Reviews, Speculative

Die Stunde X by Shaun Stafford – a Review

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Every now and then, a book ends up in my TBR list that will hit hard and make me ponder the absolute evil that mankind is capable of in ways that go deeper than I could have possibly predicted. Die Stunde X is just that.

Written in 1994 and first published in 1995, when the author Shaun Stafford was only 25, this book was originally conceived as a stand-alone novel but it eventually became the first of the Greater German Reich series.

What It’s About:

The premise of this alternate history drama work of fiction are as follows: It’s 1994 and for about 50 years now Great Britain has become a Nazi state. The Greater German Reich controls all of Europe and there’s a Cold War going on between the Reich and Russia and the US, who have formed a Russo-American Pact against the Nazi regime.

 But the British citizens are far from losing hope, and freedom fighters keep the polizei constantly busy. The best organized British resistance cell at the moment seems to be the Combat UK, and a bloody chess game is being played by both sides.

When the Third Fuhrer decides to visit Great Britain occupied territories, Combat UK sees this as the perfect opportunity to murder the leader of the Reich.

Reviewer’s Take:

What I liked about the plot is that the author leads the reader to assume where the story is going but later on, with an unexpected turn of events, introduces a series of different other possibilities. This move was masterful, in my opinion.

The story also describes five different ‘interrogations by torture’ scenes, which are very graphic. I usually don’t like to read about violence and physical abuse, but in the context of what we’re reading here, it cannot be dismissed or hidden. This is alternate history drama fiction but the vivid realism of the atrocities depicted in it will make you tremble and weep for humanity.

One thing I want to reiterate is that this is not at all violence for violence’s sake. Die Stunde X is brutal, violent, raw, and of very graphic nature. But it’s also beautiful in its absolute truths, providing a mirror for all humanity to stop. And stare. This book shouldn’t make you think “I’m glad I’m not like them!” but rather “All of us carry the seed of potentially committing heinous acts while  believing in a perverse and twisted idea”.

In conclusion, I want to congratulate Shaun on a magnificent job well done. This book was written almost 30 years ago and yet it has not aged a bit. No, I can’t say that I was smiling when I got to the last page, but at the same time I knew in my mind and in my heart that this book must be praised, it must be shared, it must be read, and it must be preserved for generations to come. 

Thank you Shaun, and look forward to book 2!

🦀

Non-Fiction/Documentary, Politics/Current Events

Monday Motivation for Creators

Video 2 Comments

Can you believe there are  influencers out there claiming there’s no alternative to the woke agitprop vomited out on us by Homowood, the Big Diseased Two, and the New York Publishing Cartel? It goes something like this: “Blah blah blah right-wingers complain about woke movies, woke comics, woke novels, instead of producing any work of their own.”

Obviously this comes from ignorance, dishonesty, or some combination of the two–since there are alternatives out there already in comics and in prose books here and here.

And for those of you on the front lines, Gio has a message for you:

Keep creating. Convert the disgust at the Marxist agitprop all around you into energy to pour into your own contribution to the culture!

Marketing

The Spring Big Based Book Sale

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What exactly does “based” mean? From the sale Substack:

based [ beyst ] / beɪst / adjective
1. Well-grounded, resting upon a firm foundation.
2. Principled, devoted to fixed standards, especially in defiance of conventional wisdom.
3. Rejecting politically correct attitudes and celebrating nonconformity with woke opinion.
4. Committed to upholding and advancing the good, the beautiful, and the true.
antonyms: debased, cringe

I guess you could say it’s the opposite of “woke.”  Anyway, author Hans G. Schantz has been putting these sales together for a while, and each time there are more books to shop for.

How many times have wished you had access to a book shopping venue where you would be safe from woke sucker-punches from the author? Well, here is just such a shopping venue. I’ve found some good reads at previous Based Book Sales.

There’s a wide variety of genres to choose from, though it does lean heavily to the science fiction and fantasy side. And best of all, the E-Books are either free or for 99 cents.

There are about 10 Virtual Pulp novels which are part of the sale, including six of mine.

Check out the sale and find yourself some good books!

Uncategorized

MAN OF SWORDS: THE EMBER NIXIE

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(Part 5 of a 6-part Review Series)

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“You don’t need to do this,” she implored, fretful at the din. “Not for me. I’ve run hands along Brognir’s arms. He’s ogre-built. And my eye if you are seeing straight. He will stove your teeth in. And that would be a shame, for you have nice teeth.” 

