Comme une bête

Farmer is one of the most celebrated SF writers, a massive cult figure whose work inspired Jimi Hendrix's 'Purple Haze'. His 1st book, The Lovers won the '53 Hugo Award for Most Promising New Author. He went on to break barriers & taboos with equal aplomb. He was, in short, already an author of some status when porn publishers Essex House approached him in the late-60s to write an SF sex trilogy. It was an interesting proposition characteristic of the times. The liberalization of the '60s was opening the possibility of erotica moving into the mainstream, & Essex House were anxious to break the standard image of the porn novel. This may explain why they went out of business soon afterwards. However, the 1st two volumes of Farmer's trilogy were published in 68-69 (a 3rd emerged as Traitor to the Living in '73), & received their 1st British publication under Futura's Quartet imprint in '75. A handsome pair of volumes they are, which is perhaps sufficient reason for possessing them. Unfortunately, it's also the only reason. Because they're not really very good at all. As the sleeve notes indicate, they're a free-wheeling mix of detective, horror & science fictions with a helping of sex thrown in for good measure. They fail on every single level. The parody of Chandler's hard-boiled style is pointless, the horror & the SF don't gel or make sense, the sex isn't erotic. Interesting in theory, deadly dull in reality.