This fun-filled piece of pulp sci-fi is perhaps the perfect example of the recursive sci-fi genre. Mike de Wolf, the friend of a popular author, is present as the author’s publisher pressures the writer to finish a novel he has received the advance money for. During their conversation, the author mentions Mike would be a perfect example of the villain, the Admiral of a Spanish fleet sent to rid the Caribbean of English pirates. Mike leaves the room and accidentally electrocutes himself in the bathroom, only to find himself still living as the villain of the swashbuckling romance. What follows could be totally unbelievable, but is so full of realistic period action and the logical reactions and comments of Mike to the typewriter he hears in the sky, that it works quite well. “... you get them going and they pretty near write themselves. That is, if the characters are good.” ( )

L. Ron Hubbard, yes that L. Ron Hubbard; the man that founded the church of Scientology. he started life as a pulp writer for the burgeoning magazine market in America in the 1930's. He is best known for his stories in the science fiction and fantasy genres, but also wrote adventure fiction, aviation, travel, mysteries, westerns of course and even romances. Typewriter in the Sky was published in 1951 at the time when Hubbard was launching a career in Dianetics and a few years before he founded the church of Scientology.

The story which is a sort of adventure fantasy was first published in 1940 and was republished with another of his pieces 'Fear' in 1951. It was generally well received and now is considered one of Hubbard's better stories. It begins with pulp writer Horace Hackett up against a deadline for producing his next novel. Pressed for a plot summary he uses the character of one his friends (Mike de Wolf) in a swashbuckling adventure story on the Spanish Main. Suddenly Mike finds himself transported to the year 1640 and is emerging from the sea after being shipwrecked. He hears the sound of a typewriter and slowly realises that he is playing the role of the captain of the Spanish navy who is trying to eradicate English adventurers/pirates from the West Indies. Mike of course is familiar with the pulp stories created by Horace Hackett and fears for his life because he is obviously the villain of the piece and Hackett's villains never get the girl and usually die a horrible death. There follows a tale of derring-do, adventure and romance where Mike is continually trying to subvert the story that he knows Hackett will write. It is an interesting idea, but this is pulp fiction and Hubbard is a pulp fiction writer describing how pulp fiction is created. The story is wildly fantastic and only flirts with historical events, but is entertaining enough.

It is light reading with an original idea that might have been better developed had more time been spent on it, but hey, this is pulp fiction, and it is no more offensive in terms of racism and sexism than much of the genre at the time and so 3 stars. ( )

Typewriter in the Sky


Some folks have drawn a similarity between this novel, written in the 1940s and the 2006 film ‘Stranger Than Fiction’, which both involve living inside a novel.

In Mr. Hubbard’s novel though, Mike DeWolf actually gets transported to the novel’s universe, complete with Carribean islands, 16th century galleons and the occasional anachronism such as Steinway – Chicago pianos showing up in living rooms.

Mike is trying to find a way to change the ending before Harold Hackett writes an ending for the character he plays, an ending that means his death!

It’s a fun bit of pulp fiction, entertaining and holds interest. Mr. Hubbard has mastered sailing terms and they are peppered throughout the book, with a thankfully complete glossary added by the publisher, Galaxy Press.

Recommended!


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A very entertaining, amusing story of swashbuckling times.
Mike de Wolf goes back in time and has adventures in the West Indies as a fictional character.
Look to the sky!
My first L Ron Hubbard novel - won't be my last.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Galaxy Press via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review. ( )

Very fun read of an author caught in his own story! It's ablast ( )