Paperbacks at War by Justin Marriott

Once again, the Justin Marriott team has produced an in-depth look at a specific sub-genre of men’s adventure fiction, this time with an edition devoted entirely to wartime book reviews. There is a wide-range of reviews here including classic war novels, poignant we-were-there books, testosterone-fueled paperbacks, pulp yarns, and even comics. This is another must-have companion volume for those readers who dig this stuff. 

There are over 170 reviews here by knowledgeable readers. Some are authors themselves but every single one is a fan. The vast majority of this volume is devoted to the reviews, however there are a couple of extra gems including an essay by Justin Marriott focusing on the “cynical and brutal school of paperbacks in the 1970s and 80s typified by Sven Hassel and Leo Kessler” as well as a nice B&W cover gallery. The reviews are not just about the stories themselves but often include interesting information about the authors, publishers and, in the case of comics, the pencilers, colorists, etc.

Fans will want to snatch this up but I think one of the major benefits of these kind of publications are the way they can entice those readers who are unfamiliar with the sub-genre or perhaps have been flirting with diving in but are not sure where to start. There are plenty of opinions offered within these pages by knowledgeable reviewers, and of course opinions may differ. But just to read through them provides a nice education in the subject matter.

Full disclosure: I have a few reviews included in this volume but a tiny percentage of the overall content.

Highly Recommended.

Flash Gordon: Massacre in the 22nd Century by David Hagberg

Having read all six of the Flash Gordon novels written by Ron Goulart under the “Alex Raymond” name it’s time to turn my attention to another 6-book set in the Flash Gordon universe.  David Hagberg is the author this time, a fairly prolific author under a variety of pseudonyms, but almost always producing action-oriented thrillers or military fiction.  Those influences are very evident here in this first book.

I’ve done quite a bit of immersion in Flash Gordon-related media over the past six months, from books, to films, to the original 1930’s serials, and a fair number of comics.  So it is with some confidence that I can say this really is not a traditional Flash Gordon story.  It takes place in the year 2376 AD.  Flash Gordon is a Colonel in Earth’s military, and a widower for the past eight years.  Dr. Zarkov is an old man in his 80s and Dale Arden is his niece.  Not exactly “canon” if such a thing exists for these characters. One could substitute different character names for all three main characters and still have the same story.  No planet Mongo.  No Ming the Merciless, or anything else familiar to traditional Flash Gordon stories.

But despite that, I found this to be an enjoyable read.  The author brings the plot and the story aspects up to date (1980s) using technological jargon that is much more sophisticated than the older versions.  It has a sort of Star Trek feel to it.  The humans on Earth have built a “Federation” of planets for example. The term “prime directive” is used when interacting with alien civilizations. There is even a giant spaceship in the shape of a cube, 3 kilometers long on each side.  No, it’s not the Borg.  This novel predates that concept by almost a decade.

The plot involves our three characters encountering a derelict spaceship (the aforementioned cube) that had been launched from Earth 200 years previously and not expected to return.  But when they board it, they discover all crew members aboard have been murdered while in cryogenic sleep.  All but one who is missing.  But it seems the ship is being controlled by somebody or something and indeed, they are sucked into an FTL journey to a distant planet where they crash land.  Eventually they find a huge futuristic city but that also appears to be devoid of any life.  

The book does end with some answers to their questions but it is clear that this set of books will all be connected.  An actual series instead of a group of stand-alone books like the Ron Goulart ones were.

Bottom line: while clearly a new approach to the Flash Gordon saga, this was still a fun read.  The characters are one-dimensional, but I expected that.  Dale did show some feistiness at first, but this proved to be short-lived unfortunately.  She still serves as somebody to get in trouble and have to be rescued.  Flash is still the brawn of the group and Dr. Zarkov the brains.  So…maybe it’s more like the originals than I thought.  I am looking forward to book two to see where this goes and that is always a good sign.

