ePulp Review of the Week -

The Adventures of Gravedigger Volume One by Barry Reese
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Overall: 5 stars (Highly Recommend)

Gravedigger is another addition to Barry Reese’s growing stable of old-school nostalgia pulp creations and, as usual, doesn’t disappoint. The Gravedigger leans more to the horror side of the nostalgia-driven dark avenger theme with a bit more gore and darkness than before, while bringing the Sovereign City world closer together with several crossovers and some more historical background to the city. All while providing a read that won’t trouble first time readers to the Sovereign City world. It’s good quality epulp that’s a definite read for those who like their vigilantes up to their neck in the supernatural and don’t mind some gibbs and gore along the way.

Pacing and Action: 4 stars.

The pacing is good with three short stories that introduce us to this new character and plunge us into the supernatural shenanigans that plague Sovereign City. There’s plenty of action, crazy situations and cross-city conspiracy that ensures the book earns its pulpy status. Not to mention a good helping of supernatural bad guys that need to be dispatched by our new hero. It’s all well detailed and fast.

About the only problem with the pacing – and I’m using the word ‘problem’ loosely – is that the book does tend to timeline jump a bit in order to fill in the historical backstory. By any other standard the pace is fine but on a pulpy scale it does tend to haul things up and complicate the read more than usual. It won’t spoil the read but it is less than pulp-ideal.

Pulp Concept: 5 stars.

Very pulpy. If you’ve ever read an old-school dark avenger vigilante story then this is familiar territory but with a few very unique twists. It creates a character with an interesting quandary and plenty of momentum for further adventures, all steeped in the supernatural and dark. The only shortcoming might be for people who like their reading gore free as the book does have a touch of the exploitation film about it – not in a big way but it’s there – and if so you may want to knock a star off the final score, but for everyone else this is as pulpy as you like.

Character Development: 4 stars.

The protagonists’ dilemma and motivation is written well and there’s plenty of supporting characters with their own personalities and motivations. There’s an interesting group dynamic with some really interesting cross-overs with already established characters for readers familiar with them. As pulp goes these are very well rounded characters with a proper internal life that should draw the reader in and get them invested in the story if you’re in it for the action and nothing but.

However, the supporting cast can fade into two-dimensional characters that are more ideas than full blown people. Their behaviour can seem a little inconsequential at times, the risks they take having no ramifications or consequences to the point that they’re untouchable and above what happens to them. It can also cheapen the Gravedigger’s abilities when supporting characters every now and then manifest their own amazing abilities (I’m talking about a certain briefcase throwing incident) and are relatively unfazed by anything around them (they’re awfully chipper and loyal considering some of the things they see). But, considering this is the first story it may be all about establishing a status quo than delving into their own faults and insecurities.

Production: 5 stars.

A gorgeous cover and good price make this 5 stars even though there were a few editorial misses in the third book. Unfortunately the cover hasn’t been posted here on GoodReads (I read the ebook version as well, but that’s not up in time for this review either) but in colour it really is amazing, perfectly capturing the mood and pulpy ‘tude the book has. Very nice.

Series Potential: 5 stars.

Definitive. There’s plenty more action to be had following The Gravedigger and all the pieces are in place for further adventures. Sovereign City is also becoming a more textured and detailed location for all things pulpy so it would be a crying shame if there weren’t more stories in the pipeline.

Wrap Up.

Another quality piece of writing from a trustworthy name in nostalgia pulp. Even though it has its faults I’m still giving this 5 stars as it is as good as anything else out there in epulp land, nostalgia or otherwise, with plenty more story to check out if you want to read more. For those who like their pulp reading gore free you may want to knock a star off but for those who like their vigilantes embroiled in the supernatural this is a must read. I definitely recommend.

Interested in more epulp? Check out the rest of my reviews.




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Here's that cover from another source:

 

Pulp Cover of the Week - Startling Mystery

Dieselpunk Song of the Week - Hey Pachuco by Royal Crown Revue.

In French, just to make it weirder :)

Art Deco Poster of the Week - Heliopolis Aviation Expo 1910.

My first writer's update.

Hi. My name is Grant. And I'm a writer...

Okay, so I've been avoiding this. Avoiding the need to post a writer's update for a while now. It's not that I have something against writer's updates - far from it, they're the staple of most writer blogs and the reason people show up at writer blogsites - it's just that once I do one update on where I'm up to with my writing then I'm gonna have to keep doing them. For the rest of my writing career.

