Conan Remembers the Alamo? -- Sanford Allen Discusses San Antonio's Influence on Robert E. Howard's Writing

For all that it is well-known that Robert E. Howard was a native of Texas, whose wild imaginings of far off lands took place without his leaving the Lone Star State, it is too rare that the influence its landscape and people had on Howard's tales. It is an important question to ponder as most writers instill into their stories a sense of place.

Sanford Allen, and his compadres (I was born in El Paso, so I'm allowed to use the word compadre) over at Mission Unknown, are writing a series of blog entries discussing San Antonio's place in the history of SF Universe. One may not necessarily think of San Antonio as particularly sfnal, so Mission Unknown is mapping out S.A.'s place on the SF map.

The most recent entry is a discussion of San Antonio's influence on Robert E. Howard's writing. A nice companion to this line of thought is Monkeybrain Books' Blood and Thunder: the Life and Art of Robert E. Howard.

Of particular interest in the Mission Unknown post is the influence that a valley an hour north of San Antonio -- a stone's throw in Texas -- had on Howard's poem Cimmeria.

Blogging Northwest Smith: "Black Thirst"

In the last installment of "Blogging Northwest Smith," I discussed how C L Moore's tales of Northwest Smith included elements of Space Opera and Weird Horror and pushed the envelope of what constituted a Science Fiction tale. By Space Opera I am referring to the earlier "Space Opera equals Space Westerns" description often used during the early days of the genre.

I am far from the first to notice that Moore incorporated elements of Weird Horror into the tales of her space faring anti-hero, Lin Carter noticed her inclusion of these elements and thought it likely they were added to garner publication in Weird Tales. Whatever Moore's reasons for including Weird Horror elements, as she did with her adaptation of the Medusa into "pleasure vampire" in "Shambleau," she was deeply enough tied to the Lovecraftian circle that she was one of the co-authors (in fact she was the jump start author) of a Lovecraftian "shared world" tale entitled The Challenge from Beyond (more on this in a later post).

For the modern fan of Science Fiction, the incorporation of horror elements into a Science Fiction narrative seems perfectly natural. Everything from the Atomic Horror films of the 50s and 60s to Ridley Scott's masterpiece Alien (based on A.E. van Vogt's 1939 Astounding story "Black Destroyer" which was included as chapters 1-6 of The Voyage of the Space Beagle) to Joss Whedon's Firefly demonstrate how deeply saturated film and television are with the SF horror story. But for fans of "Space Westerns," Foundation, or modern Space Opera, the shift in suspension of disbelief from hard SF to Weird Horror SF isn't guaranteed.

When I read "Shambleau," I was struck by how much the narrative followed the format of a classic Western and by how the monster/alien of the tale was Lovecraftian in nature -- tentacles and all. "Black Thirst" takes the combination of Science Fiction and horror a different direction than "Shambleau." Where in "Shambleau" the tale was one of Weird Horror overlaying a Western, "Black Thirst" is a tale of Gothic Horror that contains no small elements of the Western and Weird Horror genre.

Our tale begins with our protagonist, Northwest Smith, leaning against a warehouse wall in some unfriendly waterfront street on Venus. He soon encounters a woman, immediately recognizable as a Minga maid, who begs Northwest to visit her in the Minga stronghold in order to provide her some sort of aid.

Moore spends some time describing the Minga palace as a building that pre-existed the majority of civilization on Venus, describing how the stronghold was already built by the time some great Venusian explorer had sailed the seas in search of new land. The Minga maids themselves are as mysterious as the palace from which they are sold, they are "those beauties that from the beginning of history have been bred in the Minga stronghold for loveliness and grace, as race-horses are bred on Earth, and reared from earliest infancy in the art of charming men. Scarcely a court on the three planets lacks at least one of these exquisite creatures..."

Establishing the mysterious origins of the stronghold and the maids, Moore quickly establishes the dangers associated with attempting to "lay a finger" on a Minga maid. It is a danger with no appeal as "The chastity of Minga girls was proverbial, a trade boast." The purpose of these beauty slaves seems not to be a sexual one, and this is reinforced later when the real purpose of the breeding of the maids is reveals, but a purely aesthetic one. The women are bred for their beauty, in form and manner, and the price paid is for these things alone.

The concept of a stronghold of courtesans, trained in the art of charming men, combined with the similarities between Malcolm Reynolds and Northwest Smith leave one wondering if Joss Whedon had read this tale before creating Firefly. Not to imply with any certainty that Whedon was directly influenced by Moore, but it is hard for me to visualize anyone other than Nathan Fillion playing Northwest Smith in a movie -- and if he did Whedon fans would cry foul that Northwest is a direct Mal ripoff.

As the Minga maid, named Vaudir, leaves Smith she does so with a warning. She warns Northwest about the evil that is the Alendar and hints at his origins when she discusses there are "elemental" things that don't sink back into the darkness from which they came if a civilization develops too swiftly. "Life rises out of dark and mystery and things too strange and terrible to be looked upon." Here she hints at the history of the Minga and the Alendar and Moore incorporates imagery from Weird Horror. The concept of elemental evil is one of Weird Horror and it is the type of horror that is used to describe the Alendar.

Smith agrees to help the maid and approaches the stronghold as she told him he should. What follows is a series of scenes reminiscent of Bram Stoker's Dracula in which our hero plays, a much braver version, of Jonathan Harker. Smith wanders the hallways of the palace sensing, but not seeing, the great evil that awaits him. He arrives at Vaudir's room, but it is not long before he encounters the Alendar him/itself. The Alendar is a manlike creature possessed of great psychic powers, powers which overwhelm our protagonist and could kill him in an instant. But a quick death is not to be for Smith as he possesses something of value that the Alendar desires.

The Alendar, it seems, is -- like the Shambleau -- a kind of vampire. Unlike the Shambleau the Alendar does not feed on sexual/physical pleasure, instead he/it feeds on beauty. For the Alendar beauty is a tangible thing, an objective thing that provides real nourishment. The only way in which beauty is subjective regarding the Alendar's hunger is in its "form." What is beauty for a human female isn't beauty in a human male, which is why the Alendar has spared Smith. Smith possesses the quality of male beauty which must be fully developed before the Alendar can feed on him. As the Alendar describes his method of nourishment, Smith is given glimpses of unimaginable beauty -- beauty that can cause madness.

How the tale unfolds from here I will leave for you to discover on you own, but I would like to spend some time discussing some of the interesting concepts Moore threw into this story.

She is quite obviously writing a tale about slavery and presents human trafficking as a horrible affair, but she is also presenting a discussion of beauty and what constitutes true beauty. The Alendar describes beauty as follows:

"Beauty is as tangible as blood, in a way. It is a separate distinct force that inhabits the bodies of men and women. You must have noticed the vacuity that accompanies perfect beauty in so many women... the force so strong that it drives out all other forces and lives vampirishly at the expense of intelligence and goodness and conscience and all else...

