The Adventures of Zana O'Savin

It might cost me a stamp on my Pulp card, but I must confess I have yet to 'get the hang' of Doc Savage. I find the original stories (I have read to date) to be too clunky. Yes, Dent pours on the action but it's obvious he's thinking action first, explanations later. And I never find the explanations satisfactory.

Though, I do find the concept and setup as having potential. The team. The Empire State building headquarters. The Fortress of Solitude.

Perhaps, if I'd read some of those tales (and saw those Bama 1960s covers!) as a boy, I might not be so critical. But coming in cold as an adult--they just don't work for me.

There are many Doc Savage pastiches out there. I do wonder if any of them might make things gel better.

Enter Craig McDonald's THE ADVENTURES OF ZANA O'SAVIN.

These are different. As much as they have all the pastiche characters, it's hard to refer to these as pastiche.  McDonald has infused this series with a fantasy element that makes it all work. You see, Doc O'Savin is a tulpa--a being manifested from pure thought and will. Created by Lester Dent's own intensity and belief in his own fiction.

This gives McDonald the springboard to weave the team through historical events, provide pulpy action, and give it all depth. I just finished the third entry, THE DEATH KILLERS, and it's a doozy torn from today's headlines.

This is a neat series. Recommended.

recent read/listen; Bass Reeves, Frontier Marshal, Volume 1

Bass Reeves, Frontier Marshal, Volume 1

I'm on a kick to read a lot more new pulp. I'm using Derrick Ferguson's list, 75 New Pulp Books To Get You Started, as a starting point.

I've already read a few titles from the list. I'd been building up my Audible credits again, so I grabbed some titles from the list. The nice thing about the pulp titles is that most of them are on the shorter side (8hrs or under,) so I can knock them off faster.

Bass Reeves was a real person. A black man, a former escaped slave who worked the Indian Territories (Oklahoma & Arkansas) as a U.S. deputy marshal. He had an amazing career.

The stories in this volume are fiction, not history. The palate of the Old West and Reeves's exploits serve as a cauldron to mix facts of the man's life with Western tropes to produce enjoyable tales.

Here's the t.o.c with log lines;

"Ride from Three Devils" by Gary Phillips
While chasing the notorious outlaw, Alamosa Bill, Bass Reeves stumbles into a plot to rob a government silver shipment on a west-bound train.

"Whiskey Road" by Mel Odom
Bass must infiltrate a gang of vicious horse thieves to find a kidnapped child.

"No Master But Duty" by Andrew Salmon
Reeves and his posseman collar a wanted man only to have the citizens of the small frontier town he is hiding in refuse to give him up.

"A Town Named Affliction" by Derrick Ferguson
When an old lawman turns outlaw, Bass Reeves and his possemen must hunt down the Chance brothers and bring them to justice.

There is also an introduction from Ron Fortier with suggested histories of Bass Reeves for further historical reading, and each author has an afterword with their story.

I'm not a Western expert. I've read a few. I've seen a fair number of western movies though I still feel like I've only scratched the surface. That said, I thought these stories were solid and entertaining. They were well narrated, too.

Worth your time.

I'll be getting to Volumes 2 & 3 sooner rather than later.

recent read; STORYHACK, Issue Two

STORYHACK, Issue Two, edited by Bryce Beattie

STORYHACK returns with nine stories of action adventure! Count 'em! Nine!

They run the breadth of pulp genres; horror, science fiction, sword-&-sorcery, crime, fantasy, steampunk, superheroes and more!

Personal favorites for me were;

David J. West's sword-&-sorcery "The Crawlers Beneath Avaris," a good old fashioned sewer romp with an exiled general who is on the run with a stolen book.

Keith West's "The Chronicle of the Gorgon's Island," which--yes--features a gorgon and has a strong extrapolation from mythic fantasy. This is also another tale with West's ongoing characters, Rodrik and his cursed liege prince, Balthar. (See issue #0 for their first adventure.)

"The Temple of Baktaar" by Jason Restick.  A jungle expedition leads to a cursed temple and horror. This tale is a WEIRD TALES throwback with strong vibes of Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft.

All nine stories are quality and worth your time.

Bryce Beattie continues to improve his editing chops with each issue. The story selection here was great. Also, not only do we get vibrant cover art, but each story gets its own black-and-white interior title art. This is a fun magazine, pure and simple!

(There were a few typos and one or two continuity blips but not voluminous or enough to throw a reader out of the stories.)

Grab your issue now!

(remember, if you order the print edition, Kindle matchbook offers the eZine for $1!)

Welcome to the Jungle

Yesterday, I received my latest order from Amazon which consisted of three neo-pulp magazines;

• STORYHACK, Issue Two 
• AWESOME TALES #6 
• OCCULT DETECTIVE QUARTERLY, No. 4

It's not much of a secret--as I have signed the contract--I will have a story in the next issue of STORYHACK (#3)

Imagine my elation when I flipped over STORYHACK and found this on the back cover!

That's my story! I've been blessed with cover art!

So pleased with this!

This news update is not meant to detract from the current issue of STORYHACK (#2), featuring Keith West and David West among others. In fact, if you buy the print edition from Amazon, they will offer the Kindle Matchbook for $1. Win/win.

I can't wait to hold this in hand and when it's out I'll let you know--and maybe write a post or two about the behind-the-scenes on this tale.

In the meantime--

Support your 'zines!

recent read; StoryHack #1

StoryHack, Issue #1, edited by Bryce Beattie.

StoryHack continues on with its pulp mission to provide action adventure tales of derring-do, regardless of genre. Issue #1 provides a mix of science fiction, fantasy, westerns and even a few touches of horror and urban fantasy. Heck, there are also steampunk and supernatural detective stories, too!

In addition to story content, I have a print copy and it's very good production quality.

I enjoyed some stories more than others but that is to be expected. They are all quality tales. There's enough in this issue to satisfy anyone's pulp sweet tooth.

Give it a read!

recent read; StoryHack Issue #0

StoryHack Issue #0

Bryce Beattie is launching a new "pulp" magazine, StoryHack, joining a growing field of magazines/eZines returning to pulp storytelling.

Issue #1 is Kickstarting now. As a proof of concept, Issue #0 was produced and is available for free (follow the link above.)

So, what do you get with StoryHack, issue #0?

A mystery adventure in a gunpowder fantasy setting, a werewolf private eye, a bounty hunter in a lost city adventure, a sword-&-sorcery tale of Biblical times, a world-traveling vigilante, a sword-& sorcery tale from a prince's bodyguard, a Victorian spy team, cosmic horror on a galactic, apocalyptic scale, and an urban fantasy with gun-play, zombies, and magical artifacts.

As with any anthology (be it magazine or book,) not everything is probably going to jive with personal tastes - especially when StoryHack is welcoming all genres so long as the story focuses on action & adventure. This held true for me but the quality throughout the magazine was fine, even when a story wasn't appealing to me.

I enjoyed this issue. There are fun tales in here.

If your reading tastes align with mine - you know who you are - then you want to add StoryHack to your reading pile, for certain. I'm looking forward to issue #1!