 

The 5th tale of Miller’s Man of Swords: The Ember Nixie is certainly the most lighthearted story we’ve read so far in this entire book. It felt appropriate to have a slight change of tone after the very dramatic adventures we’ve experienced so far along with our hero Rohye. No need to constantly sit on the edge of our seat for this one; just enjoy the action, the comedic boxing, and some of that fire brandy people of the Wandered Lands seems to have mistaken for drinking water!

Rohye once again finds himself in trouble, this time over Glory, a girl he has been growing fond of but who’s personal affairs lead him to believe she is in trouble when she’s really not! As a result, Rohye must now enter a sanctioned boxing match, which brings all the townsfolk to the most prestigious gambling den in the region, and where big and small bets are placed for such a fighting event!

This story is FUN! You have:

  1. Rohye who’s pretty much constantly under the effects of an alcoholic beverage known for uhm…impairing judgment? 
  2. You have a gambling town with all sorts of deviant characters out for a profit
  3. You have barkeeps who pretend to mind their business while really being the eyes and ears of the town
  4. You have a damsel (not so much) in distress but who grows to appreciate the chivalry displayed by Rohye

 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Ember Nixie first and foremost because it represents a change of pace from what we’re accustomed to see from these Wandered Lands tales. There’s comedy in it that doesn’t come off as forced or verging into the campy. You have action that is brutal yet not to the killing point (just a few bruises and busted nose!). In the end…well you gotta read it to find out the rest!

🦀

Fantasy, Historical, Reviews

THE SPIRIT PHONE by Arthur Shattuck O’Keefe

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A Review by

I’m beginning to notice a pattern with some of our last few guest authors and the source material they are basing their works of fiction literature on. Instead of just trying to emulate other writers, they are tapping into the vast inspiration provided directly by history itself; taking real historical characters/events and applying new and creative ideas to them for innovative storytelling.

The latest gentleman to join this group is A.S. O’Keefe with The Spirit Phone.

What it’s About:

Based on true accounts of Thomas Edison’s attempts to build a phone-like device to communicate with the dead, The Spirit Phone throws the reader into a vortex of the historical, the paranormal, and the technological.

Our two main characters in this dystopian alternate history are none other than Allister Crowley and Nikola Tesla: two individuals far apart in personality, yet with just enough in common to prevent a demonic invasion of our plane of reality–for the spirit phone turns out to be not the tool to speak with the deceased, but rather the key to unlock entry of evil entities called ferox into our world! Only mage A. Crowley and acclaimed scientist N. Tesla stand in the way of doom!

Characters:

Honestly, it doesn’t matter how much you know about Crowley and Tesla, it doesn’t even matter what your opinion of these two historical figures is if you do know of them. The synergy between the two in this alternate historical setting is the stuff of legends! One is the hedonistic occultist with a flair for the extravagant; the other the more pragmatic scientist with a fixation for numbers. Yet, where one lacks in certain skills or knowledge, the other always seems to compensate for it. And that’s how they comprise a complimentary team.

O’Keefe manages to infuse just enough sense of humor into the Crowley/Tesla duo while avoiding the ridiculous or campy. These characters’ personalities and the situations they get into can be hilarious at times, but in ways that feel natural and not at all forced. 

Reviewer’s Take:

Even the paranormal and the technological elements involved in the story always feel quite plausible. Yes this is a work of fiction and yes the author is adding stuff of his own to these historical characters, but none of it ever feels too unlikely to have possibly happened in actuality.

The reason why this alternate history universe works is first and foremost due to the author respecting the source material, which in this case is the historical period of time itself: from the locations, to the people, to the food, restaurants and hotels, to the daily newspapers, everything feels authentic. This is not about taking a historical period and simply changing the gender or the sex of its characters to virtue signal or to highlight the ‘injustices of white westerners’ or the ‘oppression of women’s voices’.

The underlying core theme is MANKIND and his ongoing struggle to deal with his own mortality. An invention that promised to let us communicate with our dead loved ones turned out to be a tool for evil to rule our world. Man, in all his technological advances, still is like a baby just learning how to crawl. This story is much more than just your next fantasy trope on your TBR list. This is the stuff legends are made of. 

