Category Archives: Adventure

Adventure, Reviews, TRENDS DIE OUT; LEGENDS LIVE ON

King Solomon’s Mines by Henry R. Haggard

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TRENDS DIE OUT/LEGENDS LIVE ON:

King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard

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I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Henry R. Haggard is the best adventure/exploration fiction writer of all time. The reason why he-and so many other authors of the past-excel to such an extent at their craft is because of a number of factors: first and foremost because these individuals did not live in a Google search engine society, but drew inspiration from first-hand experiences. They themselves traveled, explored, went on hiking trips, hunting, fishing, even went outside for walks! All this contributed to building a portfolio of experiences that resonate in the pages they wrote.

Haggard was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform throughout the British Empire and spent many years traveling to those far and exotic places we read in his body of work. Haggard did not just Google search ‘Central Africa’– he spent time in Central  Africa! 

I’m not saying that all authors must travel or become explorers in order to write decent books, but we must admit that those life experiences clearly provide a net inspirational advantage.

 

Haggard writes in KSM: “How we enjoyed those marrow-bones, though it was rather a job to crack them! I know of no greater luxury than giraffe marrow, unless it is elephant’s heart, and we had that on the morrow.” Such a descriptive paragraph can only stem from that first-hand experience we’re discussing here. Very few modern writers can ‘go there’ (pun intended).

WRITING DEVELOPMENT: 

This novel is from 1885 whereas She  is from 1887. In those two years, Haggard’s writing style changed substantially. This earlier work is more straightforward, more action-oriented, and deals less with the metaphysical and the transcendental. If you prefer action/adventure with a taste for lost world narrative, this is IT. You won’t find any other novels from any time period that can match KSM!

 

PLOT:

We find our main character, Allan Quatermain, already advanced in age (50+) when he is recruited by Sir Henry Curtis and his partner, Captain Good, to join a rescue mission to find Henry’s brother who was last seen attempting to find the coveted diamonds allegedly located at King Solomon’s mine in Africa.

What Quatermain can’t predict is that in their voyage, the three men will find themselves stuck in a power struggle among local tribal chiefs, and they will have to pick sides and fight a fight that is not even theirs. But that’s necessary in order to move on with their mission and find Henry’s brother and the diamonds. 

 

A SUPERIOR EXPERIENCE: 

As you read KSM, you might feel tempted to go back and search the original date of publication. Why do I say this? But because the prose, the concepts, the plot lines are so rich, so full of life, so unpredictable at times that we might wonder how this was written when we didn’t have the technology of today! And that is exactly the valid point that raises the question: has modern technology aided in improving not only our writing skills, but also our powers of perception? How these XIX authors viewed the world obviously led to storytelling that is unmatched today. And if they were as closed-minded as we’ve been told, how could they conceive situations and circumstances modern writers can’t even grasp?

 

CONCLUSION:

King Solomon’s Mines is not just adventure pulp fiction, it is a treasure of Western literature. From Indiana Jones to Lara Croft and anything in between pales by comparison, and Allan Quatermain is the quintessential adventurer/hunter who will be immortalized through the ages as a TRUE LEGEND!

🦀

Action, Adventure, Alternate HIstory, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Socio-Sexual Studies, Speculative, Sports, Time Travel

Paradox 1: Escaping Fate by Henry Brown

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Paradox 1: Escaping Fate by Henry Brown

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I don’t like time travel tropes. The whole concept of time traveling usually ends up giving me a headache. But I’d be a liar if I said there were NO works of fiction out there (based on time-traveling) that I didn’t end up loving over the years. The biggest example of this is Wild Stars by legendary Michael Tierney!

 

A new series can now be added to my collection of rare favorite time travel-based pulp novels: PARADOX, written by none other than your Virtual Pulp editor-in-chief Henry Brown!

