Where I Thought Indy Got a Bit Boring

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark by Ryder Windham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I meant to buy the regular novelization and accidentally got the junior novelization. That's okay; I have a bookcase full of MG and YA novels and sometimes enjoy them as much as or more than mainstream novels. So I read it, somewhat hopefully, and it was fairly entertaining. But I didn't love it. 3 stars.

Honestly? It was acceptable, and the story is engaging enough that it's still fun, so 3 stars feels fair. (A surprising number of readers gave it 4s and 5s, so listen to whoever you trust.) But IMO, while condensing the action and making it mostly inoffensive for a younger audience (which I acknowledge is a difficult task), this exciting adventure story becomes very... plain. The mood tends toward cozy and playful rather than thrilling or menacing. There are a few scenes that still mostly work, where the tension is maintained, but much of the book is matter-of-fact. Because huge sections of action have to be summarized in narration, the reader is drawn farther and farther from the action until it doesn't feel very real. Much of the danger is erased, the exotic feels everyday, and the plot becomes strangely bland.

In general, I'm in favor of junior novelizations for younger readers and reluctant readers, and this version might work for many of them. But I feel like the changes made for readability unfortunately cut out a lot of the drama and tension.

Still pretty good, IMO. Just not awesome.

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Where Indy Meets Zombies

Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead by Steve Perry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed maybe the last 100 pages or so--maybe less--but it's not a great book. Average? Okay. I gave it 3 stars--good enough to finish, maybe read another.

My biggest complaint as I read this was that it was very hard to imagine Indiana Jones as the person in the story. A few times in the last couple scenes, a recognizable Indy seemed to emerge, but for most of the book it felt like just some random character with his name. He was just a guy walking in the jungle without much to do. He should have been much more enterprising, more impressive, doing cooler stuff.

IMO.

Some of this works as an Indiana Jones adventure. Nicely exotic setting? Check. Some Nazis (and some Japanese soldiers, too)? Check. Some supernatural stuff going on? Check. Even a love interest. But it's thin. The whole story takes place in Haiti and a smaller island off Haiti, unlike the variety of settings you get in an Indiana Jones adventure. And the first half at least is very slow, with a long walk across an island that seems kinda pointless. You want a fast pace with lots of action, but we don't get that until the very end.

And in fact, to be fair, the very end is pretty good. There just wasn't enough story leading up to that to make this a full adventure novel. Should have been a novella. Or maybe a tight short story.

I liked bits of this, and I'm curious about all the other tie-in novels that I've never read. So I may look at some more of these. But I hope they feel more like the movies...

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Where Zorro Gives Them the Slip

The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is very entertaining old pulp fiction novel.

Zorro--meaning tv shows and movies and tie-in kids' books, etc--was already old in the 60s when I was little, and always seemed dated to me. I didn't ever try to look into anything related to Zorro because I didn't think I'd enjoy it. But then I got curious when I found the Isabel Allende version, interested in the history (real and fictional) and culture of the region before California was part of America. The Allende version was, for me, super boring and disappointing, so I had to see if the original was better.

I think it is.

It has fewer pretensions, which is an advantage. This is meant to entertain. You can tell he wasn't expecting write a sequel, let alone a bunch of them, so he was putting it all in this one story. Zorro is bigger than life, flamboyant, risk-taking, and very capable, though not quite a superhero. There's a lot of action, a lot of sword fights and chases on horseback and highwayman tricks, and there is a bit of romance and even a few laughs. The good guys are very good and most of the bad guys are very bad, though he does have a few sympathetic guys in the middle. It's genuinely fun.

It has flaws for sure. The author isn't too particular about the exact history of the time, and he doesn't show a lot of modern awareness of human rights and equality. However, it seems like his heart is in the right place. (Or Zorro's is.) The natives' treatment is considered important, and Zorro wants to protect them, but the story seems to uphold a pretty rigid hierarchy, with hidalgos at the top, peasants (including mestizos, apparently) next, and natives at the bottom. The author seems to be okay with keeping those distinctions, just with a little more fairness applied.

Still, considering he wrote it in 1919, it leans more toward justice than the society he was part of, IMO.

The plot is really just Zorro annoying corrupt politicians and embarrassing soldiers while defending simple people. In the midst of that, Diego Vega, the unmasked Zorro, is wooing a rich young woman who wishes Diego were more like Zorro. His escapes get more and more unlikely until we get to the conclusion, when his survival appears impossible. The existence of sequels makes one hope he does, in fact, survive the final trap.

If you sometimes like old pulp novels, give Zorro a try. I'm gonna go look for those sequels.

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Where Zorro Is... Kinda... Well, He's Dull

Zorro by Isabel Allende
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was disappointed. I thought this would be a cool retelling of an old adventure story, maybe with some added realism. I thought it would have swashbuckling action. Barely. Almost didn't. Lots of it was a slog, tbh.

