Pulp Books

'Bow Grip' is an exceptionally well-crafted debut novel in which the author, Ivan E. Coyote accomplished to weave the silk and cotton threads of her sentences to create a vibrant tapestry of chapters.
The story introduces appealing and intriguing folks that one might know as neighbours, friends or relatives who modestly unfold propelled by the author's impeccable observation skills and refreshing sense of humour.
Like a passenger on a bus touring gently rolling prairie hills, the reader stays connected to these compassionate characters, the heart-warming language and ordinary yet idyllic scenery page after page and realizes that it just plain feels good to root for the protagonist, Joey.
He is a car mechanic in his forties who gets a kick-start towards a major challenge by trading a beat-up Volvo for a cello. Witnessing Joey's journey might bring back the belief in all of us who thread our way to catch a dream.
Already accumulated accolades for this book: Winner of the 2007 ReLit Award for Best Novel, Shortlisted for the 2007 Ferro-Grumley Award for Women's Fiction and an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book.
Watch for more from the author who may be destined to loop sky-high in the literary horizon.

I am going to read everything this woman writes - yeah, everybody in this story smokes, but I thought that was just a Canadian thing. Rather unconventional tale of a man finding himself, graceful and full of hope.

While you do develop an affection for the lead character, and are pulling for him to make this journey of self-discovery in garages, blue collar restaurants, motels, "artists lofts", and rooms where he is offered herbal teas, the plot seems right out of a college sophomore writing seminar. The supporting characters have little nuance. It may be telling that almost every important "scene" has each and every character smoking cigarettes in the same way... I almost thought it was a deep literary device, but by the 20th scene like this it emerges as reliance on technique, just like when sloppy actors use cigarettes to disguise that they really don't know who their characters are. But it's got attempted suicide, dogs, death of parents, lesbian chic, white trash love, lonely gay men, and is better than TV and you can read it in just a few hours.

At first I only had this product in PDF form, and I now have the print version. Now that you have that perspective, I can begin the review.

I applaud Hyrum for making a Modern/Pulp setting based off of D&D. Not that there's anything wrong with d20 Modern, per se, I just feel that basing it off D&D is better for this particular setting.

Psionics: As a long time role player, I have seen several versions of psionic mechanics ranging from the AD&D2E Psionics handbook, to the skills and feats method presented here. I like the idea of being able to improve on abilities with some effort, and thus I'd have to say that FK's treatment of psionics is thus-far my favorite for a D&D-rooted setting. Especially the Advanced Psionic Skills section, where you need to meet prerequisites before you can even purchase the skill.

Hero Points: they serve a similar function to Action Points in d20 Modern, though the effect is different. I do like they advantage they give if you don't feel the need to spend them in a given level, and I like that they "reset" at each level. IMO that is one flaw of Action Points in d20 Modern, if they are not spent, or minimally spent, they continue to grow arbitrarily high. I've never been a fan of "sitting numbers".

Martial Arts: The idea of Martial Arts as a skills and feats system is not something new to me. I have seen it used to good effect in both volumes of Blood & Fist, as well as in Oriental Adventures.

Firearms Rules: Now here's something I really like. Build your gun, from the ground up. Added mechanics that I think really improve this section are: Accuracy, Penetration, and Recoil. Guns should be a bit better at accuracy than archaic ranged weapons. Since armor grants a Protection - it's like Damage Reduction - and reduces defense in Forbidden Kingdoms, this acts as an "armor piercing" rating for determining damage once your round(s) hit. Recoil . . . yeah, guns give you feedback. The more feedback you get, the lower the accuracy modifier. Sure, they only give you two example guns in this section, but with all the creation rules, it's more than enough. I especially liked the Showdown rules. Additional firearms statistics are given in the Equipment chapter.

Weird Science: Mostly useful for Steampunk and Tesla Time, although if you work outside the suggested timeline, there's no reason you couldn't create a character similar to Doc Brown from Back to the Future. An example item and weapon or two would have been a nice addition.

Aside from a few editing problems, the only other thing that detracts from this work is what seems like edition confusion. On the lists of class skills, some are based in D&D 3.0, others in D&D 3.5, and still others have both, giving this an "edition 3.25" feel.

For the printed format, I must say that I like the shape and size of the book. Having gaming books take up most of your section of the table has been a hassle in the past.