Escaping Fate covers the entire first volume of Paradox, and this is where we are introduced to our main characters–Peter and Uncle Si–in their present circumstances. But before we discuss those in more detail, it’s important to see that this story is comprised of THREE fundamental layers which work together to produce what I believe is a new cultural dimension of Americana:

  • Socio-cultural
  • Developmental
  • Fictional

Socio-cultural: the story is not just a fun and exciting adventure, but it is a mirror of the social and cultural aspects of humans–specifically in the US. The time traveling tech here offers an eye-opening lesson on how and why humans behave the way they do, and from one generation to the next. Why were people in the 1950s, for example, so much different in behavior, likes, dislikes, interests, and ambitions from our contemporaries? Or why was a family able to sustain itself on a single income? These and other complex socio-cultural questions are intelligently tackled in the pages of EF.

 

Developmental: Daniel and Mr. Miyagi, Rocky and Mickey, Neo and Morpheus. What all these iconic duos have in common is that they all show a very special teacher/student relationship, with the student going through a developmental journey which otherwise would have never taken place. Similarly, young Peter literally goes through his own transformation/maturing via the teaching of Uncle Si. The image of the mentor not only supervising the student but caring for him and nurturing him is here on display and THAT is where for me the story really sets itself apart!

 

Fictional: the time travel technology, the rigged vehicles and airplanes, the ‘invisibility’ raincoats, are all showcased here in all their glory. This is the sci-fi element of the story. If you like to read about cool toys, there’s plenty to spare here!

PLOT:

Without giving too much away, Peter is a kid of age 12-13(?) raised by a single mom in 1988(?) St. Louis. Living in a shabby trailer with mom, barely making ends meet is a constant toll on Peter’s psyche. The health of a child is strictly connected to the health and cohesiveness of his family. Eating stale buns is the norm for Peter. Not having friends other than his dog is just one of the many results of his present situation.

But circumstances suddenly turn around with the arrival of enigmatic Uncle Si into Peter’s life. Uncle Si takes Peter under his wing to teach him how to basically stand for himself and become a man. When a group of futuristic hitmen attack his trailer–taking the lives of both his mom and step-brother–Uncle Si rescues Peter and enlightens him on his true identity as a time travel bandit.

Peter and Uncle Si will visit several time periods together, and each trip will prove a teaching lesson for the youngster.

CONCLUSIONS:

I think that this book should be read less as a sci-fi novel and more as a source of reflection upon the history of the US and the West, and understand what elements have played a role and continue to play a role in the quality of life that is considered the norm. If you lean left you’d probably be skeptical of some of its content, and that’s OK too. But in my humble opinion this is a pillar of US fiction literature and families should read this together and have a conversation about it.

The refreshing thing about ESCAPING FATE is that the author understands that portraying people from a different era is not just about putting them in period clothes. Their cognitive processes were developed during entirely different circumstances than ours. Their attitudes and tendencies are going to be different from ours. This is something that a big majority of modern writers fail to grasp or refuse to acknowledge.

My only issue was that the ending of Book 1 felt very incomplete. Readers won’t feel a sense of fulfillment UNLESS they read Book 2 next. That’s fine, but like I always say: if you expect readers to PAY for your book, you have to offer some sense of fulfillment by the time they get to the last page. Can you read Book 1 by itself and get some degree of fulfillment? Or does it leave you hanging like you just bought ⅙ of the entire book?

My advice? By all 6 volumes together! 

🦀

Editor’s note: A “box set” of all six E-Books in the series is forthcoming.

UPDATE 1: The Box Set for Apple, Kobo, B&N, and other non-Amazon sites, is available for pre-order.

UPDATE 2: The Box Set is now available on Amazon.

Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Reviews, Sci-Fi

Velin: The Rifle’s Song by Black Knight

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Velin – The Lothorian: The Rifle’s Song by Black Knight

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When I first picked up and started reading The Rifle’s Song, which consists of Book 1 of Velin The Lothorian, I couldn’t help but get Star Wars vibes with a ‘Conan the Barbarian” type of main character. This is probably due to the blend of sci-fi and classic fantasy/action that we get to read starting on page 1 and all throughout this book. The author  unsurprisingly credits R. E. Howard’s Conan The Barbarian for his inspiration of this character.

But the comparison to Howard’s classic hero ends right there at the surface.

 

CONAN/VELIN:

The son of farmers in a distant world, Velin grew up learning hard work and how to farm land from his father. After his mother’s death due to illness, at the age of 8 a gang of slavers attacks his village, killing his father in the process and taking young Velin as a slave for hard labor.

