Vintage Treasures: The Radio Beasts by Ralph Milne Farley

Vintage Treasures: The Radio Beasts by Ralph Milne Farley

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The Radio Beasts brightLast month I wrote a brief piece on Ralph Milne Farley’s pulp novel An Earth Man on Venus, originally published as The Radio Man in Argosy magazine in 1924.

As part of the research I dug a little into Farley, and discovered his real identity was Roger Sherman Hoar, state senator and assistant Attorney General for the state of Massachusetts.

I also discovered he produced seven (!) sequels over the next three decades: The Radio Beasts (1925), The Radio Planet (1926), The Radio Flyers (1929), The Radio Menace (1930), The Radio Gun-Runners (1930), The Radio War (1932) and The Radio Minds of Mars (1955).

That’s a lot of radio action.

A lot of things have changed since the 1920s. But one aspect of pop culture remains consistent: when a property has seven sequels, someone somewhere made a lot of money.

We can safely assume that by the time The Radio Minds of Mars (great title) appeared in 1955, America had had its fill of radio adventure. But in the intervening years, the Radio novels were a hot property.

The Radio Beasts affirms that. It had multiple editions, beginning with its 1925 four-part serialization in Argosy All-Story Weekly. It was reprinted (in one installment) in Fantastic Novels Magazine in January 1941 — with a Frank R. Paul cover, no less.

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Joyce Carol Oates’ Gothic Quintet, Part V: The Accursed

Joyce Carol Oates’ Gothic Quintet, Part V: The Accursed

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The AccursedLast October, I looked at the four books of Joyce Carol Oates’ Gothic Quintet that had been published up to that point. I wrote about them in publication order, starting with Bellefleur, from 1980, a novel I thought truly brilliant. I had a slightly more ambiguous reaction to 1982’s A Bloodsmoor Romance, which might have been a function of my being less familiar with the books that had inspired it. At any rate, I was considerably more impressed with 1984’s Mysteries of Winterthurn and thought 1998’s My Heart Laid Bare a successful conclusion to the sequence. If ‘conclusion’ is the appropriate word. Earlier this spring, Oates’ fifth gothic was published, as though the sequence was returning to unlife after being laid to rest.

In fact, Oates wrote all five books in the early 80s, but only published three at the time. My Heart Laid Bare, the fourth, was published a decade and a half later. Now, a decade and a half after that, The Accursed has finally been published. It was the third book written, and so can be viewed as either a belated conclusion to the sequence or else as a kind of keystone to the gothic arch of the whole series. I tend to prefer the latter. My Heart Laid Bare seemed to move away from the Gothic toward a more purely ironic, though not wholly mimetic, form of storytelling. The Accursed is in keeping with the earlier books of the series, not without irony itself, but also filled with the sublime and seemingly supernatural. I found it clarified and extended themes and imagery of all five books, resonating and completing the overall sequence.

Given the structural complexity of each individual book, the way they build themselves up almost as jigsaw puzzles, and particularly given Oates’ choice in The Accursed to withhold the final puzzle-piece of plot until the final chapter, there’s something appropriate about the publication order of the books. The Accursed may after all be best read as the final book of the five. As such, it’s a bravura conclusion, every bit as dense with meaning and as extravagantly well-written as its predecessors. And as intricate, every image linking to each other and to the core themes of the book. But it also comes to seem that the five books replicate as a whole their individual structures: the themes build, and the plot follows.

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Self-published Book Review: The Brightest Light by Scott J. Robinson

Self-published Book Review: The Brightest Light by Scott J. Robinson

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The Brightest Light Cover

I’m not quite clear why we decided that -punk was a postfix meaning “technology.” It started with cyberpunk, I think, only there punk had its original meaning, namely a social movement with unconventional and defiant attitudes and styles. And then steampunk happened. But the term steampunk derived from cyberpunk rather than its root words, and the focus was on the technology rather than the attitude. Soon steampunk was so broad as to encompass any form of science fiction that took place in 19th century society, or at least a recapitulation of what 19th century science fiction writers thought the future would be, without the benefit of the changes that the early 20th century brought. But soon we were adding punk to the end of pretty much anything, to describe a society based on that technology: magicpunk, for example, or even fishpunk.

