Serial Novels

Serial novels have parts in two or more issues of a magazine

Hugo Gernsback, editor of Air Wonder Stories, called Cities In The Air by Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977), “one of the most extraordinary stories that it has been our good fortune to read.” Cities In The Air was published in two parts in the November and December, 1929 issues of Air Wonder Stories.

The Pirate Planet (1930) by Charles Willard Diffin (1884-1966) was a four part serialized novel in Astounding Stories of Super Science. This classic science fiction novel pits telepathic Venusians and their lust to conquer Earth against the indomitable courage and willpower of the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Ring Twice For Laura by Vera Caspary (1899-1987) is the 1942 serialized novel that would become famous as the 1944 Otto Preminger movie ‘Laura.’ Serialized over seven weeks in Collier’s Weekly Magazine, it is the story of a New York City career woman mistakenly thought murdered in her own apartment and the three men most affected: her narcissistic former lover, her philandering fiancee, and the hardboiled detective assigned to investigate her case.

One of the early great space opera novels, Brigands of the Moon by Ray Cummings (1887-1957) was serialized in four parts in Astounding Stories of Super Science in its March through June 1930 issues. Gregg Haljan, Third Officer of the Planetara, must fight Martian pirates and Earth traitors to protect the precious radium ore found on the Moon from being hijacked.

The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley (1883-1958) is more famously known as The Mark of Zorro. Serialized in All-Story Weekly in 1919, The Curse of Capistrano is the classic tale of the masked avenger Zorro, full of sword fights, horse chases and forbidden romance. Any number of masked and caped heroes can trace their inspirations back to Zorro, but this is the original novel.

Flight of the Tiger – After Ben Morrow was shot down in the last week of Korean fighting, his self-confidence was shaken; he felt he could never fly again. Months later, after recovering in the hospital, Ben was sent back to the States on a thirty-day leave. He went to visit Helen MacLane, widow of his best friend, only to find that she was on the run from killers…. Ben tried to find Helen but he was being stalked by the killers, and they knew he would lead them straight to her.

The Jeweled Ibis by J.C. Kofoed – sailor Dave Hudson gets mixed up in a quest to find the elixir that will bring an ancient Egyptian prophetess back to life. Pursued by the priests of the Theban Zeus, the quest takes him from Alexandria, Egypt to London, back to Alexandria and then out into the desert to a hidden pyramid on the high plateau.