Pulp (Comics Radio): We come to the last work of prose fiction in the
January 10, 1926 issue of Adventure. This one is a novella titled “He Shall Have Best Who Can Keep,” by Gordon MacCreath.
Writing (Kairos): Breaking Bad distinguishes itself from most modern storytelling in many respects, not least of which being its deliberate use of color. These days, in the rare instances when writers and directors treat color as anything more than an afterthought, it’s used as blunt, on-the-nose symbolism.
Fantasy (Arkhaven Comics): “With a panel of leading fantasy authors—N.K. Jemisin, Neil Gaiman, Sabaa Tahir, Tomi Adeyemi, Diana Gabaldon, George R.R. Martin, Cassandra Clare and Marlon James—TIME presents the most engaging, inventive and influential works of fantasy fiction, in chronological order beginning in the 9th century”
Pulp (Dark Worlds Quarterly): August Derleth keeps pumping out the short short stories for Weird Tales in 1928. Eight of them (and nary an illustration!) shows that Farnsworth Wright saw potential in this guys from Wisconsin and his collaboration partners. There are a few unusual moments amongst these traditional and somewhat predictable tales. One tale shows Derleth moving closer to writing in the Lovecraftian mode.
Technology (Contemplations on the Tree of Woe): There are only three kinds of people in the world now: AI evangelists, AI skeptics, and AI doomers. The evangelists are the true believers. They think artificial general intelligence is coming fast: ten years, five years, maybe less. When it arrives, it will be the greatest force multiplier in human history
Interview (Black Gate): Jason M. Waltz has published 16 Books under Rogue
Blades Entertainment (RBE), another 3 under Rogue Blades Foundation (RBF), having lured in authors Such as Brandon Sanderson, Orson Scott Card, C.L. Werner, Glen Cook, Steven Erikson, Ian C. Esslemont, William King, Andy Offutt, and spurred the writing careers of dozens. Not all are Sword and Sorcery (S&S), with weird western and pirate anthologies appearing, but most are.
Authors (Goodman Games): Manly Wade Wellman arrived in this world on May 21st, 1903, born literally an ocean away from the place he’d be forever associated with in his later life. Young Manly’s playground was the land of Portuguese West Africa (now Angola), where his father was stationed as a medical officer.
Fantasy (Silver Key): John Steinbeck is rightly remembered these days as a
Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Grapes of Wrath and secondarily, East of Eden; almost no one talks about his foray into Arthurian myth.
Comic Books (50 Year Old Comics): Last November, we took a look at Strange Tales #178, featuring the premiere installment of Marvel Comics’ revived “Warlock” feature, now written and drawn by Jim Starlin. In the first episode of a new multi-part storyline, the one-time savior of Counter-Earth learned for the first time of the galactic-level threat represented by the Universal Church of Truth
Western (Fifties Westerns): Starring Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Ed
Begley, Pat Hingle, Ben Johnson, Charles McGraw, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper, James McArthur, Bob Steele
I’m really excited about this one. In July, ViaVision is releasing a new Blu-Ray of Hang ‘Em High (1968), Clint Eastwood’s first film after his three Italian Westerns with Sergio Leone.
Fiction (Ken Lizzi): Rosemary Sutcliff had vision. Not only did she have vision, but she could share it with her readers. She could immerse us in detail, not only of the natural world, with the facility of Tolkien, but in period detail such clothing or architecture. And she did so with a seamless facility; nothing feels forced or awkwardly shoehorned into place to artificially provide color and verisimilitude. The Eagle of the Ninth is an excellent example
Popular Culture (Book Steve’s Library): The Shmoo was created by Al Capp more than 75 years ago and it’s impossible to really get across to anyone who wasn’t there just what a phenomenon the characters turned out to be. They re-appeared off and on well into the 1960s and even ended up with a Saturday morning cartoon in the mid-70s. As the last article here attests, though, the Shmoo was all but forgotten by 2001.
Illustration (John Coulthart): You won’t find Harry Clarke’s illustration for Swinburne’s Aholibah in Selected Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne even though it was intended for the book, and was the illustration that Clarke deemed his favourite of the series. The erotic nature of the drawing was too much for the publisher.
T.V. (Twilight Zone Vortex): “Ring-a-Ding Girl” Season Five, Episode 133
Original Air Date: December 27, 1963 Cast:Barbara “Bunny” Blake: Maggie McNamara Hildy Powell: Mary Munday
Bud Powell: David Macklin
Fiction (Old Style Tales): Automobiles quickly became yet another one of Doyle’s pet hobbies when they began to increase in speed and power, and in 1911 he was celebrated for his participation in an international car race wherein he and his wife piloted one of the cars to lead the British team in victory against the Germans (led by a Prussian crown prince, no less).