First things first: The FK-book comes in a nice and handy format with high quality illustrations. I wish other publishers would consider the same format. It is an easier read in the comfy chair, and does not take up the entire gaming table.

The chapters on the steam-punk and nazi-thug ages are most entertaining, setting the scenery and delivering some good points of inspiration. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with new and daring RPGs, there is a lack of ready-for-use adventures. Some stating adventures would be nice, especially since such are hard to find and otherwise would require a lot of GM-work. A user-friendly chapter with NPC-templates, locations and artifacts, similar to the D20 Modern Menace Manual would be a nice addition. Maybe even a time-line? The Cthulhu 3rd edition is a good example of an RPG with a lot of extra material for setting the stage.

The book contains all I would ever need on firearms, psionics and martial arts. Good. The weird science chapter could do with some examples ready for use in play, like war-of-the-worlds tripods, ray-weapons and rocket-packs...

The character classes are well done, and the dividing of hit-points into stamina and wound points is smartly done as well. The game clearly stresses simplicity, but inadverdently seems to appease the more reality-seeking gamers bent on detail and rules. The rules for auto-chases are much to burdensome in my opinion. Perfect for Car Wars but not for storytelling, counting reaction time seconds and rounds...

And, yes... Unfortunately the editing is sloppy. For instance: Some page references are simply "XX".

All in all: FK makes a good impression! It has some minor faults, but gives me a good basis for pulp adventuring. It is a book to build on. A revision would be nice, so long as the handy size and quality binding is kept in place. Far too many RPG books fall apart at the seems after a few flicks.

I would have never picked up this book, save that I won it at the 2002 GEN CON "Jenn Khan" contest.

Yes, it's 40 dollars, but I must highly recommend it once they make a revised edition.

8 new character classes are presented, and none are weak. It even includes two classes that use psionics; a psionic system far superior to the one that TSR published. The new prestige class are also wonderful. And the new skills would push this book up to 6 stars, especially with the stats fpor early 1900's cars and weapons.

Sadly, I could only rate this a 4, simply to the ABSOLUTELY SLOPPY editing. WHoever edited this thing should be burned in effigy. Many class description are worded purely. (One entire class does not have its benefits described; just the titles.) Numerous references to "page xx" were left in.

Still, I am looking forward to more stuff printed in this series. They just need to cut back on the price and get a new editor, stat.

There might not be any substantive proof that Edgar Rice Burroughs read "Gullivar of Mars" before he started writing his own classic Barsoom series, but if you have read "A Princess of Mars" and "The Gods of Mars" then you would have to conclude ERB did read this 1905 Edwin L. Arnold novel. Of course, Arnold owes a debt to H. G. Wells and "The Time Machine" as well, not to mention Jonathan Swift, but it is the connection with ERB that has managed to keep this book in print, and deservedly so as far as I am concerned.

The basic story of "Gullivar of Mars" is that Lt. Gullivar Jones magically ends up on Mars and travels around the Red Planet trying to rescue the beautiful Princess Heru. The villain is the evil Ar-Hap, who is trying to conquer Seth, the city of the beautiful Hither folk. Originally published in 1905 as "Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation," at the time the comparisons to Swift's satire would have been clear, while from our vantage point the parallels to Burroughs are glaringly obvious. However, Gullivar Jones is nowhere near being a hero in the mold of John Carter. He certainly tries a lot, but like the original Gullivar he does not have much luck.

Keep in mind that this novel was written in 1905 and that Arnold would have been quite familiar with the utopian tradition represented by not only Swift, but Samuel Butler's "Erewhon," Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward: 2000-1887," and other late 19th-century works where a traveler to a distant place (or time) experiences a strange new world. There are more adventure elements in Arnold's story, to be sure, but there is also a stronger sense of satire than you would find in most Burroughs pulp fiction yarns (with a few notable exceptions mostly to be found in his Venus series). With the Hither folk as lazy but sensual people, who have forgotten the knowledge and the slaves that built their advances socieites, Arnold certainly seems to be making a political point. The Hither seem like nice folk, but this is not a good society. Meanwhile, the "bad" guys, the Thither people, exhibit much more human compassion towards the strange visitor from another planet. Then there is Gulliver, who has no doubts about his superiority to both races and who actually claims part of Mars for the U.S.