This month’s book, The Greatest Light by Scott Robinson, calls itself crystal-punk. As you might guess, it takes place in a world based on crystal technology, where crystal arrays provide the technological underpinning. How does that make it different than ours, you ask? In many ways it doesn’t. Robinson’s world has cars and airplanes, lasers and LCDs (liquid crystal displays), and even computers. But it doesn’t have electricity or radios, and it’s pistols are still of the single shot variety. However, it does have flying islands—skylands—where the whole society lives, having abandoned the ground as uninhabitable years ago. Ultimately, the fact that they use crystals is less important than the fact that the technology is different. This also means that it’s not clear whether this book fits in the science fiction or fantasy category, but I decided not to worry too much about that a while ago.

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New Treasures: Brother Grim by Ron Fortier

New Treasures: Brother Grim by Ron Fortier

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Brother GrimI’ve been hearing a lot about Ron Fortier and his publishing house Airship 27 over the last 12 months.

We’ve reported on a few of his titles here, including Barry Baskerville Solves a Case (which William Patrick Maynard calls “equal parts Encyclopedia Brown, Nate the Great, and Sherlock Holmes”), Joe Bonadonna’s space opera Three Against The Stars, David C. Smith’s occult thriller Call of Shadows, the TV-inspired anthology Tales from the Hanging Monkey, Jim Beard’s occult detective Sgt. Janus, Spirit-Breaker, pulp adventurer Ravenwood: Stepson of Mystery, The Moon Man — whom David C Smith describes as “a Robin Hood-type vigilante who fights crime while disguising himself by wearing a fish bowl over his head. (Yes! A fishbowl!)” — and many others.

I met Ron for the first time at the Windy City Pulp and Paper show here in Chicago in April, and I was astounded at the vast array of terrific pulp adventure titles he had spread out at his table. I purchased a tiny sample to take home and enjoy, including Charles R. Saunders 1930s Harlem boxing and Nazis saga Damballa, the SF anthology Mars McCoy, Space Ranger, and Ron Fortier and Gary Kato’s comic Days of the Dragon.

But I also picked up Ron’s Brother Grim, a collection of six pulp adventure stories featuring an undead avenger. Brother Grim first appeared on the Supernatural Crime website, and was popular enough to branch out into print. It looks like a lot of fun.

Risen from the grave in the aftermath of a brutal murder, former underworld hitman Tony Grimaldi finds himself transformed. Now, with his ebon trenchcoat, gleaming silver automatics and ivory skull mask, Tony stalked the benighted streets and back alleys of Port Nocturne, bringing justice to the downtrodden, and judgement to the wicked!

Brother Grim was published in 2004 by Wildcat Books. It is 156 pages in trade paperback, priced at $15. It is illustrated by Rob Davis, with a cover by Thomas Floyd.

See all of our recent New Treasures articles here.

Jean Rabe Resigns as SFWA Bulletin Editor Amidst Controversy Over Sexist Articles

Jean Rabe Resigns as SFWA Bulletin Editor Amidst Controversy Over Sexist Articles

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SFWA Bulletin 200Jean Rabe, editor of the Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America, has stepped down following a series of controversies in recent issues.

The problems began with the now-infamous issue #200, pictured at right, featuring a Jeff Easley Red Sonja cover. Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg, in their long-running column, wrote about “lady editor” Bea Mahaffey (among others), glossing over her significant accomplishments in the field to focus on her looks. In issue 201, CJ Henderson praised Barbie for maintaining “quiet dignity the way a woman should.” But things really blew up with issue 202, in which Resnick and Malzberg responded to mounting criticism by crying about censorship.

There’s been a great deal written about this in the blogosphere and fan press in the past month (Charlie Jane Anders at io9 has an excellent round-up), but I think Benjamin Rosenbaum put it best in his June 3 open letter “Dear Barry & Mike“:

It takes a certain kind of willful blindness not to get that slathering wolf whistles all over your tribute to women editors of years past might piss off… well, pretty much anyone born after 1960.