And just like Conan, the following years of hard labor and harsh conditions will forge him and prepare him to become the unique warrior he’s destined to become.

After years of captivity Velin earns his freedom by sheer will, acute killer instincts, and physical prowess. When he is taken up by a group of Terran samurais called the ‘Terr’aan Knightly Order’- dedicating their lives to fighting slavery and injustices across the universe-Velin masters the fine arts of combat, thus becoming the perfect killing machine to fight evil and protect the weak.

 

NOBLE INTENTIONS/WEAK EXECUTION: 

Let me emphasize the indisputable fact that the author known as Black Knight is truly an outstanding human being with a noble heart. He understands the concepts of good and evil, of chivalry, of the pure and selfless hero. However where I feel he falls short is in putting it all together, for different reason:

  1. Character Development: all the characters we encounter in this story feel like they need more fleshing out. We know the basic facts about them but they are all very one-dimensional and they function only on one gear.

For example:

“He sought to draw strength not from his bleeding, scorched body, but the hallowed Terr’aan railgun instead.”

I thought it was awkward to have the main character draw strength not from his mother or father, or even his mentors, but from an object, his railgun (??)

2. Prose: I know English is the author’s third language but when we decide to put our book on the market for a price, we should ensure that the editing/proof reading is up to standards. The writer has this tendency to always put the subject last in a sentence which creates awkward structure overall.

          Example:

“Gargling, the dying, terrified beyond measure road bandit, raised his hand.”

 Also there are some word choices that the author overuses like olden instead of ancient, or nigh instead of near, or ‘twas instead of was. 

I understand that indie authors for the most part work a day job and professional editing costs money, but if we feel readers should PAY to read our books, competent editing and presentation are essential.

CONCLUSIONS: 

This is a book very well suited for younger readers who enjoy comic books and are perhaps only now finding out about the beauty of long-format fiction. Children of 10 years and older would absolutely love it. This would make a great gift to those youngsters that we want to introduce to classic pulp. 

I know Black Knight has a big following online who seem to genuinely love his work, so don’t let this review dissuade you from at least sampling his pulp novel.

🦀

Editor’s note: Make sure to stop by the Based Book Sale and find yourself some great reads!

Action, Adventure, Historical, Reviews

The Mark of Zorro – A Review

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(1940 Film)

 

I saw this movie on TV as a very young boy and remembered very little about it. I rewatched it recently and, despite its flaws, it is more relevant than ever.

The Universal Scenario:

I don’t know about the recent Zorro productions (for all I know they gender-swapped the character and made the masked kickass grrrlboss fight against “white supremacy” or something–I’m not gonna bother finding out), but otherwise, all the incarnations have a similar backdrop: a tyrannical military-political complex has institutionalized injustice and oppresses both the peons and caballeros alike. Crushing taxes are the usual instrument of oppression, but just as with today’s IRS, the Alcalde of Los Angeles has enough armed goons to murder or imprison anybody who doesn’t bend the knee.

Don Diego de la Vega, son of Alejandro de la Vega, has been sent away to a military academy in Spain where he grew from a boy to a young man–and also the top cadet in his class thanks to his swordsmanship and horsemanship. He gets a letter from his father which compels him to quit the academy before graduation and return to California immediately. He is chapped about not getting his commission, but obeys his father and bids his fellow cadets goodbye.

It isn’t until he reaches California that the reason for his father’s urgent message becomes clear: Don Alejandro has been forced into retirement as Alcalde, and replaced by a cruel, corrupt tyrant. Don Diego grieves for his people. Then when somebody (a priest or monk in some versions) expresses their desire for an avenging angel to intervene, he is inspired. He will disguise himself as El Zorro (the Fox) to play Robin Hood in Los Angeles. The corrupt government will be unable to retaliate against his family, because his true identity is kept secret.

Characters in this Version:

Linda Darnell plays love interest Lolita Quintero, niece of the new Alcalde, who rankles at the injustice her uncle causes. Darnell is one of the quiet beauties of that era, and a good choice for the part.

Linda Darnell and Tyrone Power.

Actor Eugene Pallette reprises his role of Friar Tuck in The Adventures of Robin Hood, only now he is called Fray Felipe and he’s in Los Angeles instead of Nottingham. And he doesn’t fight with a quarter staff. But I think he might wear the same costume.