I’m very glad to say that Mr O’Keefe deservedly enters our elite group of legendary authors here at Virtual Pulp!

🦀

Action, Crime, Reviews

21 Bridges (Movie) – a Review

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It’s a temptation to say, “Hollywood makes nothing but crap anymore.” Such a temptation that I have said it. But ever so often, when the stars align just right, Tinseltown produces something worth watching. 21 Bridges is one such example.

What It’s About

This is a “police procedural” story with action, mystery, and a “one good cop stands alone” theme. The eponymous 21 bridges lead in and out of Manhattan. They get blocked when the entire urban island is shut down for a manhunt.

The Plot

Two well-armed guys mask up and break into a building with the intent of stealing cocaine from some drug lord’s stash. A few surprises await them:

  1. The stash contains a whole lot more coke than what they expected.
  2. It is undiluted.
  3. Cops show up while the robbery is underway.

One of the thieves is an experienced shooter, and in the ensuing firefight, he greases eight of New York’s Finest.

Now panicking (because, in a matter of minutes, they have become cop killers), they take what drugs they can carry and escape the scene. The shooter, who was so frosty under fire, inexplicably runs a red light, ensuring the police will have the traffic cam photo.

They arrive at the home of a reasonable, accommodating middleman willing to sell the drugs to a dealer, and arrange new IDs for them with an escape plan. But while they’re discussing this, a squad of police show up and immediately open fire, killing the middleman. The thieves/cop killers escape again.

Meanwhile, Characters:

Detective Andre Davis is already on the case, and he smells a rat from the beginning.

It’s established early that Davis’ father was a cop murdered in the line of duty when Andres was a boy; he is taking care of his widowed mother who suffers from dementia; he has shot several perps himself, and been investigated by Internal Affairs because of that.

Some fellow cops treat him as if he is a loose cannon; others are glad he’s been assigned the case to catch the cop killers, assuming he will shoot first and ask questions later.

I would say Detective Davis “steals the show,” but it’s supposed to be the main character’s show, anyway. He’s a clever detective, but it’s his exceptional integrity that makes him shine. His honesty and force of will make him stand out from a force full of dirty and trigger-happy cops. He’s like the Rorschach character from Watchmen, but without the costume, outlaw vigilante status, and hang-ups.

Craft:

The filmmaking isn’t groundbreaking, but is competent–which does set it apart from all the cinematic diarrhea in the Current Year. To paraphrase a famous Prussian strategist: “Perfection is not always required. Sometimes mediocrity is enough.” That’s certainly the case in today’s entertainment landscape, as Top Gun: Maverick proved…though I’m not saying 21 Bridges is mediocre. The screenwriting, direction, and acting are all solid. You’ve seen some of these actors before, and they’re all believable in this movie.

Even if you’re not a fan of the genre, once you start watching, it’s hard to stop. It’s an intense experience worth a couple hours of your time–which can’t be said for most of what is available on streaming services.

Fantasy, Reviews

The Way of Mortals by Blake Carpenter

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A Review by INFAMOUS 🦀

The Way of Mortals was an unexpected and pleasant surprise and quite a fun story. There are a couple of factors that really put this story above your average fantasy novel; in fact I can name two, specifically:

  1. Blend of Western and Indian culture themes
  2. Main characters

Setting:

The story takes place in a fictional but well crafted kingdom called Jaira, where cultural influences mash and mingle to create something new, magical, mysterious, and FUN to explore. A lot of Hindu influences are found in this world, and demons are considered a totally normal thing to deal with. In fact, those who happen to carry a demon within are considered quite the norm, generally speaking.

Along with the ‘spiritual’ side there is also a technological side to this kingdom. In fact, this falls under the fantasy sub-genre known as Gaslamp Fantasy, which is closely related to Steampunk. And so we see strange automobiles, buses, cameras (called photoboxes!) next to your more traditional royal palaces, horse-riding guards, and ancient temples.

Characters:

It’s in this unique and fantastic world that we meet our main character, or should I rather say our FOUR main characters! The story revolves around four sisters, of which the third oldest one, Prem, is really our heroine for all intents and purposes. This creates very interesting dynamics. All four sisters bring something to the table and all four sisters get their time to shine based on their strengths and weaknesses.

