Showing posts with label New Pulp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Pulp. Show all posts
Thursday, August 18, 2016
The Rook - Volume 5 by Barry Reese
Another great piece by Barry Reese. I'm going to be honest, I didn't actually read "The Rook - Volume 5." Instead, I read the stories that made up "The Rook - Volume 5" from "The Peregrine Omnibus, Volume Two." I just can't stand referring to the Rook as the Peregrine. Nonetheless, these were great stories. Reese has a way of tying in multiple characters, many of whom are far-fetched and few of whom he created himself, into a well-woven, complex story brimming with action and adventure. I enjoyed meeting the Claws of Rook (or Peregrine, whatever) and seeing them in action next to the Max Davies. I loved how he teamed Hitler with Dracula. I also enjoyed the Cthulhu plot line in "A Plague of Wicked Men." I've thought for a long time that whatever Barry Reese writes turns into New Pulp gold, and this compilation was no exception. I'm anxiously waiting for Reese's next work!
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
The Pulptress by Tommy Hancock, et al.
This was a good anthology, but not a great one. Some of the stories were good, some not so good. However, the character - The Pulptress - is excellent and a great addition to the New Pulp world. I liked the mystery of her background that is slowly revealed throughout the stories. I wanted to read more of these stories to get more of her back story. She's been trained by many others, including my favorite New Pulp hero, Dillon, but we still don't know a lot about her. And despite the uneven quality of the various stories, they all had two things in common: the Pulptress was in them and they make the reader want to read more stories like these.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
The Adventures of Lazarus Gray, Volume 5 by Barry Reese
Barry Reese has gone and done it again! He has produced another wonderful New Pulp adventure. This one is filled with the usual rollicking action sequences and supernatural wonders that we expect and enjoy from Barry's works. In the installment, he weaves a number of short stories into a tableau of Sovereign City goodness. The way he ties all these stories - which are great a stand-alone stories - into a cohesive storyline is amazing. Of course, each story has the Lazarus Gray and his compadres in Assistance Unlimited. The depth he has brought to these characters over five volumes has made the stories very comfortable. At the same time, though, the action scenes and constant suspense keep you on the edge of your seat for the duration. Go get this book. Nice job, Barry! Keep these awesome stories coming.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
The Adventures of Lazarus Gray Volume 4: Satan's Circus by Barry Reese
Read in April 2014.
Wow! It doesn't get much better than this! Barry Reese knows how to write New Pulp. This edition of Lazarus Gray was excellent.
There were only two stories in this volume, but they were both dynamite. First, Lazarus Gray and his team link up with Thunder Jim Wade and his pals for a globetrotting battle with "Leviathan". Of course, the action didn't stop the whole time and Barry brought another great "old pulp" character into the Reeseverse - Thunder Jim Wade - and brought him in with a bang.
Then, in the second story, Barry wraps up a story line he's been developing since Volume 2 by having Lazarus and company tangle with Doctor Satan and Satan's Circus. Other great Reeseverse characters are back here, including the Darkling, Eidolon, and Abigail Cross. Again, this story was action-packed and the fun didn't stop until the end. And was I sad to see it end!
I know Barry has finished Volume 5 of this series. I hope Pro Se Press has the smarts to get it published soon. And I hope you have the smarts to start reading Barry Reese and all his New Pulp goodness.
Wow! It doesn't get much better than this! Barry Reese knows how to write New Pulp. This edition of Lazarus Gray was excellent.
There were only two stories in this volume, but they were both dynamite. First, Lazarus Gray and his team link up with Thunder Jim Wade and his pals for a globetrotting battle with "Leviathan". Of course, the action didn't stop the whole time and Barry brought another great "old pulp" character into the Reeseverse - Thunder Jim Wade - and brought him in with a bang.
Then, in the second story, Barry wraps up a story line he's been developing since Volume 2 by having Lazarus and company tangle with Doctor Satan and Satan's Circus. Other great Reeseverse characters are back here, including the Darkling, Eidolon, and Abigail Cross. Again, this story was action-packed and the fun didn't stop until the end. And was I sad to see it end!
I know Barry has finished Volume 5 of this series. I hope Pro Se Press has the smarts to get it published soon. And I hope you have the smarts to start reading Barry Reese and all his New Pulp goodness.
Skull Island (Doc Savage) by Will Murray
Read in April 2013.
