Bullard of the Space Patrol

[Don_from_AZ]

Recent posts involving libraries and how people got started reading SF
got me thinking about my first experiences in finding books at the
library. I'm sure I encountered Asimov and Heinlein there fairly early
on, but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
nearly as well known as other Golden Age authors, he apparently wrote
mostly short stories and novellas.

A series of short stories involving the space naval career of the
eponymous Bullard[1], from Lieutenant to Admiral, was collected in
"Bullard of the Space Patrol", edited by Andre Norton. The one that
stuck with me longest was "Bullard Reflects", in which Bullard and his
crew were captured by space pirates, turned loose weaponless in
spacesuits to be hunted down for sport. Bullard turns the tables on the
bad guys in a quite surprising and clever way.

Curious to see if I could find this book again, I googled Bullard and
Malcolm Jameson and found quite a few references online, in ISFDB,
Wikipedia and elsewhere.

https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?448
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Jameson

Not only that, but the "Bullard of the Space Patrol" book is available
in hardcover online for prices up to $60 and even $100 dollars! Even
more surprising, a Kindle ebook version from Amazon at only $2.99!
(Guess which one I bought.) I am about to discover how well the stories
have held up in the 65 years since I first encountered them.
-Don-
-----------------------
[1] I am not sure his first name was ever mentioned: he is always
referred to as "Bullard", or by his rank.

[Robert Woodward]

Post by Don_from_AZ
Recent posts involving libraries and how people got started reading SF
got me thinking about my first experiences in finding books at the
library. I'm sure I encountered Asimov and Heinlein there fairly early
on, but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.
A series of short stories involving the space naval career of the
eponymous Bullard[1], from Lieutenant to Admiral, was collected in
"Bullard of the Space Patrol", edited by Andre Norton. The one that
stuck with me longest was "Bullard Reflects", in which Bullard and his
crew were captured by space pirates, turned loose weaponless in
spacesuits to be hunted down for sport. Bullard turns the tables on the
bad guys in a quite surprising and clever way.

IIRC, one of the stories in that collection wasn't a Bullard story in
the original magazine publication. The main character's name was changed
for the collection.

Post by Don_from_AZ
Curious to see if I could find this book again, I googled Bullard and
Malcolm Jameson and found quite a few references online, in ISFDB,
Wikipedia and elsewhere.
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?448
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Jameson
Not only that, but the "Bullard of the Space Patrol" book is available
in hardcover online for prices up to $60 and even $100 dollars! Even
more surprising, a Kindle ebook version from Amazon at only $2.99!
(Guess which one I bought.) I am about to discover how well the stories
have held up in the 65 years since I first encountered them.
-Don-

If the e-book you bought was _Bullard: Tales of the Space Patrol_, it
has a short story and a short-short that didn't appear in the early
1950s hardcover. It also has an article on space warfare published in
1939 that, IMHO, holds up very well.

[Don_from_AZ]

Post by Robert Woodward

Post by Don_from_AZ
Recent posts involving libraries and how people got started reading SF
got me thinking about my first experiences in finding books at the
library. I'm sure I encountered Asimov and Heinlein there fairly early
on, but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.
A series of short stories involving the space naval career of the
eponymous Bullard[1], from Lieutenant to Admiral, was collected in
"Bullard of the Space Patrol", edited by Andre Norton. The one that
stuck with me longest was "Bullard Reflects", in which Bullard and his
crew were captured by space pirates, turned loose weaponless in
spacesuits to be hunted down for sport. Bullard turns the tables on the
bad guys in a quite surprising and clever way.

IIRC, one of the stories in that collection wasn't a Bullard story in
the original magazine publication. The main character's name was changed
for the collection.

