Pulp Heroes volume 2 edited by Mike Chinn

The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes 2 edited by Mike Chinn (The Alchemy Press £10.99) comes out at the end of the month with a launch at the World Fantasy Convention.

Following the success of The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes, here is another helping of stories to stir your adventurous heart: stories in the tradition of the pulp heroes, of Doc Savage and The Green Hornet, of The Shadow and The Bat. Heroes and heroines and villainous villains. 

Fourteen exciting stories by Mike Resnick, Adrian Cole, William Meikle, Anne Nicholls, Bryn Fortey, Chico Kidd, Pauline E Dungate, Marion Pitman, Robert William Iveniuk, Stuart Young, Ian Hunter, Andrew Coulthard, Martin Gately and Arch Whitehouse.

The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore - reviewed

The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore. Illustrated by Ian Gibson. Rebellion £13.99

Reviewed by Mike Chinn

Halo Jones made her first appearance in 2000AD’s “Prog 376” way back in 1984 and continued over a two year period in three “books”. Her final adventures ended in 1986 after writer Alan Moore and Fleetway – the comic’s publishers – had a major disagreement over ownership rights. As things stand, those adventures won’t be continuing anytime soon (originally nine books had been planned). So we’ll have to enjoy what there is of the girl’s adventures.

Our first sight of Halo is as an eighteen year old, living in the Hoop – an enclosed, floating torus off the coast of Manhattan where America’s long-term unemployed are dumped. She’s sharing an apartment with Rodice (something of a stereotypical teenaged girl), Brinna, and a robot dog (a Ripper, model Iliac Six Hundred) named Toby. There’s also Ludy, a talented musician with the band Ice Ten: nervous and lacking in self-belief. The action takes place over a single day. Rodice finds out that they’ve run out of food – which means they’re going to have to risk a shopping expedition. Ludy has to practise so Halo goes out with Rodice – along with a reluctant Toby – armed with sputstiks and zenades as defence against other Hoop inhabitants. It’s a disaster from the start, with circumstances conspiring to ruin Rodice’s carefully-planned timetable. Rodice also manages to blow herself up with a zenade (which at least gives Halo the chance to make up time by taking a short cut outside; although the blissfully tripping Rodice comes round before they get back inside), and squirt a nausea-inducing sputstik into her own face. When they finally get back to their apartment, Brinna is dead – cut to shreds in what looks like a robbery gone wrong. Whilst Halo is struggling to absorb that, Ludy comes in: she’s become a member of a youth cult – the Different Drummers – whose implanted brains have a constant rhythm pounding out real life. Something snaps in Halo and she decides to sign on the E.S.S. Clara Pansy. She and Rodice agree to meet on Charlemagne: last one to arrive buys the drinks.

Book two documents Halo’s life as a hostess on board the Clara Pandy. There’s a framing device revealing that Halo is the study (and obsession) of an academician of the far future, which also cleverly serves as a re-introduction to the character after half a year’s absence from the comic. Now she shares a cabin with Toy – another hostess, who’s seven-foot tall and afraid of nothing – and a character so self-effacing and lacking in self-esteem that she almost literally fades into the background. Halo is besotted with the ship’s cyberneticist (it’s unreciprocated, of course), still has Toby (though that turns out to be a very mixed blessing) and has long conversations with the ship’s steersman: a dolphin named Kititirik Tikrikitit (Kit for short) – she learned to speak cetacean back in the Hoop when she was a member of the Ritit Rikti fan club. She also helps a Rat King that is on board – helping to find a replacement rat when one of the five tail-knotted rodents falls terminally ill and the creature’s linked mind starts to come apart. That simple act of kindness has implications that will echo down the years to come. And on the last night before they reach Charlemagne, at a Chop Party (named for mega-rich Lux Roth Chop who owns the Clary Pandy), even though Halo is spurned by the cyberneticist for a media celebrity, she shares a dance with a an unassuming guy she bumped into earlier: none other than Lux Roth Chop himself (though she discovers that a little belatedly). Quitting the ship, Halo finally contacts Rodice from a run-down bar – only to find her old friend is still back in the Hoop, with no real intention of leaving it.

The third and final book finds Halo marooned on Pwuc: not only down on her luck but about as far down as she can get. Even the Hoop compares favourably. When a military recruitment ship touches down, and Halo finds that her old cabin-mate Toy is already signed on, she – maybe not so eagerly – joins up. After all, they were just a peacekeeping force; there practically no chance she’d get sent to the Tarantula warzone. But part of the peacekeeping mission is on a backward planet called Lobis Loyo, fighting a guerrilla war against terrorists. Somehow she survives – though the experiences leave her emotionally scarred and embittered. From there she’s shipped to Moab: a vast planet within the warzone that has a gravitational pull so powerful it not only leaves anyone unprotected as a puddle, it actually slows time. Halo and her squad plod out onto the surface, exchange shots with the enemy, and return to their gravity-shielded base to finds days have elapsed inside. In a final irony, whilst they are out on one sortie, the Earth’s economy collapses and the cetaceans negotiate a cease-fire – weeks before Halo returns. Peace settles, and Halo even finds a love in the huge shape of General Luiz Cannibal – but then she finds out exactly what role the King Rat she saved back on the Clary Pandy has had in the war against Tarantula. Disillusioned again, she takes a spacecraft and once more, goes out.

