Saturday, June 23, 2012

Jungle Tales is out!

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Airship 27 has just released my newest story, Ki-Gor and the Secret of the Vikings in their newest book... Fans of Uchronic Tales: The Horn may recognize a certain red head from that story... I am thrilled to have the cover story in this book!





Airship 27's Press Release:

"CLASSIC JUNGLE ADVENTURES

Airship 27 Productions, a leader in the New Pulp Fiction movement, is thrilled to announce the released of their latest title, JUNGLE TALES Vol. One.

One of the most popular sub-genres of the classic pulp magazines were those with jungle settings. With the success and popularity of Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan stories, editors began clamoring for similar tales featuring jungle heroes. Soon dozens of cheap loin-cloth wearing imitators were popping up everywhere, including a few jungle queens to add spice to the mix.  By far the most successful of these Tarzan clones was the blond-haired Ki-Gor, the Jungle Lord whose adventures appeared regularly in the pages of Jungle Stories magazine.

Now Airship 27 Productions offers up this new collection with three brand new adventures of Ki-Gor and his lovely, red-headed mate, Helene, as they travel into the mysterious, uncharted jungles of Africa.  Penned by Aaron Smith, Duane Spurlock and W. Peter Miller, here are a trio of fast paced tales that have the Jungle Lord discovering a hidden village of Vikings, crossing paths with dinosaurs in a lost valley and battling cannibals to save the life of a benevolent jungle princess.  This is the pulse-pounding action and thrill-a-minute adventure fans have come to expect from the classic jungle pulps. 

“It’s hoped,” said Managing Editor, Ron Fortier, “that each new volume of this title will shine the spotlight on a different classic pulp jungle hero.  Maybe even a jungle queen or two.”  This premier features a stunning cover by painter Bryan Fowler with magnificent interior illustrations by Kelly Everaert.  JUNGLE TALES Vol.One kicks off another new series pulp fans are sure to appreciate and enjoy. 

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – Pulp Fiction For A New Generation!"

$3 PDF digital copy from the Airship 27 Hangar

Printed book from Amazon

And coming soon from – Indy Planet


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Monday, June 18, 2012

Zeppelin Reviewed

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Pulp reviewer and author Ron Fortier has just posted a review on his Pulp Fiction Reviews blog of  Uchronic Tales: The Zeppelin. Here are a few of the nice things he had to say:

"Miller’s writing is pulp-perfect and the action nonstop from beginning to end. Tyler is a great, stalwart champion and the young, lovely scientist a spunky spitfire capable of holding her own when the action kicks into high gear."

Having relished this great little book, this reviewer is looking forward to digging into the second titled, “The Horn.”  If it is as good as, “The Zeppelin,” we pulp fans have much to celebrate."

You can find The Zeppelin and the Horn at the links to the right. They are available in print at Amazon, and on Nook, Kindle, and Smashwords.

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Friday, June 15, 2012

Pulp of the Week - Phylogenesis



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Phylogenesis by Alan Dean Foster

I have read many of Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth novels like Ice Rigger, Midworld, and the Flinx and Pip adventures. These are great adventures and I enjoyed them immensely. I still have my autographed 1975 printing of The Tar-Aym-Krang. I like that Foster continues to go back and tell stories in that science fiction universe. Over the past decades my reading decreased and it wasn't until a recent library trip that I learned of the Founding of the Commonwealth series. I borrowed Book One, Phylogenesis and gave it a read.

I found this story an interesting way to begin the story of the alliance between the humans and the insect-like Thranx. This is not the story of diplomats and presidents, of hive leaders and royalty. Phylogensis tells the story of two unlikely heroes.

Desvendapur is a Thranx poet and healer. For the insect-like race, those two occupations are nearly one. The Thranx live in an orderly, nearly crime free society on Willow-Wane. But Des has a secret. He is obsessed with the strange fleshy creatures recently discovered. He wants to meet these mammals; these baffling creatures. How could they be intelligent and how could such squishy, unstable things have developed a stardrive? Is there really a secret colony of the things in the wilds of Willow-Wane?

At great personal sacrifice Des decides to find out. His plan succeeds beyond his wildest dreams but at great personal cost.

Cheelo Montoya is a hustler operating on the streets of Golfito, Costa Rica. When a robbery goes awry, he flees into the Reserva Amazonia, waiting for things to cool off. If he can stay out of sight long enough, there is a huge payoff waiting for him.

There is never a doubt that these two deeply flawed individuals will meet, but their relationship is wonderfully played and makes the book. Some of the prose is a little clunky, but the story pushes ever forward toward an exciting and somewhat surprising climax. A satisfying tale of (nearly) first contact and the beginning of the Human and Thranx alliance - The Humanx Commonwealth.

I'll give Phylogenesis a 7 out of 10. This is not Foster's best, but was fun and I am looking forward to reading more tales in this universe and in this series. The Jacket painting is by Mark Harrison.

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Pulp Film of the Week - Prometheus



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Warning - Spoilers abound in this post. Unlike my usual spoiler-lite fare, this one is spoilery and thus, if you have not seen Prometheus and have any intention of doing so...

READ NO FURTHER


Friday, June 8, 2012

Pulp of the Week - Phoenix Rising

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Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine have created an absolute gem of a novel and a spectacular opener for a series in the tremendously long titled, "Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel." The lovely cover art is by Dominick Finelle.

Reading this book was the most fun I've had with a novel in a very long time. The characters are great, the story clever, and the dialog witty, biting, and clever without being precious.

In a nutshell, Phoenix Rising is a murder mystery nougut wrapped in a spectacular Steampunk, Steed and Peel, Wild, Wild, West, X-Files candy shell. It is delicious.

In Phoenix Rising, our Steed and Peel are Wellington Books and Eliza Braun, agents in the Queens Ministry of Peculiar Occurences. Books is a Ministry agent that has spent his career in the basement archives, cataloging and preserving the case history of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences (MPO). He is shy and bookish, a British gentleman that embodies the opposite of brash. Braun is a human hand grenade - oft referred to as a 'pepper pot' - that hails from the colonies (New Zealand) and prefers bombs to stealth.

The names are obvious (Books and Braun) but fit the cheeky tone and fun nature of the story.

The novel starts with a bang as Braun rescues Books and then, due to extenuating circumstances of that rescue, is assigned to the archives to assist Books in his duties. This doesn't sit well with Braun and she, of course, coerces Books into an astounding adventure.

What I loved about this novel is how much heart the story has in addition to the thrills and humor. The action and adventure was made even more thrilling due to the readers attachment to the characters.

I will give Phoenix Rising a 9 out of 10 and I am looking forward to other stories in this series. I will give this book a Mature rating due to some Adult content of a sexual nature and some gore.

I read the Kindle eBook for this review.

The Ministry series continues with the follow-up novel "The Janus Affair" and a series of short story ebooks grouped under the "A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Tale from the Archives." These are written by a variety of authors and are available for 99 cents.




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