J. Edward Bromberg plays the new Alcalde as a weak, cowardly Prince John Type. He’s like a mixture of Tim Walz and a less demented Joe Biden–but just as much of a tool. However, he’s not a complete fool.

Capitan Esteban Pasquale is the Alcalde’s egomaniacal muscle, who is really running the show through the petty politician, who he intimidates into compliance. Basil Rathbone really broke his foot off in this role–and with minimal screen time.

Tyrone Power does well as the swashbuckling Zorro, but is perhaps too convincing as the effeminate fop Don Diego pretends to be so as to avoid anyone suspecting him as the masked outlaw.

Character Folly:

Can’t really blame Tyrone Power for this, as I doubt he wrote the script, but he’s a little too foolish to be in the resistance business. It reminds me of the unmasking-in-public fetish so prevalent in the Marvel movies. Within days of donning the guise of the Fox, he begins revealing his secret to everyone but his father (who buys into his son’s metrosexual facade and is ashamed).

First Friar Tuck Fray Felipe is read in on Operation Zorro.

Then Lolita. Simply brilliant, Don Diego. After all, she’s beautiful, which of course means she is morally pure and will be faithful to you until the end of time. Not only that, women never gossip or reveal secrets. At least special women, which you are convinced of beyond any doubt after spending maybe a cumulative hour within her presence.

Don Diego blows his cover spectacularly.

But that’s not nearly careless enough. Don Diego has to pull all the stops out to spread his folly wider and farther. He intentionally blows his cover to Capitan Pasquale and the Alcalde. He kills the former in a sword fight, so I guess that loose end is tied up. But the latter has him arrested and jailed. Great plan, Don Diego.

Zorro Through the Ages:

Tyrone Power was pretty adroit for the role. There are some nice action sequences in The Mark of Zorro  to keep you entertained, but this movie doesn’t hold up as well as I’d hoped.

But then, not many do. I watched the original silent version with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. It proved my attention span has dwindled along with my hearing since I was a young man.

There was a Zorro movie from Spain (or was it Italy?) that made the rounds on network TV back in the day that I enjoyed as a child (“Here’s to being free/Here’s to you and me/La la la la la el Zorro’s back!”) but wasn’t much impressed by when I found it at a public library and watched as an adult.

Out of all the actors who’ve played Zorro over the years, it’s actually Guy Williams I like the best. That’s right–I’m referring to the old Disney series. Williams’ Don Diego was more of a troubadour than a dandy, but he was both believable and admirable in the role. As Zorro, he buckles a swash with the best of them.

Another mark in Disney’s favor is that, though many tried to discover Zorro’s true identity and some came close, Williams’ Don Diego didn’t spill the beans to anybody but his father and their mute servant. In other words, close, trustworthy allies.

What Disney did (back before being handed over to a depraved mind) was preserve the character’s utility for future adventures.

The typical formula (with Zorro’s identity becoming known to all by the end of the story) could be remade, but sequels weren’t much of an option after the public unmasking.

 

CONCLUSION

Zorro is a fantastic character just dying for a mythic treatment. Maybe that’s what some film makers were shooting for. Nobody has quite pulled it off to the extent that would satisfy me as a fan.

 

Adventure, Reviews, TRENDS DIE OUT; LEGENDS LIVE ON

AYESHA: The Return of SHE by H. R. Haggard

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TRENDS DIE OUT/LEGENDS LIVE ON

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“She was all loveliness in one shape; She was like the dawn upon the snows; She was like the evening star above the mountains; She was like the first flower of the spring.”

 

Welcome to our next installment of TRENDS DIE OUT/LEGENDS LIVE ON. As a reminder, this is a series of reviews in relation to what I believe to be legendary classics of fiction literature that are a must-read. They changed my life and keep doing so to this day, in many respects.

 

If you missed our review of SHE (link) I’d strongly suggest you go back and check it out. If not, welcome to Volume 2 of what I am convinced it is the best adventure/exploration/new world fiction literature ever written.

INDIANA WHO?:

Ayesha was written by Haggard following the success of She. That first book came out during a time when England in particular was enamored with tales of exploring new worlds and adventures into exotic and strange lands. In that sense, She was the first of its genre, and frankly it still remains the best of all.