Even though it’s some thirty years old, The Ballad of Halo Jones is refreshingly undated – possibly timeless. Alan Moore crams in satire, sly references, puns (is the name Clary Pandy a play on Para Handy: the “hero” of Neil Munro’s Vital Spark short stories for instance?), and crazy slang (“come on” becomes “come off” – the fictional origins of which we can speculate on some other time…). It’s likely he had Vietnam in mind when scripting the guerrilla fighting on Lobis Loyo, but it’s no less relevant today: a despised occupying force fighting against locals they loathe with equal vigour. Many of the “terrorists” turn out to be children (sound familiar?). The section on Moab – with its time-distortion – reminded me strongly of Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War. And although the Hoop is a dystopia of a type quite popular within 2000AD’s pages, the mind-set of its rejected inhabitants still resonates.

Ian Gibson’s artwork clearly improves over the three books – becoming more subtle; his line work finer – but there is still a great vitality: busy without being overcrowded. His females are shapely without being sexual caricatures. And he can even portray a dolphin’s amusement at its own joke. I don’t know if Moore chose his illustrator or if Fleetway simply assigned Gibson, but it’s a pairing that works effortlessly.

In addition to the reprinted strips, the book comes with a Foreword by writer and journalist Lauren Beukes, a gallery of Halo Jones covers (with pin-up of Halo, Rodice and Brinna), and an example of an original Alan Moore script – so everyone can appreciate just how detailed they are. It’s a pity Moore never had the chance to finish the saga – apparently there were plans to take her into old age – but as the man once said: never say never.

Pulp Heroes volume 2

Editor Mike Chinn has announced the contents for the forthcoming The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes 2:

Pandora’s Box – Chico Kidd
The Flier – Bryn Fortey
Griffon’s Gamble – Arch Whitehouse
Night Hunter – Pauline E Dungate
Meeting at the Silver Dollar – Marion Pitman
The Monster of Gorgon – Ian Hunter
Dragon’s Breath – Anne Nicholls
The Law of Mars – Robert William Iveniuk
The Penge Terror – William Meikle
Ula and the Black Book of Leng – Andrew Coulthard
The Sons of Crystal City – Martin Gately
Kiss the Day Goodbye – Adrian Cole
Do Not Go Gently – Stuart Young
The Incarceration of Captain Nebula – Mike Resnik

The cover artwork is by Les Edwards. The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes 2 is scheduled for publication at this year's World Fantasy Convention.

Alchemy Press: book launch

The Alchemy Press launches two new anthologies at FantasyCon on Saturday 29 September, at 10.00 a.m. The convention, a highpoint in the fantasy and horror fan’s calendar, once more returns to the south coast city of Brighton.

Join us, the editors and some of the contributors, to welcome these two new, brilliant anthologies: The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders and The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes.

The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders, edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber:

“When we think of a wonder, our minds go most often to the great buildings of the past – the pyramids, the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge – but the human mind can make almost anything wondrous. We walk with wonders every day, through the power of curiosity and imagination and our human tendency to make stories about what we fear, what we desire, what we wish to understand. This collection offers new glimpses into the wonder we all feel.” – Kari Sperring

So then, discover standing stones, burial mounds, ruined castles or sunken cities: the ancient sites that litter our landscapes; the ancient wonders that possess a mysterious appeal that cannot be denied.

With stories by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Aliette de Bodard, Peter Crowther, Anne Nicholls, Adrian Cole, Pauline E Dungate, Bryn Fortey, William Meikle, John Howard, James Brogden, Shannon Connor Winward, Misha Herwin, Lynn M Cochrane and Selina Lock.

The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes edited by Mike Chinn:

In the tradition of The Shadow, The Bat, Doc Savage, The Spider; Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Detective Agency; Dusty Ayers & His Battle Birds; Sheena and K-Zar. Hard-boiled detectives, sinister vigilantes, bizarre villains – the staple of the Pulp tradition. Two-fisted heroes – and heroines – fighting for right and justice in the midnight city, foetid jungles or exotic, far-flung lands. And deranged villains for whom the world is never enough.

Here, seventeen writers dive headlong into the world of the pulp fiction, to tell us tall tales of daring do, of heroes, heroines and their villains.

With stories by Mike Resnick, Peter Atkins, Peter Crowther, Adrian Cole, William Meikle, Joel Lane, Amber L Husbands, Milo James Fowler, Anne Nicholls, Robert William Iveniuk, Bracken N MacLeod, Chris Iovenko, Joshua Wolf, James Hartley, Ian Gregory, Michael Haynes and Allen Ashley.

