The Skipper is a lesser-known pulp hero magazine that (alphabetically) fits between The Shadow and The Spider, which was perhaps a newsstand idea, but aesthetically reads like a bloody noir version of Doc Savage. I've read LOTS of The Spider and Operator #5 pulps, both of which I favor over my samplings of Doc Savage (clever, but a bit too cloying and cute) and The Shadow (often too sloppy or overwritten, even by pulp standards), and The Skipper has the violence of those earlier Popular Publications, but the bickering team antics that appear in Doc. Fortunately, The Skipper's supporting cast is not a homogeneous bunch of "comedic" scientist goofs, which is a chief complaint I have with Doc Savage, but a group of different and very complementary characters. More than anything, this rag-tag bunch reminds me of Jimmie Cordie's band of rogues, whose very enjoyable adventures were published in Argosy and Frontier pulps (and are equally recommended). And that is another thing that this novel and its backup stories have more than do most hero pulps: Adventure.
The Skipper: The Clipper Menace rivals many of the better issues of The Spider and Operator #5 in terms of overall quality. The paranoiac atmosphere of those pulps is here and the lethal violence as well, though not on as grand a scale or quite as nasty. And while the character of the The Skipper/Captain John Fury may not be much better defined than that of Jimmy Christopher/Operator #5, the former protagonist has a hard-edged noir attitude and feels far more multi-dimensional than does Operator #5, who is a good and practically flawless savior. The Skipper is not bananas like Norvell W. Page's The Spider, but he feels like a guy who might have existed and did his best with what he had.
The Skipper has personality, and this book has logical, albeit convoluted plotting (very much like Operator #5 in this regard), rich atmosphere, a sense of adventure, and a really, really exceptional vehicle. "Whirlwind" is The Skipper's highly weaponized tanker that he and his team use out in the pacific to figure out why bodies are dropping from the sky and look for Gold Island. Also, the ice torture sequence certainly smells and feels a lot like the master of mania, Norvell W. Page. Before I'd finished this strong pulp hero adventure, I'd ordered another issue, as well as The Whisperer, which was also written by Lawrence Donovan.
Allan Quatermain (H. Rider Haggard) Review
** spoiler alert ** Allan Quartermain is a frustrating reading experience. The first half of this book is possibly the best adventure fiction I've ever read. Incredible and eerie landscapes, vivid action, rich atmosphere, dry English humor, and terrific friendships are all conveyed via a smart, philosophical voice, and I thought that the book would actually eclipse its predecessor, King Solomon's Mines (...and I am a big fan of that classic lost race novel). The melancholic introduction of the aged protagonist, the battle against the Masai, the philosophical musings on landscapes, the amazing Zulu Umslopogaas (and his grim "Chieftainess"), and the harrowing and fantastical water journey are superbly realized and worthy of both accolades and study.
Unfortunately, the second half of Allan Quatermain derails and devolves into forced and trite (even for its time) romance and a dry, almost nonfictional approach to dumping fictional information rather than showing these strange creations through the eyes of the adventurers. The end result is a (qualitatively) top heavy book that does not compare to H. Rider Haggard's finest, King Solomon's Mines and The People of the Mist, nor the finest stories by Harold Lamb. Allan Quatermain is premium adventure fiction for it's first half that turns into an unfulfilled promise in its disappointing remainder.
Warbreaker (Brandon Sanderson) Review
** spoiler alert ** I was a big fantasy reader as a kid (especially RE Howard and Tolkien), returned to the genre later in life (relishing Clark Ashton Smith, HP Lovecraft's Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath, Feist's Magician, GRR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, and GG Kay's Tigana), and then had a number of not great experiences with contemporary fantasists (eg. Erickson, Williams, Holdstock, Hobb, etc.) that led me towards other genres (eg. Science Fiction, Horror, and Crime), all of which more consistently yield what I am looking for...and in a fraction of as many pages.
For the past ten years I've read a lot westerns and during the last five I've become more and more interested in vintage adventure fiction (especially by masters like Harold Lamb, J. Allan Dunn, H. Rider Haggard, and L. Patrick Greene). Eventually, great adventure fiction and my burgeoning interest in boardgames (especially fantasy ones like Cave Evil, Mage Knight, and Perdition's Mouth) led me to once again explore the shelves of high fantasy...
Brandon Sanderson is now a really big name in the field and this one off book, Warbreaker, seemed like a good point of entry...and exit if the book disappointed. Although this 650 page tome held my interest at most times, it did not truly fire my imagination nor fully engage me.
My favorite high fantasy stories have a strong adventure component. They also have original creations unique to their worlds. And ideally, book length fantasies have interesting and rich characters. Warbreaker left me wanting in terms of all of these elements. The book succeeds to a moderate degree because it is well plotted and the magic is interesting, though the latter requires so much exposition that it feels a little like the author is revising the rules as he goes rather than that he is describing a cogent supernatural phenomenon.
