William J. Fanning Jr.

I received this book through the Early Reviewers program and thought the subject seemed interesting.
As a fan of old science fiction and horror movies and also old radio shows and science fiction novels I thought this might be ideally suited to my reading tastes.
It is an extremely well researched and crafted book full of information on the title subject. But as I have come to realize with other McFarland books I have read, it is a very scholarly written book. Dry and not really palatable to a casual readers taste.
The author does a wonderful job reciting facts on the history of the Death Ray in popular media as well as military history, but this is written for a more erudite reader.
It could use a little more levity, rather than just reciting the facts.… (más)

I really have nothing against this book, I just didn't enjoy reading it. It's an exhaustively researched (I almost decided not to use the word "exhaustive" in my review because it shows up in so many others, but it is indeed the correct word to use) and seriously written book about "directed energy weapons", i.e., "death rays". But it wasn't any fun, and I wanted it to be fun.

I think the problem probably lies with the publisher and their marketing approach. Yes, we book lovers know "not to judge a book by its cover" ... but ... we do anyway, don't we? So when you have a book titled "Death Rays and the Popular Media, 1876-1939", featuring a cover photo from a 1936 Karloff/Lugosi movie that you love ("The Invisible Ray"), you think you're going to be in for a free-wheeling romp through the history of early science fiction in print, radio, and movies, with a dash of actual fascinating science thrown in. Turns out, the real title is the book's subtitle, "A Study of Directed Energy Weapons in Fact, Fiction and Film". Now that sounds like someone's PhD dissertation. And approached as a dissertation, as a serious academic work, the book is to be lauded. But it's just not what I wanted it to be.

So, no fault with the author, the fault lies with me, the reader. Probably the best thing for me to do is to lay the book down, wait some time, and then read it again, but this time with the proper approach. This is a serious work, and there is a tremendous amount to learn from it across the board of life (science, politics, history, arts and entertainment). It deserves a second chance from this reader, and it will get one.… (más)

The age of electricity, think Marconi, Tesla, Edison and others, seemed a miracle. It also created confidence in miracles yet to come, among them "the death ray" which would kill millions, putting an end to war. In theory concentrated electrical beams broadcast over various distances, great and small, would kill, sink ships and crash airplanes, stop engines and many other offensive and defensive military actions. All this, in fiction, movies and even as fact in news and by con men is covered in this readable and interesting book by Wm. J. Fanning, Jr. The way this idea captured people's imagination is in itself fascinating, much in the same way that even today people buy into ideas that satisfies, sometimes perverse, needs.… (más)