Burroughs Books

I read both of these books as a boy, and always remembered how exciting The Son of Tarzan was. I was surprised, rereading The Beasts of Tarzan, at how well it continues the story started by the first two books (Tarzan of the Apes and The Return of Tarzan). If you want adventure, these first four books are, for me, the core of Tarzan. I can't say how they hold up for kids today, but its hard to imagine not liking them. And, saving the best for last, The Son of Tarzan is STILL one of my favorites! It is less well known than the Tarzan legend, and perhaps more exciting as a result.

I don't know why reading about a boy who goes from civilization to savage jungle should be less believable than an infant who was raised by apes in the first place, but somehow it is. Boroughs has to employ a number of contrivances that he didn't need in the first Tazan, simply because Tarzan's son went to the African jungle voluntarilly, albeit to escape imagined prosecution for an act of self-defense. The thing is, the boy is somehow old enough to kill a full grown man and smuggle Tarzan's ape ally into Africa, but he is not too old to learn to be an ape-man from scratch. It seemed more pure and plausible when Tarzan did it from infancy. Still, this Tarzan twin set is full of adventure and heroic good fun, and the Beasts of Tarzan is classic Boroughs. The author seems to be aging Tarzan so fast, however, that it is hard to see how he would have much left for the next dozen or so books in the series. By my estimation, Tarzan is in his late 30s at the end of Son of Tarzan. Jane is so far in the background it's hard to remember what all the fuss was about in the first two books. But Boroughs has a new romance for us in Son and that works out surprisingly well. A good rousing story that suffers from sequelitus. I still think the talking apes were some sort of long-lost australopithicines; I'd love to know the author's source materials.

I first read these books a few years ago, when I was twelve. I loved all of the Tarzan series (although Jane and Jack seem to disappear later in the series) but these two novels were my favorites. Although I already owned both books, I bought this version simply because having two of my favorite novels in one volume seemed too good to be true. I re-read these books twice a year. The action keeps coming and never lets up (this from a girl who was quickly bored with The Lord of the Rings).

There is also a sort of poetic irony that Burroughs employs. Tarzan comes from the jungle into civilization, while his son goes from civilization to the jungle. While Tarzan grew up without any sort of guidance or moral direction, he is one of the most chivalrous, honorable, and genuinely good people that I've ever encountered in any book (save the bible.) The implication is that the jungle beasts are sometimes more noble and less cruel (albeit no more gentle) than humans who should know better. Indeed, when Jack and Meriem encounter other apes, baboons, or even people, they insist that they are Great Apes and not human (and are proud of the distinction). This is furthered by the fact that the most unlikely of people (as in the ugly, filthy cook on the ship which holds Jane hostage) sometimes are the most brave and good.

Overall, these two stories are great adventures that hold something deeper for anyone who cares to look.

I have read most of these books and have found them very enjoyable.I am tring to get the whole series again to reread andfor my son's to read as well

Both of these books follow on the story begun by the 1st 2 in the series. In Beasts, the villainous Rokoff and Petrovich return to destroy Tarzan's family. His son is taken to Africa to be raised by cannibals, Jane is to receive a "fate worse than death and Tarzan is marooned on a jungle island. How Tarzan escapes and foils the schem is a well-told adventure. In Son, young Jack ends up in Africa and runs afoul of apes and slavers. Following in the footsteps of his father, he reverts to a savage stage while battling for the lives of himself and his love.

I thought that I had read all of the Tarzan books during my youth. I was exposed to the first book recently and came to realize that what I had read must have books written specifically for children. I therefore decided to read all of the books as originally written. I am part way through the series and I am enjoying them tremendously.

It took me a while to get into this book, but once Bertha Kircher really started making her presence known I was very interested.

In this novel we have the 'death' of Jane, and Tarzan's return to the jungle, but fate has other things in mind. World War I has made itself known in Africa, and Tarzan gets embroiled in things.

Bertha Kircher, is a german double agent that Tarzan is forced throughout the novel to rescue over and over again and respect as well--as she rescues him many times. He hates her though, because she is German.

I was excited with this premise because here was a man right in the middle of World War 1 setting up a very strong female and German character. However, the last page of the book ruined this for me. Because instead of being a new lesson on how there could be one good person, or something to admire in a people, it is instead about Burroughs usual schtick, on blue-blood running true.

There are a few new jungle people in this book as well, an odd tribe that is insane--Burroughs uses outdated science to describe how Tarzan and others can recognize these people's madness. Facial and scull structure, posture, etc.

This is very much a book of its time, as Burroughs was very much a man of his time. Its an interesting story and one that would be interesting to study from a social/historical stand point. But most importantly its a good adventure book.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was less than impressed with Jane as the mate for Tarzan thinking that La, the High Priestess of Opar was a better match. With the Germans making themselves international bad guys by starting the First World War, ERB took advantage of their moving against British possessions in Africa to kill off Jane in this seventh novel in the Tarzan series. "Tarzan the Untamed" was first published as a six-part serial in "The Red Book Magazine" in 1919 with the story continued as "Tarzan and the Valley of Luna" in a five-part serial in "All-Story Weekly" in 1920. The result is one of the most atypical Burroughs pulp fiction yarns, in which the standard romantic adventure has the hero (whether he is Tarzan, Korak, John Carter, David Innes, etc.) pursuing his beloved (Jane, Miriam, Dejah Thoris, etc.) across a dangerous environment (darkest Africa, Barsoom, Pellucidar, etc.). But in "Tarzan the Untamed," the hero is out for revenge. The result is arguably ERB's best Tarzan novel, past paced and with a prose style that rises above his average effort.

This is amply proven in the opening chapter. Hauptmann Fritz Schneider and his men stumble upon the estate of John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, in British East Africa in the fall of 1914. Tarzan and his son, Korak, are away, and Lady Jane does not know that war has broken out between German and the British Empire, so she welcomes them to her home. Meanwhile, Tarzan learns of the war in Nairobi and hurries home only to find the smoking ruins of his estate when he returns. Wasimbu, the son of Muviro, has been crucified on the wall, and the rest of the natives are all dead. Tarzan also finds the charred body of his wife, recognizable only the rings on her fingers. Cursing the Germans, Tarzan swears vengeance and leaves behind the trappings of civilization. During a tremendous thunderstorm, Tarzan kills a leopard, symbolizing the return of the Lord of the Jungle--and this is just the first chapter.