The characters are generally one dimensional types who are working against their one defining characteristic. The snobby prude, trying to be less snobby and prudish; the irresponsible and wild girl trying to be responsible; the nonchalant god who learns to give a crap. These three pillars of the book are two princesses and a god, which is not a diverse (nor interesting) grouping---basically, three entitled people who act out and are drawn into intrigue. That the god is a painfully unfunny take on Groucho Marx makes the reading less fun, but the reality is that these three characters are but engines that drive the plot and uncover mysteries. The plotting is good--occasionally very good--and has some surprises, and that's what this book delivers. The writing is simple and reads quickly, though is far too modern and colloquial ("tummy ache", "I guess", and tons of modern aphorisms) to give the reader any sense of remoteness or antiquity at all.
Essentially Warbreaker felt like a well plotted, complicated (but not sophisticated), young adult castle mystery. It works moderately well in terms of delivering and developing intrigue, but one note characters, modern prose, the lack of visual descriptions, and the absence of adventure made for a long, but ephemeral book.
Dwellers in the Mirage (Abraham Grace Merritt) Review
I am a big fan of lost race stories, and 'Dwellers in the Mirage' is pretty decent, but not near the top of the list for me. (King Solomon's Mines, Abyss of Wonders, and The Seal of John Solomon are some of my top favorites in the sub-genre.)
The strange inhabitants and the "lost" elements in A. Merritt's novel are introduced so near the front of the book that I feel the story lacks the very, very important 'adventure' element--there is not much journey or struggle to find this lost race/civilization here, though certainly the "mirage" is a very well detailed bit of eerie geology, and the prologue is exciting, though it does reveal too much.
Although Merritt is considered one of the classic fantasists, a lot of his fantasy ideas here (and in The Face in the Abyss) are not really that imaginative. For instance: It's a slug, but it's really a big slug; he's a pygmy, but a pygmy with golden skin; it's an octopus, but with twelve tentacles rather than eight. The weirdness, prose, creativity, imagery, irony, and darkness of Clark Ashton Smith's worlds appeals to me far, far, far, far, far more than do the romantic, melodramatic ones Merritt built here and in The Face in the Abyss. (There's no better fantasy--pulp or otherwise--than "Isle of the Torturers," "Colossus of Ylourgne," "Dark Eidolon," and "Xeethra," by CAS.)
Since Merritt's lost Dwellers are found so soon, and the protagonist is so gifted and powerful (a problem that plagued the one and only Harry Potter book that I suffered through), most of the happenings in Dwellers in the Mirage are politicking, chases, and romance, rather than adventure and discovery. But as far as dense, highly magical, and very romantic fantasy goes, this book is pretty enjoyable.
The Blood 'N' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction (Ed Hulse) Review
Although online searches and stumbling through websites can unearth a wealth of information on many subjects, I like to reward individuals who go through the extra effort of writing, laying out, and printing a book on whichever subject I’m interested in researching. I’ve purchased guides on progressive rock albums, television horror movies from the seventies, direct to video cult films, western television shows of the fifties and sixties, American martial arts films, country music, anime, heavy metal, soul music, and other niche subjects. Not until I read The Blood N Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction had I read a guide that intelligently and tastefully delivered the promise of its premise.
As a longtime fan of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, R.E. Howard, Max Brand, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Isaac Asimov, and David Goodis, I had hoped that a guide on pulp magazines would reveal to me some lesser known, but comparably skilled authors from the pulp milieu. This information lies in great abundance in Ed Hulse’s book. Although I have not read this tome cover to cover, I have read the major part of the book, and many of the chapters multiple times. The wit and good taste that the author shows when discussing the subject of pulp fiction led to my discovery of scores of forgotten works that deserve rediscovery.
This valuable guide is neither the slobbering work of rabid fan who likes everything, nor the work of a snobby elitist who feels superior to the material about which he writes, but a collection of smart, zesty essays—arranged by genre—of somebody who appreciates the varied aims of various pulp magazines. The rich and meticulously crafted tales of the stately Adventure, the apocalyptic visions Operator #5, the hyperventilating bloody mania of The Spider, the aggressive modes of detection employed by those fellas in Dime Detective, the depravity of the Red Circle shudder pulps, the grandeur of Astounding Stories, the eldritch charms of Weird Tales, and the merits of many other genres and subgenres are critically and fondly discussed by the wellspring of pulp knowledge that is Ed Hulse. Wanna know which pulps to read as the best of their genre? Follow the advice of Mr. Hulse. Wanna know which exact issues of each magazine are the exemplars? Follow the advice of Mr. Hulse. Wanna know about the evolution of a particular magazine or genre? Get this book.
By heeding the thoughtful words of this sage of the yellow page, I have bettered my library and life and altered my list of favorite authors. Thank you, Mr. Hulse for opening the pulpwood door behind which stand such incredible talents as Norvell W. Page, Bruno Fischer, Arthur O. Friel, L. Patrick Greene, Harold Lamb, Frederick C. Davis, D.L. Champion, and many others…