Tagged: England

Doctor Who’s Russell T Davies Quits Hollywood

  • News
  • December 6, 2011

Russell T. Davies, the man responsible for the highly successful resurrection of Doctor Who and its spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, last left his Hollywood career to return to Manchester, England to take care of his ailing partner.

This summer, Andrew Smith was diagnosed with brain cancer. As matters progressed, Smith and Davies decided they wanted to be closer to their friends and family. As of this writing, Smith’s prognosis has remained private.

Davies, whose many credits also include creating and writing Queer As Folk, Casanova (starring David Tenant) and The Second Coming (starring Chris Eccleston), is expected to resume his entertainment industry career at some point in the future.

FORTIER TAKES ON HARDLUCK HANNIGAN’S LATEST!

  • News
  • November 17, 2011
ALL PULP REVIEWS by Ron Fortier
The Fantastic Adventures of HARDLUCK HANNIGAN-The Golden Scorpion
By Bill Craig
Cover by Laura Givens
Ever since starting this column, I’ve reviewed many small independent books but all of them were in one fashion or another associated with either a publishing group or writers’ organization. They all had ISBN numbers, a website or link as to where their books could be purchased. Bill Craig’s offering here has neither, no ISBN, no website address and no page numbering. I can’t even tell you how many pages there are in this great little book.  This book exemplifies self-publishing to the maximum understanding of that process.  This book was written, assembled and printed by Bill Craig. Happily, I’m informed that all of Craig’s books are available at Amazon.
Despite the book’s amateurish production values, Craig is really a very competent writer who excels at fast paced action.  He is most assuredly a new pulp writer worthy of your attention and one of the most prolific working today.  The Hardluck Hannigan series is only one of several he has invented and continues to pump out at a rather remarkable rate.  Understand, Craig’s purple prose is masculine and he wastes no time jumping into each book’s plot with little fanfare as to who these characters are or where they’ve been up to this point in their lives.
The Golden Scorpion opens with Michael Hardluck Hannigan in Cairo having just completed an adventure in Africa.  At the bequest of his Russian buddy, Gregor Shotsky, they go to meet an unscrupulous dealer in antiquities who has information on the whereabouts of an ancient mystical artifact known as the Golden Scorpion.  The Golden Scorpion supposedly is a powerful arcane weapon of some kind said to be buried deep in the sands of the Sahara.  Within minutes of meeting this fellow, Hannigan and Gregor are attacked by Tureg warriors, the merchant is killed and they escape with their lives and a new ally, a lovely American secret agent named Chas Ridings.
As I said before, the action never lets up and all too quickly we learn Hannigan is being pursued by a secret cult of dessert warriors, a Chinese master criminal and members of the Illuminati based in England.  A great deal of Craig’s writing is reminiscent of Lester Dent’s classic Doc Savage stories in that Hannigan seems to be always accompanied by an eclectic group of aides made up of assassins, soldiers of fortune and brilliant scientists answering the siren song of adventure.  Throughout their madcap race across the burning sands, battling both human and inhuman foes, Hannigan and company press on while Craig occasionally drops information concerning their previous exploits that led to their current predicament.  It is both frustrating and intriguing at the same time.
The Golden Scorpion is a quick read that left me wanting a whole lot more.  If you haven’t heard of Bill Craig before, then you need to remedy that. He’s a damn awesome pulp writer who knows how to spin a yarn.

Review: “Neverwhere” 15th Anniversary Edition

Imagine the BBC fifteen years ago, before the current explosion of science fiction and fantasy fare. It was a dowdy set of channels, working on the cheap, and not being necessarily accommodating to the needs of its shows. Instead, they often said we have a hole for X, please take your concept and make it fit.

While their schedules were not entirely devoid of genre fare, it came few and far between with offerings like [[[Neverwhere]]], which aired on BBC Two and was written by Neil Gaiman, in the flush of his success in America with Sandman. He met with producer Lenny Henry during England’s annual Comic Relief event and they began talking about a story. Lenny imagined a society below London and that was enough of a spark to get Gaiman going.