Still, this novel will also remind you of a serial, where the hero has a series of adventures, one after another. Of those it is the idea of the River of Death that really stands out (the dead are floated down the river, which has some interesting effects the more up river Gullivar travels). This would be a fairly interesting science fiction adventure on its own terms, but the obvious connections with the Burroughs novels makes this the most interesting non-ERB novel ERB fans could read. This edition in the Bison Frontiers of Imagination Series offers a introduction by Richard Lupoff and an afterword by Gary Hoppenstand, which put "Gullivar of Mars" in its appropriate literary contexts with regards to both the genre and the times.

Gullivar of Mars (1905) by Edwin Lester Arnold - 193 pages - rating: 8.0/10

More than just a swashbuckling adventure, although much adventure there is, Gullivar of Mars is an intelligent blend of high fantasy, gothic horror and epic romantic voyage.

The writing style is classic English which does require a few pages to become accustomed to, but only a few. Once done the reader will find its unique flare to be particularly engaging and enjoyable rather than a burden.

Many suggest that Gullivar of Mars, which was written some 8 years prior to Edgar Rice Burrough's A Princess of Mars (1913), had a significant influence on the popular Burroughs novel, but you will find little similarity in style or plot. The two novels are entirely different with the exception perhaps of the location of events. I must quickly admit that A Princess of Mars remains one of my favorites of all time.

Gullivar of Mars is an excellent novel that flows smoothly and will surprise and delight you in ways you will not expect.

Claus Kellermann
2006 February 20
Sci_Fi_Researcher@yahoo.com

This is an early science fiction novel that was originally published in 1905. It is about an American Naval Lieutenant, Gullivar Jones, who takes a magic carpet to Mars. It is somewhat reminiscent of the works of H.G. Wells, specifically The Time Machine. That is to say, in both books the protagonist encounters two seperate races, one peaceful and one violent. Anyway, this is a pretty entertaining book. It features an intriguing blend of science fiction, quest fantasy and gothic horror. There is also a fair amount of humor in it. Fans of early science fiction should give it a read.

"The Seventh and last Pentacle of the Sun from the Key of Solomon is for freeing those unjustly imprisoned: If any be by chance imprisoned or detained in fetters of iron, at the presence of this Pentacle, which should be engraved in Gold on the day and hour of the Sun, he will be immediately delivered and set at liberty."

In 1993, three eight-year-olds were found dead in the Robin Hood Hills of West Memphis, Arkansas. For months, the police had no leads, until a local "expert" decided that the murders looked similar to a Satanic ritual. Instantly, the police began to seek out suspects fitting that description. Enter Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr., the teenagers who would come to be known as the West Memphis Three. Due to their preference for black clothing, and their interests in heavy metal music, horror novels, and the occult, they were branded as Satanists.

After an intense twelve-hour interrogation, Misskelley confessed to the killings and pointed the finger at Echols as the ringleader (he later recanted). No physical evidence of any kind was ever entered into evidence, or even sought, and what little physical evidence there was at the scene was destroyed. (Read Burk Sauls' "California to West Memphis in Ten Years" for full details; Sauls is a co-founder of Free the West Memphis Three.)

There, but for the grace of God, go I.... In fact, almost any writer could empathize. Writing is by its nature a "weird" profession. After all, why would someone want to be alone with their own thoughts -- on purpose! -- and then presume that someone else would find those thoughts interesting enough to pay money for them? It is undoubtedly this identification -- as well as (as Anderson and Savory put it in their afterword) "the fundamental wrongness of the situation" -- that brought this particular group of writers together in support of this cause. Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Poppy Z. Brite, James Hetfield of Metallica, comedian Margaret Cho, and at least a dozen others, some of the top names in the horror genre, have donated their time and their craft to this anthology, and all of its proceeds from The Last Pentacle of the Sun go to benefit the Damien Echols Legal Defense Fund (Echols is the only one condemned to Death Row).

The lyrics to the title track of Metallica's ...And Justice for All set the tone, and Barker's striking illustrations are peppered throughout, keeping that tone consistent. The introduction is by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, who are probably the ones most repsonsible for keeping this case in the public eye with their series of documentaries (Paradise Lost: the Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, and a third in the making). They are pretty straightforward and this piece is akin to a personal essay. Fiction and non-fiction are evenly distributed, with most of the non-fiction pieces being similar personal responses to the injustice of the situation. In fact, many of the contributors opted for this form, making a good portion of The Last Pentacle of the Sun feel a trifle redundant when read straight through without a break.

