The Ship of Ishtar
Look, The Ship of Ishtar is an unusual book. There’s no question of that. It dispenses with traditional tropes. A. Merritt does not tread familiar
October 20, 2024
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Re-reading Dwellers in the Mirage. Blended Whisky.
A. Merritt‘s Dwellers in the Mirage is a farrago of elements, blending almost perfectly in a heroic fantasy adventure. I wonder, though, if some of
October 13, 2024
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The Polychromatic Prose of A. Merritt’s The Metal Monster
So, what is The Metal Monster? Imagine a concoction of one part She, one part The Moon Pool (natch), one part Lovecraft’s cosmic horror, one
June 16, 2024
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“The Blue Star” Shines
I’ve written before about Fletcher Pratt, incidentally referencing The Blue Star. But it has been years since I’ve read it. It is one of those
June 2, 2024
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The Complete Compleat Enchanter. Part One, of the Making of a Hero.
I re-read books. Yes, I keep going back to the well, or, rather, wells. But if the water is so good — uisce beatha, if
February 4, 2024
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The Watchers Out of Time. H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth.
H.P. Lovecraft receives top billing for The Watchers Out of Time. But the stories in this collection appear to have been actually written by Lovecraft’s
January 7, 2024
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Golden Blood. A Jack Williamson Adventure Textbook
Was the 1930s the last great period of adventure fiction in the modern era? There’s Indiana Jones, Tales of the Golden Monkey, Robert E.
November 19, 2023
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The Borgia Blade. All Killer, No Filler.
Gardner F. Fox‘s The Borgia Blade is a distillate of Rafael Sabatini, served with a squeeze of romance novel in a man-sized pewter tankard. Fox streamlines
November 12, 2023
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The Guns of Leigh Brackett. Plus Savage Journal Entry 36.
I was watching (yet again) the John Wayne western El Dorado. It looks amazing on the 75-inch 4K screen. In fact so amazing that I
March 26, 2023
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