ePulp Goodreads Review of the Week - Fistful of Reefer by David Mark Brown.

Fistful of Reefer by David Mark Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

***Pulp Warning*** My e-reading is mostly e-pulp centric. My reviews are therefore skewed towards e-pulp reading. Reader beware. ***Pulp Warning***

I'll qualify this review by saying that while Fistful of Reefer does resemble many other pulp stories out there it isn't strictly pulp. The author's intent, as I understand it, was to write Dieselpunk and as such it's not trying to be pulp.

On the other hand, Dieselpunk is my other prose obsession and there's plenty of pulp grist for the mill in this one. I mean it references The Dollars Trilogy in the title. That's not just pulp - that's classy pulp!

So I'm going to qualify everything and be more confusing than usual. Read on...

Overall: 4 stars (3 stars for pulp snobs, if it's possible to be such a thing)

As most people note, if you like your Serge Leone movies political (which is sort of a redundant statement) then you'll get a kick out of this story. I'm just repeating what others have said but this is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly set in 1920s America with a drug-based Macguffin. And goats that barf marijuana. If this in anyway sounds like your kind of thing then this story is for you.

A qualification for pulp readers though - if you're a pulp purist then you may want to knock off a star (or half a star if that were possible at Goodreads). As you may expect from a story with the word 'reefer' in its title, there is much introspection. You may like this, you may not. For you it's 3 stars. All four of you terrible snobs...

On the other other hand - this is fantastic Dieselpunk. More on that later.

Pacing and Action: 3/4 stars.

For a pulp story this can be a little slow. And the angst over various political problems may be a chore. If you enjoy a little bit of cheeky 'punkitude in your reading this will be fine. If you're not there's still plenty of spills and thrills, including some awesome period-specific vehicle-based chase scenes that will definitely float the boat of many a pulp reader. But then there's all that boring angst about politics...

Pulp Concept: 4/5 stars.

Not your average pulp concept, to be sure, but it IS suitably whacky and leads to all the shenanigans you could want from a pulp story, even if not quite at the pace you may want. A note on the drug thing - to my surprise the story doesn't actually have much to do with drugs. They serve as a MacGuffin that then charges the political environment the characters move through. So don't be too put off by the idea. If you despise everything to do with drugs then the title should have put you off already. But if not, don't worry cause the stuff just ends up being yet another banned substance during Prohibition era America. Which gets our heroes into a lot of trouble. And the most disturbing moment of drug consumption comes from regurgutating goats...

Character development: 3/4 stars.

Again, I'm going to qualify this one. I didn't particularly like the first protagonist, but that's because I didn't 'get' him. I just had a lot of trouble getting a read on him. He was kinda flaky and passive. The other protagonist was a little more straightforward, even if he could be seen as the antagonist as well, but I think this also benefitted from previously reading Reefer Ranger, the free prequel of sorts to Fistful of Reefer. There is, however, plenty of character development among the supporting cast and some really intriguing character paradoxes that were unfortunately left unanswered. But by pulp standards this was pretty good. My inability to understand the protagonist notwithstanding.

Production: 4 stars.

A zany cover that grabs you and professional editting etc on the inside make this an easy book to read.

Series Potential: 4 stars.

There's already a stack of different stories in the DMB Files which I've been told will serve as artifacts in a series set in the present. In the new series the stories will be referred to as documents written by a pulp writer/historian that is trying to unravel various conspiracies. And considering the titles of the other stories include zombies and other pulpy concepts I think the series potential is already on show to see.

If you're interested check these out:

The Austin Job
Del Rio Con Amor
Twitch and Die!
And the one that gets my attention: Paraplegic Zombie Slayer

So there's plenty of pulpy madness out there to be had in the world of the DMB Files. Series potential? Big tick.

Dieselpunk: 5 stars.

As a Dieselpunk story this thing is top class. 'Punking a time era (Steam, Diesel, Atomic, Cyber) is to criticise the politics of the present or the past by using the past to show up the future or inserting modern values and ideological beliefs into the protagonists existing in a former or future age. And this book does so in spades, using the idea of a character's quest to get their cash crop (which just happens to be an illegal substance in America at a time when most things were illegal) away from the people who are hunting them as a political statement about banned substances, freedoms and a range of other topics. The fact that it uses a Mexican perspective of the era and examines the various political shenanigans happening at the time a) gives it that special Serge Leone flavour, and b) lands squarely within the target it was aiming for - Righteous Diesel'punkitude (come on, it's called Fistful of Reefer. Did you think I'd get through this review without one stoner movie reference?).

