Science Fiction Secrets: From Government Files and the Paranormal [Paperback]

I have to start by saying how immensely I enjoyed this book. Having skipped out of town for a "last ditch" retreat to the Isle of Palms off the coast of sunny South Carolina, I enjoyed this book in between jogs on the beach and the occasional swim. Cuba Libre' and cigar in hand, I lounged by the pool under a palm tree as I enjoyed this page-turner; and let me be frank, there's no better way to describe this book.

Nick Redfern's Science Fiction Secrets From Government Files and the Paranormal is one of my favorite new offerings from Britain's finest Gonzo journalist of paranormalia. From strange FBI tales involving the apparent paranoia of Sci-Fi writers like Phillip K. Dick, to weird parallels he draws between the terrorist attacks of 9-11 and television programs that predicted the disaster before it happened, this book is a mind bender in the first degree, and will leave you wondering how soon Anomalist Books will be asking for "round two."

One of my favorite chapters deals with Ray Palmer, a fascinating little dwarf who published the Sci-Fi pulp magazine Amazing Stories back in the late '30s and into the '40's. Palmer was perhaps known best for his publication of the long running and controversial "Shaver Mystery" stories, based on accounts (allegedly true in some capacity) related by a machine welder turned "psychic" named Richard S. Shaver. Palmer's support of the truth of Shaver's stories, which dealt with notions that the world is controlled subversively by wicket, inbred inhabitants of the hollow earth called Deros, was controversial in the science fiction community. Many felt Palmer published the stories because of the literal "shock value", although readers soon flooded the mailbox of Amazing Stories after the initial publication of Shaver's offerings, spinning their own yarns of assault and capture by real-life Deros from underground worlds.

Redfern brilliantly unveils a variety of parallels regarding Palmer's involvement in lapsing the realms of Sci Fi and reality, as well as the likes of Issac Assimov, and Arthur C. Clark. Rocket scientist Jack Parsons comes into question, as well as the infamous Roswell UFO crash of 1947. The old adage "truth is stranger than fiction" comes to mind often when reading this gem, and if you ever doubted it, this will be the manuscript that will finally change that perception. Read it, enjoy it, and be prepared to never see the world around you quite the same way you once did.

This book, while potentially quite interesting, is really little more than a mash-up of weakly researched articles all attempting to show a link (either causal or topical) between various works of science fiction and paranormal, UFO related events. Unfortunately, poor research hampers this works believability. Worse, in several of the articles the author assumes a causal relationship between events which happen out of chronological sequence (this thing that happens in 1979 directly resulted in this piece of fiction written in 1962, that sort of thing). Overall, it's a book with mild, thought-provoking topics which are shot down by the poor writing and research. If you must read it, pick it up cheap.

This was a lot of fun to read. And, as with all of Refern's books, well written. I really enjoyed this one and can recommend it to everyone, beilevers and skepitcs alike.