He conjured up a fully realized fantasy world and used the character of Richard Mayhew, a thoroughly typical citizen, who does a good deed and is rewarded with being plunged into this realm. The story of Neverwhere has been told and retold, first as a BBC miniseries, complete with 1996 novelization by Gaiman, and then, years later, a comic book adaptation from Vertigo. There’s been a steady stream of talk of a film version but it remains trapped in a realm of its own called Development Hell.

The BBC at the time treated it like any of its other broadcasts, giving the fantasy a budget fit for a situation comedy and then insisting it be produced in thirty-minute installments coupled with the even odder demand that it be shot on video not film. The result was an unsatisfactory event that has left Gaiman and fans demanding a Redo.

Instead, the BBC is releasing a fifteenth anniversary DVD edition of the miniseries on Tuesday. They had a Region 2 edition around for some time now but this is a first official release in the States. (more…)

Knightraven Studios Reduces eBook Prices

  • Uncategorized
  • November 1, 2011

Press Release: Knightraven Studios Reduces eBook Prices

Effectively immediately, and running throughout the entire upcoming holiday season, Knightraven Studios has reduced the prices of all the ebook-format epic-sized Infinite Horizons novels from $4.95 down to $2.99. This includes the popular Pulp Heroes novels written and illustrated by Wayne Reinagel, More Than Mortal and Khan Dynasty, and Modern Marvels – Viktoriana. This limited time offer ends January 2.

These books can be purchased at the following locations.
http://www.amazon.com/shops/knightravenstudios
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/knightravenstudios
http://wwwpulpheroesmorethanmortal.webs.com/InfiniteHorizonsStore.html.

About More Than Mortal:
In this completely original action story, four champions of justice, Doc Titan – The Ultimate Man, The Darkness – The Master of Shadows, Guardian – Steel and Ice Justice, and The Scorpion – The Deadliest Man Alive, are brought together for the first time to battle a deadly threat and save the Earth and mankind from absolute destruction.

More information about More Than Mortal can be found at:
http://wwwpulpheroesmorethanmortal.webs.com/

About Khan Dynasty:
Beginning in Cairo, Egypt, nearly a century in the past, a series of seemingly random events lead to danger and intrigue, as two generations of heroes race to stop a diabolical duo from unleashing a devastating wave of death and destruction. Four champions of justice, Doc Titan – The Ultimate Man, The Darkness – The Master of Shadows, Guardian – Steel and Ice Justice, and The Scorpion – The Deadliest Man Alive, race to unravel a century old mystery, and prevent the destruction of England and America, while the nations of the Earth teeter on the brink of another world war.

More information about Khan Dynasty can be found at:
http://wwwpulpheroesmorethanmortal.webs.com/

About Modern Marvels – Viktoriana:

A secret fellowship of nine incredibly unique individuals.
Trapped in a deadly battle between an ancient evil and the vampire nations.
Mankind’s last hope.
† † † †
Featuring an all-star gallery of the world’s greatest Viktorian era heroes, including:
Henry Rider Haggard as the Warrior – author of Allan Quatermain & King Solomon’s Mines
† † † †
Arthur Conan Doyle as the Doctor – author of Sherlock Holmes & Professor Challenger
† † † †
Jules Verne as the Merovingian – the Father of Science Fiction & author of the Voyages Extraordinaires series
† † † †
Herbert George Wells as the Scientist – author of The Time Machine & War of the Worlds
† † † †
Mary Shelley as the Oracle – author of Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus
† † † †
Harry Houdini as the Mage – the Handcuff King
† † † †
Bram Stoker as the Juggernaut – author of Dracula & The Lair of the White Worm
† † † †
Nikola Tesla as the Inventor – the Master of Electricity
† † † †
Edgar Allen Poe as the Raven – author of The Raven & The Pit and the Pendulum
† † † †
And Mark Twain as Himself – author of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn
† † † †
Also starring:
Countess Elizabeth Báthory
aka The Blood Countess
† † † †
Varney the Vampire, progenitor of the undead species
&
Aleister Crowley
† † † †
And Special Guest Star:
Count Vlad Dracula, the Prince of Darkness & Lord of the Vampires
† † † †
Paranormal investigators and adventurers.
Archaeologists of history.
Vampire slayers!!