So enthralling is Book 1 that there is no way we could read it and not feel compelled to dive headfirst into Book 2! And so here we are, once again entering the ‘lost world’ of Haggard; anticipating more adventures, more legends…more SHE!

 

PLOT:

Again, this is an account as told by our original main character Horace Holly. After surviving his adventures with Leo in Central Africa, and making it back to England more or less in one piece, reintegrating into ordinary life was not easy for either of them. Both experience some sort of PTSD related to having witnessed and interacted with Ayesha, “for what mortal mind can be touched by an immortal mind and be left unscathed?”.

Leo even contemplates suicide but Holly rebukes him out of love. Until one night Leo has a dream in which Ayesha appears to him and seems to direct him to a place where her reincarnated being is awaiting them. After convincing Uncle Holly, they set for Central Asia, based solely on Leo’s dream! Yes, this is a desperate mission, and deep inside both of them know that it will certainly mean their end!

 

TRAVEL/MYSTERY:

Where Haggard’s narrative really shines is in the description of these long and dangerous explorative trips to exotic and mysterious lands. Holly and Leo have to fight against hunger, against weather conditions, against the harshness of these lands where the biggest enemy becomes the sheer solitude they inflict on the psyche. Witness their staying at a monastery of monks forgotten by civilization; marvel at the sheer magnitude of the mountains covered in unforgiving snow; gasp at the threat of random snow avalanches, deadlier than boulders of stone:

“The screaming of the blast caused by the compression of the air, the dull, continuous thudding of the fall of millions of tons of snow as they rushed through space and ended their journey in the gulf.” (Chapter 4)

 

FACING ‘THE IMMORTAL ONE’:

As Holly recounts:

“It was like the fragment of a nightmare preserved by the awakened senses in all its mad, meaningless reality.

We have seen the very Light of Life roll by in majesty; we have been the guests of an Immortal…”

 

The moment of interaction between our main characters and Ayesha represents the culmination of all the trials and tribulations…with a shocking twist at the end!

 

CLOSING REMARKS:

Ayesha as a book was not quite as successful as Book 1, but in terms of quality this doesn’t feel like a modern sequel, the result of  greedy minds trying to capitalize on the success of the previous work. In fact I’d dare say that some of the dynamics in Book 2 depart a big deal from Book 1 while preserving the essence that made Book 1 so special.

I encourage you all to read this LEGEND yourself. Pick up Book 1 and 2 and let us know what you think in the comments below!

🦀

 

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Scout’s Honor by Henry Vogel

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A Review

David Rice is a “Terran Scout” who crash lands on a world colonized long ago, then left to develop on its own.  The Scout falls right into a feudal conflict as well as  some palace intrigue, and it’s off to the races.

The characters barely get a chance to breathe. because the  action is almost non-stop. The reader may want for breathing room, too, because every chapter I remember ends with a cliffhanger.

If this sounds like retro-pulp, well, it is. Specifically, it conforms to a genre called “sword & planet.”  However you felt about John Carter’s adventures on Mars, that’s probably how you’ll feel about Scout’s Honor. The manuscript could be taken back to the 1930s, each chapter used as an episode to be published in multiple issues of a pulp periodical, and nobody would be the wiser. You’ll find that the character development and the romance simulates what came off Edgar Rice Burroughs’ typewriter as well.

When Rice (coincidence? I think not) lands on this planet, a beautiful princess and her bodyguard are under attack.  He comes to their aid, and not too much later he pledges his life-long support to the princess. This guy must have been a recruiter’s wet dream. But he’s not doomed to rot away from jealousy as the princess dallies with and/or marries somebody else, because she falls in insta-love with him, too. Luckily for them both, nobody has much of a problem with foreigners of non-noble blood merging into the royal line, either.

This would be a good read for children and young adults who can handle long-form fiction. Adults looking for a few hours of escape should appreciate it, too.

Action, Adventure, Espionage, Historical, Sci-Fi, Socio-Sexual Studies, Speculative, Sports, TEOTWAWKI

Behold the Based Book Bargains Blast

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As mentioned before, the latest novel in the Paradox Series was released in time for Father’s Day.

