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Theodore Sturgeon
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Some of Your Blood Kindle Edition

by Theodore Sturgeon (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 136 ratings
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One of the Horror Writers Association’s Top 40 Horror Books of All Time—the story of a troubled soldier and his bizarre, violent obsession with vampirism.
 At the height of an unnamed war, a soldier is confined for striking an officer. Referred to as George Smith in official papers and records, the prisoner comes under the observation of Army psychiatrist Philip Outerbridge, who asks the young man to put his story down on paper. The result is a shocking tale of abuse, violence, and twisted love, a personal history as dark and troubling as any the doctor has ever encountered. Believing the patient to be dangerously psychotic, Dr. Outerbridge must dig deeper into his psyche. And when the truth about the strange case of George Smith is fully revealed, the results will be devastating.
Told through letters, transcripts, and case studies, Some of Your Blood is an extraordinary, poignant yet terrifying, genre-defying novel. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author’s estate, among other sources.
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  1. Print length
    156 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy
  5. Publication date
    April 30, 2013
  6. File size
    4888 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Theodore Sturgeon
“A master storyteller certain to fascinate all sorts of readers and not merely science fiction fans.” —Kurt Vonnegut
“The magic of Theodore Sturgeon’s writing lies in his understanding of the many ways there are to be human.” —Larry Niven
“I look upon Sturgeon with a secret and growing jealousy.” —Ray Bradbury

About the Author

Theodore Sturgeon (1918–1985) is considered one of the godfathers of contemporary science fiction and dark fantasy. The author of numerous acclaimed short stories and novels, among them the classics More Than Human, Venus Plus X, and To Marry Medusa, Sturgeon also wrote for television and holds among his credits two episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, for which he created the Vulcan mating ritual and the expression “Live long and prosper.” He is also credited as the inspiration for Kurt Vonnegut’s recurring fictional character Kilgore Trout. Sturgeon is the recipient of the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the International Fantasy Award. In 2000, he was posthumously honored with a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. 

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00CADHJJ0
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy; Reprint edition (April 30, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 30, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4888 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 156 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 136 ratings

About the author

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Theodore Sturgeon

Theodore Sturgeon

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Theodore Sturgeon is considered one of the godfathers of contemporary science fiction and dark fantasy. He is the author of numerous acclaimed short stories and novels, among them the classics More Than Human, Venus Plus X, and To Marry Medusa.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
136 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

timothy paul
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic World building in a story about a person's life that may otherwise have been a boring read.
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2018
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I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to. It kind of takes a unique approach in telling a horror Story and really surprised me in a very positive way. I came across it probably like many people through Stephen King's "Danse Macabre" and I didn't have any kind of knowledge about the book, the plot, the characters, or the story beforehand, at all. I'm really glad I chose this book to read on a whim. It probably is actually one of my favorite books of all of 2017 that I read. The introduction is a bit strange and it was off-putting to me, but I'm glad I pushed through and got to the meat of the story. It was definitely worth the time invested. It's kind of a mystery story, with some dark undertones. But the entire Journey from beginning to end is really interesting, and really well written. It really drew me into George's story, and his entire journey through life was never boring to read. All of the characters are done really well in the world that the book builds is interesting, at least to me, from start to finish excluding the strange introduction. It's not super long and it's a very fun ride. I would recommend this to anybody who likes to hear a good story, even if the plot itself is kind of mundane. In this case it's just telling the life story of a person, there's no ghosts in the basement there's no vampires (well, not really, it's a bit more complex than that but you'll understand what I mean if you give "Some of Your Blood" a chance) waiting to jump out. And the doctor perspective is very interesting to me, I've always found psychology really interesting, and this book doesn't really good job of bringing that dynamic in to explain some of the happenings that George goes through.

Anyway long story short, this was a very entertaining book that really, really, surprised me in a really great way and I would recommend wholeheartedly if you're on the fence about buying or giving this book a shot.
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Michael G Kurilla
4.0 out of 5 stars Still waters running very deep
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2020
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Theodore Sturgeon's Some of your Blood is a deceptive tale with a pseudo-mystery that hides a deep, dark secret. A young soldier is being evaluated by a psychologist after striking a superior. The pressures of a wartime posture are offered from the beginning, but the psychologist senses something beyond an anger management issue. The first half described in an autobiographical fashion the soldier's upbringing prior to the military. There is plenty of fodder for concluding a bad childhood with additional unusual circumstances. With the help of an investigator in the field to corroborate many of the psychologist's suspicions, he pieces together a pattern of behavior that in the end is at the extreme end of fetishes.

While the story is not extensive, Sturgeon lays the groundwork with all the clues in plain sight. The writing style presenting as a series of office correspondence and personal reflections provide a mechanism for humanizing both the soldier and the psychologist. The categorization of the tale as horror is not evident until the very end.
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S Shepark
3.0 out of 5 stars Semi-interesting epistolary horror
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2014
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Decent epistolary horror short novel details the psychological evaluation of one "George Smith", an American soldier locked up for striking a superior officer. It becomes apparent George has some serious mental problems and a military psychiatrist tries to unravel what is going on with this guy.
Sturgeon has a very precise way with words that pulls the reader along for the majority of the story, but the problem is there ultimately is not a lot there. Smith is indeed a monster of a certain sort, but the author's attitude towards him is vague.
The first half of the novel is Smith's life story, written by him, detailing his abusive and impoverished upbringing and love affair with an older woman named Anna.

Throughout the novel, the author seems to promise an explosion or revelation that simply never arrives. By the end, we know a little more about Smith, but not much. By far the most disturbing parts of the book are the sections that dwell on Smith's alcoholic father and abused mother. This may have been what the author intended, but I don't think so.