It’s not that we don’t know how it was when you guys came up. We know that back in the day, talking loudly about Andre Norton looking good in a bathing suit was supposed to be a gracious compliment about which she should be merrily grateful… We know this. We get it. We can make the imaginative leap to your context.

What upsets me, though, is that you apparently can’t make the imaginative leap to our context. You apparently don’t get that talking about how hot an editor is in a skirt — not in a love letter or a roast or an autobiographical reminiscence, mind you, but… in the central house organ of her writers’ organization — is, for us, kind of disgusting…

And then, honestly guys, the confused ramble about censorship?… That’s just painful. Like, if you say something that sucks, and we tell you it sucks, that’s… censorship? Stalinism?

SFWA President John Scalzi issued an apology to readers of the SFWA Bulletin on June 2.

A Review of Osprey’s Dragonslayers

A Review of Osprey’s Dragonslayers

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Dragonslayers: From Beowulf to St. George
Mythsandlegends_DragonslayersBy Joseph McCullough
Osprey (80 pages, May 2013, $17.95)

Osprey is justly famous for its Men-at-Arms series. Probably almost everyone who’s a military history buff, historical gamer, or historical fiction writer has at least heard of the series, which illustrates the arms, armor, capabilities and customs of different forces from different eras in extremely well-researched detail. Need to know just how fast the Mongolian cavalry from the era of Genghis Khan moved, or what they ate on the ride? Curious to find out more about the forces from the 2nd Punic war? The Men-at-Arms series is a crucial stop.

Now Osprey is advancing its standard of excellence into new territory. Its Myths and Legends line strives to bring the same sterling level of research to fantasy and myth. Several weeks ago, Osprey sent me the first book of their new series, Dragonslayers.

It’s different from the older Men-At-Arms series books on my shelves in that it’s more profusely and colorfully illustrated, but the information is just as thorough and well presented. I have to admit that I wasn’t initially that curious about the subject matter, but writer Joe McCullough pulled me right in to both the tales I was already familiar with and the sagas of dragonslayers unfamiliar to me, which is no small feat considering how busy I’ve been. It’s pretty impressive that such a small book can pack in so much information, and make it engaging besides.

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What is SHE Doing Here?

What is SHE Doing Here?

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AthenaWhen I was growing up, Athena was my favourite goddess. What’s not to like? She springs fully-armed from the head of Zeus. She’s the goddess of Wisdom, as well as the goddess of War – oh, and the Liberal Arts. Except for that silly apple of discord episode, she’s the perfect role model for a young girl.

The thing is, when I was growing up, and there were only male heroes in the type of story I liked to read, it didn’t really bother me. When you have nothing else to compare it to, the world you have seems normal. For some reason, I didn’t feel excluded, nor did I feel that women couldn’t be the hero. I just thought no one had written those stories yet. See, all the writers seemed to be men, so I guess I figured that explained it. Certainly all the stories I made up to tell my friends had female leads. Swashbuckling, sword-wielding female leads.

Nowadays we tend toward using words like “protagonist” and “main character” rather than “hero,” and I think that’s to avoid the connotations that come along with the word. For some reason, when people say “hero,” they think it means some flawless gem of humanity. Well, maybe there were some of those, somewhere along the way, but if so, I never read about them. Every hero I’ve personally encountered, from Oedipus to Iron Man, is flawed – some even have a “tragic flaw” that results in their undoing.

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Blogging Dan Barry’s Flash Gordon, Part Two

Blogging Dan Barry’s Flash Gordon, Part Two

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2520373-ama1ggpb1542“The Butterfly Men” was artist Dan Barry and writer Harvey Kurtzman’s follow-up to “The City of Ice” and was published by King Features Syndicate from June 16 to August 9, 1952. The storyline is simple sci-fi hokum, but of a type not previously seen in the series. Flash and Queen Marla materialize on the planet Tanium in the Alpha Centauri system. Of course, it is sheer luck that has brought them to the same planet that Dale and the crew of the X-3 have journeyed to in their quest for the missing Dr. Carson. It is also sheer coincidence that Flash and Marla are met by Ray Carson, the doctor’s young son who broke away from the crew of the X-3 in his eagerness to search for his father. The trio reaches the X-3 only to discover the ship deserted with disturbing telltale signs of a struggle, including Dale’s torn, bloodstained clothing.