So the pressure is on.

Actually, I was hoping to delay giving writer updates for a while because I didn't plan on blogging until I had most of my writing ducks in a row ie when I actually had something to write about ie when I had things like book covers etc to show. But then the Dieselpunk Showcase opportunity came along and that wrecked everything. I had to dash out there and set up a blog, and apply for one of those GoodReads author accounts, and sign up to Amazon... A whole lot of work. But it did get me out there in internet writer land and for that I'm grateful. And I have a GoodReads author page now. Which is pretty cool :)

And now there are people googling my name. Which means... the pressure is back on. <disconcerted smiley>

Speaking of the Dieselpunk Showcase: we recently passed 3,500 downloads. Which is pretty good for an indie. It's a free book so a percentage of those downloads will be people who wont get round to reading it (they're called hoarders because they like to download stuff for the sake of downloading stuff - apparently it's a thing) but if even half of those copies are read then the project has been a success for our intrepid little band of authors. And with a steady trickle of downloads still coming via Amazon and more reviews and ratings showing up on GoodReads all the time, etc it can only get more successful.

If you have arrived here after reading the Showcase then, yeah, I'm the bloke who wrote the first story in the anthology, That Sort of World. Hope you enjoyed it. I've only got one more story on the web at the moment, a story posted over at Alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.blogspot.com called The More Things Change. It's another free short story set in the Aether Age universe, this time in a little gambling town called Las Vegas. It was a complicated little story for such a small word limit but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Which brings me to the important stuff. Tommy Thunder and the Aether Age stuff.

If anyone's interested there is plenty of Tommy Thunder and Aether Age writing in the pipeline, all of which should be released some time this year. At the moment I am working on four separate books that I hope to release all at once some time in the next three months. (The schedule is up in the air until I finally do get around to organising covers and braving the gauntlet of paperwork that is the American IRS application form).

Yeah, that's right. Four different books to be released at once. With several more to follow.

Why four? The plan is to release enough story to get people interested in hanging around for the next issues and I figure if people like the first book then they'll want to read the next book but if it isn't released they may wander off and forget about me :( So I'm going to release four books and people who like my writing will be able to buy as many of them as they like and get properly immersed in the series etc.

Of the four books, three will be Tommy Thunder, Scourge of the Skypirate books (#1-#3) and the other will be Tales of the Aether Age volume #1 which is a book full of short stories similar to That Sort of World set in the Aether Age universe but not directly linked to Tommy's Carribean adventures.

And the names of these books (at this minute, which may change before publication)?

Tommy Thunder in: The Black Vixen of Deadman's Island & The Mystery of the Silent Zephyr.
Tommy Thunder in: The Race for the White Fedora.
Tommy Thunder in: The Big Fight at The Crater.

and...

And I'll keep the names of the Aether Age short stories for another post. I'll also have another post soon about how far I am along the path with each individual book etc etc.

So, if you've just wandered in - welcome to my quirky corner of the interwebs. If you've visited a few times then feel free to ask any questions you have or give any feedback on the website or my writing and I hope you stick around to enjoy the bizarre mix of Dieselpunk, pulp, alt history and other vaguely associated things this blog is turning into.

Cheers,

Grant. The bloke who writes the stuff.

Dieselpunk Manifesto: Art Deco, Bond and the Cool Curve pt 5.

Bond, The First Dieselpunk.

This post is the fifth and final post in my (long) blog essay arguing Bond’s place as one of the first Dieselpunks.

Starting with post 1 I explained how the Art Deco period marked a change in cultural authority. Cultural authority started with the upper classes at the turn of the Century then gradually shifted to the middle classes as technology and consumer discretionary income rose. However, during the Depression of the 1930s an image of the ‘high life’ was conveyed to audiences, a high life that involved fancy suits, glamorous women, dancing, exotic locations and a host of other qualities sourced from the upper class culture of the Art Deco movement. The post War period saw the end of Art Deco and the rise of youth culture, but also the ‘problem’ of the Soviet Union. Both ‘problems’ found a cultural solution in the form of the spy – a jetsetting, dapper gent who rejected contemporary fashion trends for a classy suit, had more than his fair share of charm, travelled to exotic locations and took down enemies of the Free World. Bond was both the reason for the glut of spy storytelling during the 1960s as well as its leading light.