A few highlights shine through, though, one being Philip Jenkins' very persuasive "Weird Tales: The Story of a Delusion," which poses the idea that the modern perception of Satanic sults come not from actual records, but from the fiction of the 1920s, specifically that of Herbert Gorman and H.P. Lovecraft. Also, Devil's Knot author Mara Leveritt crafts an open letter to Damien Echols' favorite authors asking them for action instead of the silence that has accompanied these choices being used as "evidence" against him. Otherwise, it's the fiction that really saves the day here. Peter Straub's bookend pieces, "She Saw a Young Man" and "Then One Day She Saw Him Again" are so appropriate as to be downright creepy, given that they were collected in Houses with Doors years before any of this even occurred. Then again, prejudice against the different is not new.

Most of the authors were inspired by the subject matter. Several great stories came from this. Paul G. Tremblay offers up a tale of snap judgments with "All Sliding to One Side" and Elizabeth Massie's "Pisspot Bay" paints a portrait of assumed guilt, only with the happy ending that so far eludes Damien, Jason, and Jessie. Simon Logan's "You Have to Know This" continues with an observation of personal prejudice of the sort felt by the Three and Gerard Houarner shows how "The Three Strangers" dressed in black are responsible for a small-town killing spree. Additionally, Adam Roberts offers up a particular form of poetic justice in "The Afterlives of SweetDeath." Bentley Little's "We Find Things Old" takes a different road, however, with a completely uninspired tale. It has an excellent and engaging voice but is lacking when it comes to actual plot execution. (Perhaps I've just read too many "haunted object" tales, but I was surprised that it was chosen for Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 18.)

Given the theme and tone of most of The Last Pentacle of the Sun, it's surprising that it is not simply a dark and depressing read with no positive qualities to recommend it. There is, instead, sense of hope throughout that the tables will eventually turn and the Three will be vindicated. Still, this is not a book that should be devoured in one sitting. I would recommend, instead, grazing a few pieces at a time. This will give the reader a chance to savor each piece on its own merits, and will help to avoid injustice overload.

LAST PENTACLE is a compelling mix of fiction and non-fiction, with all money going to the West Memphis Three Defense Fund. Among the standouts were Michael Marano's "Changeling", Paul G. Tremblay's "All Sliding to One Side", Simon Logan's "You Have to Know This" and Scott Nicholson's "Carnival Knowledge". Pick this one up. Not only is it a great read, it supports a good cause.

Last Pentacle is an anthology of excellent fiction and generally lackluster nonfiction. Setting the pace for the fiction is eight pages of horror artwork by Clive Barker. There are excellent stories by such leading horror authors as Poppy Z. Brite, Gerard Houarner, Simon Logan and Peter Straub.

On the other hand, the nonfiction is generally poor. This is because this volume was intended as advocacy for a trio of convicted murderers. Generally, the nonfiction writers are off the mark in that they portray the convicted trio as being framed because they had strange lifestyles and interests. In reality, they were arrested first due to eyewitness reports, a confession and other evidence.

Although it is not legally mandated for prosecutors to prove a motive, the prosecutors chose to use the 3 defendants interest in Satanism as their motive for killing three little boys. Basically, the prosecution charged that the boys were slain in a Satanic ritual and there was evidence at the scene that lent credence to the notion that the killing was part of a Satanic ritual. An outside expert was brought in and his analysis confirmed the prosecutor's suspicions.

However, there is one excellent nonfiction piece in this volume. This is Philip Jenkins's piece on 1920's pulp horror fiction. Jenkins argues that modern ideas of Satanism derive more from horror stories by such writers as Herbert Gorman and H.P. Lovecraft than from the historical record or religious writings.

Basically, this is a volume of excellent fiction coupled with nonfiction that basically misses the mark. Due to the high price of this volume, you would be well advised not to buy it at its cover price, but to look for it at your local library or second hand bookshop.