For beauty, as I have said, eats up all other qualities but beauty."

The beauty that Moore has the Alendar describe is in itself horrifying, yet it is also an interesting spark for discussion. Vaudir -- who has asked Smith for assistance and led to his current state of danger -- is beautiful, but she possesses something more. She possesses and intelligence and free will that make her more desirable to the Alendar than her beauty alone would demand. Smith too possesses this combination of independence and beauty, a combination that the Alendar seeks to use in order to overcome the boredom which results from the consumption of his current fare of pure beauty. Moore is simultaneously critiquing the "cult of beauty" and proffering an alternative -- a beauty that combines intelligence, independence, and appearance. There is a strong feminist spirit underlying the story and it is this spirit that separates this tale from a run of the mill narrative.

As before, Moore combines elements from a variety of literature in this piece in a manner that is fluid. The discussion of elemental evil has ties to Weird Horror. The Alendar, his stronghold, and the equation of beauty itself with the horrific echo Gothic Horror. The manner in which Smith is encountered and the stories resolution are straight from a Western, one could easily see "Black Thirst" as an episode of Wild, Wild, West. With all that Moore combines genre elements one might expect to become lost in some residual narrative clutter, yet that never occurs. Moore has a story she wants to tell, of a vampire who consumes beauty yet seeks something more, and it makes for quite an entertaining ride.

Previous Blogging Northwest Smith Entries:

1) Blogging Northwest Smith: "Shambleau"

Hulu Recommendation Friday: The Brain That Would Not Die

Need I say more?!

Hulu Recommendation Friday (on the following Tuesday): Steel Dawn

The 70s, 80s, and 90s were the heyday of the Post-Apocalyptic narrative. From movies to video games to role playing games there was an explosion of Post-Apocalyptic entertainment available.

One the movie front, we had quite a variety in quality to choose from. My favorite Post Apocalyptic film lies somewhere between Logan's Run, Escape from New York, and The Planet of the Apes. Mad Max, The Road Warrior, and The Quiet Earth were some of the shining stars of the film releases. Zardoz and Tank Girl were two of the weirder and less coherent entries. Jean Claude Van Damme's Cyborg fell somewhere in the middle of entertaining and mind-numbingly horrible.

On the gaming front, the post-apocalyptic role playing games varied from the systemically complex Aftermath to the wildly imaginative Gamma World. Aftermath always seemed to me to be a simulation of "what would happen if," which meant that most characters die in horrible fashion -- at least they did after some complex mathematical equations were applied to a couple of die rolls. Twilight 2000 was a representation of "what was going to happen." T2000, like Aftermath, featured complex rules systems with realistic representations of radiation poisoning. Nothing more fun that calculating "rads" and their very real affects on your character. Gamma World was a pure "what if" that included everything from serious speculation to mutant plant/rabbit fusions. Gamma World was the most intriguing of the games, but it also had the disadvantage of multiple editions with incompatible rules sets. I would be remiss if I left out the ultra-enjoyable Car Wars game by Steve Jackson Games...cars with machine guns and rocket launchers...mmm...fun.

As for video games...Wasteland is one of the classic computer role playing games and the ancestor of the excellent Fallout series of games.

In the middle of this Cold War inspired Post-Apocalyptomania, in 1987, came a film starring one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Fresh out of successful films like Red Dawn (itself a Post Apocalyptic movie in its own way), Youngblood, and Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze entered the medium with an entry that fused narrative elements from the Post Apocalyptic, Western, Sword and Sorcery, and Planetary Romance genres. Steel Dawn was directed by Lance Hool (Missing in Action 2) with a screenplay by Doug Lefler (director of The Last Legion). In addition to Swayze, the film stars Lisa Niemi (Swayze's real world wife) in the "romantic" role of Kasha and b-movie stalwart Brion James as Tark "the romantic rival."

The outline of the story is essentially Shane. A wanderer comes to town and helps a family who is being pressured by a land baron to give up their water to the land baron. Like most adaptations of Shane, the film understates the dangerous nature of the wanderer and overstates the relationship between Shane and the mother of the family under "siege." Alan Ladd's Shane is too friendly, the book's character is more akin to the Jack Palance character. Jean Claude Van Damme's Shane clone encounters a single mother and can thus become the romantic interest. Clint Eastwood's Shane translation is the hand of god working vengeance against an unjust man. Swayze's Shane is a former soldier who wanders into town with the goal of, temporarily at least, taking the place of a "Peacekeeper" who is murdered at the beginning of the film.

Swayze's arrival throws a wrench into the plans of the land baron, and into a burgeoning romance between Tark and Kasha. His skills with a sword spark the imagination of Kasha's son Jux and are what eventually allow Swayze to challenge the local land baron and avenge the death of the prior "Peacekeeper."

The swordplay, use of meditation, and moral clarity of the hero echo the narrative tropes of Planetary Romance -- the reason this film was recommended this week. The inclusion, at the beginning of the film, of weird horror in the form of sand-dwelling mutants, the aforementioned swordplay, and the lone walker nature of Swayze's character fall nicely in the Sword and Sorcery genre. The setting is definitely Post-Apocalyptic with a nuclear blasted landscape with enough history that their have even been Post-Holocaust wars that resulted in the creation of Post Apocalyptic super swordsman like Swayze and Sho -- the warrior hired by the land baron to defeat Swayze. And the story is a pure translation of Shane, but lacking in Shane's adulation of the father figure.

I have always found it interesting that the father, who is so strong in Schaefer's book Shane, is emasculated in favor of the Shane figure in film representations of the tale. Shane is a dangerous man, a gambler and murderer akin to Doc Holliday. Shane is a villain who becomes a hero when he encounters the civilizing influence of a family. Had Shane stopped in town, instead of the farm, he would have quickly become the villain of the story. A key scene, in most representations, demonstrating the difference in focus from father worship to rogue worship is the scene where the father gets into a fight in the local tavern. The book makes it clear how powerful the father is and how he is holding back to save his son, the movies make no such concessions and Steel Dawn is no different. Tark is not the young boy's father, but he is a capable farmhand who has been in the father role for some time. He is quickly displaced by Swayze, even when he is a fairly competent defender in his own right -- he's just not a sword jedi who meditates while standing on his head like Swayze.

The film is enjoyable, though very campy, and it is largely due to Swayze's extraordinary charisma.

Blogging Northwest Smith: "Shambleau"

Cinerati recently featured a post discussing the differences between Sword and Sorcery tales and stories of Planetary Romance. According to the post, a couple of the key differences were the moral clarity of Planetary Romance tales and the inclusion of "Weird Supernatural" elements in Sword and Sorcery tales. In response to the post, Blue Tyson, posited that I had left a "Northwest Smith" sized hole in my argument.