Post by Don_from_AZ
Curious to see if I could find this book again, I googled Bullard and
Malcolm Jameson and found quite a few references online, in ISFDB,
Wikipedia and elsewhere.
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?448
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Jameson
Not only that, but the "Bullard of the Space Patrol" book is available
in hardcover online for prices up to $60 and even $100 dollars! Even
more surprising, a Kindle ebook version from Amazon at only $2.99!
(Guess which one I bought.) I am about to discover how well the stories
have held up in the 65 years since I first encountered them.
-Don-

If the e-book you bought was _Bullard: Tales of the Space Patrol_, it
has a short story and a short-short that didn't appear in the early
1950s hardcover. It also has an article on space warfare published in
1939 that, IMHO, holds up very well.

Yes, that's the one. It has ten stories and two articles: "Space War
Tactics" and "Space War Strategy".
-Don-

[Mike Van Pelt]

... but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.

I've read "Bullard Reflects" in another anthology. I've long
wanted to get a copy of the other Bullard stories, once I
found that there were more, but not at $100.

I'm definitely going to go get the ebook!

(Likewise, I'm not sure how well these hold up. Probably OK, since
I don't demand that Golden Age authors write 2020s stories with
2020s sensibilities back in the 30s and 40s.)

[Michael F. Stemper]

Post by Mike Van Pelt

... but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.

I've read "Bullard Reflects" in another anthology.

Possibly Boucher's _A Treasury of Great Science Fiction_?

Post by Mike Van Pelt
I've long> wanted to get a copy of the other Bullard stories, once I
found that there were more, but not at $100.

I'll ditto you on both of those.

[James Nicoll]

Post by Mike Van Pelt

... but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.

I've read "Bullard Reflects" in another anthology. I've long
wanted to get a copy of the other Bullard stories, once I
found that there were more, but not at $100.
I'm definitely going to go get the ebook!
(Likewise, I'm not sure how well these hold up. Probably OK, since
I don't demand that Golden Age authors write 2020s stories with
2020s sensibilities back in the 30s and 40s.)

How annoying. There does not seem to be a Kobo edition.

[Don_from_AZ]

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Mike Van Pelt

... but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.

I've read "Bullard Reflects" in another anthology. I've long
wanted to get a copy of the other Bullard stories, once I
found that there were more, but not at $100.
I'm definitely going to go get the ebook!
(Likewise, I'm not sure how well these hold up. Probably OK, since
I don't demand that Golden Age authors write 2020s stories with
2020s sensibilities back in the 30s and 40s.)

How annoying. There does not seem to be a Kobo edition.

I loaded the Amazon ebook into my Calibre library without issue (i.e. it
does not seem to have DRM encryption). It shows up as type
"PRC". Calibre should be able to convert it to something you can use.
-Don-

[Robert Woodward]

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Mike Van Pelt

... but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.

I've read "Bullard Reflects" in another anthology. I've long
wanted to get a copy of the other Bullard stories, once I
found that there were more, but not at $100.
I'm definitely going to go get the ebook!
(Likewise, I'm not sure how well these hold up. Probably OK, since
I don't demand that Golden Age authors write 2020s stories with
2020s sensibilities back in the 30s and 40s.)

How annoying. There does not seem to be a Kobo edition.

Does Kobo have a Malcolm Jameson MEGAPACK for sale? It has most of the
stories (but not the Space War articles) that are in _Bullard: Tales of
the Space Patrol_. I will note that the Bullard stories are very much a
reflection of the pre-WWII US Navy for better or worse.

[James Nicoll]

Post by Robert Woodward

Post by James Nicoll

Post by Mike Van Pelt

... but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.

I've read "Bullard Reflects" in another anthology. I've long
wanted to get a copy of the other Bullard stories, once I
found that there were more, but not at $100.
I'm definitely going to go get the ebook!
(Likewise, I'm not sure how well these hold up. Probably OK, since
I don't demand that Golden Age authors write 2020s stories with
2020s sensibilities back in the 30s and 40s.)

How annoying. There does not seem to be a Kobo edition.

Does Kobo have a Malcolm Jameson MEGAPACK for sale? It has most of the
stories (but not the Space War articles) that are in _Bullard: Tales of
the Space Patrol_. I will note that the Bullard stories are very much a
reflection of the pre-WWII US Navy for better or worse.