Weird Tales (M Porcius): Here we have the last issue of Weird Tales edited
by Farnsworth Wright, an issue with a colorful Hannes Bok cover. In the letters column, Ray Bradbury speaks at length on the greatness of Bok and brings to our attention Bok’s relationship with Maxfield Parrish, a guy whose prints fill the antique stores my wife and I frequent.
Writers (John Coulthart): The full title of this BBC documentary is Down These Mean Streets a Man Must Go: A Portrait of Raymond Chandler. The film was broadcast in 1969, ten years after Chandler’s death, and has been on iPlayer recently to judge by the logo in the corner, but it’s not one I’d seen before. It would have been ideal viewing a couple of years ago during my attempt to watch all the films listed in The Big Noir Book.
Review (Paperback Warrior): The Men’s Adventure Quarterly Magazine are highlights of my year. Thankfully, the boys behind this amazing publication put in the hard work and are dedicated to keep these books coming. This is the quarterly magazine edited by both Robert Deis and Bill Cunningham that focuses on vintage men’s action-adventure magazines, but delves into other media like paperbacks, comics, films, and books about books. Guest contributors in this issue are James Reasoner, David Avallone, John Harrison, David Spencer, and Paul Bishop.
Reading (Imperium Press): One of our most requested reading lists is a list for male self-improvement. Whether improving your body, mind, skills, or worldview, in this video we’ll give you the books that can turn good men into great men.
Radio (Old Time Radio Researcher Group): Dark Fantasy – Single Episodes
History (Raymond Ibrahim): Today in history, the important fortress city of Acre fell back to Crusader hands, and in so doing ushered in the Third Crusade—the most bloody and violent of all Crusades. And its chief architect—a man hated but also greatly respected by his Muslim adversaries—was King Richard I, the Lionheart.
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 31 May 2025
Sunday , 1, June 2025 Uncategorized Leave a commentEvery week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
The Apothecary Diaries #14 – Natsu Hyuuga
In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the hougong, the rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her—until she was kidnapped and sold into service there.
The Intus Invasion (Battles of the Republic #1) – James Rosone and Brandon Ellis
The stars held more than humanity’s future…
…they revealed an alien menace that could end it all.
First contact wasn’t peaceful. The Zodarks, brutal and unrelenting, tore into the Republic’s defenses. Armed with cunning and unquenchable bloodthirst, the four-armed warriors dominated over every adversary.
Caught off guard as the Republic stumbled into an interstellar war it wasn’t ready to fight—against an adversary born from nightmares. Mankind clung to hope as it healed divisions, forged new alliances, and prepared for the war thrusted upon it.
Amid the chaos, Ripley Willis Lee, a young officer with a brilliant mind for strategy, rose to face the challenge. His courage and determination inspired those around him, but the burden of leadership grew heavier with every battle. During the invasion of Intus, his decisions would mean the difference between survival and annihilation.
The battle for Intus would decide more than victory. Would humanity survive the trials of the stars—or succumb to them?
Lord of Fate (Arkwright Cycle #2) – Brian Niemeier
A holy warrior plagued by doubt …
A cloistered mystic yoked with rulership …
A fated prophet seeking the powers of life and death …
Besieged by a ruthless prince and a cruel legion, the free port of Dailij seems doomed.
Trapped in the embattled city and lionized by its desperate people, imperial envoy Zebrin finds his faith tested by their newly elevated queen. Spies and traitors seek to topple the walls from within. The quest for the Burned Book stands on the brink of failure.
To survive, Zebrin must discover his place in the prophecies reshaping the world. But when solving an ancient riddle of tragic love means choosing between his honor and his soul, will Zebrin find strength enough to save the fallen savior? Or will evils not of the world reign over it?
The choice lies with the Lord of Fate. Read More
This is a guest post from Deuce:
Manly Wade Wellman led a helluva life. Born in 1903 in what is now known as Angola, he was made the adopted son of a tribal chief thanks to his father’s medical expertise. Manly’s father was not only a doctor but also a published author and all-around man of parts. His parents moved to the USA when he was six. Wellman graduated college at Wichita State University in the great state of Kansas before making an unholy pilgrimage to Columbia University, where he earned another degree. MWW immediately set out on his chosen career as an author, having a story published in the November 1927 issue of Weird Tales.
Wellman’s literary career would last over six decades. He was a true student of history, writing numerous non-fiction works and biographies. He also penned a multitude of fun SF tales, of which his “Hok the Mighty” stories might be my favorite. However, his fictional bread n’ butter was crafting yarns of occult detectives. First there was Judge Pursuivant, then John Thunstone and then, John the Balladeer.