Having read Catherine Lucille Moore's Jirel of Joiry tales, but not her Northwest Smith stories, I was intrigued by the statement. I have decided to read C.L. Moore's Northwest Smith stories and to do one blog entry per story as I read them. I will be using Paizo Publishing's excellent Planet Stories edition of Northwest of Earth, which contains the complete stories of Northwest Smith (including "Nymph of Darkness" a collaboration with Forrest J Ackerman and "Quest for the Starstone" a collaboration with Henry Kuttner), as my reference during the discussion.


For those of you who are unfamiliar with Northwest Smith, he is often discussed as the fictional character who is the inspiration for George Lucas' character Han Solo. Any need to point out similarities between Northwest Smith and Indiana Jones seems unnecessary, as the names themselves speak volumes about that connection. According to John Clute's Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Through Smith, CLM helped revamp the formulae of both space opera and heroic fantasy. Smith's introspection and fallibility give him a more human dimension than his predecessors in heroic fantasy, and the depiction of his sexual vulnerability represented a psychological maturity uncommon in the field."

I think it bears mentioning that Stephan Dziemianowicz, who wrote the entry in the Encyclopedia, makes no mention of Planetary Romance in the Northwest Smith section and focuses on Smith's importance in space opera and heroic fantasy. I mentioned in the prior post that Planetary Romance was a sub-genre of heroic fantasy, but then again so is a great deal of fiction that no one would ever imagine being classified as Planetary Romance.

If "Shambleau" is any indication of the direction that future Northwest Smith tales will wander, Moore's tales of Smith belong firmly in the genre of space opera and completely outside the bounds of Planetary Romance. Though the Smith tales' inclusion of imagery associated with "Weird Fiction" marks them as stories that extend the boundaries of the traditional space opera tale.

In support of the Smith stories falling into the sub-genre of space opera -- a genre that some argue includes the Planet Stories tales of Leigh Brackett, though I believe that classification lacks specificity and makes space opera too broad a category -- I looked to David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer's The Space Opera Renaissance for a working definition of space opera. They offer two early definitions of the genre. These early definitions are most useful given the publication dates of the Smith tales, newer definitions bring to mind epic tales like Iain Bank's "Culture" stories or Asimov's "Foundation" due to the expansion of the use of the term space opera.

According to Hartwell and Cramer, the Fancyclopedia II had the following definition:

Space Opera ([coined by Wilson] Tucker) A hack science-fiction story, a dressed-up Western; so called by analogy with "horse opera" for Western bangbangshootemup movies and "soap opera" for radio and video yellowdrama.

Hartwell and Cramer are quick to point out that this definition is actually a watered-down version of what Tucker actually said in his fanzine, which wasn't to actually equate Westerns and Space Opera as telling similar tales. But the connection had been made and by the early 1950s, Galaxy magazine was firm in its use of space opera as "any hackneyed SF filled with stereotypes borrowed from Westerns." The definition of what constitutes space opera has since expanded significantly since the 50s -- it has come to be so broad as to include both Planetary Romance and the "Culture" stories which is almost too broad -- but the connection between the Western and space opera seems particularly significant in the case of Northwest Smith. I would not call Moore's writing hackneyed, but "Shambleau" could easily be rewritten as a Western with only minor cosmetic changes.

"Shambleau," which was Moore's first published story, was published in 1933 during the height of the pulp era. The shelves were filled with a wide array of writing of various qualities, but it is easy to see why Moore's piece was selected for publication in the November 1933 edition of Weird Tales. The piece could also be used as a demonstration for how to mold a work of writing to suit a particular publication. It isn't hard to believe that Moore actually started this as a Western and then adapted it to better suit the tastes of Weird Tales.

"Shambleau" opens with a prefatory paragraph which sets the tone of the tale, establishes a sense of history and place, and gives readers some foreshadowing regarding the turn the tale will take. The paragraph is reminiscent of the paragraphs Robert E. Howard used to open his Conan tales. Where his paragraphs represented excerpts from the fictional Nemedian Chronicles, Moore's resemble the careful tone of a campfire tale. The paragraph is different in tone from Howard's, but serves much the same purpose.

It begins:

MAN HAS CONQUERED Space before. You may be sure of that. Somewhere beyond the Egyptians, in that dimness out of which come echoes of half-mythical names -- Atlantis, Mu -- somewhere back of history's first beginnings there must have been an age when mankind, like us today, built cities of steel to house its star-roving ships and knew the names of the planets in their own native tongues--

One might believe after reading this paragraph -- especially since the place names for Mars and Venus used later in the story are those used in this paragraph -- that he or she is about to read about Space travel in this time before time. This is not the case. References to "New York roast beef" and a "Chino-Aryan war" leave any speculation that this tale takes place in a forgotten time behind. No...this tale takes place in our future, after mankind has once again conquered Space. The sense of the mythical is used in order to make the twist of the story plausible and ensures that the twist falls well within a reader's suspension of disbelief.

We know that our tale take place at some time during mankind's Space conquering future, but what kind of future is it and what kind of man is our protagonist? Apparently, the Mars of the future is a lot like Virginia City.

"Shambleau! Ha...Shambleau!" The wild hysteria of the mob rocketed from wall to wall of Lakkdarol's narrow streets and the storming of heavy boots over the slag-red pavement made an ominous undertone to that swelling bay...

Northwest Smith heard it coming and stepped into the nearest doorway, laying a wary hand on his heat-gun's grip, and his colorless eyes narrowed. Strange sounds were common enough in the streets of Earth's latest colony on Mars -- a raw, red little down where anything might happen, and very often did.

Moore gets us into the action quickly. After a prefatory paragraph that sets the tone and place, she launches us straight into a dangerous situation. It's like reading the scrolling preface before a Star Wars film and then being thrust right into the action. In this case, the action of the tale is simple enough. A wild mob is shouting for the death of a woman, whether "Shambleau" is her name or the name of her people has not yet been made clear, and Northwest Smith takes it upon himself to calm the mob and save the girl. It is only after saving the girl that Northwest Smith comes to understand why the mob was after the woman in the first place -- to tell you more about the girl would be spoiling the fun, but it would also be unfair to leave out further discussion of our protagonist.

We know by his introduction, and his hand on his heat gun, that Northwest Smith is a dangerous man. We come to find out that his saving of the woman probably had little to do with chivalry, but more to do with "that chord of sympathy for the underdog that stirs in every Earthman." This chord of sympathy must stir strong in Smith, because the mob is pretty persistent and Smith -- like Han Solo after him -- isn't the kind who wants to get too involved in this kind of action. Smith's business is usually of a different sort:

Smith's errand in Lakkdarol, like most of his errands, is better not spoken of. Man lives as he must, and Smith's living was a perilous affair outside the law and ruled by the ray-gun only. It is enough to say that the shipping-port and its cargoes outbound interested him deeply just now...