Tarzan heads south into German East Africa and almost immediately begins wrecking havoc on the Germans, displaying same sort of animal cunning and creative cruelty that he displayed as a youth in "Tarzan of the Apes" (and covered a bit as well in "The Jungle Tales of Tarzan"). Even encountering an entrenched German army does not stop Tarzan from getting his revenge on his enemy. Eventually he finds an English flier, Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick, who is captured by cannibals and in need of rescue, and who becomes the character who argues, rather unconvincingly I might add, for Tarzan to be civilized in his one-man war against the Germans. But nothing is going to stop Tarzan from hunting down every last one of the invaders who destroyed his home and killed his wife. Of course, the circumstances of Jane's death lead us to suspect the surprise that awaits Tarzan at the end of this adventure and which sets up the next novel, "Tarzan the Terrible."

The Tarzan series does become extremely formulaic by the time you get halfway through the twenty-four volumes, but it is worthwhile to at least make you way through the first eight volumes (maybe a bit further, especially if you like lions). "Tarzan the Terrible" is perhaps the quintessential Tarzan novel and the original "Tarzan of the Apes" is the one essential ERB novel to read, but I would agree that "Tarzan the Untamed" is the best yarn in the bunch. Final Note: Not surprisingly, this Tarzan novel was not well received in post-war Germany and effectively ended the publication of Burroughs' work in that country.

It's very good and keeps you in the plot but try not to judge it by today's standards. The language shows what we would call today bigotry, prejudice and racism

Edgar Rice Burroughs was less than impressed with Jane as the mate for Tarzan thinking that La, the High Priestess of Opar was a better match. With the Germans making themselves international bad guys by starting the First World War, ERB took advantage of their moving against British possessions in Africa to kill off Jane in this seventh novel in the Tarzan series. "Tarzan the Untamed" was first published as a six-part serial in "The Red Book Magazine" in 1919 with the story continued as "Tarzan and the Valley of Luna" in a five-part serial in "All-Story Weekly" in 1920. The result is one of the most atypical Burroughs pulp fiction yarns, in which the standard romantic adventure has the hero (whether he is Tarzan, Korak, John Carter, David Innes, etc.) pursuing his beloved (Jane, Miriam, Dejah Thoris, etc.) across a dangerous environment (darkest Africa, Barsoom, Pellucidar, etc.). But in "Tarzan the Untamed," the hero is out for revenge. The result is arguably ERB's best Tarzan novel, past paced and with a prose style that rises above his average effort.

This is amply proven in the opening chapter. Hauptmann Fritz Schneider and his men stumble upon the estate of John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, in British East Africa in the fall of 1914. Tarzan and his son, Korak, are away, and Lady Jane does not know that war has broken out between German and the British Empire, so she welcomes them to her home. Meanwhile, Tarzan learns of the war in Nairobi and hurries home only to find the smoking ruins of his estate when he returns. Wasimbu, the son of Muviro, has been crucified on the wall, and the rest of the natives are all dead. Tarzan also finds the charred body of his wife, recognizable only the rings on her fingers. Cursing the Germans, Tarzan swears vengeance and leaves behind the trappings of civilization. During a tremendous thunderstorm, Tarzan kills a leopard, symbolizing the return of the Lord of the Jungle--and this is just the first chapter.

Tarzan heads south into German East Africa and almost immediately begins wrecking havoc on the Germans, displaying same sort of animal cunning and creative cruelty that he displayed as a youth in "Tarzan of the Apes" (and covered a bit as well in "The Jungle Tales of Tarzan"). Even encountering an entrenched German army does not stop Tarzan from getting his revenge on his enemy. Eventually he finds an English flier, Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick, who is captured by cannibals and in need of rescue, and who becomes the character who argues, rather unconvincingly I might add, for Tarzan to be civilized in his one-man war against the Germans. But nothing is going to stop Tarzan from hunting down every last one of the invaders who destroyed his home and killed his wife. Of course, the circumstances of Jane's death lead us to suspect the surprise that awaits Tarzan at the end of this adventure and which sets up the next novel, "Tarzan the Terrible."

The Tarzan series does become extremely formulaic by the time you get halfway through the twenty-four volumes, but it is worthwhile to at least make you way through the first eight volumes (maybe a bit further, especially if you like lions). "Tarzan the Terrible" is perhaps the quintessential Tarzan novel and the original "Tarzan of the Apes" is the one essential ERB novel to read, but I would agree that "Tarzan the Untamed" is the best yarn in the bunch. Final Note: Not surprisingly, this Tarzan novel was not well received in post-war Germany and effectively ended the publication of Burroughs' work in that country.

During my first three years as a youth baseball coach this book sat on the shelf. I initially found the book lacking in detail and illustrations to be of much use. Well, my initial reaction was wrong. I am coaching an eleven year old travel team and this book has become my bible for managing. I've read it cover to cover many times and I find it an invaluable tool for a manager. Thanks Jeff.

Burroughs provides thorough coverage of youth league coaching subjects: the basics at each position, hitting, throwing, pitching, and planning practices. Burroughs' credibility comes from having been a successful Major Leaguer who later managed teams to a couple of Little League World Series titles, and he discloses a few of his managerial secrets. The main focus is on teaching baseball, however: Burroughs thinks that the secret of his success was to create fun and interesting practices while teaching good fundamentals, and he tells you how to do it. I found his insights invaluable in my first year as a Little League manager.

This was a very good book that explained the basics and the finer points of teaching baseball to children. This is a book that could be used over and over again at each level.

I tried my hardest to like this book overall, but just couldn't. I was very disappointed after having gone through the book twice.

Well Dones: Burrough's spends 44 pages on defensive game situations - who should cover what, if the ball is hit here, and there are runners here & there. The best part of this section, is that it is covered with diagrams. Burroughs also covers approximately 22 baseball drills for practices (see Opportunities for Improvement also).

Opportunities For Improvement: The biggest disappointment is Jeff's lack of use of pictures and diagrams to explain what he is trying to describe in text form. Even in the section describing the 22 drills, they are no pic's or illustrations. Pictures and diagrams are a must for this type of book. The cover of this book says, "Fully Illustrated". There is a section in the middle of the book with pictures covering different topics that, unfortunately, do not match anything nearby. Also unfortunate is the fact that this photo section leaves way too much to be desired - nothing new here. There are no other photos in the book besides this one section. Jeff spends only 1/2 page on each position and covers the rest of the defensive positions in general terms. Very disappointing. I started the chapter on "Practice" with great enthusiasm and felt great about most of it until I read two sections that, as a Little League coach for the past many years, found very hard to believe: Jeff says the team should not take batting practice during any of your practices and to only do this before each game by having the team show up 1 1/2 hours before game time. Yeah, right! (Maybe if all our games were on weekends, and there were no games beforehand.) Jeff's suggested practice schedule runs from 4 PM to 6:30 PM. Most coaches would be real lucky to have that kind of time. On the cover of the book, it states that the book is written for Coaches and Parents - but throughout most of the book, Jeff is teaching directly to the player. There's nothing new or exciting in this book. This is definitely not even a good beginning coach's book. If I had to make one point - it is the serious lack of illustrations and pictures for the amount of text that Jeff uses. I wanted desperately to like this book and was looking forward to some great drills & technique suggestions for my Little Leaguers (and besides I was a fan of his when he was with the A's), but I just didn't find it here, even after going through it twice.

