Space Vulture by Gary K. Wolf and Archbishop John J. Myers

Space Vulture by Gary K. Wolf and Archbishop John J. Myers

Space Vulture is a classic story modeled after the old science fiction pulps. The story could have jumped right out of Amazing Stories or Planet Stories. The book is meant to evoke Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. However, for me it comes closer to Basil Wolverton's Spacehawk. It is full of daring do and desperate escapes. The authors, Gary K. Wolf and Archbishop John J. Myers were childhood friends and used to share the old pulp magazines with each other.

Captain Corsair, a law man is on a routine mission to catch a two bit thief, Gil, who is attempting to steal mushrooms that have no calories from a colony world. The mushrooms are worth their weight in gold. Gil has to pay his debts from his bookie who has taken his arm and eye and replaced them with an insect arm and a robotic eye. (There is a lot of this kind of wonderful silliness in this book.)

While Captain Corsair is capturing Gil, Space Vulture sweeps down with his slave chipped crew destroys Corsairs ship and rounds up the colonists to sell as slaves. Captain Corsair is locked up with the other prisoners. Cali, the beautiful blond lady leader of the colony falls in love with Corsair and secretly slips him a small jeweled knife from Space Vultures treasure room. Oh the villainy, you can feel it in every pore.

From there it gets better and even sillier. Will Gil get his human arm and eye back from his bookie. Will Captain Corsair escape from the clutches of Space Vulture's evil minion, #1, the lizardo warrior. Will the colonists get saved from slavery? Of course they will in grand fashion.

See every trick in the book of classic space opera. Watch the evil Space Vulture sleep in his rejuvenation coffin, see Captain Corsair gun down the evil minions of Space Vulture. Daring do, wonderful escapes. Listen to the self-righteous, narcissistic hubris of the greatest pirate of them all, Space Vulture.

From the mind of Gary K. Wolf creator of Roger Rabbit, and the heart of Archbishop John J. Myers we get classic space opera with a dose of morality. Space Vulture dies, experiences a bit of hell then gets rejuvenated in his mad scientist coffin. Throw in some carnival tricks by Captain Corsair and you can even get a recommendation from Stan Lee.

Quoting Stan Lee, "What a time machine! Space Vulture takes me back Alex Raymond's classic Flash Gordon comic strips and to all the other great science fiction adventures that thrilled me as a kid. The book is full of color, action, and fun. Gary Wolf and John Myers have brilliantly managed the neat trick of not only evoking a beloved genre, but actually surpassing it."

You can't have said it better. If you want to read some fun, nostalgic, silly, adventurous pulp space opera, this title is for you.

Morning Thoughts, Grammar

I am looking at a paperback copy of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. I just checked it out. There are ten movie stills in the center of the book. The book also has a movie cover picture on it. People who collect paperbacks would love this book. Some people just collect paperbacks for the pictures inside them and the covers. They don't seem to even want to read the books. It is very odd. I tracked down the last New York City Paperback and Pulp Expo in 2007. http://www.gryphonbooks.com/Gallery/DivaAd.html

There are various types of people that seem to love paperbacks. Some love the old style lurid book covers. The Hard Case Crime series of paperback are very interesting. The covers are a revitalization of the Gold Key style cover. Mickey Spillane would have loved these books. They are very well done. I have even read a few of them.
http://www.hardcasecrime.com/

I happen to like the shadow a lot. The best way to experience the Shadow is not as a pulp or a comic book, but on the radio. However, I did very much like the Michael Kaluta comic artist version of the shadow a lot. The shadow is the best of the old style heroes in my opinion. I could never get into Doc Savage, or the Spider Master of Men. The old pulp covers are beautiful to look at.

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I took some time and looked through various bestseller lists. I put In Defense of Food: An Eater's Dilemma by Michael Pollan on hold. I found it shortly after in the new books section. I will be reading In Defense of Food on the train on the way home. His previous book, The Omnivore's Dilemmma was supposed to be quite good. Two other books I put on hold are Name of the Wind by Pat Ruthfuss and The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman. The Accidental Time Machine is a Nebula awards finalist.

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I have been thinking about grammar recently. I want to read something entertaining about grammar and usage. I know it sounds like trying to find an interesting book on ball bearings or hand soap. The only entertaining book on usage that I know of is A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, by H.W. Fowler. I know of no other complete guide to english grammar which is both light and entertaining. Preferably, a book which would complement The Elements of Style or On Writing Well. Does anyone have a suggested title?