension. It reads, at times, literally like a fantastic dream, haunting the reader with bizarre moments and head-scratching situations. “Myshkin” is one of the most unique pieces of speculative fiction you’ll ever read.


Genre: Science Fiction