Weakened by their hunger and thirst, they scour the barren landscape where they encounter a giant insect. Marla shoots the creature with a heat ray, although Flash is convinced it is harmless. The wounded creature limps off and spins a cocoon around its injured body. The visitors then see the strange sight of giant butterflies with the bodies of men descending upon them from the air. The butterfly men are the dominant life form of Tanium and are the adult form of the strange giant insects following their natural metamorphosis.

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Goth Chick News: Joe Hill Takes Us for a Ride in a Vampire Rolls Royce

Goth Chick News: Joe Hill Takes Us for a Ride in a Vampire Rolls Royce

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NOS4A2_coverJoseph Hillstrom King, eldest son of Stephen King and better known by his pen name Joe Hill, released his third novel NOS4A2 back on April 30th.  And though I was clutching it possessively in my hot little hands that very same day, I did not to rush to tell you about it.

I was instead preparing to take one for the team.

Hill’s first two outings, Horns and Heart Shaped Box were so amazingly entertaining, so thoroughly well written, and hold such esteemed places in my personal library that I felt there was more than a fair chance that Hill could not maintain this level of performance for a third time. I was prepared to be magnanimous; to assume that pressured by his publisher to stop spending so much time on his comic (Locke and Key) and crank out another best seller, Hill might have caved and produced something along the lines of From a Buick 8.

Never heard of it?

Most people haven’t: that’s because a similar scenario happened to Hill’s dad back in 2002.

So rather than tell you to run out and buy it based on the merit of its two older siblings, I took NOS4A2 home to vet it myself and potentially spend some time figuring out how to tell you not to bother.

Instead today, sixty pages from finishing NOS4A2, I’m not even waiting to see how it all turns out before I tell you yes – bother.  Do it now and without worrying about the sheer size of the thing or how you’re going to find the time.  Get it and curl up somewhere comfortable because you’re not going to be moving much for quite a while.

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Get the Latest on D&D Next from… Forbes?

Get the Latest on D&D Next from… Forbes?

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Ghosts of Dragonspear CastleI’m not used to seeing the latest D&D publishing news in Forbes magazine.

I’m not crazy, right? Forbes, the house organ of American capitalism, usually reports on panic-inducing Rolex shortages, fashion trends at Goldman Sachs, and how bubbly can boost brain power. Last time I read an article about role playing in Forbes was way back in… what am I saying. I’ve never read a gaming article in Forbes.

Well, last week there were two of them. Breaking news stories, even. Stuff I didn’t know about the first D&D Next release scheduled to appear at GenCon. Here, look:

A year ago today, Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast launched a public playtest of a new edition of the classic fantasy role-playing game. Codenamed D&D Next, the rules are an ambitious redesign meant to unify four decades and five editions’ worth of players under one single system – and now fans will get to see them in print for the very first time.

To celebrate the playtest’s anniversary, Wizards of the Coast announced today that it will release a limited-edition commemorative book containing the most up-to-date D&D Next rules. Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle will be available exclusively at Gen Con 2013…

Wizards of the Coast will not say when it plans to will close the playtest and release a final version of the new rules, but many fans expect the game to be released in early to mid 2014, to coincide with the game’s 40th anniversary.

That reads like gaming journalism to me. What’s going on? Wait — the author is Forbes staffer David M. Ewalt, author of the upcoming book Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It. Is this Ewalt sneaking articles onto the Forbes website while his boss is on vacation? God, I hope so. That would be so cool.

As for Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle itself, it’s real news. Although you have to pre-order it to get a copy — and go to GenCon to pick it up — which probably means I won’t be getting one. It’s being described as more of a keepsake than a core publication (and even has places for owners to sign their copy), so it’s not a must-have. Still, it contains a big four-part adventure and the first publication of the D&D Next playtest rules, which is sure to make it a hot commodity.

Read Ewalt’s complete article here (and his second, “After A Year Playtesting A New Dungeons & Dragons, What’s Next?“), before his boss gets back from Maui and forces him to take them down.