I've always been interested in what it would be like to be a millionaire. Well now I know. Lottery winners aren't always REAL winners, some are wieners. But it is the writing of Gudgeon and Stewart that really made this book an enjoyable read for anyone. Few writers (think Dave Barry) possess the combination of razor wit and warm humour like Gudgeon and Stewart. This book is like a lottery ticket - you can't win if you don't have it.

A fast, funny read that told me everything I wanted to know about lotteries, their winners and losers - and then some. Part history, part comedy, this book was always entertaining and engaging. A great gift for anyone who plays the lottery or who just enjoys a good, easy read.

For those of us who long to win the lottery and to prove wrong those who say money can't bring happiness, The Luck of the Draw will disappoint.

I waited a long time for this book to arrive at my local bookstore, almost as long as I've been waiting to hit a lottery jackpot. (That still hasn't happened.) I was disappointed when I finally sat down to read it. The authors jump from story to story within paragraphs, many starting with "So-and-so of Middle of Nowhere, Kansas, found out that what glitters isn't always gold." Rarely do they go in-depth into what it is really like to win a lottery. They interviewed many winners, it seems, but haven't been told much beyond the moment the winners discover they've won the jackpot and pick up their tickets. Most of the people who win lotteries do the same thing with their earnings: buy a new car, a new house, settle debts, go on a trip. Then they disappear from sight. Who cares! Buy lottery tickets instead of this book -- you'll be happier even if none of the tickets is a winner.

It was a breathe taking story which shows that even the most common person is capeable of discovering the truth behind a mysterious case.The story was the best I've read in years and should be one of the most populare stories Poe has ever writen.Not only does he leave the person reading the book amaized but, he leaves them terrified about the horrible things that life has to offer us.It just comes to show you never under estimate the power of the beast you don't of what might come.And by reading my reveiw you'll know that Poe has left another person amaised by what can happen to one when they least expect it .

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is the short story I read, but it was not from this edition. I have the Barnes & Noble Penguin 60s Classics edition, which contains only this story. While short, this story clearly has a climax, resolution, and all other fundamentals that would be expected within a novel. The two main characters are clearly fashioned like Sherlock Holmes and his deductive investigating methods (Dupin) and his at times duped companion Watson (the unnamed narrator at times). While I found the first 6 pages humdrum, since it only explained the analytical method of thinking (Dupin's way of thinking), and then Dupin's tedious soliloquies about how the murder may have been committed rather drably, the actual explanation of the crime is what caught my attention. I did expect more morbid images, since this is, in fact, Poe. An entertaining short story. I recommend.

Poe is rightly acknowledged as the granddaddy of detective fiction and collected here is the proof. In these stories he gave us the basic devices of an entire genre: the genius detective and his sidekick, the locked room mystery, cyphers, royal spies, and the rigorous logic of arm-chair detection. However, the problem with pioneering a genre is that, forever after, your pioneering work is going to look rather amateurish. And this, unfortunately, is the case with Poe: his Auguste Dupin stories may well have given birth to modern detective fiction, but alongside the works they inspired they are little more than historically interesting artifacts - and ultimately rather dull ('The Murders in the Rue Morgue' excepted). It is simply not possible for us to experience these stories today with anything like the freshness they would have had for their original readers. So if you're looking for really great stories, look elsewhere. But if, on the other hand, you're seeking the historical origins of detective fiction, then your mystery has just been solved.

The complete Konjaku Monogatari is indeed a "huge multi-volume text," as the last reviewer states; but the selection is certainly NOT "rather unorthodox." Professor Ury based her translations on the standard 5-volume text of the Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei (NKBT) series, and her selections are carefully proportionate to the four main divisions into which the thirty-one "chapters" of stories are classified: "Tales of India," "Tales of China,""Tales of Buddhism in Japan," and "Secular Tales of Japan." It should be noted that the famous "Tale of Genji" in the same series also occupies 5 volumes. (A quick check by ruler shows the Konjaku to be the larger of the two!)

In her 5 + 25 page introduction Ury provides the reader with a concise but very detailed and well-informed analysis of the setsuwa genre, as well as the contents, sources, religious beliefs, and a select bibliography of important Western and Japanese works on the Konjaku. It could not have been better written. Ury's Tales has been the standard introduction in English to the Konjaku since it was first published in 1979, and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future.