More information about Modern Marvels – Viktoriana can be found at:
http://wwwpulpheroesmorethanmortal.webs.com/

For those folks interested in buying paper versions of these books, please feel free to visit our stores at:
http://stores.ebay.com/Knightraven-Studios, http://www.amazon.com/shops/knightravenstudios,
and for best prices, check out our new online store at http://wwwpulpheroesmorethanmortal.webs.com/InfiniteHorizonsStore.html

Effectively immediately, and running throughout the entire upcoming holiday season, Knightraven Studios has reduced the prices of all the ebook-format epic-sized Infinite Horizons novels from $4.95 down to $2.99. This includes the popular Pulp Heroes novels written and illustrated by Wayne Reinagel, More Than Mortal and Khan Dynasty, and Modern Marvels – Viktoriana. This limited time offer ends January 2.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season!!

Meet The Panthans

  • Uncategorized
  • October 3, 2011
Cover Art: Mark Wheatley



Cover Art: Matt Wagner
Cover Art: Neil Vokes
The National Capital Panthans, founded in September 1996, are the Washington D.C., Baltimore, Annapolis and Northern Virginia area Chapter of the Burroughs Bibliophiles. Meetings are generally held on the firs…t Sunday of the month and are hosted by various members in their homes.

There are approximately 50 members from around the United States and one each from England, Canada and Germany. The Panthans hosted the 1998 Burroughs Bibliophiles Dum-Dum, the 1999 and 2003 ECOF Gatherings, and will again host the 2006 ECOF in Rockville, MD. Generally so many members go to ERB fan conventions hosted by others that the Panthans can be counted on to assist with registration. The Panthans have published a book, entitled “ERB – The Second Century,” which includes fan-produced fiction, scholarly deductions and many great illustrations!

To become a member and receive a monthly newsletter informing you about Panthans activities send your annual subscription fee of US $15.00 to:

John Tyner, Treasurer
5911 Halpine Road
Rockville, Maryland 20851-2410

For further information check their Web site at: www.taliesan.com/panthans/cover.htm

Outcasts

“This isn’t about humanity! This isn’t about the future!”

So said a member of the Outcasts cast late in the show’s abbreviated run and it’s a shame because a story set in the future should be about that very thing. Creator Ben Richards wrote earlier this year,

“The inspiration behind Outcasts was the desire to tell a pioneer story, and the only place you can do that really now is in space.

“I wanted to explore second chances, most fundamentally whether humanity is genetically hardwired to make the same mistakes again and again.

“The stories that kick start the series are intense, and hopefully moving, but the world view is never cynical or willfully pessimistic.”

In other words, he was hoping for the critical success of Battlestar Galactica but told stories more worthy of Space: 1999. The BBC series ran eight weeks earlier this year while it came to America in June to meet the same dismal critical reception. Now, BBC Video releases the complete series on a three-disc set.

Never heard of the show? That says a lot about how poorly received it was on both sides of the Atlantic. It was a serious-minded SF series, a counterpoint to the more over-the-top SF from England including Doctor Who, Torchwood, and Primeval. Sadly, it may have suffered more from self-importance than bad production.

Set in the middle of the 21st Century, mankind has ruined the Earth and its survivors have been coming in drips and drabs to the world of Carpathia, a mere five years’ travel distance. The remnants of humanity are trying to forge a new society but they all come with such baggage that fresh starts seem impossible. We join them ten years after the first colonists arrived and long after regular contact with the nuclear-devastated Earth was lost. A ship, perhaps the very last from Earth, arrives as we begin the series. We then see how life tries to work with the Protection and Security team keeping the peace while the Expeditionaries goes foraging for foods and medicines while studying their new home.

