Lester Dent (1904–1959)

Doc Savage legend Lester Dent created Lynn Lash and Foster Fade in the early 1930s, before he began writing Doc Savage and during his early days writing the stories which would make him immortal. All six stories are great pulpy fun as long as you like early pulp, Lester Dent, and don’t try to compare it to Doc Savage.

There are three stories each featuring two different weird-science detectives in this collection. Lynn Lash is a blending of those wild and wooly pulp adventures which involve show more a strange crime with old-fashioned detective work. He is known in these stories as the living Sherlock Holmes. The Lash stories are quite fun, but not as good as Dent would be in a couple of years when he created Foster Fade.

There are similarities between Dent's two creations. Both use gadgets and science to solve weird crimes which are baffling police. Both series have a Manhattan setting. Interestingly, Fade works as an investigator for a major paper in New York called - The Planet. It’s logo and lobby are marked by a huge globe. Call to mind anyone you know?

Well, the similarity ends there, but it’s fun to note. Fade is The Crime Spectacularist. He has a secretary at the paper named Dinamenta Stevens, a platinum blonde of the hard-boiled variety who ghostwrites all his adventures for the Planet. In the story, Hell in Boxes, she gives a little tart who got the better of her during the case what for, making it a pulpy delight.

This stuff is great fun and has a place in pulpdom history. It’s a shame Dent simply didn’t have time — and was possibly discouraged from doing so — to continue writing Foster Fade stories once Doc Savage became so huge. One of the Lynn Lash stories, The Flame Horror, was originally rejected and never published in Dent’s lifetime. It is speculated, however, that he slyly pushed it over to his pal, the legendary Norvell Page, who reworked it as a Spider story. Spider aficionados might get a sense of déjà vu when reading The Flame Horror for that reason. But it’s here in this collection as Dent’s original Lynn Lash story.

The LYNN LASH stories are as follows:

THE SINISTER RAY

THE MUMMY MURDERS

THE FLAME HORROR


The FOSTER FADE stories are as follows:

HELL IN BOXES

WHITE-HOT CORPSES

MURDER BY CIRCLES


Following the six early pulp stories is Dent’s outline for a Lynn Lash story, showing how he planned it out, which is interesting. And there is some interesting information about some of the early pulp magazines in the forward. Norvell Page and Lester Dent are two important figures in pulp, and it’s great to have Dent’s Lynn Lash and Foster Fade stories available to readers in some format. Depending on what you know about early pulp and this sub-genre, your mileage may vary on these stories, but if you have an appreciation for the origins of pulp, or Lester Dent — a.k.a. Kenneth Robeson — this one is worth picking up. show less

It takes 79 pages to find out what this book is about! A few people want to find a physical double for El Presidente of their country. And it’s an American named Walter Harsh.

And guess what? I'm kind of sorry that I found out! It really is a mess of a book, with an unlikeable main character and, well, actually, they are all unlikeable! I think this was supposed to be like Prince and the Pauper, but it isn't very good. I wish I could have found a physical double to finish this nonsense for me!

Amazon recommended this book to me when I ordered Paul Malmont’s The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril. As it featured zeppelins, I had to have it.

I was somewhat surprised at the format when it arrived (I’d ordered it on impulse, so hadn’t even looked at the main page). Rather than a mass-market or trade paperback, this book is the size of a graphic novel.

It turns out that Zeppelin Tales is the first volume of several planned books from the publisher, Heliograph, who publish various show more role-playing games. They are planning a new game—Zeppelin Age—which will feature pulp-style action in the 1920s and 1930s, with zeppelins, airplanes, and general heroic adventures in the style of Indiana Jones, Doc Savage, Sky Captain, and so forth. Although it’s been a long time since I’ve played RPGs, it sounds like the books might be worth a look for their nongaming content, too.

Oh, yes, the book I’m reviewing: It’s fun! For some reason Heliograph has plastered it with warnings about ethnically insensitive language, drug use, and excessive violence. Well, the violence is there (although I’m not sure it’s really up to the level of a typical PG-13 rated action movie, these days). And, yes, some naughty words (then and now) are thrown around, although not generally as directed insults. But I never noticed any drug use, beyond the liberal use of legal (mostly then and definitely now) tobacco and alcohol by various characters.

All the stories feature stolen or threatened airships (apparently being huge, rare, and requiring large ground crews to operate wasn’t as much of a downside in the depression-starved thirties). Our heros fight gallantly to rescue them or at least stop the evildoers from accomplishing their plans. Women are rescued, but most turn out to have their own hidden strengths, so aren’t the helpless sex kittens of, say, a James Bond film.

If you’re willing to suspend disbelief, and you’re not going to be wildly insulted by the use of somewhat racist language, Zeppelin Tales is a lot of fun. show less

Book number two. Only 179 to go!

This one, to me, is the stereotypical Doc Savage adventure. A wild criminal device, dependent on something only found in a far off place. A mysterious villain. And lots of dumb criminal lackeys to throw at Doc and the gang to provide the action.

Along the way, this particular adventure also includes dinosaurs! pseudo-science! an obvious identity of the mysterious villain! Ham and Monk bantering! more pseudo-science (the atomic theories are hilarious)! lots of show more over-written scenes! and more exclamation marks than you can shake a stick at!

Of course (spoiler alert) Doc uses his big brawn and big brain to save everyone's asses in the end.

Fun stuff. show less