I believe this book was terrific and helped me a lot in baseball. I feel all coaches and parents of baseball childeren should read this book. This book gives all pointers in how to field and bat using all kinds of techniques. I give this book a thumbs up and disagree to the people who think this book was dissapointing. I hope many people get to learn from this review and recommendation. Choose to read this book and you'll thank me.

the book is good reading
egar rice.
does pretty good
writing.
if you love tarzane,
or john carter of mars
this book is for any book
readers out there!

This is the second book in Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Carson of Venus" series. It picks up right where the previous book left off, with Carson Napier in the hands of his enemies. He manages to escape and reunites with his ladylove, the beautiful princess Duare. They go through many adventures in an attempt to return to Duare's hometown, eventually becoming seperated again. Carson meets another beautiful princess, Nalte, and has further adventures. Does Carson reunite with Duare by the end of the book? I won't tell, but I'm sure you can guess. This is typical Burroughs, which will appeal to people who like old fashioned adventure stories.

Very entertaining storyline. Gives the reader another chance to imagine an adventure on one of our sister planets. After reading the horrible end to the Martian series, anything would be good. But this storyline is good enough to stand alone.

The second novel in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Venus series. Space-faring earthman Carson Napier was separated from his beloved princess Duare at the conclusion of the previous novel. Now, he is after her once again, determined to get her home safely to her kingdom of Vepaja, and the result is the literary equivalent of one of the old Saturday morning serials with just a pinch of social commentary. From the Room of the Seven Doors, down the River of Death to the City of the Dead, where a mad scientist presides over a kingdom of zombies, and the beautiful city of Havatoo, which is a paradise but only if your lineage is pure, Carson and Duare bounce from predicament to predicament. Will they survive their adventures? Will Duare drop her haughty facade and accept Carson's love? Is there any doubt? Not really, but getting there is the fun. This series benefits by being more humorous than most of Burroughs' work.

"Lost on Venus" is the second volume in Edgar Rice Burrough's Carson of Venus series and a rather ironic title since our hero left Earth on a spaceship headed for Mars but ended up on Venus because he forgot to take into account the moon's gravitational pull. Fortunately it turns out that Venus not only has a breathable atmosphere but is inhabited. In "Pirates of Venus," Carson Napier learns about the politics and culture of the planet called Amtor and fell in love with Duare, the daughter of a jong (i.e., she is a princess). Of course, in grand ERB tradition, by the end of that first novel Carson and his beloved were separated by a cruel fate (she is carried away by a flying creature and he is captured by a Thorist spy, and the time has come for him to do something about that.

Originally published as a serial in "Argosy Weekly" in 1933, this pulp fiction adventure is communicated to ERB by Napier himself, using telepathy (I liked the Gridley from the Barsoom books better). Carson is held captive and is put in a room where there are seven doors: one leads to escape, the rest to horrible deaths. This is a fairly interesting start to the story and ERB has some fun coming up with a way for his hero to get out of this predicament. Carson, who is given the name Albargan ("No-Hair-Man") by the natives, catches up with Duare, who keeps insisting that he is too low to speak to her since she is a janjong and he is a nobody. There are some interesting science fiction notions, as when Carson considers the Amtorian theory of the cosmos, which is totally wrong since the planet's constant cloud cover keeps them from seeing anything else in the solar system.

Even though you find all of the standard Burroughs elements from the romantic adventure formula that made him famous as Carson pursues Duare, "Lost on Venus" really is more of a political polemic than his standard stories. This book continues the political satire of the series with the Thorists clearly intended to represent the Communists and it is hard not to see the scientifically advanced city of Havatoo as representing an Aryan wonderland in the Nazi tradition (later on in the series ERB clearly takes aim at Mussolini's brand of fascism as well). "Pirates of Venus" is not really considered a dystopian novel, but in terms of predicting the political evils that would lead to World War II, Burroughs was fairly accurate. This was the last of the major series that ERB created and during the 1930s it really represented his best work, which would seem to indicate that his political passions in the Venus books worked to his advantage.

Murphy's book is a great examination of Burrough's major work from the beginning of his career until the end. It accurately makes sense of the often muddled messages and ambiguities of Burroughs more famous novels. Most importantly, Murphy very carefully exposes the great issues of Burroughs: Control and Lies. While this is not new ground, it is well written, allowing the reader a full view of the work in question.

Murphy also states an important fact about the majority of Burroughs' critics in the past. He takes great pains to make short reviews of most of the criticism in the past 30 years, and comes to the conclusion that Burroughs' life has been on trial a good deal more than his books. This is an important fact, and very true. Because Burroughs' life was so colorful, many critics have found it difficult to separate the two. Murphy is careful not to fall into this trap, and sticks mostly to the books.

The main criticism I would have for Murphy's book is that he goes to what feels like great lengths to show that Burroughs had ambivalent to positive views towards women. Any reading, no matter how much one tried to ignore the contents of the novels, could not come to that conclusion. Burroughs was a misogynist at best. In an email to me, the author admitted that the publisher stressed that this was very important to them, if they were to publish the book. Not that this takes away from the content, but does color the views of the author a bit.

As well, Murphy seems to paint Burroughs as a Marxist, or at least, very sympathetic to those views. It is unlikely that Burroughs was sympathetic to any political views at all, other than his own.

Nonetheless, Wising Up the Marks is one the most important books about Burroughs, and the only one to reliably look at his work before his life.

Murphy's book is a great examination of Burrough's major work from the beginning of his career until the end. It clears up the often muddled messages and ambiguities of Burroughs more famous novels. Most importantly, Murphy very carefully exposes the great issues of Burroughs: Control and Lies. While this is not new ground, the book is well written, allowing the reader a full view of some of the past centuries most important books.

Murphy states an important fact about the majority of Burroughs' critics in the past. He writes short reviews of most of the criticism in the past 30 years, and comes to the conclusion that Burroughs' life has been on trial a good deal more than his books. This is an important fact, and very true, if you have read those books. Because Burroughs' life was so colorful, many critics have found it difficult to separate it from his life. Murphy is careful not to fall into this trap, and sticks mostly to the books.

The main criticism I would have for Murphy's book is that he goes to what feels like great lengths to show that Burroughs had, at best, ambivalent to positive views towards women. Any reading, no matter how much one tried to ignore the contents of the novels, could not come to that conclusion. Burroughs was a misogynist. Given the stigmatism of the term, many of his fans are unlikely to admit this, but no writer today could easily get away with saying the things WSB did.