John the Balladeer, whom MWW once called “a cross between John the Baptist and Johnny Cash”, dominates Wellman’s literary legacy. As Conan is to Robert E. Howard, so is John to Manly’s reputation among his fans.
However, Wellman loved writing Sword-and-Sorcery. His Thunstone tales are essentially a modern (1940s) version, with Thunstone using his “Dai sword” in supernatural combat more than once. Manly’s “Hok” tales are borderline. I class them as SF, since I recall no actual supernatural elements in them. If we are to believe MWW himself, he came up with the idea for his ‘Kardios the Atlantean’ tales for Weird Tales in the ’30s.
True or not, Kardios is how I first discovered Wellman’s fiction, specifically in Swords Against Darkness II. I soon read most of the Thunstone and Balladeer tales. Then I tracked down Manly’s Cahena: A Dream of the Past.
Cahena was published by Doubleday in hardcover a few months after MWW died. That was its only printing until DMR Books picked up the flickering torch and republished it in 2020.
Cahena is Wellman’s final novel. After decades of writing about occult detectives, far-flung space adventures and the American South, he decided to scribe a sword-and-sorcery novel about the Berbers’ struggle against Arab imperialists in the last decade of the seventh century.
Make no mistake: Cahena is a sword-and-sorcery novel. Historical sword-and-sorcery. Despite totally artificial limits set by those with agendas, Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane yarns are S&S. Period. As are yarns like “Worms of the Earth” and “The Gods of Bal-Sagoth”. Among the “First Dynasty” of S&S scribes, Clark Ashton Smith, C.L. Moore and Fritz Leiber all wrote ‘Historical Sword-and-Sorcery’ during the 1930s. I will defend this anywhere and anytime.
Cahena bridges the gap between the seventh and eighth centuries. There had been an initial wave of Arab Muslim conquerors–riding high off their conquest of formerly Christian Egypt–which had swept all the way to the Atlantic. However, resistance from the indigenous Christian Berber tribes had forced all that back to eastern Libya. Wulf the Saxon, a native of England, had been fighting for the Byzantine throne for almost a decade. He was among the troops that were sent to reinforce Carthage, which fell to the Mohammedans in 698 AD.
Wulf finds refuge among the Berber forces of the Cahena–a prophetess of supernal beauty. He tells them his bonafides:
“You’ve come far across the world,” Bhakrann [the Cahena’s captain] observed. “You escaped being killed by Moslems, then by us. Call yourself lucky.”
“Call yourselves lucky, too,” said Wulf at once, and Cham snorted, but again Bhakrann laughed.
Wulf then relates what happens when unbelievers fall into the hands of Allah’s Faithful:
He described the sack of the cities, men butchered, women screaming in hysterical terror, children herded away like sheep.
“They’re shipping those children to Damascus,” said Wulf.
This isn’t Wulf’s first rodeo. He has fought the rabid hordes of the Prophet (PBUH) all along Byzantium’s frontiers and seen what happens to those who lose. Possibly the deadliest swordsman in North Africa, Wulf has also studied the battles of Caesar and others. Both attributes bring him into the Cahena’s inner circle.
‘Cahena’ is another form of the Arabic Al-Kahina, which means prophetess/sorceress. Meant as an insult–like ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’–the Berbers adopted it for her ‘outer name’. Her true name was reserved for her inner circle. The Cahena’s powers are real.
This brings up the ‘Sword-and-Sorcery’ classification of Cahena. The Cahena has objectively authentic supernatural powers of prophecy and clairvoyance (two different things, by the way). Also, Wulf kills what has to be a lamia-vampire in the course of the novel. Finally, there is the presence of the demon/war-god/death-god, Khro. That is a little murkier, but still convincing within the narrative.
Let me put this in very simplistic terms: there is far more ‘sorcery’/the supernatural in Cahena than there is in “Rogues in the House” or “Swords of the Purple Kingdom”. And yet, the latter yarns are totally considered ‘canonical’ S&S and Cahena is just/simply/merely ‘historical fantasy’. Quit beclowning yourselves, Poindexters. For your own sakes.
I won’t toss out any more spoilers, but here’s an excerpt from one battle:
He lifted his sword high and urged his war horse forward. Spear men fell away to right and left before him, running to find their own mounts and join the counterattack. A wordless howl beat up from the men riding behind Wulf. He saw Uchia on foot to one side, and even as Wulf saw him Uchia went down under the frantic blow of a Moslem scimitar. Riding in, Wulf sped a swift slash and down went the slayer, across Uchia’s body.
