The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

 

Introduced my son to THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1992.) One of the finest historical adventure movies ever made.

I own the blu ray. I re-watched last night with Michael Mann's commentary (not sure what year) and it is excellent. Highly recommended. Lots of history and background for the story. Well worth your time.

The "Making of" documentary is also stellar. Daniel-Day Lewis' immersion into Hawkeye is fascinating.

Worth acquiring, or borrowing from your local library.

The Adventures of Doc Atlas

 

The Adventures of Doc Atlas, Volume 1 

by Michael A. Black & Raymond Louis Lovato

Airship 27 Productions have just (re-)released the initial adventures of Doc Atlas. Their plan is now to move forward with new volumes of new stories.

The cover art pretty much tells you what you're getting. Doc Atlas is a Doc Savage pastiche that doesn't stray far from its roots.

I guess you can consider that Doc Atlas is to Doc Savage as Solar Pons is to Sherlock Holmes.

Atlas is the next generation, adventuring after World War II (these three novellas take place in 1947.) Atlas and his team are headquartered in the Empire State building, just like his predecessor. The team is more streamlined, featuring Ace Assante as an analogous Ham, and Mad Dog Deagan as the analogous Monk. Unlike the stoic Doc Savage, Atlas also has a girlfriend, Penny Cartier.

Another difference is that Atlas and team will kill the bad guys when the danger heats up. No mercy bullets or brain operations to rehabilitate criminals here.

In this volume they take on temple robbers in Mexico, investigate strange airplane crashes in Roswell, and investigate the rise of a new threat in Brazil.

Doc Atlas is a fun pastiche of Doc Savage.

Looking forward to more!

Blood on the Blade, anthology coming in November!

Via Flinch Books' Facebook page;

This November, Flinch Books unleashes an all new pulp fiction anthology on an unsuspecting world, their first fantastic foray into the realm of Sword & Sorcery!

BLOOD ON THE BLADE boasts of ten tales of slashing swords and sinister sorcery brought to you by master pulp scribes Cliff Biggers, Adrian Cole, Anne Marie Lutz, Paul R. McNamee, James A. Moore, Dave Ritzlin, Charles R Rutledge, Frank Schildiner, Steven L. Shrewsbury, and James Ray Tuck Jr. It’s a feast of fantasy you won’t soon forget!

Conceived and edited by Jim Beard and John Bruening. Cover by Mark Wheatley.

My tale features my stalwart heroes of spear and spirit, Lono & Makani, once again riding the ocean waves of adventure.

recent read; DC Jones (and Adventure Command International,) Volume 1

DC Jones, Volume 1 by Jim Beard

There was a time, when toys were toys, action figures were not dolls, and the spirit of fun play came before cartoon tie-ins. (also, the toys were larger and offered many accessories.)

Jim Beard offers up three stories of heady nostalgia, wherein the names have been changed to appease the copyright gods. But, you'll know Jones from Joe soon enough, especially if you grew up during the 1970s.

Jones's Adventure Command are a crack team of action experts who live for adventure. They utilize state of the art (for the 1970s) equipment to accomplish their many missions around the world. In the first novella alone, they must deal with sharks, anomalous Egyptian ruins off the coast of California, cultists, and an incoming hurricane. It's the Perils of Pauline meets Doc Savage.

Jones will have you remembering similar toys you played with, and the adventures which would spring forth from imagination ... and the television commercials, and the Sears catalogs.

A fun, quick read down nostalgia lane.

recent read; DILLON Annual Collection 2018

DILLON Annual Collection 2018 by Derrick Ferguson

Continuing my foray into New Pulp, this DILLON Annual Collection 2018 has a spot on Derrick Ferguson's 100 New Pulp Books To Get You Started. What's that? You ask when happened the 25, the 50, the 75? Well, it was always Derrick's goal to create a list of 100 titles. Well worth your time to keep it handy. Pick a title now & then as part of your reading mix!

Back to the collection. Not only do we get a round up of DILLON novellas and short stories, this collection also includes the complete novel, DILLON AND THE PIRATES OF XONIRA, so it's a deal, especially at ebook prices.

Among the mix you'll find; a kidnapped movie star, lost artifacts, action, pirates, submarines, trains, intrigue & betrayals, showdowns with foes and friends, and a coveted bad ass belt buckle!

DILLON stories are very much action movies in prose form, and if you enjoy those flicks, any kind from the 1960s through today, you'll have a blast going along with Ferguson and Dillon on this collected joyride.

recent read; Return to the Lost Level

RETURN TO THE LOST LEVEL by Brian Keene

Keene returns to THE LOST LEVEL with a worthy sequel!

Picking up where THE LOST LEVEL left off, Aaron Pace's adopted tribe has been raided by Anunnaki snake-men. Pace and the surviving villagers set off on a rescue mission, enduring hazards, danger, and hardship all along the way. Pterodactyls, Anunnaki, deadly flora, and other lost world features all hinder their efforts. Along the way they adopt a baby triceratops, and encounter Ambrose Bierce, too.

Keene sprinkles tantalizing bits of his own mythos throughout the story. The framing device also leaves a reader wondering about Pace's final fate in the Lost Level.