This book was excellent, but at the same time disappointing. Let's start with the disappointments first, and there are two: One, Will Murray seems to be hell-bent on dispelling the Wold Newton Universe. He makes numerous, seemingly gratuitous references to characters such as Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, and Nick Carter just to say that these characters are fictional and, thus, cannot be part of a shared universe like the Wold Newton Universe, a universe I particularly enjoy. My problem is not that I really care that Murray wants to keep Doc Savage out of the WNU, but the blatant, obvious manner in which he does so seems childish. It could've been done with more subtlety so that it didn't seem like LL Cool J calling out Kool Moe Dee on an 80's rap album.
My only other complaint, which is very minor, is that Doc's aides played so little a role in this story. I understand that it takes place prior to the aides being the aides. I also understand that some people actually enjoy the focus being placed on Doc without the buffoonery of the aides. I just like to see Monk and Ham verbally fence; to see Renny pound things with his abnormally large fists; to hear Johnny use words I have to look up in an unabridged dictionary; and to see Long Tom fight people even though he looks like he couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag.
Those complaints aside, this book was still pretty awesome. Young Doc is clearly not the Doc we see in The Man of Bronze a decade later: he is more brash, more talkative, more impetuous, and more violence-prone than the Doc we are used to reading. He's also more than a dozen years younger. Nonetheless, he is clearly Doc Savage, with superhuman strength and stamina honed from years of training. We see Doc in his youth, like watching a home movie from a superstar's youth; we see bits and pieces of the man Doc will become.
We also learn of Doc's family. We see his father Clark Sr., long before he is killed in the Empire State Building. He is the austere, hard-ass father who one would expect to push his son to be a superman from birth. He sees Doc as weapon or tool in his battle to right the wrongs of the world. We also see him realize, over the course of the story, that Doc is his flesh and blood, not just a means to an end. Clark Sr. shows, by the end, that he actually loves his son, something that might not have existed in the early chapters.
There is also Doc's grandfather, Stormalong Savage. A giant of a man, and a giant of a person, apparently. He is very old, but has led a full life, even if that last several years have been on Skull Island. Murray uses him as a window into Doc's early life and family tree, as well as inspiration to young Doc to follow for years to come. I wish we could see more of Old Stormy.
Then there is Skull Island. What an island. It's both a pre-historic animal preserve, full of classic dinosaurs and evolved quasi-dinosaurs, and the home to at least two unknown human civilizations. How any humans survive on this island, unless their name is Savage, is beyond me. The island was a character unto itself.
Finally, we meet Kong. He is so much more than just an enormous ape. He is closer to human than one would think and he is, at the same time, godlike. He rules the island with a large, furry fist. The ancient creatures on the island know who is in charge. The humans on the island know he is in charge. Despite his great power, or maybe because of it, the humans seem to adore and worship Kong. Of course, the sea-faring headhunters who are hunting his head throughout the story don't worship him, but everyone else does. Kong is the "king" of Skull Island and he knows it, literally throwing his weight around whenever he needs to exert his power. Murray shows us the grandeur of Kong, but foreshadows his vulnerability too.
This was a wonderful romp showing the early years of Doc Savage with King Kong playing a gigantic supporting role. The Wold Newton Universe barbs aside, Murray nailed this one. Possibly his best Savage story yet.
This book was excellent, but at the same time disappointing. Let's start with the disappointments first, and there are two: One, Will Murray seems to be hell-bent on dispelling the Wold Newton Universe. He makes numerous, seemingly gratuitous references to characters such as Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, and Nick Carter just to say that these characters are fictional and, thus, cannot be part of a shared universe like the Wold Newton Universe, a universe I particularly enjoy. My problem is not that I really care that Murray wants to keep Doc Savage out of the WNU, but the blatant, obvious manner in which he does so seems childish. It could've been done with more subtlety so that it didn't seem like LL Cool J calling out Kool Moe Dee on an 80's rap album.
My only other complaint, which is very minor, is that Doc's aides played so little a role in this story. I understand that it takes place prior to the aides being the aides. I also understand that some people actually enjoy the focus being placed on Doc without the buffoonery of the aides. I just like to see Monk and Ham verbally fence; to see Renny pound things with his abnormally large fists; to hear Johnny use words I have to look up in an unabridged dictionary; and to see Long Tom fight people even though he looks like he couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag.