Wulf put his horse to a mighty jump over two chargers that struggled in crippled pain on the ground, and drove in among the discomfited Moslems beyond.
Blood n’ thunder stuff! There was a rumor at one point that Karl Edward Wagner “helped” MWW with those battle scenes. David Drake — a man who would know — categorically shot that down. This is Wellman at the peak of his narrative powers.
Cahena: A Dream of the Past is Manly Wade Wellman’s final, epic triumph in a career with plenty of milestones. He had already won/earned the World Fantasy Convention’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ in 1980 and had nothing to prove.
I have read the vast majority of MWW’s novels. Cahena stands above all the rest. Put aside the fact that any John the Balladeer novel was just another ‘Conanic episode’ in the hero’s career–as fun as that might be–Cahena simply contains more emotional depth and resonance. I’ve read all the Balladeer novels and have never reread any of them. Despite starting a decade later, I’ve reread Cahena four times.
DMR Books republished Cahena: A Dream of the Past–for the first time ever–in 2020. That license runs out in a few days, on June 1. It may be another forty years–or never–before a publisher takes a chance on a ‘dead tree’ edition. Grab a copy while you can. Order it here.
Sensor Sweep: Lovecraft Manga, Manly Wade Wellman, D.C. Comics
Monday , 26, May 2025 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentWeird Westerns (Crime Reads): The weird western is nothing new. Since at least 1932, with Robert E. Howard’s “The Horror from the Mound,” writers have been combining fantasy, science-fiction, and horror with the Old West in novels, stories, comics, and films. The genre built to a crescendo in the 1980s. The last major iteration I can remember is the 2011 movie Cowboys & Aliens.
Fiction (Frontier Partisans): Since I was a tweener, I have been a fan of
Manly Wade Wellman. Initially, it was his tales of Kardios in the Swords Against Darkness anthologies. However, I soon began tracking down his yarns regarding John the Balladeer. Since then, I’ve read the vast majority of MWW’s SF/fantasy/horror novels. Manly’s final novel was Cahena.
James Bond (Book Bond): Cover art for Raymond Benson’s Felix Leiter spin-off adventure, The Hook and the Eye, has been revealed, and it’s pretty slick! The eBook serialization begins May 27th. The novel will be released in paperback in October. Read More
Every week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
Fire in the Bones – James Alderdice
Hell hath no Fury like a Dark Goddess
Life is good for Gathelaus, he won back his crown, his kingdom and his woman – too bad the dark goddess Boha-Annu hasn’t forgotten and is plotting her revenge.
She knows his weakness, his temptations and his obligations, she will use all of his strengths against him.
Nobody holds a grudge like a spurned Goddess…
There will be a Fire in the Bones!
Minakai: Monster Tamer #3 – Jordan Allen
A mysterious invite heralds the beginning of the Palace Royale, a new tournament that sees both friends and enemies pitted against each other.
Aurin, Luna and Kyle each receive invites to a brand new tournament at Lord Kensington’s palace, which the distinguished nobleman has named the Palace Royale. Dozens of competitors gather, with three Minakai apiece, and the last tamer with a Minakai still standing will be declared the victor and receive one of the greatest prizes known to man.
All the while, the Zodiac Squad elites have gathered in Hazelton, setting themselves up to enact their final plan. With time running out to stop them, Aurin and his friends are determined to squash the devious group once and for all. The only question is, can the tamers stand up to the might of the Zodiac Squad’s toughest monsters?
The Complete Tales of the Mongoose and Meerkat – Jim Breyfogle
Sensor Sweep: Nephilim RPG, Gardner F. Fox, H. Rider Haggard
Monday , 19, May 2025 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentWeird Tales (Tellers of Weird Tales): Nictzin Dyalhis (1873?-1942)had his first story in Weird Tales in April 1925. So did Donald Edward Keyhoe (1897-1988). Dyalhis’ story was of course “When the Green Star Waned,” a science-fantasy set in the solar system of the future. Keyhoe’s story was “The Grim Passenger,” a tale of Egyptian archaeology and a pharaoh’s curse. “The Grim Passenger” is, then, about the past.
Publishing (Kairos): New authors still fall for it. The lavish promise of landing a contract with a Big Five publisher—Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Hachette, or Simon & Schuster—remains tantalizing bait for aspiring writers. But like the dream of becoming a movie star or a rock god, the trope of the “standard rich and famous” book deal is a relic of the now long-gone twentieth century.