Special FantasyCon price: £8.00 each (cover price £10.00) or buy both for £15.00.

Pulp Heroes: ToC announced

Editor Mike Chinn has now announced the ToC for The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes:

Mike Resnick -- Origins
Robert William Iveniuk -- House Name
Anne Nicholls -- Eyes of Day, Eyes of Night
William Meikle -- Ripples in the Ether
Chris Iovenko -- The Perfect Murder
Bracken N MacLeod -- Ivy's Secret Origin
Joshua Wolf -- Crossing the Line
James Hartley -- Jean Marie
Ian Gregory -- Currier Dread and the Hair of Destruction
Amber L Husbands -- The Going Rate
Michael Haynes -- No Way but the Hard Way
Adrian Cole -- The Vogue Prince
Joel Lane -- Upon a Granite Wind
Milo James Fowler -- The Last Laugh
Allen Ashley -- In the Margins
Peter Crowther -- Heroes and Villains
Peter Atkins -- The Return of Boy Justice

The Wind Through the Keyhole: review

The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King. Hodder & Stoughton £19.99

Reviewed by Mike Chinn

The Wind Through the Keyhole – the latest addition to King’s Dark Tower books – fits between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla and is essentially a story within a story within a story. The gunslinger Roland of Gilead and his band have to wait out a starkblast (think an almost instantaneous ice age that lasts a couple of days). To keep their minds off what’s happening beyond their shelter’s stone walls, Roland tells them a tale of his youth: when he and fellow gunslinger Jamie were dispatched to the mining town of Debaria to kill a shapeshifter that’s been slaughtering the locals. Just as they arrive, news comes that an entire ranch has been attacked; all but obliterated. The lone survivor, a boy named Bill Streeter, might be the key to identifying the killer. That night there’s a wind-storm, and to bolster young Bill’s spirits, Roland tells him the story which supplies the book’s title – effectively a fairytale told to Roland as a boy by his mother (and yes, there is a fairy in it; and a dragon – but I’m prepared to overlook that, just this once).

In his Foreword, King says that readers won’t need any previous knowledge of the Dark Tower sequence and Mid-World (no – not Middle Earth … not at all), but newcomers may find the eclectic mix of Western, Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction and – yes – meta-fiction a tad baffling (if not downright irritating) at times. There are references to a lion by the name of Aslan and an eagle called Garuda; an Arthur and a Maerlyn; whilst the fairy Tim Ross encounters in the title story is pretty clearly Disney’s Tinkerbell gone bad. And although the tale young Roland tells Bill is supposed to be a traditional fable of Mid-World (with widowed mother, evil stepfather, a sinister forest, quest, kindly wizard and a sort of fairy godmother), aspects of the Dark Tower still creep in (such as a villainous tax-collector who signs himself RF/MB; which won’t mean much to anyone not familiar with the author’s universe – but should bring a nod of recognition from regulars).

But don’t let that put you off. I’ve always been in favour of blurring the genre borders – and the Dark Tower series does that in spades. Although I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this to someone unfamiliar with Roland Deschain’s grim quest, it’s still a great read: the 330+ pages fly past with barely a longeur to be found. If anyone can get away with writing a novel that throws in just about every literary genre and sub-genre, it’s King.

The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes

The Alchemy Press is seeking submissions for THE ALCHEMY BOOK OF PULP HEROES. Edited by Mike Chinn.

The Shadow, The Bat, Doc Savage, The Spider; Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Detective Agency; Dusty Ayers & His Battle Birds; Sheena and K-Zar. Hard-boiled detectives, sinister vigilantes, bizarre villains – the staple of the Pulp tradition. We want fiction that celebrates (or subverts) that tradition – as well as taking a wild new look at it. Fiction set in the 1930s and 40s, the far future or mythical past, or the present day. Two-fisted heroes – and heroines – fighting for right and justice in the midnight city, foetid jungles or exotic, far-flung lands. Deranged villains for whom the world is never enough. Continue reading here.

The Paladin Mandates - revised edition

The updated edition of Mike Chinn's The Paladin Mandates is now available as an eBook – specifically as a Kindle book viaAmazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

Mixing generous dollops of The Scorpion, The Shadow and Dominic Fortune, with a fascination for old airplanes, a taste for '30s detective fiction ... enter Damian Paladin, ghost hunter, supernatural sleuth. This revised edition features seven Paladin stories including a brand new tale, “There’ll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”.

Sailors of the Skies

The Alchemy Press has published its first eBook in Kindle format: "Sailors of the Skies" by Mike Chinn (originally published in Dark Horizons in 2009). “Mix generous dollops of The Scorpion, The Shadow and Dominic Fortune, a taste for 1930s detective fiction, and the simple desire to tell a creepy tale…” Available via Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.