If you haven’t heard of the Paradox Series yet, it’s a time travel sports adventure that begins as a coming-of-age tale in the first novel and climaxes as a wild conspiracy thriller in Book Six (coming in a couple few months). Themes of manhood/masculinity, leadership, and truth vs. popular perception run through the entire course of the overarching plot.

I’m happy to report that all five books in the series so far have been category bestsellers. Five for five is batting really well. Even though I’d still like to stretch the envelope of success, I didn’t even imagine the series would do this well back when I decided to break up the Super Great American Mega-Novel.

More important to you is that right now, you’ve still got a little time to pick up the entire series (plus the entire Retreads Series) at 99 cents per full-length novel. This is not just  on Amazon, but all the online stores with E-Books for sale (linked throughout this post, along with the ‘Zon series pages).

My books, plus dozens more, are all heavily discounted at the Summer Based Book Sale. As always, there are more books by more authors than the previous sale.

 

Non-woke authors are providing alternatives to the ubiquitous Globohomo narratives that are disgusting you and targeting your children. We all want an escape in our entertainment. Consider buying it from people who don’t hate you.

Sadly for you, the sale ends Wednesday morning.

Adventure, Reviews, TRENDS DIE OUT; LEGENDS LIVE ON

SHE by H. Rider Haggard – a Review

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TRENDS DIE OUT/LEGENDS LIVE ON

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SHE is arguably the best adventure/exploration story ever written…But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. What this really is about is a soul-searching/mind-bending LEGEND disguised as the former. Haggard has set the standards so high that no other book, movie, game, or AI generated content can ever surpass what Haggard has been able to project in the mind of the reader via his written words.

Haggard raised the standards of adventure/mystery narrative to heights that to this day have not been matched, and most likely never will. Haggard redefined what can be done with the genre. I feel spoiled but also humbled, being able to read, study, and review his body of work.

PLOT:

What we read here is the memoir of main character Horace Holly. When Leo Vincey was still a toddler, his biological father (and Holly’s only real friend) reveals a dark secret to Holly just before he dies of a disease he contracted on a trip to Central Africa. As a result, Holly assumes guardianship of Leo (who was 5 at the time) along with his  family wealth and a suitcase for Leo only to open on his 25th birthday.

Without spoiling things too much, the contents of that suitcase will see Holly and Leo travel to a mythological civilization named Kôr, in Central Africa.

Holly’s memoir is an account of that voyage.

 

ADVENTURE/PERILS/HARDSHIP:

This is where Haggard really pushes the envelope of what can be achieved in what we would call the ‘Indiana Jones’ adventure genre. The path to Kôr is dangerous and life-altering. The scene of the storm while they’re at sea (chapter 4) is probably the most gripping scene of its kind. Out of a crew of about 20 only 4 make it to shore. Once they reach land our protagonists will have to deal with the harsh elements of the region, its animal kingdom (witness the most brutal fight between lion and alligator in chapter 5!), and a local tribe of flesh-eaters who adopt the most sadistic ritual called ‘hot-potting’ to kill their victims before they eat them (it seems like the human body dying in fear and pain tastes better to them!)

And this is just the beginning!

FEMALE VILLAIN:

Another bar that Haggard manages to set very high is that of the female villain character. Today’s writers for the most part fail miserably at capturing what should really define a female villain. Here is where we get introduced to Ayesha who is simply known as She or She-who-must-be-obeyed, as the locals call her.

Ayesha is mysterious, evil, scary…But also beautiful, irresistible, wise beyond any mortal, and truthful. Her beauty is so otherworldly that she has to wrap herself in thin white veils. As Holly writes in his memo: “The truth is veiled, because we could no more look upon her glory than we can upon the sun. It would destroy us.”

KÔR:

Haggard is very detailed with the geographical account of this lost nation called Kôr. Located north of the Zambezi river and once a very advanced civilization, it was eventually decimated by a plague. The few who survived fled and eventually funded what we know as Ancient Egypt. All the cities of Kôr were abandoned, including the enormous cave system they had created. Only a few scattered tribes eventually settled in the area but never dared to go near the cities for fear of the ghosts of those who died by the plague. About 400 B.C. Ayesha (who seems to be from the line of Ishmael) moved to the area and made her kingdom out of the caves, whereby she ruled the local tribes through fear and terror ever since.