I nearly DNF'ed a dozen times. In the end--well, it's okay. Probably 2-2.5 stars if I'm feeling less generous, but 3 on a good day. It's not Zorro, though.

The main problem I had with the book was that Zorro was not awesome. You want him to do amazing things? Well, wait. He's a baby. Then a kid. Then a teenager, for a long time. We get his whole biography, and he's a bit of a mess. The devil-may-care, in control, confident, capable hero doesn't arrive until about 30 pages from the end. Well, he's pretty confident early on, probably overconfident, but he doesn't feel remotely heroic until the end when he's finally doing the stuff from the movies and the TV show. Even there, though, he feels like an imposter, like he's just putting on the costume and doing his best impression of a hero.

We didn't need his whole biography, giving multiple chapters to every stage of his life, especially since he doesn't seem very special for most of this. He's just a kid; coulda been anybody. His legend is diminished by showing him so often powerless, overwhelmed, frustrated. Then his actual adventures are only briefly referenced in the yada yada yada of the epilogue.

Not fun.

And the cheeky, intrusive narrator is not my preference.

I'm gonna read the original pulp novel now. It's been sitting there while I stretched the reading of this out to ridiculous lengths. I'm sure it's full of historical inaccuracies, and probably some problematic attitudes, but if it isn't a good deal more fun I'll be shocked.

Either way, I'll let ya know...

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Where Doc Goes to Patagonia

Spook Hole by Kenneth Robeson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was fine. Typical adventure. About as good as any other Doc Savage novel.

The number of times Doc's men have been captured and held and allowed to escape has got to be a record, but it's that kind of story. You've just gotta let it go the way it's gonna go.

I finally found one of the books with Doc's cousin, Pat, and it was good to have more than one female character in the story. She didn't get to do much, but it was an improvement over other titles.

So, something's going down on the waterfront; different bad guys fight each other over some scheme; Doc's guys get caught; everybody ends up in Patagonia, on an island; there's something dangerous in the lagoon; then Doc does some stuff and things happen yadda yadda yadda and you know.

Short pulp novel. It does the exact thing it was made to do.

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Where Hellboy Sees Something Nasty

Hellboy: The All-Seeing Eye by Mark Morris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series is great fun if you're already a fan of Hellboy comics or movies, and this is a decent representation of the books. It has some specific flaws that I've decided not to point out because it was generally a pleasure to pick up and read each time I looked at my stack of books, and that's what matters here.

Books like this, IMO, are supposed to extend the fun for the reader, giving them more time with the characters they met in other media, and the regular standards for standalone novels don't really apply. Hellboy and Liz and Abe Sapien are tracking down some dangerous supernatural killers, and they get to fight and chase some real baddies. Hellboy gets hit and gets to hit back; they find secret spaces; they encounter terrifying villains; the citizens are in danger and need their help.

There ya go. That's all a Hellboy novel needs.

Good pulp action. Recommended for readers who appreciate that sort of thing.

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Where I Read All the Pages

The Mystery on the Snow by Kenneth Robeson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was unique (among the Doc Savage books I've read) in that it's a straightforward mystery without any trappings of the supernatural. There is no pretense of there being a werewolf or goblin or any of the other strange things that always turn out to have a natural explanation. Here, it's just a bad guy trying to steal a man's valuable mineral discovery.

It's otherwise pretty typical: somewhat entertaining; decent action; a bit of insensitivity and outdated language; an almost complete lack of female characters; everyday banter; a little gee-whiz science.

I liked that this one had all five of Doc's team, which makes it more fun, though I STILL cannot remember the difference between a couple of them. (In my head, Long Tom and Johnny are just Long Johnny.) :)

Recommended? Kinda. If you read Doc Savage, sure, read this one. If you don't read Doc Savage, there's no reason to start here.

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Where I Muster a *Little* Enthusiasm

The Flying Goblin by Kenneth Robeson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I mean, it's fine.

You know what you're getting when you pick up a Doc Savage book. It's pulp, so it's got action; it's got gadgets; it's got international settings; it's got fights and escapes; it's got cool covers. Sometimes there's a vague supernatural feel about it, sometimes there's SF-like futuristic technology, and other times it's more like a detective novel. But you gotta keep your expectations in check, because it's light on character and pretty light on plot. Mostly action.

That's all right. Still fun. Kinda.

This one is about a jailbreak and an advanced kind of rocket (the "goblin" of the title) being used for some unknown purpose, leading us from Sleepy Hollow to an ocean liner to a hidden lair in Switzerland. It works. It does the job.

TBH, I never really like a Doc Savage book, but I don't mean that as criticism. It's fine--nice for a change once in a while. It's more vibes for me than fun, so I pick one up every year or so.

Good news is I've still got about 150 of them left to read, so I'll never run out at this pace.

Recommended for readers of pulp.

