BORGO PRESS BOOKS BY JOHN RUSSELL FEARN

      1,000-Year Voyage: A Science Fiction Novel

      Anjani the Mighty: A Lost Race Novel (Anjani #2)

      Black Maria, M.A.: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #1)

      A Case for Brutus Lloyd

      The Crimson Rambler: A Crime Novel

      Death in Silhouette (Black Maria #5)

      Don’t Touch Me: A Crime Novel

      Dynasty of the Small: Classic Science Fiction Stories

      The Empty Coffins: A Mystery of Horror

      The Fourth Door: A Mystery Novel

      From Afar: A Science Fiction Mystery

      Fugitive of Time: A Classic Science Fiction Novel

      The G-Bomb: A Science Fiction Novel

      The Genial Dinosaur (Herbert the Dinosaur #2)

      The Gold of Akada: A Jungle Adventure Novel (Anjani #1)

      Here and Now: A Science Fiction Novel

      Into the Unknown: A Science Fiction Tale

      Last Conflict: Classic Science Fiction Stories

      Legacy from Sirius: A Classic Science Fiction Novel

      The Man from Hell: Classic Science Fiction Stories

      The Man Who Was Not: A Crime Novel

      Manton’s World: A Classic Science Fiction Novel

      Moon Magic: A Novel of Romance (as Elizabeth Rutland)

      The Murdered Schoolgirl: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #2)

      One Remained Seated: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #3)

      One Way Out: A Crime Novel (with Philip Harbottle)

      Pattern of Murder: A Classic Crime Novel

      Reflected Glory: A Dr. Castle Classic Crime Novel

      Robbery Without Violence: Two Science Fiction Crime Stories

      Rule of the Brains: Classic Science Fiction Stories

      Shattering Glass: A Crime Novel

      The Silvered Cage: A Scientific Murder Mystery

      Slaves of Ijax: A Science Fiction Novel

      Something from Mercury: Classic Science Fiction Stories

      The Space Warp: A Science Fiction Novel

      A Thing of the Past (Herbert the Dinosaur #1)

      Thy Arm Alone: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #4)

      The Time Trap: A Science Fiction Novel

      Vision Sinister: A Scientific Detective Thriller

      Voice of the Conqueror: A Classic Science Fiction Novel

      What Happened to Hammond? A Scientific Mystery

      Within That Room!: A Classic Crime Novel

      World Without Chance

      THE GOLDEN AMAZON SAGA

      1. World Beneath Ice

      2. Lord of Atlantis

      3. Triangle of Power

      4. The Amethyst City

      5. Daughter of the Amazon

      6. Quorne Returns

      7. The Central Intelligence

      8. The Cosmic Crusaders

      9. Parasite Planet

      10. World Out of Step

      11. The Shadow People

      12. Kingpin Planet

      13. World in Reverse

      14. Dwellers in Darkness

      15. World in Duplicate

      16. Lords of Creation

      17. Duel with Colossus

      18. Standstill Planet

      19. Ghost World

      20. Earth Divided

      21. Chameleon Planet (with Philip Harbottle)

      COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

      Copyright © 1952 by John Russell Fearn

      Copyright © 2001, 2013 by Philip Harbottle

      Published by Wildside Press LLC

      www.wildsidebooks.com

      DEDICATION

      For Dave Gibson

      THE GOLDEN AMAZON

      by Philip Harbottle

      In 1943 British writer John Russell Fearn decided to quit writing for the American pulp science fiction magazines, and to concentrate instead on books for the English market. Within a very few years he became established as a leading novelist in several genres, not only science fiction, but also mystery and detective fiction, and westerns.

      His first new SF novel, The Golden Amazon, was published by World’s Work in April 1944. In this story, a little girl of three years of age is made the subject of an idealistic scientist’s illegal glandular experiments. The scientist’s dream is to end world wars by creating a woman devoid of the usual lusts and frailties of mankind, who upon reaching maturity would institute a benign scientific rule. But the apparently successful experiment has a flaw: it instills into the girl a hatred for all men, and a ruthless cruelty. Her supernatural scientific gifts enable her to master atomic power, and practically leads her to destroy the world. She breaks the will and strength of men, and elevates women to positions of wealth and power. She also discovers human synthesis, and by this means she is able to escape retribution when she is eventually overthrown. She is seen to collapse and die, a victim of consuming ketabolism, echoing the memorable finale of Rider Haggard’s She. In actuality, it was only her synthetic image, and this paved the way for the Golden Amazon Returns, and further sequels

      Fearn sold reprint rights in the first novel to the prestigious Canadian magazine, the Toronto Star Weekly. The magazine carried a special Comics Supplement, the centre section of which was a ‘complete novel’, published in newspaper format. Aimed at a general readership, the novels were written by the top popular novelists of the day, including John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, and P. G. Wodehouse. They sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and the novels were syndicated to several American newspapers in the Maine and New York areas. The Amazon novels enjoyed extraordinary popularity (especially with Canadian housewives), and ran for the next sixteen years following the appearance of the first novel in the March 3, 1945 issue, ending with Fearn’s sudden death in September 1960, aged only fifty-two. His final two Amazon novels appeared posthumously.

      During Fearn’s lifetime, only the first six novels were published in British hardcover editions from the World’s Work in England, after appearing in the Star Weekly. This was because the publishers discontinued their entire fiction line in 1954. However, the Amazon novels continued to appear in the Star Weekly, eventually notching up twenty-four titles.

      Fearn had resold paperback rights to the Canadian publisher Harlequin Books, but after publishing only the first three titles, they stopped publishing SF and other genre fiction to concentrate on their famous Romances line.

      Meanwhile, as early as 1949, Fearn had realized that the Amazon series had the potential to run indefinitely. This presented him with a problem, however. The ‘origin story’ of the Golden Amazon was conceived and actually set during the Second World War. Subsequent novels were written during the war and the immediate postwar period, and projected their stories only a few decades into the future.