Bond would go on to become the most successful film series of all time, a title that wont change as new films are made into the indefinite future. And while other properties from the era get the occasional reboot, such as the Mission: Impossible and The Saint movies, Bond hasn’t rebooted for new audiences so much as updated and changed to suit current tastes. Over and over and over again, to the point that the longest stretch the world has gone without a new Bond has been the five year gap between License to Kill (1989) and Goldeneye (1995).

You could say this was the closest Bond got to being cancelled...

So why has the Bond series become the genre titan that it is today? Especially when the rest of the genre had ‘gone out of style’ by the mid 1970s. What is it about Mister Bond, James Bond that has made him one of the most successful stories of all time, reaching more human beings than nearly any other story being told today? And how does this tie into his Dieselpunk tendencies?

I think that Bond embodies a unique set of ideas, a set of ideas that sets him apart from the rest of his action hero peers and makes him more culturally valuable. This was a process that started in the 60s when Bond first appeared on our cinema screens, embodying a hero that looked back to the past in the way he dressed, acting as an argument against current trends in society. In doing so he saved the day from current threats. He embodied the argument for the value of the old way of doing things – the Diesel way of doing things – taking on new threats with old style. And it’s an argument that has been readdressed and remade every time the Bond franchise has added to its roster.

They never stood a chance...

This argument for Bond’s constantly updating retro focus has become more obvious the longer the series has continued, several new breeds of action hero coming and going during Bond’s illustrious reign. From the Western and cop heroes of the 70s, to the Hard Body heroes of the 80s, the martial arts heroes of the 90s and the superheroes of the Noughties Bond has held his own and outlived them all. But I think the unique qualities of Bond – the things that make him a unique idea that outlasts all those other heroes – can best be illustrated by revisiting one of the more famous sequences of the series, the opening scenes from what many consider the greatest Bond film of all time, Goldfinger (1964).

The opening sequence of Goldfinger has everything that sets Bond apart as a hero. The opening shot of Bond is of a seagull swimming towards a dock, a seagull that lifts out of the water to reveal that the bird is actually fake, tied to Bond’s head as camouflage while he scuba dives up to the dock. It’s an absurd opening shot for a hero but clearly illustrates that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. It’s a knowing sense of humour – a wink at the audience if you like – that is repeated later in the sequence when he is asked why he always carries a gun and he replies “Oh, it’s because I have an inferiority complex.”

This ‘knowing’ humour illustrates how Bond is completely self aware concerning his more bombastic and cheeky aspects... and he doesn’t care. In fact he revels in them and invites the audience to do so as well. When combined with his ability to shrug in the face of over-the-top insanity we get a character that wanders into a giant secret underground villain lair, shrugs his shoulders at the absurdity and continues onwards, just to see where it all leads. Bond’s knowing-ness allows his villains to be as absurd as they are (or for the situation to get as absurd as it does) without destroying the audience’s suspension of disbelief because, like us, he wants it to continue.

The second aspect that sets Bond apart is revealed after he has emerged from the water, infiltrated the secret drug lab and rigged it to blow in twenty minutes. He then leaves the facility and removes his full body wetsuit... to reveal that he is wearing a white dinner jacket and bow tie. It is yet another absurd gag played for laughs but it also sums up Bond’s attitude to fashion – he adores wearing suits and will go out of his way to make it happen. The fact that he then walks into an establishment where half the people aren’t even dressed up is irrelevant. Bond is the most over dressed man in the place and he’s quite okay with that. He chooses to dress in a classy way, superseding all other suit wearers around him, he chooses to make a big deal about his cocktails, his watches and his cars (which don’t exactly blend in during his espionage missions) and he chooses to behave in a way that is different to those around him. He’s making a stand, a stand that harkens back to an earlier age of well-tailored suits, fast cars and cocktails and it’s a stand that has become synonymous with the hero ever since. A DIESELPUNK stand.

Overdressed or just making a decent effort?

The scene ends in typical Bond style. He takes a completely unnecessary detour – both in terms of plot and mission – in order to visit his lady friend, the dancer at the bar. While there she waits until he is disarmed then has him ambushed by a random goon. Bond evades the initial attack before knocking the goon into a bathtub full of water, then throws a fan in to electrocute his ambusher. The finishing quip by Bond? “Shocking. Positively shocking.” It’s a joke that is humorous both because it releases the tension at the end of the action scene but also because what happened really wasn’t surprising at all. In the face of a warning not to, Bond went on an unnecessary aside to his mission and found trouble. Exactly where he knew it could be. 