[It seems very likely, based on the following note which came to my attention, that Yoshiko Kurata Dykstra, another prominent scholar of setsuwa, may already have published a COMPLETE translation of the Konjaku:

--- The Konjaku Tales: from a Medieval Japanese Collection. 5 vols. Intercultural Research Institute monograph series no. 17-18, 23, 25, 27. Osaka: Kansai University of Foreign Studies, 1986-. Complete translation: Indian Section, Part 1/Part 2; Chinese Section; Japanese Section, Part 1/Part 2. ---

I cannot verify this sketchy information and have asked Amazon for help. Unfortunately, a work published in Osaka may have difficulty finding its way into normal distribution channels in the West.]

The text of Ury's translation is 199 pages (including the 25-page introduction and a number of illustrations from a Japanese edition of 1720) in a convenient handbook measuring 8 1/2" X 5 1/2", with Footnotes actually at the FOOT of the page. It is hard to understand how one reader finds this book to be "very long and sometimes hard to follow," and, indeed "extremely long." A small paperback of 199 pages?

I recommend this book enthusiastically and without reservation!

Tales of Times Now Past: Sixty-Two Stories From a Medieval Japanese Collection (Michigan Classics in Japanese Studies, No. 9) , by Marian Ury, was a very long and sometimes hard to follow book. Although the basic outline of all the stories was good, and the actual tales themselves were rather interesting, the process by which they were written gets confusing at times, and with how extremely long this book is, confusion should not be an issue. I personnaly found this book good for long trips and rainy days, and once you get past the sometimes strange wording, the whole magic of the myths seem to overcome. However, don't read for more than 2 hours at a time-- you'll get a headache.

I haven't taken the time yet to compare the translations to the Japanese versions,but going just on memory the translations appear to be pretty good.

Of course there are some things I would have translated differently. For example, in many cases the word "daija" (literally "big snake") should be translated into English as "dragon" (even though it's commonly used in modern Japanese for its literal meaning). But this is something that a translator probably wouldn't know unless they were a student of Japanese cryptozoology.

The Konjaku Monogatari is a huge multi-volume text. The first chapters involve Indian tales, the next few chapters involve Chinese tales, and the second half is devoted to Japanese tales. The really interesting thing about stories reported in the Japanese tales, is not that they were all supposedly "true stories", but rather the fact that they involved not only tales told by the aristocrasy or the clergy, but also tales told amongst the peasants.

(My favorite, volume 27, is devoted to ghost stories.)

It is of serious interest to anyone interested in ancient Japanese folkore and thought patterns.

It is difficult to find translations into Enlish, or even into Modern Japanese. For this reason alone, a true Japanophile should grab any translation they can get their hands on for the collector's value alone.

In regards to the story selection of this book, I must say it's rather unorthodox. Most translations of the Konjaku into English or Modern Japanese focus exclusively on the stories from Japan. The idea here is that people interested in Indian or Chinese stories would rather read them directly from Indian or Chinese sources. OTOH, the author's story selection could still prove to be of use to people who are trying to study the spread of Indian and Chinese legends to Japan. However, people looking just for Japanese folkore could be disappointed in this purchase if not forewarned.

Elizabeth McClung's ZED is a marvel. For a debut novel it is astonishingly assured and competent. Perhaps the best first novel I have read since Iain Banks' THE WASP FACTORY. Too much of Canadian fiction is tired, mannered and moribund. ZED is years beyond the usual Can-Lit tapioca that passes for our national literature. Her 13-year old protagonist is tough, likable, a survivor in a world full of adult monsters. Set almost entirely within the confines of an unnamed apartment building in an unnamed city, ZED is claustrophobic, terrifying and, gulp, at times very, very funny. Filled with fascinating characterizations and unforgettable imagery. Published by a small press on Canada's West Coast but I predict there are bigger things ahead for Ms. McClung. She has, as they say, all the right stuff.