In an email to me, the author admitted that the publisher stressed that this was very important to them that Burroughs be presented this way, if they were to publish the book. Not that this necessarily takes away from the content, but it does color the views of the author a bit.

As well, Murphy seems to paint Burroughs as a Marxist, or at least, someone very sympathetic to those views. It is unlikely that Burroughs was not sympathetic to any political views at all, other than his own. He was not an extremely tolerant man, if the interviews one reads are anything to believe.

Nonetheless, "Wising Up the Marks" is one the most important books about Burroughs, and the only one to reliably look at his work before his life.

Alongside the earlier works by Eric Mottram and Jennie Skerl, Mr. Murphy offers the reader an insight into the life of William Burroughs as well an in depth analysis of his works. ''Wising Up the Marks'' is an indispensable work for both the Burroughs's collector and academic historian alike.

Alongside the earlier works by Eric Mottram and Jennie Skerl, Mr. Murphy offers the reader an insight into the life of William Burroughs as well an in depth analysis of his works. ''Wising Up the Marks'' is an indispensable work for both the Burroughs's collector and academic historian alike.

Timothy S. Murphy has contributed an extraordinary study, a book that finally does justice to the Burroughs canon, reading his work in the hypercritical line of Swift, Orwell, and Ralph Ellison, an unrepentant political literature firing the engines of social change. Readers of Burroughs scholarship are all too familiar with the widespread academic attempt to "postmodernize" him, of a reflexive poststructuralism which consigns his work to the a-referential abyss of a Robbe-Grillet, or a John Barth, an insular, disconnected fantasy-realm of linguistic wordplay bouncing off the padded walls of introversion. Murphy has arrived to correct these academic non-readers, quick to point out that Burroughs's first book, *Junky*(1953), was nothing if not trenchant social critique, his later, more well-known novels (*Naked Lunch*, the Red Night trilogy) simply a more sophisticated apparatus for exploring these same social issues, the perverse realms of technocratic subjugation, the sexually charged resistance of a socio-guerrilla liberation movement.... The great intertextual encounter is between Burroughs and French uber-theorist Gilles Deleuze, whom Murphy powerfully invokes as one of the few theoretical approaches that can give Burroughs his critical due. When Murphy wrote to Deleuze asking the philosopher's position on the Burroughs corpus, he replied that his own work "'can bear [comparison] on three points (the idea of a body without organs; control as the future of societies; the confrontation of tribes or populations in abandoned [disaffected] spaces).'... [Thus,] Burroughs and Deleuze rely, not on the permanent grounding of truth (and Law) in modernist myth, but on the fluid mechanisms of desire in fantasy for their amodernist utopian drive. [Murphy's] task, then, is to see how such an amodern libidinal or *fantasmatic* politics WORKS in the writings of Burroughs and Deleuze"(7). The sadness of Murphy's book is his revelation that Burroughs was never really able to discover or originate the revolutionary constructs he so dearly wrote after, that in the afterbirth of each new book the scales had to be reset, the war-machine dismantled, the battle plan abandoned in search of *yet* another reality-engine. Yet Murphy's knowledge and scholarly rendition of this trajectory, one of the most critically underrated careers in American letters, has given Burroughs back to us, has rendered the most powerful scholarly defense of his work I've yet encountered. This definitive volume, currently in exile, will hopefully be reissued soon, so that it may reach the wide audience it deserves. (Lately I've seen spine-rolled copies in my university bookstore's remaindered bin, quite disheartening.) It is certainly a text to be taught, to be pored over, to be dearly grateful for.

Next to Jay Stevens' classic "Storming Heaven" and Don Snyder's wonderful photographic essay "Aquarian Odyssey," make room on your bookshelf for Peter O. Whitmer's seven-dimensional biography "Aquarius Revisited." Combining well-written history and targeted recent interviews, we meet seven of the elemental forces who shaped the counter-culture of the Sixties as the outrageous, facinating, and above all intelligent souls that laid the groundwork for the last great movement our century will see. William S. Burroughs; Allen Ginsberg; Key Kesey; Timothy Leary; Norman Mailer; Tom Robbins; Hunter S. Thompson: some are gone, some are still with us, but all come together here to make a biography not only of seven people, but of a way of life, thought and hope.

A great collection of tales from "the greater generation"

Peter O. Whitmer is a writer and clinical psychologist and Bruce Van Wyngarden a magazine editor, both "children of the sixties." First published in 1987, "Aquarius Revisited" offers readers a penetrating look at some of the iconic figures of what the authors describe as the "Acid Generation," reflecting the degree to which drug use fueled at least some of the creativity the era spawned.

In AR, we meet seven of the personalities who gave shape and color to the counterculture of the 1960's: unconventional, intriguing, and, for the most part, profoundly wise souls that built the philosophic, spiritual, literary and aesthetic foundations one of the most significant movements that the twentieth century has produced.

AR is well-written history with penetrating interviews of William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Key Kesey, Timothy Leary, Norman Mailer, Tom Robbins and Hunter S. Thompson. Illustrative background information is offered with chapters on the Esalen Institute, UC Berkeley and Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's Rajneeshpuram commune.

These seven fathers (they are, for some reason, all male) are all avatars who in a large sense created a movement that changed America, hopefully for good. As a group they are the aesthetic of evolution, the wellsprings of revolution, and, in the author's words, "they peer into the future, saying `there is always more.' They are the starry dynamo in the machinery of the night."

This is a delicious book, a treat for the soul, that realistically portrays some of the reasons for "the way we were."

Happened upon this nifty book in the counterculture section of my local bookstore and bought two copies.

The author takes us on a spirited, insightful sojourn through the backalleys of America's true icons and offers up zillions of interesting sidetracks along the way.

He doesn't mince too many words when disclosing the nitty gritty opinions that each of the protagonists has of one another - this makes for a more interesting read than many works which simply glorify all their subjects.

Additionally, somehow the author has an uncanny finger on the pulse of what we really want to hear about on the way, such as the piece on James Dean - his significance and his death. The section on Hunter S. Thompson is a riot!!!

This is a nice addition to your psychedelic editions.

This is an excellent, well-written book. It provides a probing first-person look at some of the great acid heroes of the sixties; Leary, Kesey, Ginsberg, Thompson, etc. My only criticism is that even though the author has a somewhat critical eye towards the foibles of these Great Men, and gets in a few zingers at their expense, theres nonetheless a slightly fawning tone, partiularly towards Timothy Leary, surely one of the most dispicable figures to rise from the dregs of the 60s. If you're curious about reading more about these guys you might wanna check out my manuscript-in-progress simply titled "ACID" which I'm writing on-line on my website, www.geocities.com/acebackwords2002

Burroughs fan's will not be disappointed. This story was a fun read from beginning to end... if anything too short.

