the forest of knives by . . . A. Bertram Chandler A blonde a hunch a madmans song spell danger on Mars—and uncover an alien cabal that maybanish Man from the red planet. What is Christmas without a goose—and what is Mars without canals Though astronomersare still arguing after three centuries not only what the odd markings are but whether theyactually exist the public has accepted them as canals and would scarcely enjoy a Martian storywithout them. Well Mr. Chandler has come up with a veritable humdinger of a Martian story anddont worry—the canals are in it too. EVEN MY BEING a stretcher case did not save me from the Customs and Immigration routine atPort Gregory. The Old Man was furious and tried to swing the weight of his rank to get me priority—butif anything it made things worse. With anybody obliging the name of Basset-Wills — with a hyphen —would have secured me a place among the Bs. As it was I had to take my place at the tail end of thequeue with the Ws. quotAnd thats what you get for airing a double-barreled monikerquot growled Captain Brown. quotIf you hada sensible name like mine youd be in the hospital by now.quot I pointed out that as plain Peter Wills I should be just where I was now—and that with the precedingBasset I had stood a sporting chance of a quick release. I would have liked to add that if he hadntrubbed the Immigration officials the wrong way it would have been better for everybody concerned—butone likes to leave a ship on friendly terms with all and sundry. Jane in those days ranked as an M. Jane Meredith—arid if the name isnt familiar youve neverlooked at a television