ePulp Sampler, Vol 1

ePulp Sampler, Vol 1 created by John Picha (2013)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a freebie online while I was searching for "dieselpunk". I didn't realize how old it was. It says "edited by Kilroy" but everything online credits it to John Picha. The splash page says created by John Picha, Matthew J. Davies and Russ Bopp, and N. R. Grabe. The copyright notice show those four wrote the five stories (Picha writing two).

There are five stories contained of varying lengths, with may be launchpads for other series. I haven't gotten to the point of checking that out yet.

"Rurik of the Demonwatch: Arena of Death", Russ Bopp. We never really find out what the demon watch do (other than watch and battle demons). Rurik is traveling through someone's realm when he's captured and put into the arena for the queen's amusement. He defeats one foe and is about to be beset with more with the queen's son jumps into the ring to challenge the queen. Rurik is told to leave but not come back through the realm again. Not much to it.

"Dead Reckoner: October 21, 1917", Matthew J. Davies. A man falls victim to an African tribe and its with doctor and suddenly finds himself in WWI (decades later). Trench warfare and mustard gas. He seems to die at the end. I thought he would go from battlefield to battlefield, continually suffering. It seemed incomplete.

"Wild Marjoram: The Pill", John Picha. In an alternate timeline, WWI lasted a lot longer, so science and innvation continued. Basically, dieselpunk. The Germans have taken over parts of New York City, and the French have a stronger presence in Canada. Majoram is a mechanic in Chicago where there are still gangs, including one for women. THis makes sense because most of the young men are needed for the war effort. It seems that women are also needed to have babies for the war effort, which seems to imply that no one believes that the war will end in the next two decades. The Pill in the title refers to an actual birth-control pill, but its one made of heavier metals, so it has side effects of discoloring eyes to gray, and well as providing something akin to Popeye eating spinach (to a lesser extent) and damaging bones. Women who take the pill won't have children, which is helpful when the gang girls work in a brothel. The "anti-Slates" attack, and there are moves by foreign gangs to take over Chicago, so a group makes their way to Canada.

Maybe it was less convulted than I'm making it sound, or maybe it's more. It seems more of an excerpt of a bigger story rather than a standalone story. I would've ended it sooner. I didn't hate it.

"Pandora Driver: Blind Luck", John Picha. The Green Hornet, but a girl in black, like a black cat. The story follows a Charm School girl who sneaks out of a dance with a charming boy who turns out to be a serial killer who can get away with what he does (he's interested on how a body's insides work) because no one interferes. No one responds to screams. Pandora arrives and fires a tranq gun but it doesn't penetrate the guy's coat. He flees and Pandora has to get the girl to the hospital. Meanwhile, a nearly blind homeless man hears the screams, is aware of the fleeing man, and fires a flare gun at him that wounds the man in the shoulder. The two end up at the same hospital. The girl doesn't know the boy's real name, but the police bring him in, telling the nurse that he's important (son of a senator or somesuch). Pandora gets lucky. The girl survives, gets to meet the homeless vet, and decides to give up on charm school.

Interesting story. I could read more of them before I decide. There was something there.

"Skyracos: Set Adrift", N. R. Grabbe. Rocketmen versus alien bugs. I skimmed to the end. A lot of action but I lot interest.

The collection was a mixed bag. I did appreciate the intros to all the stories by whoever "killroy" is. If he's one of the authors included, that would make some sense. If there are more free samplers available, I might check them out before I spend money on any of them. These are "old" now, so it's possible.

The Bradys and the Girl Smuggler (Doughty)

The Bradys and the Girl Smuggler; or, Working for the Custom House, Francis W. Doughty (1900)

Note: This novel appeared inside the collection 8 Dime Novels.

Back around the turn of the 20th century, there was a series of dime novels named Secret Service about agents who do a lot more than just protect the President. This series featured an agent known as "Old King Brady" who was joined by a sidekick/apprentice who shared his surname even though they were not related. The latter became known as "Young Brady". The stories featured the byline "A New York Detective", which was Francis W. Doughty.

The Bradys had a knack for solving problems when no one else could. At least that's what I figured was the reputation that they had. The novel I read was number 79 in the series.

The story opens in the port of New York in lower Manhattan, an area I've been familiar with since I was a child, but that was long, long after. (Two world wars and then some!) Still, it's amusing when I read the street names as they pursue a suspect that I can make a mental map of the route.

The Custom House of the story has to do with declaring valuables being brought into the country when getting off a steam ship so taxes can be paid on them. Someone has been smuggling diamonds into the country right under the noses of the Custom House agents, and no one seems to know how it is being done. The Bradys are called in to take the case.

The villain of the piece is named La Croix and his French accent is sometimes difficult to work out. ("Eet es deef-e-cult!") He's tricky and won't stop short of trying to kill the agents (bold move for a smuggler -- that's ups the game somewhat). It does become a family affair, as you can tell from the titular "Girl Smuggler".

The story takes them up to Canada and back again, riding trains because that's the fastest method of transportation and communicating through telegrams to places where the other person should be and may go to because that's just the way it was.

With nothing else to compare this story to, I can't say if it's a great example of a dime novel, but I did enjoy it (other than the phonetic accent). Would I read more? If I could download another story in a format that was easier to read, maybe.

One of the interesting things about the book was that it seemed to be reproduced in the manner that it was originally published, complete with the splash page (shown in the photo above). The novelty of that will wear off after a while, particularly with older eyes viewing it.

I don't believe that I'll plan on reading the first 78 to catch up to wear I am.

8 Dime Novels (Bleiler, ed)

8 Dime Novels, E. F. Bleiler, editor (1974)

I don't remember the circumstances that got me thinking about old "dime novels" a few months ago. It couldn't been because of seeing a roleplaying game online or something similar. I searched both the Brooklyn and New York Public Libraries for information on dime novels, and one of the hits I got was for 8 Dime Novels, edited by and with an introduction written by E. F. Bleiler. Collected in 1974, the stories are much, much older.

I'm not sure when "dime novels" ended and "pulp magazines" began or if the two are somewhat synonymous.

My biggest problem with this book was that it was a big book. Larger in size that a regular magazine, but hardcover. Not something that was easily portable, so I couldn't read it on the train. And not the kind of thing I want to hold onto and catch the lamp light right before bed. Basically, I had to find a comfortable place outside to read, close to home. As a result, I didn't read much of it despite how long I kept it.

Bleiler's introductory essay was interesting and gave me some more background on dime novels and suggestions for others to read. It went into why those 8 were chosen though I suppose a case could've been made for many others. Some of these novels, think "comic books with only words and no pictures", went on for a hundred or more issues. I don't know how many even survive, let alone were read for consideration.

In the end, I read the essay and the first story. I probably would have skipped to the Buffalo Bill story after than, had I more time.

It's not likely that I get this book again, unless I can find an ebook version of it. On the other hand, I've found an entire library of Buffalo Bill stories online that are free to read.

Still I enjoyed that this was available. It's a piece of history. That said, reading books more than a century old, particularly those that are cheaply made, can be a little challenging when you're used to today's pacing and writing style. (I'm saying this as a guy who likes science fiction but had trouble getting into both Dracula and Frankenstein for the first few chapters.)

This was not part of my summer library challenge. I took it out late spring. In fact, I finished it earlier in the summer than the last couple of books, but I forgot to post an entry when I was catching up.