Apparently, Smith is a blaggard whose day to day business is so unseemly that Moore refrains from sharing it, likely because the audience would lose sympathy with our protagonist. It is easy to see how Smith became the archetype that anti-heroes would be based upon for decades to come. He's a cautious man, who pulls for the underdog, but who participates in business best left unspoken. Sounds like Han Solo to me...or Wolverine.

"Shambleau" is a fun tale with a nice twist, a twist that is fairly obvious after the prefatory paragraph. One can see illustrations of "Shambleau" by Barbarella creator Jean-Claude Forest at this fairly NSFW link if you don't want to wait to find out the surprise. I recommend waiting. Read Moore's prose first. Moore incorporates classic mythology into the Science Fiction narrative smoothly and dramatically. Her writing is addictive and she manages to take a classic monster and turn it into something really weird.

Sporadic Geek Update (9/3/09)

Once in a while I like to imitate the excellent Morning Medieval Miscellany done by Professor Scott Nokes at Unlocked Wordhoard. Doing a daily update of all things pop culture related would be an absurd task for an amateur blogger. I much prefer doing individual posts highlighting things that interest me, at least as my "regular" post technique. But there are times when it's nice to kick out a Sporadic Geek Update featuring things that might otherwise be overlooked.

Following the merger between Marvel and Disney, Sony has backed off on the Spectacular Spider-Man Cartoon. Does this mean that Spidey is headed over to Toon Disney? What about the new Avengers and Iron Man cartoons?

SF Signal has a good discussion about what San Diego Comic Con can learn from Worldcon and vice-versa. With the exception of the highly predictable "pretentiously disdainful view from the old guard" by Lev Grossman, the comments are excellent. Notice the difference between his snarky anti-"common fan" rant and the insightful comments by Jeremy Lassen of Night Shade Books. Lassen presents the difference between the SF "tourist" and the SF "devotee" as a good thing and looks at each con in its proper light. Grossman, a critic for Time Magazine and best selling SF/Fantasy, slanders the unwanted popular rabble in a fashion typical for one who favors "literary" works.

Lassen's Night Shade Books is a publisher of books important to the SF/F historiography. Night Shade keeps alive brilliant writers like Manly Wade Wellman and Clark Ashton Smith by releasing beautiful editions of their works. They also promote exciting, and often overlooked, new talents like Liz Williams and her Detective Inspector Chen series.

Lassen's trying to bring in new fans and introduce them to classics. Grossman is content to denigrate those who are introduced to SF/F via Hollywood. This is ironic, because Grossman's blog at Time isn't usually so filled with venom, and his writing is engaging. One expects a little, "I wish the casual fan understood how rich the SF genre is," but one would rather not read "the rapid expansion and mainstreaming of -- for want of a better term -- nerd culture is a dangerous thing." This isn't to say there isn't room for criticism of SDCC, and how commercial it has become, just that I would have rather read it without the snark. Snark is so 90s.

Matt Tarbit has done a wonderful job in creating a visual representation, with links, to all the games featured in Green Ronin's wonderful Hobby Games: The 100 Best. If you are looking for the perfect resource as an introduction to "Hobby Gaming," you cannot do any better than this book and Tarbit's webpage gives you the pictures the book lacks.

Wolfgang Baur, and his exciting Open Design Project, have announced three new projects that are awaiting patron support. I am particularly excited about Red Eye of Azathoth, though I wish they were offering it in Gumshoe format in addition to Pathfinder and Basic Roleplaying.

Kobold Quarterly has an excellent interview with Joseph Goodman regarding the state of the role playing game industry.

Catalyst Labs, the Battletech people, have a good blog post about role playing gaming and "those kids today."

Topless Robot -- Village Voice Media -- provides us with a trailer for the next installment in the Star Blazers saga. Like the writer on that site, Star Blazers was my first anime. I eagerly awaited each new episode as a kid. I have embedded the preview below, but head on over to the website and give them some traffic.

Progressive Boink has a demonstration of the typical immature fanboy hatred of Rob Liefeld. Liefeld is certainly not among the best artists in the field, but in a field filled with talented artists who are constantly behind deadline Liefeld is a worker. I remember reading in the introduction to a Hawk and Dove trade paperback that Liefeld was one of the most tenacious "submitters" in DC Comics history. He was constantly submitting work and had a huge productivity level. He is also one of those who expanded artist's rights within the industry, took on powerhouse Marvel, and was one of the founders of Image Comics. Image is to this day one of the shining lights of the industry and promotes a number of excellent titles -- books like Invincible, or a number of other titles. Sometimes an artist's legacy isn't in the work itself, but in what that artist has done for the field as a whole. He still cannot draw feet, but he certainly didn't deserve the treatment he received from "Yellow Hat Guy."

Hulu Recommendation Friday: Full Metal Alchemist (Brotherhood)

A couple of years ago, my wife and I were captivated once a week by a wonderful anime series called Full Metal Alchemist. The show follows the adventures of two brothers as they attempt to learn the secret of the Philosopher's Stone in the hopes that they can reverse the "price" they paid when they attempted to resurrect their mother using the power of Alchemy. The show wonderfully captured the horror trope hightlighted in classic horror tales like Frankenstein and Faust. No power comes without a price, and the brothers paid a high price indeed. As an added bonus the characters are named Edward and Alphonse Elric. How can I not love a show where two of the characters are named ELRIC?!

The cartoon was a hit, but it also varied wildly from the manga on which it was based. The series had an ending that was nowhere to be seen in the manga, which continues to this day, and which left one feeling mildly disappointed. There was much of the world left to explore and Jody and I felt a little bit robbed by the ending.

Thankfully, the animation studio Bones, has contracted to do a reboot of the series and the show is a part of the hulu streaming video stable. The episodes become available two weeks after they air in Japan and are a new start for the series. Old fans will find much that is familiar, but the new series is closer to the manga and goes into greater depth into many of the secondary characters.

As always...CLICK PLAY...then CLICK ON FULL SCREEN...the ENJOY.

Hulu Recommendation Friday: Battlestar Galactica Classic

With today's news that Bryan Singer is signing on to direct a new Battlestar Galactica movie, inspired by the original series, it seems only appropriate that this Friday's Hulu recommendation be the Glen Larson epic.

Singer has a strong track record in genre films, with only one argument starting hiccup. Singer's X-men movies perfectly captured the tone of what made the Claremont/Byrne run of the comics so engaging, while simultaneously translating the narrative to a different medium. This was no small task and Singer should be rightfully praised -- especially since audiences would soon learn how easy it is to make a bad X-men movie when the third film in that franchise hit theaters.