Vampire$ by John Steakley

I really didn’t know what to expect of this novel when I first began reading it and now that I’ve finished…I’m not sure how I feel about it. It’s the story of a group of present-day mercenary vampire hunters who will clean out a nest in return for dollars. They don’t really seem to do it for the pay though so much as the idea of “somebody has to do it”. The team is led by Jack Crow and we discover during the course of the novel that he has been doing this for three years which is longer than anybody else he’s heard of. But he also knows he won’t ever win the war; there will always be more nests and he and his team can’t live forever.

These vampires are tough creatures to kill. This is not Buffy’s universe where you can simply go out on patrol, stake a few vamps here and there and call it a good night. These are horrendous monsters and it takes all of their ingenuity and teamwork just to kill the “normal” ones. When it comes to the masters, it’s a whole ‘nother level. Practically like fighting a deity. 

Parts of the novel were excellent, especially some of the fight scenes. My eyes were glued to the page to see how it would turn out. It’s like reading a hard-boiled men’s adventure story…with vampires. But other parts, unfortunately, were drawn out introspectives or flashback descriptions of a character’s past which I simply needed to plow through to hopefully get back to the good stuff again. The team members know their chances of living past the next battle are not good, so their down time is predictably crude and filled with hard drinking. Not especially fun to read about. Some of the characters are already broken, even at the beginning of the novel. I think I know what the author was trying to do with this "character building" but it didn't really work for me. 

Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers

I realized I hadn’t read a Dorothy L. Sayers novel in over 10 years and thought it high time I revisited this author and her gentleman sleuth creation, Lord Peter Wimsey. I’ve only read one previously and have been working on establishing a good baseline of golden age mysteries so of course I can’t get by with a single Lord Peter novel.

This one, first published in 1931, is the sixth in the series (although I have seen references to it being #7), and Lord Peter has been firmly established by this point. Here, while on a fishing holiday in Scotland, Wimsey takes part in the investigation of the murder of an artist. As the title suggests, there are six solid suspects, only one of which is the actual murderer, leaving five red herrings. By far, most of the book is devoted to Wimsey, and several members of the local constabulary questioning the suspects and constructing possible scenarios for how the murder was accomplished. 

Interestingly, the end of the book details a number of the official inspectors and police personnel offering very plausible scenarios for whodunnit but, of course, Lord Peter Wimsey points out the flaws in their logic and offers the correct solution. 

I found the novel to be a little tedious in places; just so many detailed clues and potentially misleading information offered by the suspects that I lost track of it all early on. Had I been a proper literary sleuth myself, I would have prepared a complex spreadsheet to record all the clues offered, who was where when, and who saw them there, and who was providing alibies for whom. Everything right down to the timetables of the trains which would prove valuable evidence indeed. But I am too lazy to do that, of course, so I let Wimsey handle that for me. 

But the conclusion was most satisfactory. I will not let another ten years pass before picking up my next Lord Peter novel.

Sheba by Jack Higgins

Henry Patterson first published ‘The Seven Pillars of Hell’ in 1963 under his Hugh Marlowe pseudonym. It was then revised and re-released in 1994 as ‘Sheba’ under his much more familiar pseudonym of Jack Higgins. It was written fairly early in his career (the 9th novel published out of over 75).

The story revolves around an early Nazi plot to blow up the Suez Canal at about the same time as the invasion of Poland. The plan would greatly hinder much of the logistical support that their foes would likely count on should they form a coalition against Nazi aggression.  That’s the big picture going on behind the scenes. However most of the story itself is centered around an American archeologist named Gavin Kane who finds himself helping a woman try to locate her missing husband in the desert of Southern Arabia. During their adventures, they locate a lost Temple of Sheba as well as encounter the group of Nazis who are planning the bombing of the Canal.

This sounds like a good pulpy Indiana Jones adventure style plot, and it is. Lost treasures, nefarious Nazi plots, tie-ins to an ancient Roman general, a touch of romance, and plenty of action-oriented fights and daring escapes combine to make this a fun ride. This is a stand-alone novel, unlike so much of Jack Higgins’ work so if you’re thinking about trying him out, this is a pretty good place to start.