If you like Dieselpunk then buy buy buy.

That is all.

Wrap Up.

Bizarre story that will pass some people by completely. But if this is at all remotely your thing - even if you're not into the whole drug politics thing - I suggest you give it a go, or at least track down the free Reefer Ranger to see what you think.

You never know, it could be your gateway drug to the DMB Files...

View all my reviews

Pulp Cover of the Week - Marvel Tales.

Better late than never:

The Official Launch of the Dieselpunks ePulp Showcase!

Press play, then continue...

After much trial and tribulation (and more than a few curse words at Amazon for being so annoyingly stubborn) the writers of Dieselpunks.org would like to present:

Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase (volume 1)

Do you need more gritty, hard-boiled noir in your life? Do you feel the urge to drag on your beaten coat, tip your fedora to just the right angle, and slum it in a smoky speakeasy? Do the grimy streets of another age call to you from deep within your blood? If so, then do I have the book for you.

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Featuring works by Grant Gardiner, John Picha, Bard Constantine, and Jack Philpott, the writers of Dieselpunks.org would like to present the very first Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase.
These four tales embody the spirit of another age and are absolutely free to download.

For young hoods, the Aether Age streets of mob-plagued Chicago present a world of opportunity. And Mack and Mickey are headed straight for the top in "That Sort of World: a Tale of the Aether Age" by Grant Gardiner.

It's class-warfare in Citadel City as Pandora Driver and her Car of Tomorrow deliver rough justice to the elites and a douche named the Gooch in "Who are the People in your Neighborhood?" by John Picha.

"The Wise Man Says" by Bard Constantine introduces Mick Trubble: a hard drinking, chain smoking charmer who bites off more than he can chew... then chews like hell. The Troubleshooter takes the grit and slang of a hardboiled detective and drops it in a dystopian setting that mixes Fedoras, trench coats, flying cars and android policemen.

Our last tale is set in the World of Mañana by Jack Philpott…

The dirty streets of Roanoketown were his home and his only family, until he met HER. Now he'll follow HER into hell, tamahaak held high, and fight as a proud Indian against the Anglo Oppressors. He'll wager his life to be a true "Friend of the Spirits."

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Download them at Dieselpunks.org for free, or pick them up at your favorite online bookstore

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Dieselpunks

• MOBI Version - Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase (volume 1)
• EPUB Version - Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase (volume 1)
• PDF Version - Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase (volume 1)

iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dieselpunk-epulp-showcase/id604770234?mt=11&uo=4

Kobo
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Dieselpunk-ePulp-Showcase/book-xDKw0A7h6EG1_vLEp222Pg/page1.html?s=BSfQ-lZaNki4StUcM57UIg&r=1

Smashwords
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/287097

DriveThruFiction
http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/111474/Dieselpunk-Epulp-Showcase

Lulu
http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-picha/dieselpunk-epulp-showcase/ebook/product-20703690.html

GoodReads
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17382357-dieselpunk-epulp-showcase

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Dieselpunk-Epulp-Showcase-ebook/dp/B00BHK925G

Please note, when I was writing this release, Amazon still had the price of the book at 99c despite the fact we said it was free. They've been notified. In the meantime, feel free to download from Dieselpunks.org and sideload it onto your Kindle.

Song of the Week - Chambermaid Swing by Parov Stelar.

And some great dancing to boot:

Pulp Manifesto: A Pulpy (Alternate History) World To Live In.

In honour of the posting of my short story over at the Alternate History Weekly Update blog I thought I’d post a bit about the alternate history aspects of The Aether Age and the world Tommy lives in. Originally I was going to wait a while until getting into the nuts and bolts of my alternate timeline (mostly because I still have plenty of research to do) but I’ll start by giving a vague run down of the key points that make The Aether Age a bit different to The Jazz Age that existed in our own history.

There are only two key differences separating the Aether Age from the Jazz Age but as every student of history knows, everything rides on those key moments. And the key moment for The Aether Age occurs much earlier than the 1920s. It occurs in 1803 with the signing of the Louisiana Purchase, the contract by which the United States of America bought France’s claim to a huge slab of land west of the Mississippi river for the paltry sum of 15 million dollars.

The original Louisiana Purchase superimposed over a modern map.