Those complaints aside, this book was still pretty awesome. Young Doc is clearly not the Doc we see in The Man of Bronze a decade later: he is more brash, more talkative, more impetuous, and more violence-prone than the Doc we are used to reading. He's also more than a dozen years younger. Nonetheless, he is clearly Doc Savage, with superhuman strength and stamina honed from years of training. We see Doc in his youth, like watching a home movie from a superstar's youth; we see bits and pieces of the man Doc will become.
We also learn of Doc's family. We see his father Clark Sr., long before he is killed in the Empire State Building. He is the austere, hard-ass father who one would expect to push his son to be a superman from birth. He sees Doc as weapon or tool in his battle to right the wrongs of the world. We also see him realize, over the course of the story, that Doc is his flesh and blood, not just a means to an end. Clark Sr. shows, by the end, that he actually loves his son, something that might not have existed in the early chapters.
There is also Doc's grandfather, Stormalong Savage. A giant of a man, and a giant of a person, apparently. He is very old, but has led a full life, even if that last several years have been on Skull Island. Murray uses him as a window into Doc's early life and family tree, as well as inspiration to young Doc to follow for years to come. I wish we could see more of Old Stormy.
Then there is Skull Island. What an island. It's both a pre-historic animal preserve, full of classic dinosaurs and evolved quasi-dinosaurs, and the home to at least two unknown human civilizations. How any humans survive on this island, unless their name is Savage, is beyond me. The island was a character unto itself.
Finally, we meet Kong. He is so much more than just an enormous ape. He is closer to human than one would think and he is, at the same time, godlike. He rules the island with a large, furry fist. The ancient creatures on the island know who is in charge. The humans on the island know he is in charge. Despite his great power, or maybe because of it, the humans seem to adore and worship Kong. Of course, the sea-faring headhunters who are hunting his head throughout the story don't worship him, but everyone else does. Kong is the "king" of Skull Island and he knows it, literally throwing his weight around whenever he needs to exert his power. Murray shows us the grandeur of Kong, but foreshadows his vulnerability too.
This was a wonderful romp showing the early years of Doc Savage with King Kong playing a gigantic supporting role. The Wold Newton Universe barbs aside, Murray nailed this one. Possibly his best Savage story yet.
The Adventures of Gravedigger, Volume 2 by Barry Reese
Another Barry Reese masterpiece. I enjoy the way Barry writes. He writes action well, he writes characters well, he's good with giving new stories that old pulp fiction feel.
I have to admit that when he first introduced the Gravedigger character, I was a little skeptical. He already had the Rook (oops, I mean the Peregrine) and Lazarus Gray in his Sovereign City world. How would the Gravedigger fit into that universe? Well, I loved the first Gravedigger volume, and I loved this current one as well.
Beyond the action and the Sovereign City setting that I really dig, I liked learning more about the Gravedigger's associates in this one. Li Yuchun, Mitchell, Cedric were really filled out in this one. But more importantly, I liked how Mortimer Quinn was a focal point of this story, and that he will play a role in both Gravedigger Volume 3 and the next Lazarus Gray story as well. I like the idea of a former Gravedigger who doesn't age taking a prominent role in these stories.
Barry Reese truly knows how to write. Gravedigger Volume 2 is not a long book; it won't take more than a day or two to read. But that day or two will be great. Get this book and anything else Barry Reese writes!
I have to admit that when he first introduced the Gravedigger character, I was a little skeptical. He already had the Rook (oops, I mean the Peregrine) and Lazarus Gray in his Sovereign City world. How would the Gravedigger fit into that universe? Well, I loved the first Gravedigger volume, and I loved this current one as well.
Beyond the action and the Sovereign City setting that I really dig, I liked learning more about the Gravedigger's associates in this one. Li Yuchun, Mitchell, Cedric were really filled out in this one. But more importantly, I liked how Mortimer Quinn was a focal point of this story, and that he will play a role in both Gravedigger Volume 3 and the next Lazarus Gray story as well. I like the idea of a former Gravedigger who doesn't age taking a prominent role in these stories.
Barry Reese truly knows how to write. Gravedigger Volume 2 is not a long book; it won't take more than a day or two to read. But that day or two will be great. Get this book and anything else Barry Reese writes!
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