The Bloody Crown of Conan by Robert E. Howard

This book compiles three of Robert E. Howard's longer Conan works, including the only full length Conan novel that he ever wrote, "The Hour of the Dragon."  It also contains "The People of the Black Circle" as well as "A Witch Shall Be Born" which contains probably the most famous scene in all of Conan literature: the one where he gets nailed to a tree, crucified really, and left to the mercy of the hungry vultures and the elements.  As the title implies, all three stories are from Conan's later days, when he is king.  

As in all of these Del Rey editions of Howard's work, the book also contains several untitled synopsis (synopses? synopsizes?), fragments, etc. as well as a thought-provoking essay on Howard and his life and times as it pertains to the included stories.

I think the noble nature of Conan really comes out in these stories, particularly in "The Hour of the Dragon".  When Conan has the opportunity to conquer a neighboring kingdom he says, "Let others dream imperial dreams. I but wish to hold what is mine.  I have no desire to rule an empire welded together by blood and fire.  It's one thing to seize a throne with the aid of its subjects and rule them with their consent.  It's another to subjugate a foreign realm and rule it by fear."  As Patrice Louinet says in the essay, "Whoever had the idea of retitling Howard's novel, 'Conan the Conqueror' had evidently not understood its theme: Conan is anything but a conqueror by nature."

Enjoyable reading and, of course, absolutely required reading for Conan enthusiasts.

Pulp Apocalypse by Justin Marriott

Once again, the Justin Marriott team has produced an in-depth look at a specific sub-genre of men’s adventure fiction, this time with an edition devoted entirely to post-apocalyptic fiction. There is a wonderful mix of topics in here, covering the full gamut and will serve as a must-have companion volume for those readers who dig this stuff. 

Features include articles covering entire series such as Traveler, Roadmaster, Endworld, Deathlands, Wasteworld, Phoenix, Swampmaster and many more. There are in depth interviews with leading authors such as Laurence James (the original James Axler who launched Deathlands), Jan Stacy (author behind The Last Ranger series and co-author of The Doomsday Warrior series), David Robbins (author of the Endworld series and Blade series not to mention the lengthy Wilderness western series). I could go on and on. Rounding things out are a look at the Prepper movement, several apocalyptic comics, and a number of single novel reviews. 

Fans will want to snatch this up but I think one of the major benefits of these kind of publications are the way they can entice those readers who are unfamiliar with the sub-genre or perhaps have been flirting with diving in but are not sure where to start. There are plenty of opinions offered within these pages by knowledgeable readers and authors, and of course opinions may differ. But just to read through them provides a nice education in the subject matter.

Full disclosure: I have a few reviews included in this volume but a tiny percentage of the overall content.

Second Generation by Howard Fast

Another page-turner by Howard Fast. Following up the first book in the series, (The Immigrants), as the title would imply, this is about the children of the Lavette family, particularly Barbara, that takes center stage this time. She makes for a good protagonist because she has trouble deciding what to do with her life and therefore tries everything under the sun. The novel takes place during the depression-era 1930s and on through World War II, so there is plenty of adventure to attract her, including several lengthy trips to foreign countries as part of her budding writing and journalism career.

But it’s not all about the younger set. There is still plenty of drama for the first generation to go through as well, particularly Dan, the main protagonist of book one. Additionally, I was surprised to see the turn that his first wife, the aristocratic Jean took, turning from a rather boilerplate character into a really interesting one.

This series continues to be a well-done portrayal of a family saga of immigrants wrestling with the tumultuous events of America in the 20th century.  Some seek wealth or power while others seek purpose in life. Some achieve their goals while others miss the mark. Some lives are cut short. But always, the plot remains unpredictable.

Happily, there are several more books in the series, as I’ve become attached to the characters and am anxious to see what happens next. For me that's just about the highest praise I can offer.