In the Aether Age timeline the deal went ahead as planned except for one minor detail – a line written into the contract stating that France retained an option to buy back the land at a future date if they so wished, at the going market rate. This small line of legal technicality just sat there, and nothing happened for over a century.

The second difference in the Aether Age timeline was the mysterious discovery of a new element – aether. This gas was first heard of just before the outbreak of the Great War and was quickly exploited in order to make zeppelin technology more efficient. This came both from its incredible lifting power, which far outranks helium, as well as its ability to easily transform from a gas to a liquid which allows for greater buoyancy and ballast control. It also helps that the gas is inert except under extreme conditions.

Yep, that Aether is workin' pretty good.

It better be...

 While the element was only just being utilised at the outbreak of the war its influence was enough to bump flight technology far enough along to drag out some of the worst battles in the conflict and allow journalists greater access to the battlefields of the Western Front via private aircraft. This became a propaganda nightmare for not only the English but their enemies as well. The English press first began releasing unadulterated footage and photographs of the European carnage which flew in the face of previously upbeat military reports, then other European press agencies did likewise. Confronted directly with the horror of the war, the public will for conflict began to wane, the war dragged out, and The Lull of late 1918 ended with the Armistice of late 1919, a ceasefire which resulted in an immediate cessation of hostilities but not much more. By the 1920s large swaths of Europe are still stretches of barbed-wired No Man’s Land and all sides warily eye each other off as they rebuild their war machines.

This never happened in the Aether Age: The 1918 Armistice.

 For the French this meant a ruined nation with the threat of an imminent return to warfare. With there being no end to the confrontation in sight the French government looked to the English strategy of evacuating many of its children to their colony of Canada in the hope of sparing them the incessant zeppelin attacks that plagued the British Isles. In their desperation the French explored all of their own options for a similar strategy. It was then that they were able to find the long lost clause in the Louisiana Purchase contract that would allow them to buy back a large slab of the United States. Were this purchase a success they would be able to provide their most vulnerable citizens with a refuge from the wars of Europe, as well as the economic base from which to continue their Western Front defences.

Needless to say, their initial overtures were met with a somewhat... muted reception. The United States was still divided about being involved with the war in a production capacity, let alone joining, and large rifts were forming between various states over the decision. However, no state advocated the selling of a large portion of the country, even if it was on the say so of a legal document of vague authority. 

But along came some villains...

 But a large cabal of New York industrialists and bankers were interested in the offer. At the going rate for property in the United States the country would make a mint selling off a significant part of its land. And if it was somewhere insignificant like – oh, Louisiana – then wouldn’t that be a price worth paying to receive France’s gold stockpiles and become the bank of the world, no matter what side of the Great War potential customers were fighting on?

What followed was a backroom deal that scandalised the nation. The consortium of industrialists and bankers sold the state of Louisiana to the desperate French, received the French gold, and then were amazed at just how outraged the rest of the country were. Outrage against New York quickly led to threats from other states, the worst being from Chicago which organised its own militia which in turn led to a tense stand off in which the nation braced itself for potential civil war. 

It was only Louisiana. Why are you all so angry?

 New York attempted to compensate by appealing to the citizenry, especially the rural heartlands. However their actions, such as aggressively backing the new and somewhat popular 18^th Amendment instituting Prohibition, backfired, further alienating certain states who went so far as to threaten to secede if New York continued having so much say in political matters. It did not help that New York also began to benefit greatly from its newfound wealth and armed its own militia in case Chicago did attack.

In a turning point for the nation, a headline stealing threat was made by Washington and Oregon senators to secede to Canada if New York did not stop interfering via the Prohibition act. This was then met by disdain and arrogant insult from a young New York industrialist during a newspaper interview. The interview caused another scandal. And Washington and Oregon promptly made good on their threat. 

A Seattle resident from the Age of Aether.

 A call by federal authorities to use military action and bring the states back fell on deaf ears and, while the potential for reconciliation was high, further events soon made it impossible. Seeing the Union crumble under the leadership of New York’s robber barons, other states began to reclaim federal powers for themselves, including the ability to institute standing militias. 

Then, in a move that would irrevocably change the course of the United States of America, Texas held a referendum concerning their participation in the Union. By a slim margin the vote was won for independence and Texas reclaimed its status as a republic, a move that saw California and then the Midwest states quickly follow suit. Soon the powerbrokers of New York and Washington DC were left ruling a ‘United States’ bordered by Canada to the North, the MidWest Commonwealth to the west and the New Confederate Federation to the south, which itself was making gestures of war towards the Nouveau Republique de Mississippi to the south west. The Union was well and truly gone.

