Today marks the one hundred and fifteenth birthday of Catherine Lucille “C.L.” Moore. Hailed as a ‘Grandmaster of Fantasy’ and also ‘The Queen of Sword and Sorcery’ by some, Moore contributed mightily to Weird Tales in the 1930s and then blazed trails in the sci-fi realm with her husband, Henry Kuttner.
Read MoreAbout a week ago, Jake over at the PulpMortem Youtube channel uploaded a video review of A. Merritt’s Dwellers in the Mirage. I thought he did a good—but not perfect—job. So, I thought it would be helpful and informative to do a friendly fact-check/reaction to his episode.
Read MoreThis past week saw four authorial anniversaries, all with some relation to Robert E. Howard. In this post, I pay them proper—albeit brief—respects.
Read MoreLeigh Brackett hand-picked Steranko to illustrate the final phase of Eric John Stark's career. The results have stood the test of time.
Read MoreDMR Books recently published the centennial edition of A. Merritt’s The Ship of Ishtar. James Maliszewski, proprietor of the Grognardia website is a Merritt stalwart, a champion of A. Merritt's work for over fifteen years. When the DMR Books edition was first released, Maliszewski posted not one, but two, blog entries concerning The Ship of Ishtar. I will not only be commenting on James' posts but also the commenters on his posts. Some of those comments are quite interesting.
Read MoreA. Merritt's landmark heroic fantasy novel, The Ship of Ishtar, still resonates a solid century after its first publication. Since that time, it has inspired classic tales from the likes of Robert E. Howard, Leigh Brackett and Michael Moorcock.
Read MoreSwordsmen in the Sky was published by Ace Books in 1964. Donald Wollheim put together five stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs-influenced Sword and Planet.
Read MoreI had the chance to read Leigh Brackett’s “Lord of the Earthquake” and almost immediately was struck by a number of parallels between it and her later The Sword of Rhiannon. “Lord of the Earthquake”, published in June 1941 issue of Science Fiction, concerns godhood, time-travel and the lost continent of Mu.
Read MoreEdmond Hamilton wrote many stories of Merrittesque adventure for Weird Tales during the 1930s and 1940s. In my opinion, those stories are some of his finest, albeit lesser-known. Hamilton could write a gripping weird tale, though he became more famous for his straight-up science fiction, especially his space operas.
Read MoreRay Bradbury took a half-written planetary adventure story started by Leigh Brackett and finished it, creating a minor classic in the process. As Leigh herself said--with thirty years to think on it--Bradbury did a better job than she would have.
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