Richards wrote five of the eight episodes and may have had good intentions, but his internal story logic and execution left a lot to be desired. There’s a sprawling, attractive cast ill-served by their individual storylines and they never really gel as an ensemble. His talkative scripts rob the show of momentum and its slow pacing, reminiscent of 1999, doesn’t help.

His characters all feel like ones we’ve seen before, in far better science fiction concepts. There’s the President (Liam Cunningham), the madman (Jamie Bamber), the better former VP (Eric Maibus), the man with a secret past (Daniel Mays), and so on. It’s an international group, trying to reflect humanity so there’s Maibus the American, Bamber the Brit, and the South African (busty model Jeanné Kietzmann). If only we grew to care about them.

About the freshest element in the series is the notion of the Advanced Cultivars, artificially created humans designed to survive in the alien environment and blamed for unleashing a virus that killed many of the colony’s children, threatening the humans’ future.

The thing is, each episode should be advancing stories and themes but there are a lot of retreads and flashbacks and no real sense that the society is settling in. Still, there’s something, some quality to each episode that keeps you watching, keeps you hoping things get better. By the sixth episode, things feel like they are finally coming together then the subsequent episode spins its wheels and the final episode ends on a less-than-compelling cliffhanger. One that will never be resolved because the ratings dropped so dramatically that the series was yanked from its high profile time slot after five airings and dumped on late Sunday nights when good British telly watchers had gone to sleep. The day after the finale aired, the BBC announced the show’s cancellation.

The episodes look fine in high definition and there was at least some interesting thought into the colonization of this alien world that is as bleak as the stories told on its surface. One of the set’s extras if a set tour for Forthaven, which details the thinking.  The other is “Reach to the Stars”, a featurette that has cast and crew try to convince you they’re doing something unique and wonderful.

You can judge for yourself whether this was a missed opportunity or hidden gem. Either way, these eight installments are all you’re ever going to see of this world and its dreary inhabitants.

ALL PULP REVIEWS-FORTIER TAKES ON ‘GHOSTS OF WAR’!

GHOSTS OF WAR
By George Mann
Pyr Books
231 pages
Available July 2011
Hot on the heels of earning a Pulp Factory Award nomination for Best Pulp Novel of 2010 for GHOST OF MANHATTAN, writer George Mann unleashes the second novel in this steampunk series.  Although considering the archetype pulp trappings these books are totally saturated with, one would suggest labeling them steampulp.
This new adventure of Gabriel Cross, the haunted veteran of World War One who protects New York City as the rocket-boot propelled, black garbed vigilante known as the Ghost, begins only a few weeks after the end of his last, horrific case.  He is still emotionally wounded having witnessed his lover, Celeste, sacrifice herself to save mankind from outer-dimensional monsters.
When a new threat to his city arises, he gratefully dons his Ghost garb and goes into action.  Weird hybrid mechanical flying creatures called Raptors are swooping out of the night sky and randomly kidnapping people with no apparent pattern or purpose other than to cause city wide terror.  The Ghost sets about catching one of these horrible monstrosities with the help of his friend, Inspector Felix Donovan, who shares his secret identity. 
At the same time, Donovan is given the task of hunting down a British spy by his superiors.  He is told the secret agent is a catalyst with information that will ignite a war between England and America.  When elements from both assignments suddenly come together, the Ghost and Donovan begin to suspect a much darker plot with tendrils leading to corruption among the highest ranks of City Hall.  In the end the Ghost allows himself to be captured by the raptors and taken to their hidden lair.  It is his one chance to uncover the evil mastermind behind the attacks and discover the true horror that awaits all mankind unless he and his small band of allies can save the day.
Hideous creatures from another dimension, a mad scientist more machine than man, an armed, massive airship on a mission of doom and more thrill-a-minute action than any other ten, oversized thrillers on the market today.  GHOSTS OF WAR is even better then its predecessor as Mann is truly warming up to this alternate world and his remarkable, colorful and appealing cast of characters that populate it.  This is new pulp fiction at its finest and I’m predicting there’s another Pulp Factory Award nod in its future.  Long live the Ghost! 
Review: ‘The Tudors Season 4’