Another fun Burroughs romp, elsewhere than Earth. This time the main character is a pilot, and he ends up on an alien world (not a big suprise, eh?) and proceeds to go about having some Buck Rogers style adventures, getting involved in politics and war. This is made up of two different stories/novellas, or whatever you want to call them. If you like other Burroughs style books, no reason you won't like this.

Like all of Edgar Rice Burroughs' books, this story is full of adventure, fighting, and saving the damsel in distress. But the hero in this book is probably the biggest wimp of all of ERB's heros. John Carter could bench press him, Carson Napier could out shoot him, and Tarzan would just ignore him and leave him to the jungle. The hero never gives his name and the reason why is because he is embarrassed to be compared to ERB's other heros. If it wasn't for the superior storyline and abstract scientific facts that cause you to think, I would have rated this book a 2. This isn't his best, but it is one Burroughs fans shouldn't miss.

As is often with the case with many of these Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, "Beyond the Farthest Star" consists of two serialized novels, "Adventure on Poloda" and "Tangor Returns" (the combined title is certainly better than either of those). Although these stories take place on a world at war a half-million light years from Earth, you will find that there is an obvious subtext to this ERB yarn in terms of Josef Stalin's Soviet Union. The story was first published in "The Blue Book Magazine" in 1942 although the sequel was not published until 1964. Eventually both parts were collected in a paperback volume, complete with a Frank Frazetta cover as I recall. Burroughs wrote the first part in 12 days and the second in only five days, which makes them potboilers to be sure, but the political angle makes them interesting nonetheless.

The hero of this two part novel is Tangor, an American airman who managed to end up on the planet Poloda far, far away, after apparently being killed during World War II behind German lines (very reminiscent of how John Carter ended up on Barsoom). He wakes up in a garden on Poloda, which he soon learns is a world that has been at war for over a century. Given the name Tangor, he joins the fight of the Unis against the Harkases. ERB finds Tangor's story mysterious typed on his typewriter (ERB often presents himself as being merely the conduit for his pulp fiction yarns).

For all of his science fiction stories, Burroughs was at heart a telling of romantic adventures. However, in "Beyond the Farthest Star" he shows much more of an interest in forecasting what was to come. In this story you will find underground railroads, plastic airplanes, compact cards, uni-sex clothing, bullets that explode, and even solar energy. Burroughs is almost as interested in the strange animals of Poloda as he is in its advanced technology, going into lots of details on the strange fauna Tangor encounters. However, the most interesting prediction given the fact ERB was writing on the eve of World War II was his depiction of not only a world at war but the coming Cold War. People live in underground cities to be safe from the bombing, women work in the factories so that the men can fight the war, and that this state of constant war is just accepted as the way things are.

Whereas Burroughs authored an indirect attack on Nazi Germany and the Gestapo in his Carson of Venus series, "Beyond the Farthest Star" is clearly inspired by ERB's knowledge of what was happening in the Soviet Union under Stalin, a time of a one party system, show trials and purges. Anyone who was reading the newspapers as well as pulp fiction magazines at that time would have to be struck by the obvious similarities. Usually ERB wrote of wonderous world like Barsoon, but with Poloda he presents a relatively ruthless depiction of a totally repressive government that makes human existence a living nightmare. With these stories pay more attention to the setting than the romantic adventure to get the most out of this interesting "minor" ERB yarn.

This book is a terrific, must-have for any film noir aficionado. Ms. Burroghs has a first class style of writing, and the uniformity of the biographies is pleasing. This is one to buy.

I loved this book! It was great to read about some of the stars that I've loved for years, like Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, and Joan Crawford, and still learn something new about their lives. Even more interesting was reading about actresses like Coleen Gray and Helen Walker, whose faces (but not names) I knew, and Peggie Castle and Dorothy Hart, whom I'd never heard of before. Also, reading the book made me want to see these movies. The author did a great job with providing facts in an entertaining, easy-to-read, engaging style. In addition to the entertaining text, the photos in the book were beautiful. Highly recommended!!

Almost all of the big (and not-so-big) "dames" who populated that extraordinary decade when film noir flourished make up this reference-volume of thumbnail sketches. The profiles tend to be rather assembly-line, though; after a colorful introductory paragraph, the first sentence of the next invariably reads, "Born February 7, 1919 in Goldfield, Nevada..." or some such. And whole careers are sketched, though emphasis is given to noir roles, including plot summaries and a selection of reviews; not to be morbid, but the details of their deaths -- too many of them painful and premature -- are welcome, reminding us that these vital woman, often underrated and badly used, continued to live after their careers had flickered out. Still, this big, thick, academic-looking book is welcome in immortalizing in print such black sapphires as Claire Trevor, Hope Emerson and (my favorite) Marie Windsor. (Others such as Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford are more satisfyingly covered in books of their own.) One could quibble with the inclusion of some actresses or, more seriously, the exclusion of others (where is the Mary Astor of The Maltese Falcon and, especially, Act of Violence?). The book's major disappointment, however, is the lack of a unifying theme, of a meditation on how these actresses came to portray the indelible femmes fatales, or even good gals, in film noir, and on what film noir tells us about the yin and yang of the sexes in postwar America. A solid (if pricey) reference work, it's just a little stolid.

This reader has mixed feelings about Karen Burroughs Hansberry's "Femme Noir." On one hand, the author resurrects undeservedly forgotten actresses such as Peggy Cummins, Sally Forrest, Dolores Hart, Virginia Huston, Dorothy Patrick, and the wonderful Marie Windsor. On the other hand, one is tempted to question the inclusion in a book sub-titled "Bad Girls of Film" the likes of goody-two-shoes Jeanne Crain and even the aforementioned Dorothy Hart. In her necessary selection, Miss Hansberry included actresses who, granted, appeared in film noir but but whose roles were not noir at all. Instead of Dorothy Hart, for example, who usually played the nice wife, one might have chosen Ann Savage, the femme fatale of the quintessential B-noir, Detour. With that said, "Femme Noir" obviously belongs on the shelf of most film buffs.

While this is certainly not one of the most notable Barsoom books - and only has a brief John Carter cameo - something that is somewhat different is the introduction of a female warrior that has to do a bit of the rescuing side of things herself.

The bloke of the piece here of course still gets his licks in versus the usual variety of Martian bad guys and monstrosities.