Conan (Sprague de Camp Fan): REH’s and Conan’s popularity were at their apex when
de Camp was the steward of Conan. REH’s other characters like Kull, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mak Morn were published in mass-market paperbacks. They were on shelves side by side with Conan. But eventually non-Conan books petered out. One of the last “Howard Boom” era paperbacks (that blazoned “by the creator of Conan”) was The She Devil, Ace Books, 1983. Read More
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 17 May 2025
Saturday , 17, May 2025 Uncategorized Leave a commentEvery week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
The Dragon’s Breath (The Shadow’s Dragon #5) – Dustin Porta and D. K. Holmberg
Escape the past or protect the future?
Treylen and his dragon, Rime, have left the assassin’s life behind them. Now, ambassadors to far-off lands, they’re ready to settle down and take it easy.
Old habits die hard, though. Treylen makes a dangerous promise—to teach the king’s daughter to bond with a dragon of her own. To do it right, she must put aside her royal ego and survive the deadly training. And the whole city is watching their every move. If Treylen succeeds, he will have a powerful ally in the war. If he fails, the alliance is broken.
When things go awry, Rime and the princess gamble on a plan of their own, launching a quest to the hellcaves, where horrors lurk and lost secrets await.
For the others, this is the journey of a lifetime. For Treylen, it’s just nice to be out of the public eye. But, nothing ever goes to plan. When old friends come knocking and enemies show up in the most unexpected places a hidden plot will unfold, and a race against time will begin.
Which bonds will be broken? Which will be reforged? And what dark histories will be uncovered in the bowels of pentearth?
Fortunes of War (Gladius Leagues #3) – Michael LaVoice
Defrocked, disgraced, and desperate, the Warhawks are humanity’s last hope. But first, they’ll have to survive their own allies.
Foundry has been saved, but humanity’s war effort is in shambles. The Solarian Planetary Council needs someone to blame, and they’ve found their scapegoat: the Warhawks.
Nick “Warhorse” Landry, once the fearless leader of the Warhawk Battalion, has been forced out of the fight—until his team walks out in protest, refusing to leave him behind. But the real threat is at Earth’s doorstep: the alien Onslaught is closing in, faster than anyone expected.
Branded as traitors, hunted by former allies, and stalked by a god-like AI that once tried to wipe out humanity, the Warhawks must now navigate a deadly race against time. Their mission: save Earth from destruction in an all-out running battle through the streets of LA. While the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, Warhorse has a secret weapon that could end the war… but only if he survives long enough to use it.
Will Warhorse and his team stop the Onslaught in time?
Smoke and Thunder (The Buzzer War #4) – Kevin Ikenberry
Captain Mike Sandhurst and the 157th Tank Regiment have redeployed to Mars and are stuck in unrealistic training environments designed by those without combat experience and frustration mounts.
Lieutenant Vivian Llewelyn’s Thunderbolts find themselves in a similar situation compounded by their newly assigned Commander Air Group. The loss of the planet Haven speeds the creation of Task Force Victory, combining armored ground forces and dedicated air support, but not before a devastating accident shakes the Thunderbolts to their core.
After a brazen, unprovoked attack on a critical Earth colony planet, Earth Maneuver Forces are without their second largest logistical hub and must respond in force. Task Force Victory deploys forward to the Haven system and a mysterious, barely hospitable planet named Honalee. Given the mission to take and hold a massive island named Paradise, Sandhurst and his friends discover the alien world, while capable of supporting life, is a very dangerous place. Confronted by a dedicated enemy force, complete with a newly discovered variant they name a Brute, Task Force Victory must overcome all of the challenges to establish a beachhead on the island and press the attack forward.
Will Sandhurst and Llewelyn succeed in bringing their units together to take Paradise, and what mysterious secrets are to be found there? What happens when the Task Force gets the attention of the rest of the galaxy? Read More
Cinema (Art of the Movies): We all love rooting for our screen heroes but they would be nothing without a great villain to go up against. Here is the second half of our countdown of forty of the finest.
Comic Books (Conan Chronology): I detailed in “How Conan Conquered the Comics Code” how The Savage Sword of Conan came to life in the space left open by a revised Comics Code Authority to become an unlikely Bronze Age hit. Savage Sword would go on to become one of the greatest 1970s creations for Marvel and one of my favorite comic books of all time.
Weird Tales (Dark Worlds Quarterly): Parasite Mansion” (Weird Tales, January 1942) by Mary Elizabeth Counselman is probably her most famous story. Counselman began publishing gentler ghost stories in 1933 for Farnsworth Wright but this story is a later one for Dorothy McIlwraith. MEC is one of a group of brilliant women who penned creepy tales for the Pulps. Counselman describes her work in This Is a Thriller (2004) :
Fiction (DMR Books): In 2020 DMR Books made arrangements to reprint Manly Wade Wellman’s final novel, Cahena, bringing it back into print for the first time in nearly thirty-five years. The contract is expiring soon, and at the end of May it will once again be unavailable.