Singer's one hiccup is his attempt to make an engaging and topical Superman film. His Superman Returns managed to simultaneously get everything right regarding how amazing Superman can be, while getting everything wrong about what makes the character great. The film is beautiful and follows in the footsteps of two excellent Superman films, ignoring the misguided 3rd and 4th films, but it is exceedingly flawed. While it is plausible that in the minutes following the ending of Superman II Kal-El would fly off into space to find news of his home -- especially after the meaningful final conversation with Jor-El -- Superman as deadbeat dad is still a painful concept with which to grapple. It also forgets the most critical aspect of Superman's personality, and the underlying reason Superman has a secret identity. There is no practical reason for Superman to have a secret identity. If Superman were Superman full time, no one would be at increased risk of villain attack. Unlike Spider-Man, Supes secret identity doesn't protect an "Aunt 'Em." Unlike Batman, his identity doesn't protect a vast fortune that can be used to aid the needy. Superman's having a human identity actually puts people at risk rather than protects them. His secret identity causes more problems than it solves. But it does do one thing, it allows him to become human and connect with community. Superman -- like the "perfected man" in Aristotle -- needs the city, that's why he has a secret identity. Singer would have been well served to remember this one fact. Still, the film is spectacularly beautiful and contains two of the best Superman sequences ever filmed. It is a work of contradictions.

The same may end up being true of Singer's Battlestar Galactica. All signs point to his version being closer to the vision of series creator Glen Larson. Larson's BSG was Mormonism as SF narrative. It was biblical allegory with a touch of humor. It was filled with hope in the face of despair. It was more Orson Scott Card than William Gibson, it was more Heinlein than Haldeman. For these reasons, a generation of viewers were engrossed each week as the show aired for its sole season -- we won't count Battlestar 1980. It was a perfect example of golden age SF Space Opera.

When Ron Moore -- who shall forever be known to Cinerati as the man who killed Kirk because Picard couldn't win a fist fight -- re-envisioned the franchise for his 73 episode run, he did so as a writer influenced by Gibson and Haldeman and the events of a post-9/11 world. The story was dark and hopeless, and featured a human civilization not worthy of saving. The colonies of Moore's BSG are craven and deserve destruction, but as individuals they are more human. The series is often praised for its writing, but such praise is misguided. The show is amazingly acted -- the cast does a phenomenal job -- but any series that ends with the ultimate SF cliche ("and their names were Adam and Eve") lacks the depth that its facade presents to the world at large. BSG is the poster child for a generation of viewers/readers who believe "grim means philosophically deep." For those who grew up on the SF of Heinlein and Asimov, deconstructive tales are refreshing. For those who grew up on the SF of Moorcock, Haldeman, and Gibson, deconstructive SF is stale.

I am among those who found BSG stale and staid, but well directed and acted. It is the "reconstructive" narrative that I find refreshing. Give me The Incredibles and Wall-E over most modern SF. Give me Old Man's War instead of Forever War. These are what I find well crafted, innovative, and refreshing.

Singer will have an arduous task ahead of him. Moore's BSG won critical acclaim and brought new audience to the IP, at the expense of losing some of the nostalgic crowd -- people like me. Larson's original is dated and overly campy, so it can't be directly remade. It must be properly reconstructed or those fans who were dissatisfied with Moore's work will still be dissatisfied. But it also has to have complex characters, something Moore's definitely had, or those newer BSG fans will reject the vision as well.

Singer has the same challenge he had with Superman Returns, presenting a narrative of hope that contains complex characters. It is likely any Battlestar he creates will contain some of the same flaws as Superman Returns. Given Singer's ability to craft beautiful visuals and given the stable of actors who frequent his films, I look forward to seeing Singer's Battlestar...flawed or not.

As always -- for those in the US -- hit play, then click on the full screen button and enjoy.

Geekerati Discusses the Ins and Outs of San Diego Comic Con

Last Sunday, the Geeks at Geekerati hosted this year's first episode of their annual Comic Con episode series. The Geeks are all experienced attendees of the San Diego Comic Con and have witnessed it grow from a well attended comic book convention to the monolithic pop culture extravaganza that the event is today.

In last Sunday's episode, the geeks provided answers to some of the Frequently Asked Questions about the convention. The discussion used Shawna Benson's excellent Shouting at the Wind "REAL Guide to the San Diego Comic Con" as the outline for the conversation. Benson has been a member of the Geekerati crew for over two years and provides wonderful insight into the television and film aspects of the convention.

This Sunday, the Geeks will be discussing the lesser known aspects of SDCC. In addition to Comic Book and films about Comic Books, the SDCC has events and panels that span all pop culture interests. Whether you love SF/Fantasy literature, old horror movies, Pulp Fiction like HP Lovecraft and Robert E Howard, or have a deep affection for video games and table top gaming, the SDCC has events geared toward your interests. Stop by this Sunday night at 6pm Pacific at www.blogtalkradio.com/geekerati to offer your insights are to ask questions of our expert panel.

Joining the Geeks in their discussion this Sunday will be Dominic Crapuchettes, the game designer responsible for the award winning Wits and Wagers and Say Anything! party games.

Past guests on the show have included:

Film and Television writer John Rogers discussing the writer strike, LEVERAGE, and comic books.

Dave Goetsch (Co-Executive Producer on Big Bang Theory)

Television writer/producer Tim Minear (Angel/Firefly) discussing the writer strike.

Television writer/producer Rob Long(Cheers) discussing the writer strike.

Variety editors David S. Cohen and Peter Debruge discussing film animation and this year's crop of films, including the remarkable 3D animation on BEOWULF.

Game Designer and Author Matt Forbeck.

Science Fiction author Susan Palwick who discussed her excellent novel "Shelter"

Comic Writer/Reporter Marc Bernardin discussing his Highwaymen comic book.

Film Critics Luke Y. Thompson (The OC Weekly) and David Chute (The LA Weekly and Premiere.com)

Wold Newton Historian Win Eckert discussing pulps and the Wold Newton Universe.

Comic Book editor and author Jeff Mariotte

Game Designer James Lowder.

Many others, including Shelly Mazzanoble (Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress)

AMCtv Streaming Classic 1967 Series The Prisoner

Can you say...W00t?

John Scalzi on Worst SF Film of Past 12 Months

Over at the AMCtv website, SF author extraordinaire John Scalzi gives his opinion regarding the worst SF film of the past 12 months. His choice of AVP: Requiem is what some might call a "gimme," but Scalzi's analysis of the film is full of the insight and humor that Scalzi fans know and love.

Two of his comments stuck in my minds eye as particularly noteworthy. The first is his statement, "there's bad, from which campy enjoyment can still be wrung (see: Speed Racer), and there's joyless, depressing bad, which this movie oozes." Never mind that I actually believe that Speed Racer is not merely entertaining, but also good. Leave that aside and the sentence manages to convey just how awful Scalzi found AVP:Requiem to be. He "shows rather than tells" as our English professors continually pounded into our heads. The thought of joyless and depressing ooze has a nice Lovecraftian feel to it. It's almost as if Scalzi is saying that the act of watching AVP:Requiem can provide viewers with full knowledge of true cosmic horror. Good meaty stuff this.

