High Adventure once was a popular genre with many pulp magazines providing markets for writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, Alistair MacLean, and Talbot Mundy. Sadly, those magazines are gone. But thanks to Otto Penzler, we have an 874-page tome of adventure stories to delight us. Penzler takes a thematic approach by group stories in groups like “Sand and Sun” and “Island Paradise.” If you’re a fan of adventure stories, you’ll enjoy this massive collection.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
SWORD AND SORCERY
The Golden Snare Farnham Bishop and Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur
The Devil in Iron Robert E. Howard
The Mighty Manslayer Harold Lamb
The Seven Black Priests Fritz Leiber
MEGALOMANIA RULES
The Master Magician Loring Brent
The Most Dangerous Game Richard Connell
The Man Who Would be King Rudyard Kipling
The Wings of Kali Grant Stockbridge
MAN VS. NATURE
The White Silence Jack London
Sredni Vashtar Saki
The Seed from the Sepulcher Clark Ashton Smith
Leiningen versus the Ants Carl Stephenson
The Sea Raiders H. G. Wells
ISLAND PARADISE
Hell Cay Lester Dent
Off the Mangrove Coast Louis L’Amour
The Golden Anaconda Elmer Brown Mason
Shanghai Jim Frank L. Packard
The Python Pit George F. Worts
SAND AND SUN
The Soul of a Turk Achmed Abdullah
Peace Waits at Marokee H. Bedford-Jones
Nor Idolatry Blind the Eye Gabriel Hunt
The Soul of a Regiment Talbot Mundy
Snake-Head Theodore Roscoe
Suicide Patrol Georges Surdez
A Gentleman of Color P. C. Wren
SOMETHING FEELS FUNNY
After King Kong Fell Philip Jose Farmer
Moonlight Sonata Alexander Woollcott
GO WEST, YOUNG MAN
The Caballero’s Way O. Henry
Zorro Deals with Treason Johnston McCulley
Hopalong’s Hop Clarence E. Mulford
FUTURE SHOCK
The Girl in the Golden Atom Ray Cummings
To Serve Man Damon Knight
Armageddon—2419 A. D. Philip Francis Nowlan
I SPY
Woman in Love Geoffrey Household
MacHinery and the Cauliflowers Alistair MacLean
Wheels Within Wheels H. C. McNeile
A Question of Passports Baroness Orczy
Intelligence Rafael Sabatini
YELLOW PERIL
The Copper Bowl George Fielding Eliot
The Hand of the Mandarin Quong Sax Rohmer
IN DARKEST AFRICA
The Green Wildebeest John Buchan
The Slave Brand of Slegman Bin Ali James Anson Buck
Fire L. Patrick Greene
Hunter Quatermain’s Story H. Rider Haggard
Bosambo of Monrovia Edgar Wallace
Black Cargo Cornell Woolrich
Tarzan the Terrible Edgar Rice Burroughs
Embassytown will test your patience. China Mieville, always a subtle writer, gets a bit lost in the intricacies of his latest novel. Embassytown is an enclave of humans and other extraterrestrials on the planet of Ariekei. The original inhabitants of Ariekei are called Hosts whose language becomes one of the foci of Mieville’s novel. The story is narrated by Avice Benner Cho who once, as a child, played a cryptic role in one of the Hosts’ “similes.” There’s some political shenanigans, too. Truthfully, I enjoyed Mieville’s Perdido Street Station better. And, if you want to read a fascinating novel about alien languages, I highly recommend Jack Vance’s The Languages of Pao. The first 100 pages of Embassytown really drag unless you’re a linguist. GRADE: B
In the run-up to my knee surgery on June 13, Diane and I have been reviewing our Wills, healthcare proxies, Powers of Attorney, etc. Years ago, I decided I wanted to donate my body to SUNY at Buffalo’s Med School. They have a body donation program that picks up the body, uses the body from one to three years, then cremates what’s left and buries the ashes in the university cemetery. No muss, no fuss. So I’ve filled out the paperwork and now it’s official. I’ve instructed Diane, in the event of my demise, to throw a pizza and chicken wing party at a local restaurant for our friends and family. Beverages will be served. You’re all invited.
Back in 1984 and 1985, Crown Publishing issued a series called “Classics of Modern Science Fiction.” The small hardcovers were a little larger than a traditional paperback and sold for $7.95. My favorite volume in the series is The Classic Philip Jose Farmer 1952-1964. Isaac Asimov wrote a “Forward” about the rationale for a hardcover reprint series. Martin H. Greenberg contributed an informative “Introduction” about Philip Jose Farmer’s career. Then comes some of the most astounding PJF early stories: “Sail On! Sail On!”, “Mother,” “The God Business,” “The Alley Man,” “My Sister’s Brother,” and “The King of the Beasts.” These are ground-breaking stories that changed the landscape of science fiction. Sadly, Crown pulled the plug on the series in 1985. If you can find these wonderful volumes (usually at library book sales), all of them are well worth reading.