Review: ‘The Tudors Season 4’

Imagine if you will that we’re all living in the time of King Henry V. His court would be the A list, their comings and goings the subject of gossip at every tavern and pub in England. They were the celebrities of their day, at a time when England was still a small power, finding their voice and charting their destiny.

For four years, Michael Hirst has been delivering a taste of what it might have been like in the Showtime series, The Tudors
. Now, the fourth and final year, covering the final two wives and his death, has been collected on a four disc set released from CBS Home Entertainment.

The show’s success was attributable to the lush visuals, from the costuming to the locations. John Rhys Meyers was a lusty, virile king, craving a dynasty and constantly thwarted. He was a man of voracious appetites, far beyond food, but history denied him greatness. The first season covered his unhappy first marriage to his dead brother’s wife, Catherine, and his true love, Anne Boleyn, challenging the Pope for his freedom. In the end, he broke from the Church, established the Church of England and found himself challenged at every turn.

Hirst took liberties with characters, characterizations, and sequence of events so don’t use this for your homework, but for a sense of what the time was like and players, this is darn good entertainment. The seasons rolled through his loves and losses, with some of the wives coming to life and others barely sketched out. The fourth season suffers a bit from compressing so much into a mere ten episodes.

His quest for a male heir led him to Katherine Howard then the unhappy final wife, Katherine Parr. Age and illness (the dreaded gout) robbed him of his strength and appeal, letting the upper class maneuver for favor or power.

We open in 1540, thirty years into Henry’s reign and he remains strong as he gets to know his fifth and youngest wife, Katherine, a mere 17 years old. While Henry and Katherine are cordial, Thomas Culpepper covets Katherine while currying favor with the king, a subplot that plays out in the early episodes. Henry also gets a chance to realize what he may have missed during an encounter with wife number four, Anne of Cleves, who compares more favorably than does young Katherine. While Katherine and Culpepper play, Henry and Anne clandestinely reunite. It’s certainly good to be the king.

His rages are legendary and Meyers handles the explosive emotions quite well, especially when Katherine’s affair and sordid past come to light. Also, his rocky relationships with his daughters comes to the fore at mid-season as he restores Princesses Elizabeth and Mary to the line of succession. At the same time, politics and religion clash as the Reformation is weakened when Henry takes the Catholics’ side in matters of state.

We rush through his final wife, Katherine Parr, who is closer in age to the now ailing Henry. Clearly, Hirst could not end the series without covering all six legendary wives but one wishes for more  We also get a truncated war with France before illness finally claims the king. Nicely done was a final dream sequence as the dear departed former wives (Maria Doyle Kennedy, Annabelle Wallis and Natalie Dormer) all appear and have final words for their husband.

The show looks wonderful on disc but one wishes the same attention to detail in extras from the first three sets was given to this final set. Instead, there are no extras of any sort but a collection of sampler episodes from Showtime’s other series. A sad way to take our leave of Tudor England but the show is well worth a look.

Doctor Who ‘The Eleventh Hour’ open thread

Doctor Who ‘The Eleventh Hour’ open thread

  • News
  • April 17, 2010

Okay, you all want to talk about it, go ahead.

Note: this is only for the episode that premiered tonight on BBCAmerica, and the clip show that precedes it. No chatter from those people who downloaded the episodes from England that haven’t aired here yet.

Bad Internet downloaders. Baaaaad.

ComicMix Quick Picks – September 22, 2009

ComicMix Quick Picks – September 22, 2009

Here are some of the things we didn’t get to on Monday, bullet-pointed for your reading pleasure:

Anything else we missed? Consider this an open thread.

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