The second striking comment, more a set of comments, was "Paul W.S. Anderson, [is] a director of such general hackery that I've actually instructed my film agent to demand I get an extra $2 million if he's attached to direct a movie based on one of my books." Now I would love for Scalzi to receive an extra $2 million for having any of his books made into films. I don't need there to be a reason except for Scalzi's authorship. But it strikes me that he's being slightly unfair to Paul W.S. Anderson's actual ability to make an entertaining film.

Before you jump through the screen and choke me to death, let me assure you that I am not some kind of Anderson fanatic. Cinerati didn't exactly fawn over Deathrace, though we did find it entertaining. I just think that the director of Event Horizon and Soldier might be a good fit for The Ghost Brigades. We just have to bring the Haitian from Heroes in to remove things like AVP, Mortal Kombat, and the various Resident Evil films from Anderson's mind before production begins.

Ursula K LeGuin, Cory Doctorow, and Copyright

I have been wondering for some time now just how long the SF/Fantasy community will allow themselves to be swindled by Cory Doctorow's attempts to undermine copyright protections for writers. He's been incredibly crafty in his arguments. He has adeptly, and accurately, demonstrated how corporations often claim the copyright instead of the authors who created a product, but he uses this to shift the issue away from "creator ownership" issue into an "us vs. the corporate overlords" argument. Doing so he simultaneously points out a genuine injustice while misdirecting our ire toward the concept of copyright, which in fact protects creators (at least when corporate overlords don't hijack the rights). He has also pointed out that SF/Fantasy fans tend to both download and purchase hard copies of the things they like. In essence, the SF/Fantasy fan steals a peek, then buys the product, thus doing no "real" damage to the right holder.

I have never found Mr. Doctorow's arguments, and he has others, all that convincing. They seem to be overly concerned with "audience" rights and not with creator rights, which are necessary if people want to be able to make a living from this stuff. Certainly, there is some pretty wacky copyright legislation out there (lifetime plus how many years?), but that doesn't mean that the creator of a product doesn't have the right to profit from his or her creation. They should, and do, and current laws protect such rights.

In the past, the majority of the people I've read who seem to have any agreement with me have been corporate shills, and I don't want to just hang out with corporate shills -- or just them and Harlan Ellison (registered trademark) for that matter. So you can imagine my joy at finding that Ursula K. LeGuin also finds Mr. Doctorow's crusade a little too aggressive. It appears that Mr. Doctorow printed "in its entirety, a one-paragraph story that Ms Le Guin sent to the fanzine Ansible." LeGuin took issue and Mr. Doctorow eventually took action and apologized. You can read the original story at LeGuin's website.

LeGuin has accepted Mr. Doctorow's apology, but I'd like you to look at a couple of key phrases in Doctorow's apology which hint that he is also practicing more than a little self-righteous self-justification.

Andrew Burt, the person whom Ms Le Guin chose to communicate the matter to me, is someone with whom I had put in a killfile following an altercation. I delete all emails from him unread, and if he sent me a message, I did not see it.

Unless Andrew Burt (you can read a copy of a letter he wrote Jerry Pournelle here) and Mr. Doctorow engaged in a serious brawl, it seems a bit petty for Mr. Doctorow to have put his emails in a "killfile." I don't believe that Judd Apatow put Mark Brazill in his killfile, even after being told to "Get cancer." But I don't know the nature of the "altercation," I just know that Mr. Doctorow has used a word which has some heavy implications. Though given his frequent use of rhetorical techniques which might make Gorgias blush, I think it might be little more than a heated email/comment section/message board flame war.

In fact, it seems that Burt's major sin (according to the Doctorow piece) is that Burt believes in copyright protection, "Burt is the Science Fiction Writers of America VP who had previously sent a fraudulent takedown notice that resulted in my novel being removed from an Internet document server." So Burt tries to protect Doctorow's copyright, making an error that forces a takedown notice, something LeGuin describes as "An overworked committee mistakenly identified a few works, among many, as infringing copyright; the mistakes were promptly admitted and redressed, with apologies." That appears to be our "altercation." Which makes me think that Mr. Doctorow is a bit like Mark Brazill in all of this, even his apology seems snide and canned. This is implied by his assertion that, "My understanding is that she is unsatisfied and remains upset with me." When LeGuin is on the record as writing, "It may be a bit clouded with arguments and self-justification, but apologising is hard, and apologies are rare and valuable. I accept his in all good faith." Who seems to be the one most in need of justification here?

As for me, I agree with LeGuin's hope that, "In my view, the best thing that could come out of my brush with the Doctorow Doctrine would be this: the honorable reinstatement of the SFWA e-piracy committee, with an expression of appreciation from SFWA officers and members of the honest and effective work they have done for us for so long."

Upcoming Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Comic Book Films.

SF Signal has a post discussing upcoming SF and Fantasy films (they borrowed the list from SFFWorld) that I found interesting. I am a fan of genre films, have been since I first saw Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings as a young tyke.

I liked the format that they used over at SF Signal, so I'll imitate it here and insert my own opinions. Here are my thoughts:

Aliens vs. Predator - A sequel to Alien vs. Predator by video game adaptation king Paul W.S. Anderson. The new film is directed by Greg and Colin Strause, both of whom have extensive visual effects experience.
PROS: James Cameron's Aliens turned an excellent horror film into an excellent action film. I liked Predator 2 more than Predator, though I liked the Governator's film just fine. AVP was fun; it had an Aztec style pyramid buried in Antarctica which is very high concept Lovecraftian (think Mountains of Madness).
CONS: While Paul W.S. Anderson's film can be hit or miss, the films in the franchises he works on that he doesn't direct tend to be awful. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation battles with Street Fighter for worst video game film ever, in my opinion. And as much as I like the 2nd Unit work of Alexander Witt, his Resident Evil: Apocalypse...not so much.
BOTTOM LINE: I'll pass.

30 Days of Night - SF Signal described this as, "A vampire movie based on the graphic novel." I hate it when people describe things based on COMIC BOOKS, in this case a 3 issue mini-series, as based on "a graphic novel." Yes, 30 Days of Night has been collected into TRADE PAPERBACK, but that does not a graphic novel make. To quote scribe Steve Niles description: " In a sleepy, secluded Alaska town called Barrow, the sun sets and doesn't rise for over thirty consecutive days and nights. From the darkness, across the frozen wasteland, an evil will come that will bring the residents of Barrow to their kness. The only hope for the town is the Sheriff and Deputy, a husband and wife who are torn between their own survival and saving the town they love."
PROS: I loved the comic and have liked the movies that Sam Raimi has produced. Yes, I even like Boogeyman...a lot.
CONS: Josh Hartnett.
BOTTOM LINE: A great comic based on a very good high concept premise, which has the requisite "Steven King-ish" small town Sheriff, should be a good romp.


Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She Vampires - Bruce Campbell reprises his role as an elderly Elvis Presley in this sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep.
PROS: Funny high concept premise and Bruce Cambell.
CONS: While I liked the premise of Bubba Ho-Tep, and did laugh at times, watching a Joe Lansdale tale told at Jim Jarmusch speed by the director of Beastmaster didn't work for me. Any of those three elements alone usually is enough for me. Joe Lansdale? Like him, check. Jim Jarmusch? Quirky...good...check. Beastmaster? I used to watch this so often my parents called HBO "Hey Beastmaster's On."
BOTTOM LINE: Like John at SF Signal, I will watch anything with Bruce Campbell. It has often paid off to base my viewing on that criteria alone.

The Dark is Rising - A classic Newberry Award winning Fantasy story by Susan Cooper.
PROS: The film is based on a strong property and the current trend of Fantasy films performing in the Box Office means this will likely get an appropriate budget. IAN MCSHANE.
CONS: Are they really going to give this the budget/attention it deserves or is it going to be one of those films that begins the downfall of the current positive trend in fantasy films.
BOTTOM LINE: I am so there.

The Dark Knight - The sequel to Batman Begins.
PROS: Everything.
CONS: Nothing.
BOTTOM LINE: I watched the Schumacher Batman movies. I watched the Justice League Pilot Episode. Does it feature DC Comics characters? I'll watch it if it does.

Enchanted - A classic Disney fairy tale collides with modern-day New York City.
PROS: Live action version of a post-modern look at the traditional fairy tale, starring Amy "Ricky Bobby is not a thinker" Adams.
CONS: Live action version of a post-modern look at the traditional fairy tale, starring James "Cyclops" Marsden.
BOTTOM LINE: Could be great, could stink.

G.I. Joe - Live action version of the 80s cartoon.
PROS: Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Scarlett, and Baroness.
CONS: Written by the screenwriter of Swordfish and currently undergoing rewrites.
BOTTOM LINE: This is slated for 2010! Why am I talking about this?

I Am Legend - Last man on Earth fights humans infected with a disease that makes them into vampires.
PROS: Great book, and I liked both Omega Man and Last Man on Earth.
CONS: Screenplay by the scribe of Batman and Robin. "Ice to see you."
BOTTOM LINE: Will Smith + Vampires = my seat in the theater.

Incredible Hulk II - A complete re-envisioning of the Hulk franchise which will purposefully forget the Ang Lee version.
PROS: Edward Norton, Hulk Smashing, Tim Roth, Abomination Smashing, Liv Tyler and William Hurt as the Ross's.
CONS: Avi "the problem with the first Hulk was that we made the character 15 feet tall" Arad is still producing, not enough Hulk smashing in the first movie and this one will likely retell the origin.
BOTTOM LINE: Hulk vs. Abomination...how well does the collision of two "personifications" of cold war superpowers work in a post-cold war world? I want to know.

Indiana Jones IV - The return of the adventuring Archaeologist who is now almost as old as his subject matter.
PROS: A continuation of an enjoyable series. Shia LaBeouf.
CONS: It's been a long time since the last film. Will this have momentum or humor? Is Ford believable as "action star?"
BOTTOM LINE: Two-Fisted Action keeps me coming back.

Iron Man - Iron Man is another one of Marvel's Cold War Heroes who is being given a film.
PROS: Iron Man is one of my absolute favorite superheroes. It's between him, Alan Scott (the blond Green Lantern with the cape), Union Jack, and Black Panther. Jon Favreau as director and Mark Fergus on Screenplay.
CONS: Gwyneth Paltrow? Stan Lee Cameo. Avi Arad producing.
BOTTOM LINE: I think that Jon Favreau is a talented director who has a big geek streak, so I'll be there day one. I just hope he goes slick and funny and not camp.

Jurassic Park IV - Dinosaurs, dinosaurs, dinosaurs.
PROS: Dinosaurs eating people.
CONS: The, probable, lack of Ninjas, Pirates, Cowboys, Gypsies, Gladiators, and Giant Robots. Can't you see it? Jurassic Park IV as a remake of The Valley of Gwangi turned to 11 with the addition of Pirates, Ninjas, and Giant Robots.
BOTTOM LINE: Haven't missed one yet. I don't expect much, but it's dinosaurs and the 9 year old in me can't resist.

The Mummy III - In the Far East, trouble-seeking father-and-son duo Rick (Brendan Fraser) and pal unearth the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin (Jet Li) -- a shape-shifting entity who was cursed by a wizard centuries ago.
PROS: I really liked the first Mummy film. I thought Brendan Frazer would be an awesome Doc Savage.
CONS: The second film made me rethink Frazer as Savage and had midget mummies.
BOTTOM LINE: The addition of Jet Li makes this a must see. Like Bruce Campbell, I'll watch anything with Jet Li. I LOVED Kung Fu Cult Master.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - The Pevensie siblings return to Narnia, where they are enlisted to once again help ward off an evil king and restore the rightful heir to the land's throne, Prince Caspian.
PROS: I liked the first film and it's based on a strong property.
CONS: Will they be cheap, or will they invest in it?
BOTTOM LINE: I read all the Lewis books, I'll watch all the movies. Well...at least until they release one that absolutely sucks.

Puss in Boots - A Shrek spinoff starring Antonio Banderas as the eponymous character.
PROS: Puss in Boots got me to watch, and enjoy, Shrek 2 when I would have abandoned the franchise.
CONS: The Shrek franchise wanders into lameness when it spends too much time sniping at Disney. This film needs to avoid that pratfall.
BOTTOM LINE: Antonio Banderas is enough for me.

Speed Racer - A live action version of the cartoon.
PROS: The Mach 5 and a badass title song and Richard Roundtree.
CONS: The Wachowski brothers combined with Susan Sarandon and Christina Ricci make me wonder what direction this film is headed.
BOTTOM LINE: I'll see it, but I expect camp. I would have preferred the Vince Vaughn version, I think.

The Spiderwick Chronicles - Upon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory, find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures.
PROS: Based on the book series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. DiTerlizzi is an imaginative and fun artist who set the tone for the Planescape setting for the Second Edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. His quirky and fun style should make for great character design.
CONS: Some people might make Pan's Labyrinth comparisons on the fairy designs. Are they going to spend the money on the series?
BOTTOM LINE: The books are fun and DiTerlizzi's designs should make for a great visual experience.

Temeraire - Based on the entertaining novel His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. There is no better description of the setting than that given on the website, "A reimagining of the epic events of the Napoleonic Wars with an air force—an air force of dragons, manned by crews of aviators."
PROS: Peter Jackson, Horatio Hornblower meets Smaug.
CONS: Might get stuck in development hell.
BOTTOM LINE: Not slated to come out until 2009.

Where the Wild Things Are - A live action movie based on the famous children's picture book.
PROS: I always thought the monsters were adorable.
CONS: Translating a short story to film can be difficult to say the least. What exactly is the 90 minute narrative.
BOTTOM LINE: Could be as good as Zathura, which is only disliked by those who lack souls.