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Where I'm not too charitable

The Plague of Sound by Alex Raymond
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was a little better than the first one, a little more entertaining, but still... pretty bad.

I'm adding a star for sentimental reasons.

The writing is okay for pulp, surprisingly deft in places, but the plot remains messed up. The demands of the serial comic--constant cliffhangers--require Flash to be continuously in trouble. Either he or Dale is getting captured all the time, and it's super tiresome, and it makes for a choppy plot. Isn't he supposed to be awesome? Isn't he some kind of hero? If that's the case, then why do others get the better of him every single time? And then other people rescue him. That's not very heroic.

We're supposed to believe that he's amazing because of what everyone says about him, but after two novels I've yet to see any sign of his impressiveness, his astuteness, his capabilities. He's brave enough, but is he actually good at anything?

Looked at another way--he's not a very active protagonist. He jumps in, sure, but then he gets defeated and put in a cell and has to wait for someone to save him. The telepathic guy and the shape-changer are the real heroes in this story. I want to find an episode where he actually shows what he's worth.

Anyway, it's fun for other reasons, and worth reading for some folks.

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Where I Finally Learn About Flash Gordon and Ming the Merciless

The Lion Men of Mongo by Alex Raymond
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I gave this a compassionate 3 stars. I was surprised to see so many gave it that or more. It's a stretch at 3. But that's fine.

I have a soft spot in my heart for pulp, so even when I know it's not gonna be great--and it isn't--I enjoy it some and score it as generously as I can. Yes, I enjoyed this some. Yes, I learned some things. Yes, I'm glad I read it.

It is, however, a pretty bad book.

The world-building is terrible. Nothing makes sense, really. It's almost as if the characters in the world are aware that they're imaginary people living in a literary world. The characters (as you expect in pulp) are absolutely stock, without depth. And the plot is dreadful. Stuff happens; then other stuff happens. The main characters don't achieve very much, TBH.

There is a small amount of action and a little dialogue that is sorta fun. Much less than I hoped. Most of it involved killing large creatures, which is fun, except I felt bad for them...

Anyway, this book is good mostly for connecting nostalgically with a time before your own or to familiarize yourself with something you've heard of but didn't know much about. Or, if you (like me) wanted to educate yourself on some of the oldest sources for space opera. (There are also those "It's so bad it's good!" people, but I don't get that. That ain't me.)

It's pretty thin. Not a lot to be learned here. But it's a quick read that might satisfy some curiosity, and for some folks that makes it worth looking at.

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My Choice for "Coolest Book Title Ever"

Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is good fun. I mean, it's fun just to open a book with this title. Ack-Ack Macaque? Come on! Genius.

I expected this to be totally a pulp novel, and I was up for that, but it is actually a straight-forward alternate history science fiction novel. Well, that's cool too.

Ack-Ack Macaque is a character in an online game, but he turns out to be more than that. Like other important characters, his brain has been augmented by medical science, and that science turns out to be key later on. It's a mystery and an action story with airships and wing suits and hand-to-hand combat and a somewhat pulpy (in the best way) science fiction novel.

Highest marks for inventiveness and exciting action; decent marks for characterization and pacing. With two sequels, I'm eager to see if the author keeps the action going.

Recommended.

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Someone Needs Your Help, Michael!

The Giveaway by Tod Goldberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nobody would expect this book to be amazing or groundbreaking--it isn't--but you might hope it's fun to read. And guess what? It is. 4 stars.

This is a novel based on the Burn Notice TV series. Mike is a disavowed spy stuck in Miami; until he clears his name, he uses his expertise to help people in trouble. One of his friends brings him a case of a man in real trouble with a motorcycle gang, and Mike agrees to help him out.

Without going into more detail, this is a typical plot, and it works fine in novel form. Speaking for myself, I want to read a book with a new story but familiar characters doing the sorts of things I'd see them do on the TV show, interacting in a familiar way, and this is it. I like encountering their regular banter; I like "hearing" the characters' voices in my head; I like the jokes and light tone with the explosive action, just like the show always had. And I like having it in print. To me, books are always the better version of a story.

So, it's a fun novel, and because the reader knows the setting and characters even before the first page, the fun starts right away. No exposition, no introductions, no wasted effort.

Recommended if you liked the show.

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Another awesome Arizona writer

Hunters Rise by Joseph Hutton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun, fast-moving supernatural action novel. I liked it better for reading a copy signed by the author (actually Joe Nassise, writing under a pseudonym) who is an Arizona writer. (It took several attempts to catch him at the right time down at Comicon, but I'm glad I did.)

He writes a nicely-paced, straight ahead kind of pulp fiction, and I mean that in the best way. If you are in the mood for a book in the vein of The Destroyer or Mack Bolan--you know, pulp fiction action, with just the good parts--but you'd like to see it filled with inventive and surprising supernatural elements, this is a great choice. Lots of fun, and lots of books already published.

Here's to getting book 2.

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