I wanted to like--no, love--this book. The subject matter--a 12-year-old surviving in a not-so-far-fretched dystopian--is exciting and potentially unnerving; much of the writing is tersely evocative and dryly humorous. But there's something self-indulgent about many of the writer's choices, from plotting to description to character development.
Take the title character, Zed. Tough, orphaned, living by her wits, Zed has numerous predecessors in literature (Pippi Longstocking, Dido Twite, Deenie Gauthier, to name just three). But whereas those characters were all given a backstory to help explain in part what makes them tick, author McClung doesn't feel the need to do that with Zed. We have no idea how she ended up in the Bosch-like nightmare of a tower block that is her home, how she learned to read somewhat, why Luc (the evil genius-cum-Danny Zuko of the building) is so avuncular toward her for most of the book, and how she became the scrounger that she is. We're expected to take McClung's word for all of this, which makes it tough to care too deeply about Zed.
McClung also seems to have decided that there was no need to describe visuals, though she's more generous when it comes to describing odors. Is there a reason we don't know what Zed or Luc look like?
Then there are the plot points and details that aren't true to even the fictional reality. Early on Zed is described as looking younger than 12, largely because she doesn't get three square meals a day. How, then, does she muster up the strength to take down bulky grown men hired as bodyguards/bruisers, let alone survive some brutal torture?
This book angered me in a way few books have--but not because of the subject matter. It angered me because McClung is clearly a talent writer with a fierce imagination, but lax editing (or a lack of an editor altogether) resulted in her strengths being obscured by ther weaknesses.

The book is very simple: there is a girl and she wants to live. The book is very complex: The Tower is a world, a philosophy course and a study of human interaction. The characters are amazing and outragous in the way people become in times of desperation, the situation is desperate and the calm voice in it all is a 12 year old girl who works endlessly on how to end the day alive. It reads like it is written from the war-battered cities dotted around the world, but is instead a special corner we choose to ignore in our own cities: New York, LA, Chicago, Tornoto, Vancouver, London, Liverpool, Paris

If you like thrillers, I recommend this book. If you like literature, I recommend this book. If you like being carried along in a story to a place you never knew existed, to be returned, shaking but safe, back to your bedroom, then I recommend this book. If you want to know what russian roulette is like without having someone clean your brains off the wall, I recommend this book.

This book will make you feel things, and that's rare. It doesn't cajole you or make you misty eyed, but gives you the charge of a junkie, covered in oozing infected pus, pawing at you, demanding attention. Like it or not, you will feel things, you will care about Zed, even as you must wait, powerless to help her. If you think of yourself as a reader, maybe you think you've seen it all. Then read this.

Victorian explorer Allan Quatermain experiences memories of a previous, prehistoric incarnation. If this book were written today it'd fit right in with the New Age Noodle crowd who like to do regressions to their previous lives, besides the usual Heroic Fantasy readers who know a bang-up adventure tale when they read one.

This is the last of the 14 Allan Quatermain novels that H. Rider Haggard wrote, and completes the loosely linked quartet that began with "Allan and the Holy Flower," continued into "The Ivory Child" and then "The Ancient Allan." (A reading of these earlier books is recommended before going into this one.) In this final book, Quatermain again partakes of the taduki drug, as he did in the previous two novels, and gets to see a previous incarnation of his--when he was Wi, the leader of a small tribe during one of the Ice Ages. The story is simply written but zips along at a brisk pace. There are several terrific action set pieces: Wi's fight with Henga, the previous chief of the tribe; the trapping of the wolf pack; the fight with the sabertooth; the battle with the Redbeards; the showdown with the aurochs; and the final cataclysm. The members of the tribe are sharply and sometimes humorously drawn. (Rudyard Kipling helped Haggard with the planning of this novel.) All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and thank Pulp Fictions UK for bringing it back into print. The great bulk of Haggard's work is currently OUT of print, and that is a real shame...

This is a nice quality speciality press magazine. Full color art, mostly of pretty girls, associated with the stories. The stories themselves vary in quality, as to be expected. Some are good, some just adequate. Focus is on action and damsel in distress, tho' not exclusively. If you like pulp fiction from say 1930-1970, you'll like this

This is more a review of the entire line, which also includes Vampires 2 and Man's story 2, than it is of a single issue.

Worth a look if you like pulp fiction, I recommend it.

This magazine is a pulpy, fun read. Lovely android girls and sf action. I've been a fan of author C. C. Blake's stories since I read his 2005 Story of the Year Award winner "Chuck Cave and the Vanishing Vixen" and this issue has a far future 'descendant' (maybe) of Chuck Cave, named Rick, saving a girl from an intergalactic crime lord type. Some nice pin up style art and some fun fiction for less than 10 bucks!