I have generally been a fan of Kuttner's (and Moore's...I assume that they co-wrote this as a team), but this relatively quick, if at times disjointed, read was on balance a bit of a disappointment.

The Well of the Worlds reads like an extended bad dream. Like you might expect of an extended bad dream, it includes some wildly original concepts and more than a few (descriptions of) striking and/or surreal visual images. But these original concepts don't seem to fit together in any particularly logical progression, and the characters, both human and alien, are almost comically under-developed. ( )

What a disappointment. Kuttner was a favorite of mine decades ago, but this is a scrambled mess. It reads like a stream of consciousness parody of 1930's SF, with stalwart hero (no background), corpulent villain (ditto), alien female heroine to fall in love with hero, alien female villainess who hisses and constantly demands the secret key to the universe, etc etc. But though Kuttner was noted for his humor, it was broader than this, and I don't think I missed a tongue parked in cheek. ( )

URANIA COLLEZIONE NR. 132