 

CLOSING REMARKS:

Is this an action/adventure story? Yes and no.

This is a psychological and spiritual masterpiece disguised as an action/adventure book. It pushes the boundaries of how a finite human mind would handle the interaction with a god-like creature of infinite beauty and wisdom. How much could the human psychic take before snapping? Ayesha interacting with Holly and Leo is comparable to trying to pour a gallon of water into a 16-ounce cup. Too much beauty, too much knowledge, too much wisdom. As Holly himself puts it: “No man who once had seen She unveiled, and heard the music of her voice, and drunk in the bitter wisdom of her words, would willingly give up the sight for a whole sea of placid joys.”

This deals harshly with the finite limitations of the human psyche. Today we live in a society where the self is exalted. The worship of the self is probably the most widespread ‘religion’ in the West. I am strong, I am brave, I can accomplish anything! But reality is, man is puny and the human mind has limitations.

 

Before closing, I’ll leave you with this excerpt from Holly’s memoir, and please go read SHE!

 

“Who would so load up his back with memories of lost hours and loves, and of his neighbour’s sorrows that he cannot lessen, and wisdom that brings not consolation?”

Adventure, Sci-Fi, Sports, Time Travel

Books for Sons Without Dads

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If you’re like me, you barely notice when Father’s Day comes around. A good wife will remind you, and maybe do something nice for you on that day, otherwise, we’d probably never know.

So many men today grew up without fathers—sometimes literally. For those of us who were fortunate enough to know ours, quite often we saw our fathers only sporadically as part of a custody arrangement. Even before our parents’ divorces, our fathers were physically absent often, and emotionally absent otherwise. They weren’t all that interested in us once we were no longer cute little toddlers—if they even were then.

Then we felt guilty if they ever made an effort to take an interest in us for a little while, because by then we knew they had a lot to do that was far more important than us.

Beyond that, some fathers were abusive, in one way or another.

There’s a whole generation of us out here now, trying to behave differently than our own fathers did, and giving our kids the advantages we never had. If you’re like me, even though all that is behind you and you’re doing the best you can with the cards you were dealt, you often reflect on your younger years and wonder if you might have made better decisions had you enjoyed the benefit of a dad who tried to prepare you for what life had in store.

Before I first began writing Paradox, I wanted to tell a fun men’s adventure tale that involved time travel. Then, while the idea germinated, I couldn’t help speculating on some “what if”s:

When I was a young man, what if I knew  what I know now? What if I had a role model to clue me in on life, so I didn’t have to learn everything the hard way? What could I have accomplished if even a few of my ignorant decisions were never made?

In Book One of the Paradox Series, our hero is just about to enter puberty, going through life like many of us did at that age, with no dad, assuming that our single mothers and the culture at large were guiding us competently on the path to manhood. And doomed to a series of failures, defeats, bewilderment and disillusionment over how nothing works the way we were told it would.

Our hero encounters a mysterious uncle who begins to turn his life onto a new path right away. Out of all the advantages this new role model provides, perhaps the most valuable is the wisdom of how to deal with other people in general, and females in particular.

Paradox follows the hero from his pre-teen years into his late 20s. There are four books in the series published so far. The fifth one releases on Father’s Day (Sunday 6/16/24). Of the reviews these books have received so far, the consensus is that they’re full of wisdom that boys and men need, but mostly, they’re fun.

Check ‘em out!

Book 1: Escaping Fate

Book 2: Rebooting Fate

Book 3: Defying Fate

Book 4: Provoking Fate

Book 5: Resisting Fate

Aviation, Military, Reviews

The Dawn Patrol – a Review

2 Comments

What It’s About:

A British pursuit squadron suffers the attrition of air combat in WWI. Major Brand is in command, driven to drink and relentless stress by the young pilots he loses every day to enemy action. His “A Flight” Leader is Captain Courtney, who is a survivor and a skilled veteran pilot whose perspective will be forced to change before the movie is over.