The Loner (Edge Series) by George G. Gilman

Being the first novel of the lengthy "Edge" series I suppose you could look at this as the origin story for the rest of the books. But really that is covered in the first couple of chapters as Captain Josiah Hedges returns from the Civil War to his family farm in Iowa only to discover that his little brother had been brutally murdered.  Josiah's vendetta towards the five men who did it (who also served under his command in the Union Army) drives him into becoming the killer character we all know and love as "Edge".

Most of the novel is, predictably, about Edge following the trail of the five men, getting into brief bits of trouble along the way, and eventually catching up to them in Arizona Territory. The finale is a nice payoff and serves well to set up the rest of the series. 

This is my first "Piccadilly Cowboy" western, a moniker shared by a handful of British authors in the 1970's and 80's who themselves never set foot in America. Terry Harknett, the author behind the George G. Gilman pseudonym was the most successful of all. I'm happy I finally took the plunge into the Edge series. More will certainly follow.

Ambush! by Steve Mackenzie

Kevin D. Randle has more than 80 books to his credit, mostly in the field of UFOs where today, he is considered a prominent expert. But in the 1980’s he wrote a series of 14 novels about US Navy SEALS in Vietnam under the pseudonym, Steve MacKenzie. In Vietnam, Randle piloted UH-1 helicopters based at Cu Chi, and Tay Ninh. His knowledge and experience in Vietnam and later in Iraq is evident in this series.

This first novel in the series opens with US Navy Lieutenant Mark Tynan having trained up a new group of SEALs in preparation for action during the Vietnam conflict. But he knows there is no substitute for real combat in a wartime situation so he prepares a sort of “final exam”, infiltrating enemy lines and ambushing a small group of VC. While their mission is a success, they uncover what appears to be a large surprise operation in Hobo Woods to take out Fire-Support Base Crockett. Tynan’s attempts to warn his superiors fall on deaf ears; seems the intel folks don’t like to pass on unsubstantiated rumors. So Tynan takes his squad of rookies along with a couple of experienced SEALS and attempt to scuttle the surprise VC action before it can get started.

I really enjoyed this novel, far more than I expected to. LT Tynan demonstrates excellent leadership skills time and again and his SEALS are extremely competent warriors, although they aren’t perfect. In typical SEAL fashion, they implement creative solutions rather than brute force firepower. But when it’s called for, the military action is intense. Not all of the characters make it through the culminating battle but I’m looking forward to book two to see what’s next for the survivors.

Voyagers: Twelve Journeys Through Space and Time by Robert Silverberg

Robert Silverberg is well known as a grand master of science fiction and while he has written in other genres, it is his science fiction tales that have made him a legend. With a career spanning more than 60 years, his longevity is matched only by his productivity. From 1956 to 1959, he routinely averaged five published stories a month, and he had over 80 stories published in 1958 alone. While his novels have garnered much acclaim, I believe it is his short stories and novellas (his favorite form) that have propelled him into the stratosphere. 

This collection of 12 stories provides excellent examples from his body of work, traversing most of his career.  The theme is, obviously “voyaging” or “traveling” in one form or another. Silverberg himself is an experienced world traveler, and many of these tales reflect ideas he first garnered on his own journeys. These stories reflect various concepts of “voyaging” such as travelling to the far corners of the universe, time travelling, or even travelling into the depths of one’s own soul. They have all appeared in published form before, often in magazines such as “Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine”, “Amazing Stories”, or in various anthologies. Each story includes a nice introduction by the author describing how and when it came to be.

Over the past few years, I have been straying further and further away from my youthful love of science fiction. Lured away by other interesting genres perhaps or maybe just choosing poor samples. Often, I seem to run into science fiction stories that sacrifice good storytelling (characterization, plotting, pacing, etc.) in favor of too much detail. Many times, it seems authors are more interested in trying to show how smart they are than in telling a good story. Happily, this collection is not like that. Here, Silverberg displays his range, showing different styles, different levels of “hard science”. There are a couple of ‘literary’ examples here as well as less serious yarns but always, always, there is a good, compelling story that kept me turning the pages. I am pleased to say that it has reignited that feeling I once had about science fiction and I plan to dive into the genre more readily in the future than I have for quite some time.

Highly recommended.