Paizo to Publish Backlisted SF in Planet Stories Line of Books

Magazine and game publisher Paizo Publishing has announced that they will start publishing a line of books featuring backlisted SF and Fantasy titles. The line of books will be published under the heading Planet Stories, and given the nature of the initial catalogue of texts this seems appropriate. Paizo has decided to enter the arena of book publishing in response to the current resistance of larger publishers have to keeping strong backlists. Paizo wants to introduce a new generation of readers to older books which have influenced modern SF and Fantasy, at least that is their claim.

Let's have a look at the validity of that claim by looking at their choices of backlisted books featured in their first wave of publications.

Almuric, by Robert E. Howard, is a savage planet of crumbling stone ruins and debased, near-human inhabitants. Into this world comes Esau Cairn, Earthman, swordsman, murderer. Only he can overthrow the terrible devils that enslave Almuric, but to do so he must first defeat the inner demons that forced him to abandon Earth. Filled with vile beasts and thrilling adventure in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Almuric is one of Howard’s few novels, and an excellent yarn from one of America’s most distinct literary voices. Robert E. Howard is most known for creating the fictional character, Conan the Cimmerian (a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian), who has been featured in comic books, short stories, novels, and feature films for over 70 years. Howard's work is often credited as the source of the sword-and-sorcery genre and influenced everyone from J.R.R. Tolkien to George R.R. Martin.

The Anubis Murders, by Gary Gygax, weaves a fantastic tale of warring wizards that spans the world from the pyramids of ancient Egypt to the mist-shrouded towns of medieval England. Someone is murdering the world’s most powerful sorcerers, and the trail of blood leads straight to Anubis, the solemn god known by most as the Master of Jackals. Can Magister Setne Inhetep, personal philosopher-wizard to the Pharaoh, reach the distant kingdom of Avillonia and put an end to the Anubis Murders, or will he be claimed as the latest victim? Gary Gygax co-created the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game over 30 years ago and has watched it grow to become one of the largest entertainment sources in the hobby gaming industry. Dungeons & Dragons has been played by tens of millions worldwide and the name Gygax is instantly recognizable to any fans of the game, past or present.

City of the Beast/Warriors of Mars, by Michael Moorcock, features the return of Moorcock's Eternal Champion, Kane of Old Mars, a brilliant American physicist whose strange experiments in matter transmission catapult him across space and time to the Red Planet. Kane’s is a Mars of the distant past, a place of romantic civilizations, fabulous many-spired cities, and the gorgeous princess Shizala. To win her hand and bring peace to Mars, Kane must defeat the terrible Blue Giants of the Argzoon, whose ravaging hordes threaten the whole planet! Adventure in the Edgar Rice Burroughs tradition from the creator of Elric of Melniboné. The first stand-alone American printing since 1979, City of the Beast/Warrior of Mars will be available this September.

Black God's Kiss, by C.L. Moore, was first published in the pages of Weird Tales in 1934. C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry is the first significant female sword-and-sorcery protagonist and one of the most exciting and evocative characters the genre has ever known. Published alongside seminal works by H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, the five classic fantasy tales included in this volume easily stand the test of time and often overshadow the storytelling power and emotional impact of stories by Moore’s more famous contemporaries. A seminal work from one of fantasy’s most important authors, Black God’s Kiss is an essential addition to any fantasy library and will be available this October.

Elak of Atlantis, by Henry Kuttner. Published in Weird Tales to satisfy fans of Conan the Barbarian in the wake of Robert E. Howard’s death, the four long stories depict a brutal world of flashing swords and primal magic, touched by a hint of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. Never collected in a mass market edition since their publication in the late 1930s, these exciting tales helped to establish a genre and are a critical part of any fantasy library. Included as a bonus are Kuttner’s two Prince Raynor stories from 1939’s Strange Tales.

With seminal, thrilling adventure tales from one of the most important writers in science fiction and fantasy, Elak of Atlantis is not to be missed! Available in November 2007.

The Secret of Sinharat, by Leigh Brackett. Enter Eric John Stark, adventurer, rebel, wildman. Raised on the sun-soaked, savage world of Mercury, Stark lives among the people of the civilized solar system, but his veneer of calm masks a warrior’s spirit. In the murderous Martian Drylands the greatest criminals in the galaxy hatch a conspiracy of red revolution. Stark’s involvement leads to the forgotten ruins of the Martian Low Canals, an unlikely romance, and a secret so potent it could shake the Red Planet to its core.

In a special bonus novel, People of the Talisman, Stark ventures to the treacherous polar icecap of Mars to return a stolen talisman to an oppressed people.

The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman make an excellent introduction to the work of Leigh Brackett, a pillar of science fantasy and one of the greatest writers to work in the genre. Talented enough to co-write The Big Sleep with William Faulkner and influential enough to write the original screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back, Brackett’s fiction is no less distinguished than her movie work and never fails to deliver thrills and wry smiles.

One is struck by a few things when looking at the list. First is the fact that three of these novels fall squarely into the genre known as "Planetary Romance" and one of the authors is a seminal figure in that genre, Leigh Brackett. The focus on Planetary Romance makes it a natural that the line of books should be titled Planet Stories. Incidentally, Planet Stories was the name of a magazine in which Leigh Brackett and Ray Bradbury, among others, were frequently featured.

They even feature Robert E. Howard's (creator of Conan) singular foray into the genre, his novel Almuric. Almuric is an unusual Howard story, so unusual that David Drake, who edited a line of Howard books, speculated that the book might have been written by Otis Adelbert Kline and not Howard. The fact that Kline wrote a number of Planetary Romance novels, in playful competition with Edgar Rice Burroughs, makes the case all the more interesting to imagine even if it is mere speculation.

In addition to the focus on Planetary Romance, one other fact strikes me as particular to the selection of novels. The Anubis Murders is far from a seminal work of SF or Fantasy as far as its influence on modern authors goes, but it is written by a figure seminal in the creation of a genre of game very close at heart to Paizo Publishing's heart. Gary Gygax may not be an SF/F legend, but he is a Founding Father of the Roleplaying Game hobby, which is the focus of Paizo Publishing's two magazines.

What concerns me about the list of chosen novels is how much they ignore the truly overlooked backlisted novel. Sure the Moorcock pastiches to Burroughs are fun and overlooked, but the true inspiration are the Burroughs Mars books which are currently being published by the University of Nebraska Press.. The inclusion of Leigh Brackett is a necessary one, but her works are currently being published by Haffner Press. Yes the editions are more expensive than the $13.00 that Paizo will be charging, but they are hardback and include more stories.

I will certainly be purchasing Paizo's catalogue, but I would like to see the publication list expand from the current list.

Tomorrow, I will likely discuss what I think is a large hole in the current gamer/pulp-nostalgia movement.