2.5 out of 5

The seventh book in the Martian series of Edgar Rice Burroughs, "A Fighting Man of Mars" is communicated to the author via the Gridley Wave (there is something rather quaint about the old convention of having a prologue purporting that what follows is true). Unlike the Tarzan series where ERB put his hero a series of similar adventures involving one lost civilization in the African interior after another, the Martian series offers up a series of heroes who have to rescue the woman they love. The titular character for this endeavor is Tan Handron, a Padwar of Helium who is in love with Sanoma Tora, daughter of Tor Haten, the Umak commander. Tan Handron is descended from a princess of Gatho, which pleases Tor Haten, who is only a minor noble, but Sanoma spurns the young padwar's love because he is poor. Tul Axtar, Jeddak of Jahar, is also interested in her hand, but before anything can be arranged, Sanoma is abducted by a mysterious flier and the chase is on.

"A Fighting Man of Mars" was originally published in six-parts in "Blue Book Magazine" during 1930 and appears to be rather different from ERB's earlier Martian stories in that for one the damsel in distress is not a Barsoomian princess. As Tan Handron pursues the woman he wants across Barsoom he encounters some of ERB's better villains (basically a new one for each installment in the series). As Handron deals with green men and white apes, spiders, mad scientists, and cannibals, he picks up a companion and uncovers a plot that puts all of Barsoom in danger and sets up the big climax.

This is one of ERB's better books, arguably in the Top 10 of his pulp fiction adventures mainly because of all the fantastic creatures, futuristic weapons, and deadly dangers he crams into its pages. With Tan Handron ERB has a hero who is more plagued by doubt that we usually find and I also appreciate that in the end our hero goes for a real relationship rather than some idealized notion of love from afar. "A Fighting Man of Mars" shows that ERB was a master of the serialized ("to be continued...") adventures.

From the first page you will be hooked. This particular book was first published in installments around 1930, as was the custom with pulp fiction at that time. The series was more or less reintroduced during the early 1960s (that is when I started reading them) and has been around ever since. For a work to last that long indeed says something. I have to agree with the reviewer (Mr. Wallace) in that this is one of the better works of the series. Each page if filled with wonderful improbable action and the villians are endless. While John Carter is indeed a part of the story, the main character is one of his top warriors, Hadron of Hastor. Plenty of Damsel in Distress stuff here, and all good clean fun. If you have never read the series, suggest you do. If you have "out grown" the series, suggest revert back to the little boy or girl lurking deep within you and let him or her out. You won't be sorry. Recommend this one highly.

This is one of the first science fiction/fantasy books I ever read and I couldn't bear to see it languish without a review. My copy (which originally belonged to my father) dates from 1931 and its story was originally published in six parts in the "Blue Book Magazine" from May to September 1930. It is wonderful to see these books reissued, as they are the progenitors of many, if not all of the heroic fantasy serials that take up so much room on modern bookshelves. Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB) was the first and also (in my opinion) the best writer of multi-volume fantasies.

'Fighting Man' is the seventh book in ERB's Mars series and differs from most volumes in the series in that John Carter, gentleman of Virginia and Warlord of Barsoom (Mars) is only a peripheral figure.

The adventure is narrated in the first person by Hadron of Hastor, a warrior in the service of John Carter. Hadron's family is rich in honor but not in material possessions and when he falls in love with the wealthy Sanoma Tora, she snubs him. For months, the soldierly Hadron haunts the palace of Tor Hatan, Sanoma Tora's father, but his hope of winning her are vanishingly small until she is abducted one night by a mysterious flier.

The strange ship is armed with a weapon that disintegrates the metal of a pursuing flier, and the Warlord realizes that there is now a new weapon of mass destruction let loose upon the dying seas of Barsoom (it's hard not to adopt ERB's style after reading one of his books).

Hadron is promised Sanoma Tora's hand if he can rescue her. The Warlord dispatches the doughty warrior in search of his love, and asks him to keep an eye peeled for the new metal-disintegrator weapon.

Since this story was originally written to be serialized, there is a cliff-hanger at the end of every chapter. Hadron's flier is shot down by the terrible green warriors of Barsoom. He escapes and is trapped in a deserted tower by a man-eating white ape. He escapes, rescues a slave named Tavia from the green men and the two of them take to the air in Tavia's flier.

Unfortunately, they are forced to land in the demesne of a very paranoid tyrant. While Hadron is confined in the tyrant's Pit, he learns the secret of the invisible metal-disintegrating ray from a fellow prisoner.

Hadron, now under a sentence of death must escape to save both Sanoma Tora and all of Helium (John Carter's Barsoomian kingdom).

Our hero battles his way across the dead seas of Barsoom, evading or slaughtering cruel tyrants, mad scientists, formidably-tusked green warriors, etc. until the final reaches of chapter seventeen when he resolves all of the plot lines and finds his own true love (not who you might think).

'Fighting Man' has all of the color and breathless dash of its predecessors in ERB's Mars chronicles. It's okay to start your adventure on Barsoom with 'Fighting Man,' although I would strongly recommend beginning at the first volume, "A Princess of Mars." 'Fighting Man' can stand alone because ERB includes a long forward in which he describes the flora, fauna, principal races, and wars of Barsoom.

The Return of the Sword is the first anthology published by the newly minted Flashing Swords Press, itself the publishing arm of the formerly defunct and recently revitalized Flashing Swords e-zine. Giving itself the byline "An Anthology of Heroic Adventure" Return of the Sword is editor Jason M. Waltz's collection of 19 new stories, one classic reprint, and one article that look at the character of the hero, particularly as he appears in the sword and sorcery subgenre of fantasy. In Waltz's introduction to the anthology, he writes that "heroes continue to do the ordinary in extraordinary times and do the extraordinary in ordinary times."

The stories contained in Return of the Sword manage to show that truth in many ways, with varied success.

The anthology begins with a female protagonist in "Altar of the Moon" a story by Stacey Berg that thinks about the problems inherent in the magical weapons that heroes use. What this hero is forced to do to quell the magic in her sword may surprise you. Berg's writing is fluid, and this very short story is an interesting take on the magical weapon trope.

"The Wyrd of War" by Bill Ward is a graphic battle story. It is sad for its protagonist and the ending will wrench you heart. Ward has his protagonist make a fearsome decision, one I hope no one in this modern age must face, although I fear that in some ways it is more common than you think. The story has repercussions in the euthanasia debate. (Likely this is something the author did not foresee, but I came away thinking about it.)

"The Last Scream of Carnage" by Phil Emery uses strange word placement, replacement of quotes with italics, and a sense of raw emotion to tell the story of a heroes sacrifice. Waltz's "editors choice" it is the most groundbreaking story in the anthology. Although groundbreaking in style, I found its narrative difficult to follow and I did not enjoy this story, for all its creativity.