Pulp (Comics Radio): “The Game,” published in the January 10, 1926 of Adventure, is a fun tale. It involves an American army captain stationed in California. He’s held in disdain by the rich Mexican ranchers who live in the area. This becomes a problem when he falls in love with the daughter of one of those ranchers.
Authors (Goodman Games): By virtue of his unusual last name, Roger Zelazny is last in Appendix N. And so, around the anniversary of his birth, let’s take a look at this three-time Nebula Award winner (nominated 14 times), six-time Hugo Award winner (coincidentally, also 14 nominations) and “last-but-by-no–means-least” author, focusing on his best-known work: The Chronicles of Amber.
Weird Tales (M Porcius): The classic run of Weird Tales was from 1923 to 1954 and there is no reason to refrain from extending our project backwards and forwards. So today let’s check out some stories from the penultimate issue of Weird Tales edited by Farnsworth Wright, the January 1940 ish.
Fiction (Skulls in the Stars): This one caught my eye a while back while I was browsing my favorite vintage gaming store site, Wayne’s Books, and after a few moments of hesitation, I had to snap it up! The book is Hiero’s Journey (1973), by Sterling E. Lanier, and my copy is a 1983 edition.
Robert E. Howard (The Silver Key): How do you review a new Robert E. Howard biography? Perhaps with the question: Do we need a new Howard biography? After all, we have two major works already: L. Sprague de Camp’s Dark Valley Destiny and Mark Finn’s Blood and Thunder. There are others too, which I have not read and cannot comment on: David C. Smith’s Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography.
Pulp (SFF Remembrance): My question then is, if I’m not gonna continue my review of Triplanetary, what could I use as a substitute for the rest of the month? There were many options; as you probably know, a lot of novels and novellas were serialized in three installments. But for me the answer was obvious: I’d be returning to Robert E. Howard.
Fiction (Vintage Pop Fiction): Cornell Woolrich’s Rendezvous in Black was published in 1948. Woolrich’s particular genius is that his stories were so perfectly adapted to film adaptation. Very few writers have had more stories adapted for film and TV and that made him a crucial figure in the history of pop culture. And it turned out to be almost impossible to make a bad movie from a Cornell Woolrich story.
Conan (DMR Books): I think about the Hyborian Age a lot. Maybe not quite as much as the Roman Empire, but more than ‘now n’ then’. I’ve been a student of Hyborian Age cartography since I was barely a teenager. The same goes for Hyborian Age lore, only that goes even further back. Here is something that I noticed quite few years ago, but have never commented on:
History (Jack Carr USA): THE UNVANQUISHED pulls back the curtain on a little-known shadow war that raged alongside the Civil War’s better-known battles. At its center: Lincoln’s special forces, the Jessie Scouts—Union soldiers who disguised themselves in Confederate uniforms to carry out daring raids, intelligence gathering, and high-risk missions behind enemy lines.
Cold Steel (Schola Gladiatoria): The Hittite Empire was incredibly powerful and feared in its time, and famously gained several large victories over the Egyptians. However, is it true that one of the secrets of their successes were their iron sword technology?
James Bond (MI-6 HQ): Jarvis & Ayres’ tenth James Bond dramatisation for Radio 4. The 1953 spy thriller – the first and most famous of all Ian Fleming’s novels. With a devastating final twist.
The mysterious Le Chiffre works in France as undercover paymaster of a communist-controlled trade union. He’s embezzled union funds and lost the lot. His plan – recoup the money at the gambling tables of Casino Royale, Northern France.
Fiction (George Kelley): I read plenty of Chris Offutt’s father’s SF and Fantasy novels growing up. Andy Offutt was a prolific writer and his son is certainly following in his footsteps with the Mick Hardin mystery series. I read and reviewed the first two books in the series–The Killing Hills and Shifty’s Boys–a few years ago (you can read my reviews here)
T.V. (Critical Drinker): From pride flags to ridiculous fight scenes to Ellie becoming a “dad”, Last Of Us has become a sad joke of a show.
History (Marzaat): The War of 1812 has a dim place in American memory: the burning of the White House, the writing of “The Star-Spangled Banner”, and the irrelevant Battle of New Orleans. The theater of the war covered by this book — roughly Lake Erie, the Great Lakes to the west of it, and the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys
Crime Fiction (Crime Reads): I’ve never forgotten what John Huston wrote about the work of W.R. Burnett—“There are moments of reality in all those books that are quite overpowering. More than once they had me breaking into a sweat.” When I think of the crime novels of Charles Williams, I know exactly what he means.