Viva Le Lone Star Republic.

 In the power vacuum that has followed the North American continent has been in turmoil. Not only has there been a civil war in Canada (which Churchill, in disgust, christened ‘the most polite civil war to have occurred in this or any other age’) but the abundance of aircraft being manufactured on the continent has prevented law and order forces holding sway on most of the boundary territory far from urban areas. Everything west of the Mississippi and north of Texas is now considered the ‘New West’ with the region falling into economic turmoil thanks to constant skypirate raiding and a mass exodus from urban areas, often west to California which now dubs itself CaliModerna. Both highways and railways were soon torn apart in economic battles between airplane armed groups until zeppelin cargo shipping became the only cost effective method of transporting goods with any certainty that they would reach their destination. And with the rise of criminal empires thanks to the Prohibition act urban politicians cling to in order to appease their rural constituencies, often police and militia forces are not the wielders of law and order they once were.

This happens all over what was once the United States.

Welcome to the Aether Age. Buckle yourself in :)

Art Deco Poster of the Week - Holidays in Austria.

A do love a good limited palette:

GoodReads ePulp Review of the Week - Mythical: Heart of Stone by C.E. Martin.

Mythical: Heart of Stone by C.E. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*Pulp Warning* Most of my e-reading is e-pulp based. My reviews are therefore written with e-pulp in mind. Reader beware :) *Pulp Warning*


Overall: 4 stars.

Mythical is a new, interesting take on what could be described as the urban fantasy superhero genre (if such a thing has ever existed). With suitably pulpified concepts and plenty of comic book-style throw downs the story sets up what could be a very interesting world, but suffers the usual problem of developing characters in amongst the flying bullets.

Pacing and Action: 4 stars.

If you like your pulp comic-booky (that is now a word, cause I said so) then the action will suit you to a tee. This is a world in which people fight up close and personal and the gibbs tend to rain on down with each new showdown. It's good, solid two-fisted gunfu which keeps the story clicking, with a few horror scenes thrown in for variety. Add in all the superpowers and you're not once lacking for thrills.

Pulp High Concept: 4 stars.

Really solid. This is superhero prose but with an interesting twist. Hard to explain, but it's like your average whiny emo urban fantasy story got itself the purpose of a superhero story and some 1980s action film grit to prove it wasn't being a girly man. Plenty of whacky concepts abound (and in pulp, it's all about the whacky) and just when you think you've got the world figured out someone gets their heart ripped out and it turns to stone in their hands. It's all rather delightful. In the pulp sense of the word.

Character development: 3 stars.

Once more, this is pulp's archnemesis and Mythical struggles to rise above. There is some very good characterisation when it comes to the teenagers, the sense of petty teen jealousy and ignorance especially well done. But unfortunately some of the characters go AWOL for the second half of the story (they just kind of disappear and aren't mentioned again) and none of the bad guys get far beyond caricature. It's not terrible but people who are interested in motivations etc are going to be disappointed.

Production: 4 stars.

There were a few spelling mistakes, some weird line breaks and a few misused words but the editting wasn't too bad for an indie. Cover was okay. All up the production did the job but not much more. Which is fine.

Series Potential: 5 stars.

There's a lot of potential here for future stories. If this story does one thing well it's hint at the wider world that may just exist just beyond the borders of the current book. There should be plenty of space to expand on the mythos. Much much potential. I.e sequels. I.e. NOW.

*On a personal note I will say that the mythos of the storyworld is a little... kooky. There seems to be a strong hint of Christian mythology throughout the story (nothing preachy but it's part of the protagonists old school-ness and the monsters have a biblical bent that suggests the author has read their Bible) but it's married to some very gory fight scenes that kind of glory in the blood and the gibbs and the way a certain calibre of bullet bursts inside a human being etc. Again, just a personal thing, but the combination seems... odd.
But that's America for you.*

And can I just say that the powers of the protagonist are brilliantly set up for further superhero-style dramatics. He's set up as a bloke who can take a lot of damage, recover from it on a regular basis, but still has his own kryptonite that should see many a cliffhanger where he desperately can't get to that enticingly close water bottle - all without the often rediculous Aquaman-fish-out-of-water thing. It's a good set up for a serialised hero.

Wrap Up.

If you're in any way inclined towards superhero prose then you should check this out. It should be the start of a very good series. Well done.

View all my reviews