I also disagree with Waltz's decision to have an "editor's choice" since in reality, he chose all of the stories contained in the anthology, and to elevate one above all the rest is unnecessary and distracting. His job as editor is to choose stories readers will enjoy, not tell us which one we should like best, as our tastes are not necessarily going to conform to his. His "editor's choice" decision led to this story being the only one that is illustrated and I'd like to say I feel slighted on behalf of the other writer's who contributed work to this anthology.

"The Battle of Raven Kill" by Jeff Draper is a story of self-sacrifice. The story is one man's last stand against a horde of barbarians. Draper weaves an elegant and protracted fight scene that is thrilling to read.

Nicholas Ian Hawkins' "What Heroes Leave Behind" is about an aged warrior. Tolasun is a hero who has lived longer than his legend. Hawkins writes a believable tale about a warrior who comes full circle, and how when heroes die, there are those who will pick up the mantle. The "shadow" that is part of the story is nicely woven in, and Hawkins makes that spectre an interesting and unique foe.

"Fatefist at Torkas Nahl" is an alright tale. David Pitchford pits the leaders of three opposing armies against each other, a unique type of battle, but it was overly complex, and the Fatefist himself was inexplicably obtuse. This story was neat to read, but I turned its final page not feeling that I had really been told much of a story, just a sequence of events.

Ty Johnston delves into the hero versus fate story with "Deep in the Land of Ice and Snow". It is a story that has some of the feel of legend. Ultimately though, this story would have better served as a prologue to a larger novel or novella.

"Mountain Scarab" looks into the "knight in shining armor" story. Although in this case, the knight is less than shining, and his reasons for saving the fair damsel are unknown even to him. Jeff Stewart is reprising a character that he has used before, but he story is enjoyable and the way the protagonist wins his battle is quite different if a little too much deus ex machina.

Angeline Hawkes "Lair of the Cherufe" was the least likable story of the anthology. There are glaring plot holes in her story (such as the need for the blood of royal virgins to satiate the monster's desire. If this were true, it is unlikely the king would ever have let his daughter near the man who worshiped the monster!) It is also is two stories crammed together into one. One is about the search for a sword and the other the killing of the monster. The sword is necessary for the second to be completed, but the tale of its finding either needed to be expanded to hold more interest or done away with altogether. Hawkes also throws in new confrontations with no foreshadowing. (The guardians of the lava monster.) The story ended up being poorly written even in a subgenre that is deeply tolerant of such things as I have mentioned.

"To Be a Man" by Robert Rhodes is a little crude in its content, but it is an interesting flip-flop of the barbarian chases damsel tale. The laughs Rhodes gets for his tale are more likely ones of discomfort that true laughter. Still, it is unique and there are many men who would not have done as the protagonist did for the entire world.

A collection and expansion of some of his blog posts, "Storytelling" is a nonfiction article by E. E. Knight which has a lots of very specific tips and tricks for the budding writer. With several novels to his credit, Knight's advice is worth reading for any aspiring writer.

James Enge gives readers of Black Gate a new Morlock Ambrosius story in ""The Red Worm's Way". Though not as strong a story as those in Black Gate is still true to form and continues to entertain. New readers of Morlock should go back and read the first stories in Black Gate.

"To Destroy all Flesh" by Michael Ehart is another story with female heroes. Though this story is not particular exciting, it serves as an excellent introduction to Ehart's characters, stories if whom have recently been collected into a single volume. I was intrigued enough that I might want to read Ehart's other stories. His writing is fluid and his characters heroic with a twist.

Thomas M. MacKay looks at the use of rage by the hero in "Guardian of Rage". MacKay is using a character from other stories he has published and unfortunately what results is a character that those who have not read those prior stories can get attached to. While I applaud the protagonist's heroic actions the element of rage that MacKay introduces is not distinguishable from the standard behavior of the hero and so adds little to the story.

Christopher Heath tackles the stereotype of the "brute barbarian" in "Claimed by Birthright". Heath's story owed as lot to the Conan tales (he even uses the word "Cimmerian") but twists it just slightly to allow wit combined with brute force to win the day. Not a stand out story, but still solid and entertaining.

Nathan Meyer's "The Hand that Holds the Crown" is a story about betrayal. There is actually no clear hero, and I am a bit surprised it was included in this anthology. Still, it is a story with not one, but two surprising twists, and I enjoyed how it ended.

"The Dawn Tree" by S.C. Bryce is another story about betrayal, but this time about a hero being tricked into betraying himself. This was an excellent story, and Bryce's concept of the Dawn Tree ushering in the new epoch is creative.

Allen B. Lloyd and William Clunie's collaborative story "An Uneasy Truce in Ulam-Bator" is the only truly humorous tale in this collection. It introduces two characters that Clunie and Lloyd plan to write more about. I look forward to the stories these two will tell with this unlikely pair of companions.

Steven Goble writes a tale of a heroes driving force in "The Mask Oath". In this case, it is not revenge that drives the hero. This is a tale of the noble hero, whose heroism comes from honor, justice, and love of country. It subtly praises the characteristics we prize so highly in our own armed forces.

"Valley of Bones" by Bruce Durham is a story about the front line soldier. The heroism and selflessness displayed by the protagonist is the same we all would aspire to have in our own lives. Durham' story exemplifies how anyone may be a hero given the right motivation and the right set of circumstances, the type of hero who says that "I only did what anyone would do."

The final story in this anthology is one of Harold Lamb's Cossack historical fantasy stories. This is good story for people unfamiliar with Lamb to read to get a sense of those prolific but until recently forgotten author. Now, thanks to Howard Andrew Jones and Bison Press we can read the stories of Lamb again, or for the first time.

Overall, this anthology is enjoyable. It has some stories that are less the stellar and I have pointed them out as well as I could. Readers should also know that although this story is about heroes, it is also mostly about heroes of the sword and sorcery variety. These are the heroes who most often tend to fight for gold, women, and glory. So in some ways, the stories can get repetitious because the same tropes are encountered again and again. This does not mean that he stories are poorly written, quite the contrary, but the reader might want to break up the reading of these stories.

If you like sword and sorcery fantasy, you will like this anthology. If Conan style stories bore you or seem to simplistic, there are no stories here for you. Everyone who writes will benefit from E. E. Knight's writing suggestions, but they can be found in another form on his blog. Overall, I enjoyed the anthology and read through it quite quickly, proving to me that I was having fun. And that is what this first offering from Flashing Swords Press is meant to do. Return of the Sword is meant to entertain, and it succeeds, for the most part.

I read and have read a lot of anthologies. They're great for "in-between-books-reading" and are perfect when you just want a story that you can start and finish in one sitting. Anthologies are also a great source for sampling different writers.