But that’s Bond. He jetsets off to locations full of danger and then extricates himself, all with a style that harkens back to the Diesel era which was the high point for his choice of fashion. All with a wry humour that audiences across the world adore. He doesn’t do it dressed in camo and lugging military hardware around, he’s not a cop out to rescue his family, a martial artist out to avenge his slain master, or a superpowered hero with rage issues or a deep psychological need to scare bad guys into obeying the law. Bond saves the world by dressing in the classiest way possible, jetting off to an exotic location to meet up with a classy dame where he enjoys taking down a bad guy with humour in the face of absurdity. A classy method of heroism that can be thin on the ground these days.

Except when people are quoting Bond.

Style + guns. They must be spies.

The further we get from the era where Bond’s style was formed, the more jarring his style choices can be. Now they’re often parodied in cliché or in the movies reserved for those special casino scenes Bond always seems to find himself in. But Bond’s lifestyle choices and sense of fashion still take their cues from a completely different set of cultural products from a completely different era. He hasn’t been retroactively rewritten into a working class bruiser or a government funded superhero experiment, he’s just doing the same thing he’s always done with the same style, but renewing it in the face of more recent trends. He doesn’t wear retro clothing but he still wears modern takes on the suit and tie fashion staple. He rarely drives retro cars for any length of time but he is often driving their newest descendent. He’s still making sure his drinks are mixed a little differently and inventing cocktails like the ‘Vesper’ ala Casino Royale. And he’s still taking down bad guys with an old-school kind of style. A Diesel era kind of style.

And what could be more ‘punk then that?

Ladies and Gentlemen... the first Dieselpunk.

So that's the end of my VERY long blog series/essay on  the Dieselpunkitude of Bond, James Bond. I didn't intend to make it so long but there you go... it's finally finished. If you have any thoughts on the topic feel free to leave your opinion, whether for or against. I'd be happy to chat to anyone who'd like to talk about Bond or Dieselpunk :)

ePulp Review of the Week - Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira by Derrick Ferguson.

Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira by Derrick Ferguson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

***Pulp Warning*** All my e-reading is in the vein of e-pulp, so all reviews are pulp relative. Reader beware :) ***Pulp Warning***

Overall: 4 stars (Recommend)

The Pirates of Xonira is a Bond style romp through a modern world setting which makes a refreshing change for pulp. Dillon is great, the action non-stop and the supporting cast fantastic but it's missing that certain something that would make it 5 stars.

Pacing and Action: 4 stars.

One thing about a modern setting for pulp is that there's plenty more toys to play with and Dillon has a garage full of them. Motorbikes, four-wheel drives, drone gunships and submarines are all part of the fun and shenanigans ensue.

The only let down would be the way the story falls into some old Bond cliches with slabs of exposition while characters interrogate each other or the villain explains his evil scheme. It slows things down a little and can feel a little clunky.

Pulp Concept: 4 stars.

A modern setting for non-superhero pulp seems to be a fairly rare occurence but it shouldn't be. The Dillon series is a good exception with a clear Bond influence while putting its own spin on the ideas. It blends Bond with more fantastic elements that provoke Dillon's various high-tech adventures, usually dragging him all over the world in order to make things right. It's a good conept that is well used in this latest installment.

Character development: 4 stars.

This is quite good, helped by the fact that all of the characters are unique with their own motivations and character tics. Over the course of the story we good a very good sense of who is what and why, Dillon is a great character that plays with the Bond cliche by being not very Bond in many different ways and the supporting cast also have histories and stories of their own. Not sure if anyone changes over the course of the narrative but being well-rounded to begin with means that you don't notice.

Production: 3.5 stars.

There were some spelling mistakes and missed words that should have been picked up in editting and the cover is a bit flat and lifeless. But the price is good which means you get plenty of pulp for your buck.

Series Potential: 4 stars.

Three or four stories in I think the series potential has been proven. The pattern has been set and references to Dillon's wider world are always being dropped in to flesh out the world and his character. Plenty of material to mine in the future and the author is no doubt thinking in that vein.

Wrap Up.

Good, fun, Bond-style pulp romp with a great character. Will be interesting to see what happens next in the world of Dillon.


Want to see what the e-pulp world has to offer? See the Best of New Pulp listopia listing at: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/26...

Want more pulp reviews? Check out my reviews here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

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