History (MSN): Countries of the world had thousands of years of history that preceded the territory’s discovery, putting it on the map. The United States of America was one such nation, the discovery of which was credited to Christopher Columbus. However, the find of Venetian glass beads in Alaska attested to a trade before the arrival of Columbus.
Weird Tales (Dark Worlds Quarterly): I have found August Derleth’s work fascinating, even without the Lovecraft connection. He wrote over a hundred stories for Weird Tales. There are very few authors who can claim more — only Seabury Quinn. (For more on the most prolific writers in WT, go here.) Quinn and Derleth share more than big numbers. Both were fans of classic Horror authors and knew a thing or two about occult matters as a source for stories.
Fiction (Cabinet Obscura): The original manuscript of Robert W. Chambers’ “The Harbour-Master” surfaced recently at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, and the news brought back a memory of the strange creature — half man, half fish — encountered in the story.
Fiction (Skulls in the Stars): I definitely underestimated Francis Stevens on this one. Stevens was the pseudonym of Gertrude Barrows Bennett (1884-1948), an author of fiction that now tends to fall under the label of “dark fantasy.” Quite a long time ago, I read a complete collection of her short fiction and followed up with her 1920 novel Claimed!, about a man who stubbornly refuses to return the possession of a dark power of the seas.
Fiction (Marzaat): As you would expect from Wollheim, this is a very science fictional weird story. It opens by noting how relatively recent our understanding of physics, chemistry, and geography is. Nuclear physics is still developing.
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 10 May 2025
Sunday , 11, May 2025 Uncategorized Leave a commentEvery week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
Ace in the Hole (Black Badge #3) – Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle
On the run and out of time…
Everything changed back in Crescent City when Crowley made his choice to stand up to his angelic handler Shargrafein. It was either her or Rosa, and the choice was clear. Now, there’s no going back.
Something about Rosa has everyone scrambling—a hidden power. It’s up to Crowley to bring her back to land of the living, and discover exactly what she is. Only then might they have a chance against the forces of Heaven and Hell, both of whom want her for their own devices.
So what if that makes him a traitor to the White Throne? They kept the truth about her from him. Made him a pawn in their endless war.
But those above and below aren’t the only ones after Crowley and Rosa. An old rival has resurfaced and he’s out for vengence, no matter what takes.
If they hope to evade capture, Crowley will need to trust old friends and allies. And trust doesn’t come easy to a man shot to death by his own boss.
Fae’d To Black (Honeymoon from Hell #5) – Declan Finn
After “Happily Ever After” Comes “Until Death Do You Part.”
One is a predator.
The other’s a vampire.
They’re a match made in Heaven.
They need to make it to the church on time.
And God help anyone who gets in their way.
Something has been hunting Marco and Amanda before they were married. It has stalked them across the country. It sits in the dark, hiding in the shadows.
The two of them need a plan to drag the monster into the light. They need bait … and they may be it.
It’s time to hunt the darkness down, once and for all.
Fists of Iron: Round One – Robert E. Howard
Before Conan, before Solomon Kane, Robert E. Howard was going toe-to-toe with roughnecks at the local icehouse-trading blows with oilfield bruisers, seasoned pros, and anyone gutsy enough to step in the ring. Around town, folks called him Bob. In the ring, they called him unbeatable.
Fists of Iron – Round 1: The Ultimate Edition is the explosive first volume in a four-part series collecting Howard’s boxing fiction, poetry, fragments, and articles. These are not just boxing stories-they are tributes to endurance, raw power, and the blood-and-sweat brotherhood of the ring. Written by a man who trained, fought, and knew the pain and glory of every round, these tales are laced with wit, grit, and a deep respect for the fighting spirit.
This edition includes not only fully restored texts from Howard’s original typescripts and carbons-sourced from archives such as the Glenn Lord Collection and the Cross Plains Library-but also rare material such as newspaper articles, unfinished stories, alternate versions, and poetry that captures the atmosphere of smoky gyms and roaring crowds.
Inside you’ll find pulp classics like “The Spirit of Tom Molyneaux,” “Iron Men,” and “The Voice of Doom,” plus little-seen gems like “Dula Due to be Champion” and “Tunney Can’t Win.” Read More
Weird Tales (Tellers of Weird Tales): The illustration on the cover of Weird Tales
for April 1925 is for “When the Green Star Waned” by Nictzin Dyalhis. The artist was Andrew Brosnatch. It shows a man who appears to be falling into a mass of aliens that have invaded Earth. In actuality, the aliens have levitated him the way a Roman might hold a grape over his open mouth. The intent is the same: the aliens mean to eat him.
Games (The Rageaholic): Let’s Talk About Battletech ‘Gothic’.