Vintage:

This film was made in 1930. To put that in perspective, The Jazz Singer had been released just three years before. Audiences were no longer content with silent movies, and the Hollywood studios had been scrambling to adopt the new technology. This meant a new equipment needed to be installed in theaters, new recording equipment (capable of synching with cameras) needed to be acquired and used by every film crew, and a whole lot of expensive sound stages needed building on the studio lots.

“Talkies” were still in their infancy, but this one has got a better soundtrack than most.

Even though the entire industry now realized synchronized sound was the wave of the future, it still took a while for film makers to ditch certain practices that were no longer necessary.

Exhibit A: Intertitles. Dawn Patrol doesn’t have as many as a typical silent film–and none for dialog–but it’s got a few. The writers/directors evidently hadn’t figured out a way to give exposition without inserting text in between shots. Or they never even wondered about doing it some other way.

Exhibit B: Subtitles. They put one at the bottom of the frame whenever we see the villain in his cockpit.

Exhibit C: Acting. Some of the actors strike overly-dramatic poses, wear exaggerated expressions, and use jerky, exaggerated gestures. Many of them were veteran actors of the silent era and directors had conditioned them to emote that way. It must have been a tough habit to kick. It kind of grates, now. The film was remade in 1938 and I bet that one doesn’t suffer the same issues.

Exhibit D: Patience. This might not be directly related to silent movies or talkies. This film is just too methodical for the modern audience, in places. Folks back then were more easily entertained (not spoiled rotten with omnipresent entertainment) and had the attention span of a human being–not a gnat or a smartphone zombie.

Plot and Themes:

If you watch a lot of WWII movies, you’ll probably lose count of how many of them are built around certain tropes like individualists learning to do their part as a member of a team. This one thrums on “the loneliness of command” nine years before the invasion of Poland and 20-30 years before the trope became such a cliche` in war movies. For all I know, Dawn Patrol might be what set the precedent for several war movie tropes which are overly familiar today.

The audience is left to assume that the Germans don’t face the same problems as our heroes.  The Allies have manpower problems and material shortages, whereas the Germans don’t. In reality, it was almost exactly the opposite.

In fact, this type of story would better represent the German side. The best German aces were given such a workload that they were completely used up by 1917 or so. The constant stress, exhaustion, and requirement to accomplish much with little dulled their abilities and wracked them with sickness. Even the legendary Red Baron could barely keep his eyes open on his last few missions. (His stand-in in this movie is “Von Richter.” What movie about WWI air combat does NOT feature a portrayal of Manfred Von Richtoffen and his Flying Circus, I wonder.)

But, I mean, they’re bloody barbaric Hun savages with no appreciation for the value of human life. So who cares what problems they faced, eh wott?

Production Values:

Howard Hawks directed this. He was a prolific director who made some very memorable  films from the silent era right up until 1970. But this (his first talkie) feels like he’s just getting his sea legs.

(As a side note for the red pill and manosphere communities, his serious films depicted very masculine men and feminine women. However, in his comedies, he conformed to the mild gender confusion so popular in the postwar era that helped push our culture onto the slippery slope that led to the institutional gender insanity of today.)

The film probably had a pretty good budget. There are about three aerial combat sequences, including one in the opening scene. Aside from just a couple rear-screen projection shots, this was all real pilots in real planes doing this stuff. Considering that, some of the stunt flying is truly spectacular. I’ve watched my share of dogfight scenes in war movies, and this movie’s are better than most, and still hold up somewhat today.

But even big budgets have their limits. I wonder if that’s why most of the film involves the lonely commander and other personnel at the airfield simply worrying while waiting for the squadron to return, to find out who survived and who didn’t. That’s another popular trope in the genre. No doubt some screenwriters used it because they wanted an intense drama. But, like the stark lighting in Film Noire, budget constraints might have necessitated it in the beginning–so directors took that lemon and made lemonade.

My Take:

Considering everything I’ve mentioned, overall, Dawn Patrol doesn’t hold up that well today. I appreciate the limitations it was made under, and that it was a pioneer film that established precedents for the genre. Few others will. And the crude sound, outdated conventions, hammy acting, etc., are not justified by the story, which seems hackneyed and formulaic despite the fact that it wasn’t back in 1930.

If you have an interest in WWI air combat, you might want to also read my review of The Red Baron.