Thank you. It's the space war article I want so I will take a chance
on the Amazon ebook.

[Mike Van Pelt]

Post by Mike Van Pelt
I've read "Bullard Reflects" in another anthology. I've long
wanted to get a copy of the other Bullard stories, once I
found that there were more, but not at $100.
I'm definitely going to go get the ebook!

So, got the ebook, and after the first story...

Yeah, lots of fun. The technology is (to quote Montgomery
Scott) quaint, but that's to be expected with stories of
this vintage that try to be really nuts and bolts.

I'm looking forward to the rest.

[Mike Van Pelt]

Post by Mike Van Pelt

Post by Mike Van Pelt
I'm definitely going to go get the ebook!

So, got the ebook, and after the first story...
Yeah, lots of fun. The technology is (to quote Montgomery
Scott) quaint, but that's to be expected with stories of
this vintage that try to be really nuts and bolts.

And ... loads of fun. Bullard does seem to have to spend as
much energy fighting bureacratic stupidity on his side as he
does the various enemies.

[Lee Gleason]

Post by Don_from_AZ
Recent posts involving libraries and how people got started reading SF
got me thinking about my first experiences in finding books at the
library. I'm sure I encountered Asimov and Heinlein there fairly early
on, but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.

I remember reading this when from the library, so many years ago. This
talk about it reminds me that there was another novel/collection of
stories out at about the same time, that was similar - the
(mis)adventures of a young Space officer. Anyone recall this other set
of stories? I remember there was one story where the young officer
subdued a gang of space pirates by dosing them with oxytocin, which made
them too friendly to continue with taking the ship.

--
Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR
Control-G Consultants
***@comcast.net

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

Post by Lee Gleason

Post by Don_from_AZ
Recent posts involving libraries and how people got started reading SF
got me thinking about my first experiences in finding books at the
library. I'm sure I encountered Asimov and Heinlein there fairly early
on, but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.

I remember reading this when from the library, so many years ago. This
talk about it reminds me that there was another novel/collection of
stories out at about the same time, that was similar - the
(mis)adventures of a young Space officer. Anyone recall this other set
of stories? I remember there was one story where the young officer
subdued a gang of space pirates by dosing them with oxytocin, which made
them too friendly to continue with taking the ship.

Lancelot Biggs.

[Lee Gleason]

Post by Ted Nolan <tednolan>

Post by Lee Gleason

Post by Don_from_AZ
Recent posts involving libraries and how people got started reading SF
got me thinking about my first experiences in finding books at the
library. I'm sure I encountered Asimov and Heinlein there fairly early
on, but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.

I remember reading this when from the library, so many years ago. This
talk about it reminds me that there was another novel/collection of
stories out at about the same time, that was similar - the
(mis)adventures of a young Space officer. Anyone recall this other set
of stories? I remember there was one story where the young officer
subdued a gang of space pirates by dosing them with oxytocin, which made
them too friendly to continue with taking the ship.

Lancelot Biggs.

That's it! Thanks!

--
Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR
Control-G Consultants
***@comcast.net

[Don_from_AZ]

Post by Lee Gleason

Post by Don_from_AZ
Recent posts involving libraries and how people got started reading SF
got me thinking about my first experiences in finding books at the
library. I'm sure I encountered Asimov and Heinlein there fairly early
on, but the book that made the earliest strong impression was "Bullard
of the Space Patrol" by Malcolm Jameson. "Who?" you may well ask. Not
mostly short stories and novellas.

I remember reading this when from the library, so many years
ago. This talk about it reminds me that there was another
novel/collection of stories out at about the same time, that was
similar - the (mis)adventures of a young Space officer. Anyone recall
this other set of stories? I remember there was one story where the
young officer subdued a gang of space pirates by dosing them with
oxytocin, which made them too friendly to continue with taking the
ship.
--
Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR
Control-G Consultants

Could this be the "John Grimes" of the Survey Service series by
A. Bertram Chandler? Similar space opera circumstances, but Bullard was
confined to the Solar System, whereas Grimes had FTL and many more
planets to explore.
-Don-