RETURN TO THE LOST LEVEL leaves the reader on a tantalizing cliffhanger promising more. I eagerly anticipate the next entry in the saga of Aaron Pace in the Lost Level.

recent read; Jungle Stories #56, Spring 1953

Jungle Stories #56, Spring 1953

I wanted to read some pulp outside the usual zone. I went for jungle stories. Ki-Gor is a Tarzan pastiche written under a house name. I checked with Charles Rutledge who advised me of some of the better stories. "The Silver Witch" was the only recommendation  available in ebook (at present.)

"The Silver Witch" surprised me. Not only is it a good tale, but the juju sorcery is real in the story. I would have expected a Scooby-Doo unveiling. An immortal sorceress, her silver ghostly army, a lost city in the swamp. An atmosphere of horror, too. "The Silver Witch" isn't far removed from a decent Conan pastiche. As such, it could be cross-classified as sword-&-sorcery (spear-&-sorcery) as well as a jungle story.

Four other tales round out this issue.

"Ndembo!" relates a somewhat humorous tale of a 'dead' tribesman who must endure 'death' to gain fortune among his tribe. Trickery meets trickery.

"Gorilla! Gorilla!" is a story of the leader of a troop of gorillas, under challenge from a young bull, and trying to protect his group from men. It is told from the point-of-view of the gorilla.

"Angel in the Jungle" isn't the best title for the tale it relates. The story involves the usual conflict of two colonials infighting as they deal with closing a pass with dynamite while dealing with a local tribe of elephant hunters.

"Spears of Fire" rounds out the issue. Again the setup is two white men in conflict against the backdrop of wild Africa. This story involves harvesting mahogany wood and floating it down river before the flood season leaves the wood high and dry. A few good twists in this one. I think it could use a better title, too, though. Not really many "spears." I thought this was the best story besides "The Silver Witch."

For $4 on Kindle, this issue contains a surprisingly enjoyable set of stories. Worth the read if you're interested in this sort of thing.

recent read; The Clock of Dreams & Spawn of the Winds (Titus Crow omnibus, volume 2)

Whereas Lumley's hero Titus Crow features in what I would classify as horror short stories, when Lumley brought Crow into novels, the tone shifted quickly from horror to pulp adventure fantasy with occult touches. That trend continues strongly in this volume.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Lumley uses more of the Derleth Mythos model than Lovecraft's. In this Mythos, Cthulhu is "evil," not just ambivalent. And opposing the Old Ones are "good" Elder Gods.

The Clock of Dreams takes place largely in the "Dreamland" realms. The first half of the novel features Crow's longtime friend, deMarigny, as the protagonist. Crow comes into play later, after deMarigny rescues him. Utilizing the grandfather clock that can fly anywhere in time & space (and between dimensions,) Crow & deMarigny battle Cthulhu entities across the Dreamlands in various feats of derring do, capture and rescue.

Spawn of the Winds is an unexpected entry in this volume - Crow isn't in this novel at all. Not even a cameo or a mention. I did notice on Lumley's webpage that he classifies the omnibuses as "Mythos" not "Titus Crow." Only one character from the previous Crow novels is here, a professor from Miskatonic.

Anyway, it still a fairly rousing adventure tale. This time around, Ithaqua, the Walker of the Winds, steals an airplane & its crew and deposits them on the alien, arctic waste world, Borea. What follows has a strong "lost world" vibe of lost races, intermingled races and skirmishes and building battles, stakes & tension.

So, if you're looking for horror, you need to look elsewhere. But it you want to read some fantasy action pulp adventure, then The Clock of Dreams and Spawn of the Winds fit the bill.

recent read; Weird Menace, Volume 1

Weird Menace, Volume 1 edited by James Reasoner

Quick post on this one;

Scary houses, mad scientists, insane monstrosities, pummeling fists, stalwart heroes, blazing pistols & spunky dames. This anthology delivers on its premise all the way through. Fun throwback, really feels like you grabbed a pulp off the rack in 1935.

If you like that sort of thing, this is for you.

recent read; The Lost Level

The Lost Level by Brian Keene

I tore through this book this past weekend. It is that much fun!

Taking pages from various "lost world" stories, Keene rolls out his own take on the genre. With influences ranging from The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle, the Pellucidar series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and up through the television series Land of the Lost and Lost, this story romps through dinosaurs, lizard men, killer robots, deadly vegetation and other dangers.

While the tropes are there (in a good way,) Keene also weaves in his own touches. There are some nice modern knuckle-down-and-do-it survivalist methodologies, which are often glossed over in such fiction. It adds veracity to the hero, Aaron Price. Keene's fiction is all connected and in this case, literally - there is a Labyrinth between worlds in time-space. Unfortunately, if travelers in the Labyrinth are not careful, they can wash up into the Lost Level - from which there is no return. Also making an appearance are the sinister Global Corporation, a shadowy conglomerate also present in some of Keene's other fiction.

The Lost Level is both homage and pastiche and makes no bones about it, wearing its influences proudly on its sleeve. It is pure Saturday matinee material in the best way. If you enjoy the lost world genre, you need this book!