A "supermen among us" story, a la Slan and much other SF of the time, told in pulp style, with cliffhanger chapter endings, and constant internal monologues on the sense of constant danger. The last item is part of the plot but still way overdone, There's one better than average chapter where another character, an investigative reporter, recounts how his pursuit of a story about a mysterious corporation eventually led to him sheltering in a fleatrap hotel with a dead odd mutant creature that doesn't decompose in a suitcase under his bed. There's a sincere attempt to make the story be about the value of racial diversity, but the target is the general notion of Aryan superiority, not the realities of racism.

Historically interesting but not an overlooked classic. ( )

[Dragon's Island] - Jack Williamson
A science fiction novel from 1951, which is strongly anti racist and has a strong female lead character. All this goes against the grain of many science fiction novels of this period and took me completely by surprise having read his [Seetee Ship] published in the same year. The front cover of the popular library edition has the blurb "She was a century ahead of her sex" which could give a wrong impression of the novel, but actually makes sense once you have read it

Dave Belfast is 24 years old and moving to New York City when he experiences a strange physical feeling of anxiety, and he receives a phone call from a woman telling him his life is in danger and that he should not trust a certain John Gellien who will soon approach him. He agrees to meet the woman Nan Sanderson in a couple of hours time, but in the meantime Gellien has approached him with an offer of a job to track down mutant beings. Belfast works in the field of genetics and finds himself targeted by three different organisations. Sanderson who wants to test him for psychic powers, Cadmus industries who want him to work in their genetic engineering laboratory and Gellien who wants to recruit him as an agent. Belfast is soon caught up in a world of fierce competition and when a journalist is brutally murdered he realises that he could be next.

This is a story about mutants and genetic engineering that has plenty of surprises and twist and turns in the story telling. Williamson writes well enough in this genre and keeps the story and mystery rolling along as well as some science fiction on genetic engineering. It is an earth based story, which is an adventure thriller which kept the pages turning. This together with its basic message of tolerance, that does not become too schmaltzy makes this a 4 star read. ( )

En la Isla del Dragón, una isla extraña poblada por seres superinteligentes, se está forjando un nuevo destino para la humanidad. Allí, se ha creado una sociedad de esclavos que han sido degradados a meras bestias de carga para sustentar con el fruto de su trabajo una nueva casta de seres, a una superaristocracia del intelecto...