Jason M Waltz did a great job of picking out the stories to use for The Return of the Sword. Except for only one or two stories (even the ones that weren't particularly something to my personal taste) I found these to be very well and interestingly written.

The Return of the Sword contains twenty sword-and-sorcery tales -- too many for me to summarize and rate individually here. I'd say most of the stories fall between 3 and 4 stars, but my personal favorites -- "The Battle of Raven Kill" by Jeff Draper, "To Be A Man" by Robert Rhodes, "The Hand that Holds The Crown" by Nathan Meyer, and "The Mask Oath" by Steve Goble are each an easy 5 stars and then some. In fact, I'd buy this book for those stories alone. And I'd venture to say that most any fan of fantasy literature will find something to their liking in this book.

I highly recommend The Return of the Sword to anyone who appreciates a straight-forward adventurous tale, and I applaud the effort to present some quality sword & sorcery tales in a market where the sub-genre seems all but forgotten. I hope more publishers will follow suit and give us more new S & S books.

"Flashing Swords Presents: The Return of the Sword" edited by Jason M Waltz

The editor says there may be "...no finer compilation of heroic tales of action and adventure..." and, at least in recent memory, he may be right. Flashing Swords Press has been trying to present and create a place for Sword and Sorcery. They have met that goal and gone beyond it as these stories are indeed fine heroic tales and are of a quality that extends beyond a genre offering.

The book has language to thrill, a wonderful cover painting by Johnney Perkins, thoughtful introductions by the editor, Jason M Waltz, an article on writing fantasy by E E Knight and too few interior illustrations.

The first story, "Altar of the Moon" by Stacey Berg fits right into the theme of the anthology's title as a sword does return. The mysterious conversation between the characters that have and will fulfill their destinies postpones the confrontation in a delightful piece of pacing.

Battle descriptions usually do not hold my attention as I usually rush through them but not here with my choice as most outstanding story. As I read "The Wyrd of War" I felt as if I was seeing a Peter Jackson film. Full of smoke and the fog of war, a very intimate and detailed soldier's experience is related. I felt driven by the momentum of fate in this elemental tale.

"The Last Scream of Carnage" by Phil Emery makes interesting use of formatting the spacing of the text which earned it the editor's choice. It is a very intense tale which would make a great radio adaptation. Too bad Orson Welles is no longer around to read this for us. Pay close attention to the way the sentences read, lending power to the actual words.

"The Battle of Raven Kill" by Jeff Draper is another good blow-by-blow telling which kept me interested. I liked the use of the rocks to frame the tale. Really gave a lyrical feel to the end of the story.

"What Heroes Leave Behind" by Nicholas Ian Hawkins also has a lyrical conclusion. The story plays with your expectations of a typical tale of a legendary warrior and an impressionable youth but quickly moves beyond the archetypes. I really felt the age-fullness of Tolasun throughout the story, much as I feel my own through the day! Instead of being a cranky archetype, he was real and this is probably what is legendary about this story.

By this point in the book, I was figuring I should be hitting a clunker but it was not to be. While the demon sword in "Fatefist at Torkas Nahl" by David Pitchford was not the focus of the story, it was my favorite part.

"Deep in the Land of the Ice and Snow" by Ty Johnston is a prequel tale for a character that figures in a trilogy the editor mentions. Unfortunately, he does not mention any titles or details of the trilogy. Mores the pity as the prequel whets my appetite. The story moves along nicely in a smooth loping style not unlike the gait of a wolf moving silently through a forest. Do you think there might be some wolves in this story? You would be right. This smoothness is great after the very tense preceding stories. Good job of story placement by the editor.

"Mountain Scarab" by Jeff Stewart made me feel like I was reading Burroughs. There is a leering brute and a plucky girl and a Conan-like bandit. I loved it.

"The Lair of the Cherufe" by Angeline Hawkes continues the Burroughs feel much to my delight as someone leaps on the back of a lion. Well, not really a lion except for the body. Tarzan had it easy since he did not have to deal with a Manticore. Ripping Good Fun.

"To Be A Man" by Robert Rhodes is a curious tale. It is a unique tale with a very strong moral core. Adventure tales are filed with killings; some righteous, some fiendish, some callous. This tale revolves around a murder already taken place and is refreshing in how Robert chose to tell his story. This one gets the PG rating.

"Storytelling" by E E Knight is an article about the basics of storytelling. It is a great straight-forward style guide for heroic tales and heroic writing.

"The Red Worm's Way" by James Enge is a clever tale with an unusual twist as his Morlock character is an alcoholic and knows it. Not only does Morlock fight with the evil that surrounds him but also with his alcoholism. He is truly a unique character in literature, let alone heroic fantasy.

"To Destroy All Flesh" by Michael Ehart is another tale with a moral center and an atypical scenario. (I should note that many sword and sorcery tales have morals, usually about duty and courage, so when I mention the stories having a moral center I am thinking of ones that are not usual for hero stories.) The story reads like a solid adventure story and does not get sidetracked by the uniqueness of the two main characters even though that is what it really is about.

"Guardian of Rage" by Thomas M Mackey is the creepiest of the tales. Wars, battle, and conflict changes things. This story illustrates the transformative nature of heroes as they go beyond ordinary responses to conflict and danger. You will no what I am trying to get at after having read this story.

"Claimed by Birthright" by Christopher Heath features a hero in the classic sword and sorcery vein. Brom has stoic features but flaring nostrils. This is straight ahead wizard vs. warrior and it is exciting. Well done!

"The Hand that Holds the Crown" by Nathan Meyer has royal treachery and knightly combat "...with the sharp crack of hoof hitting bone...". Need I say more?

"The Dawn Tree" by S C Bryce is a tale of a desert elf. Yes, a desert elf. If you have delved into the Flashing Swords magazine online, and I highly recommend it, you may have run into Dermanassian. This is the best of the stories to my mind. It is a world-shaking story I think you will enjoy.

"An Uneasy Truce in Ulam-Bator" by Allen B Lloyd and William Clunie features lots of sorcery and no lack of swords. It also is a fine yarn.

"The Mask Oath" is written by my favorite author that I have discovered at Flashing Swords, Steve Goble. He does a magnificent job of revealing what motivates the Faceless Son as the story plays out.

"The Valley of Bones" by Bruce Durham reminds me of "The Wyrd of War" because you are right in the trenches on the front line in the midst of battle. Very Intense.

The final story of the anthology is also the oldest. Harold Lamb is a pulp-era historical fiction and biography writer who brings ancient times to life in his writing. This story is a tale of raiders on the Volga and Cossacks on the Steppes. His stories and books are always full of interesting details such as the trampled dirt outside a tavern is called the Cossack's bed.

All around great reading wonderfully written in bold and strong voices. [...]