Hellflower (Heathen Edition)
George Oliver Smith (1911-1981) was an American electronics engineer who parlayed his technical expertise into detailed, extrapolative science fiction with short stories he first contributed (and later collected as Venus Equilateral) to the sci-fi magazine Astounding Science Fiction during the Golden Age of Science Fiction in the 1940s. The 1953 novel, Hellflower, marked a notable shift in Smith's writing when he sidelined the technics and focused, instead, on character with framed and disgraced space pilot Charles Farradyne who is offered one shot at redemption by infiltrating an unknown interstellar organization trafficking the deadly ultra-aphrodisiac Hellflowers - and he might just discover who framed him in the process . . .
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"When he keeps the horseplay within bounds and really bends to his task, Smith can produce a highly readable book. He has done just this in Hellflower, perhaps the swiftest-moving story of interstellar conspiracy ever written. It is well-plotted and packed with surprises . . . In short, despite a few shortcomings, it's a lot of fun to read." -Fantastic Universe
"George O. Smith's big beautiful space novel." -Startling Stories
"Hellflower, by George O. Smith, is a piece of pure 'space opera' - and what an end!" -Richard Preston, The Sydney Morning Herald
"A thrill-packed story of unscrupulous men-and women-at war in an age when inter-planetary travel has become commonplace." -Nebula Science Fiction
"This new book by the author of Venus Equilateral will fascinate the fans. George Smith started writing in the early days of the war. Scientist as well as writer, the science part of his fiction is unimpeachable." -O. Gartrell, Tulsa World
"Hellflower, by George O. Smith, is a fast, exciting story that manages to miss all the opportunities the plot gives for space opera - and increases in value accordingly." -Authentic Science Fiction
"Swash-buckling, fast-moving, a melodramatic novel that keeps going all the way through. Here is a yarn for those who want something different." -R.G., The Montgomery Advertiser
"Along with romance of faraway planets, George O. Smith chooses an exotic theme in Hellflower, which succeeds Venus Equilateral, his first science fiction novel . . . Scientific-slant literature devourers, here are the sky trails. More space travel awaits you. Contact!" -The Cedar Rapids Gazette