RPG (Grognardia): Of these, the one that immediately stands out in my memory is Ars Magica, released in 1987 by Lion Rampant, a small outfit co-founded by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein-Hagen, two designers who would later leave a lasting mark on the hobby. Read More
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 3 May 2025
Sunday , 4, May 2025 Uncategorized Leave a commentEvery week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
Able-Bodied Soldier #4 – J. N. Chaney and Jason Anspach
Suit up and move out.
Ten years after saving humanity from the Thephari threat, legendary MOCOM instructor Titus Briggs discovers his elite pilots are failing against an enemy that’s learned their weaknesses.
When a grizzled Ranger Staff Sergeant with uncanny tactical brilliance reminds Briggs of his own infantry roots, they forge an unlikely alliance that challenges the technological superiority the MOCOMs have come to rely on.
With time running out to stop a devastating anti-MOCOM weapon from deployment, Briggs must remember who he was before the machines—a soldier who succeeded not because of technology… but despite its absence.
Literary Outlaw #13 – edited by Literary Outlaw Press
Literary Outlaw is a modern pulp fiction magazine featuring both original fiction as well as classic stories and comics from the public domain.
This issue includes classic stories by Mark Twain, H.P. Lovecraft, Hergé, a serialized novel by Booth Tarkington, and 30+ pages of uncanny comics!
In This Issue:
- Personal Recollections Of Joan Of Arc by Mark Twain
- Ghost Rider: The Blasts Of Doom! by Gardner Fox & Dick Ayers
- Legendarium II: The Wrath Of Bob by Michael Bunker & Kevin G. Summers
- Black Cat: Black Magic by Lee Elias
- Penrod And Sam by Booth Tarkington
- Tintin In The Land Of The Soviets by Hergé
- Medusa’s Coil by Zealia B. Bishop & H. P. Lovecraft
- Escape From Hell by Author Unknown
- An American Epic by Robert E. Howard
Strange Company #3 – Nick Cole
Caps to pop and bodies to drop.
As intergalactic civilization collapses and descends into chaos, the Strange Company must journey to the edge of human-controlled space to board and destroy the last ship of the corrupt Monarch Empire–in order to both satisfy a debt and salvage what remains of their reputation as hard-bitten and dangerous private military contractors.
But things are never easy for mercenaries. Plots to kill one of them abound, eccentric warrant officers are running amok–when they can be found– and a bad case of serious PTSD about what lies ahead for Sergeant Orion plagues his waking nightmares as the Cult of Hot Soup grows. The company must “get gud” or die trying as they master boarding operations and prepare for the worst kind of combat a space marine can get their kill on in: compartment-to-compartment fighting on a ship so advanced in technology, it’s almost… alien.
Stinkeye, Hauser, Chief Cook, Sergeant Orion, and new and old Strange Company brothers are here for the violence with a ticket to ride the lightning and settle accounts with the fallen tyrants as they get their stack on and get paid. If they can make it back to their ship and a safe world beyond the limits of the known, then perhaps the company can avoid the tragedy they’ve been sucked into.
The only way out lies beyond a praetorian guard of heavily armed commandoes, emplaced guns, and enigmatic psy-powered operators. The Heart of Darkness waits at the Oblivion Gate, for the Strange Company to make one wrong move and disappear forever.
Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation by Edwin Lester Arnold
Thursday , 1, May 2025 Fiction Leave a commentThis is a guest post from Richard:
“In short, I am an ignoramus, but pretty well for a yeoman.”
This testament of John Ridd, delivered at the outset of R D Blackmore’s LORNA DOONE, could be accorded to Gullivar Jones. The eponymous hero of Edwin Lester Arnold’s planetary adventure of 1905. And with equal justification.
A bluff oafish naval lieutenant, Jones is neither particularly bright nor overly perceptive. His outlook on life is distinctly short-term. And while he is brave enough, his courage is of the dogged rather than dashing variety. All told, an unprepossessing sort of hero when reduced to brass tacks.
That being said; for anyone with an appetite for the “simple tale told simply” a more affable, engaging, convivial and amusing narrator one would be hard pressed to find. And this remains the book’s saving grace. Because the story which Jones is obligated to tell is an absurd concoction of contrivances, conveniences, and coincidences. One which ultimately collapses into full blown melodrama.
Traipsing the streets of New York one night, a disgruntled Gully Jones witnesses the crashing to earth of a flying carpet. From this is disgorged a swiftly expiring occupant. Who he is, and from whence he comes we never learn [one of several narrative cul-de-sacs]. Because shortly afterward an ill-considered wish, expressed whilst stood upon the carpet, results in Jones being transported to Mars. Read More