Interesting, but ultimately a bit of a letdown. And not very scary or disturbing.
8 people found this helpful
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Bettina Hooper
5.0 out of 5 stars Young readers and writers:
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2017
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THIS is a novel. Yes, it's a short novel- but this is what a novel reads like, feels like and smells like (even on the kindle). This is the way novelists use language; playfully, clearly and with an easy love for words. This is the way stories are woven and characters revealed. This is the way a writer establishes rapport with h/er audience.

Reading a book this engaging is the second most fun you can have in bed (or out).
So put down the Hoover, stop contemplating the Cline and drop the Flynn.
Go fishing instead.

Uuuuhhh...Amazon notes I bought the audio companion. I did, but chose to read the story.
4 people found this helpful
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Slothrop
4.0 out of 5 stars Much better than expected
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2014
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First off, be warned that this is not science fiction, in any typical sense. This is a suspense and horror book. Sturgeon uses some very clever literary devices to tell the story, and allows it to develop at a pleasingly steady pace. The writer also manages to take subjects I would ordinary find too boring to learn anything about, and makes them interesting. This is, sadly enough a story that probably has occurred more than once in real life. There is a lot of unsavory action - not pornographic but disgusting, without question. The horror is balanced by some truly humorous segments. There is also the historic aspect of the book, being from the most underrated science fiction writer of the 20th century. It is a quality literary product, well written and painstakingly researched.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Ramsbottom-isherwood
3.0 out of 5 stars The kindle version is good quality, but I did not enjoy the story.
Reviewed in Australia on January 29, 2019
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The kindle version is good quality, but I although I normally enjoy Sturgeon's work, I did not enjoy this story.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A psychiatric horror story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2014
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This is a psychiatric mystery story and it is written in the style of some of the noir mysteries of the fifties. The disturbing novels of Jim Thompson are a close match, as are some of the works of Lawrence Block.

I read this when it came out, packaged as a horror story, in 1961 and it overwhelmed my teenage self. Only when I reread it later did I realize that there was no supernatural aspect to the story. This makes no difference to the feeling of the work.

I will not deal with the plot, some of the other reviews perhaps reveal too much. This is because, although the book is the length of a short novel, structurally and thematically it is a long short story; There is essentially only one point to the mystery. It is well worth entering the book as ignorant as possible and allow it to capture you. Rereading is very worthwhile and will teach you much about the author's craft but you can only unlock the secret once.

Sturgeon was a great short story writer, especially in Science Fiction, but it is arguable that he never wrote a truly successful novel. The reason for this is that he didn't think in developmental plot terms but took a situation or a theme and extracted everything possible from it. This is what he does here.

Sturgeon was a great writer but without a single style; he wrote as his characters needed to write or speak. the autobiography of "George" is a beautiful example of this, although you have to take it on faith that an almost silent young man would have been able to achieve this level of insight and find the words for it. All the characters have their own style and all are fully filled in.

This book came right at the end of Sturgeon's creative period, it is his last published original novel. He wrote a good deal more, but slowly and sporadically. He became a reviewer, and made significant contributions to Star Trek, but the rest of his life was unhappy, blighted by poverty; and he took far more drugs than he should have. He was particularly annoyed that series like The Twilight Zone imitated his style without recompense or acknowledgment.

Read this book and then start through all the magnificent volumes of his collected stories. One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.
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Kath Page
4.0 out of 5 stars Superb and unusual horror
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2014
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Excellent story written in the form of letters between an army psychiatrist and his superior describing the unusual case of one of the soldiers who has attacked a superior officer. This is suspenseful and interesting with lots of different narrative voices which all convince. The ending is unexpected and shocking.
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J. Millman
3.0 out of 5 stars I wanted to like it more than I did...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2021
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I've read a couple of short stories by Sturgeon, including the excellent psychological horror story Bright Segment, and having read about this story in Stephen King's Danse Macabre decades ago, I was keen to read it. It's certainly readable, but the correspondence between the army psychiatrists gets irritating, and the final revelation is not nearly as shocking as it would have been when the book was published.
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野良猫
5.0 out of 5 stars すっげぇクール！　です。
Reviewed in Japan on February 3, 2004
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　いやあもう、困るね、こういう洗練された作品読んじゃうと。困る困る。めっぽう面白くて、なおかつ、その面白さを他人に伝えようとするとネタバレになってしまう、というのも困る一因なのだが、それ以上に、この作品が非常にユニークな存在であり、作品の存在自体が、ジャンルとかカテゴライズとかをキャンセルしまくっているから、非常に説明がしづらい、というのもある。
　このあたりの老練さは、流石にスタージョンってところですか。
　サイコ・ホラー？　まあ、その要素もあるけど。
　吸血鬼物？　間違いではないはな。
　ミステリ？　謎解きは、あります。
　入り組んだ構成の現代小説？　そういう側面もある。
　そして、そのどれとも微妙に違う、という感触もあるんだよなあ。
　ページ数の半分以上を占める、「ジョージ・スミスの回想録」は、一見地味で起伏がない半生記のように読めるんだけど、前後の挿入される「精神科医」と「大佐」の書簡とかから、なぜその「回想録」が書かれることになったのか、実際に書いているの人は誰なのか、その「回想録」にある「欠落」とはなにか？　とかいった情報が行間にじわじわと沁みてきて、「ジョージ・スミス」という人間のそれまで見えなかった「実像」が徐々に明らかにされていく様子とか、このあたりの「暗示／明示」の匙加減といったら、もう、「メチャ巧！」の一言に尽きる。
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