Plot Summary:

When a young girl is found murdered, the four royal sisters quickly realize that the life of the new monarch, youngest sister Prya, might be in danger. Immediately our heroine Prem, with the aid of Vati, a demon who lives inside of her, goes on a hunt to bring the murderer to justice. Her relationship with Vati however is complicated and their personal interests don’t always line up! Things can only get crazier from there!

Reviewer Take:

The only minor issues I had were: 

  1. The prime minister: her dialogue came off as too ‘on the nose’ to make sure we know she has bad intentions. The result for me was a less than believable character and a dull villain.
  2. The last action scene during the parade: when a final attempt to murder the young empress takes place, it all felt a little too predictable and rehearsed, and nothing felt surprising or memorable. 

But those are more of MY personal views and in no way should affect the final rating on this book.

To conclude, The Way of Mortals is another example that in order to create something new and original authors need to look at the past (history and traditions) more often, and apply new and fresh concepts to it. Bonsart Bokel (Wrench in the Machine) and Arthur O’Keefe (The Spirit Phone, coming soon!) are doing just that, along with a few other talented and smart writers. Blake Carpenter joins this group of creative authors who are bringing us new content and creating new legends!

🦀

Action, Fantasy, Reviews

THE RUIN OF WITCHES by Kevin G. Beckman

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THE WEIRD TALES OF SILAS FLINT (THE FLINT ANTHOLOGIES BOOK 1)

Review by

I dove into this anthology book with no idea of what it was about. The author simply invited me to give it a read and review it. I was honest with him and told him that I would only commit to review the first tale and then take it from there. Now that I finished reading it I am excited to announce that I plan on reviewing  the remaining tales, and here is why!

The Ruin of Witches finds our main character, Knight Templar Captain Silas Flint, and his associate, Supernumerary Ricardo Navarro, on the road, heading to their Chapterhouse. An unscheduled stop by a small town sees the duo getting involved in some strange affairs which have plagued the town for about 20 years. Flint, being a bona fide witch hunter, can’t just move on without ‘poking his nose where it don’t belong,’ and this is how we get dragged along for one wild ride!

The action takes place over 400 years in the future from present time, in a world that has seen dark magic try to take over the world yet eventually defeated. Witches are still a threat, but seem to be scattered and live in hiding. The Knights Templar are constantly on the hunt, ready to take to trial and even burn the remaining witches or those who still deal with sorcery.

Why do I think this is worth featuring on VP?

  1. The main character: Silas Flint, was highly inspired by R.E. Howard’s Solomon Kane and I for one appreciate that! What that means is that he is not just a man with extraordinary skills and abilities, but also a God-fearing man with unwavering convictions and beliefs. You can’t corrupt or coerce his moral standards, you can’t have him strike deals with the devil, you can’t bribe him or offer him power for he is willing to die while doing the work of the Lord!
  2. The supporting character: unlike iconic pulp fiction character Solomon Kane, Flint has a helping hand in the person of Ricardo Navarro. This very much reminds me of other historical duos: Don Quixote and Sancho Panza; Batman and Robin; Captain America and Bucky. Navarro offers some comedic relief but don’t be fooled! He is game when push comes to shove!
  3. The Witch: she is beautiful, evil, dangerous… But also, she shows signs of her former humanity by trying to spare her husband’s life in a glimpse of desire for a normal life (it is a fact that the happiest women are not the single independent women in charge but those who are in a long-term committed marriage with a godly man).

In addition, the action scenes are explosive (literally!), the prose is captivating, the plot line is direct while avoiding to get too stale or predictable. 

Yes boys and girls, I now want to know about Flint’s next adventure!

🦀

Tale #2: The Witch’s Repentance will be featured next month!

Fantasy, Reviews

FLOWER OF LIGHT: THE ETERNAL STONES 1 by Allison Wade

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A Review by INFAMOUS 🦀

It is apparent that Flower of Light is a labor of love by simply visiting the author’s website where we can get further insights on the lore and various characters (eternalstones.net). I always commend writers who pour their hearts in their work!

What it’s About:

This first book is basically about taking back the Kingdom 10 years after an evil plot of betrayal saw the king and queen slain and their young daughter, princess Isabelle, barely able to flee thanks to outside intervention. Isabelle’s brother, prince Christopher, was strategically put to the throne while being administered mind-numbing potions so that the evil General Zarkon and his wife, with the aid of powerful sorcerer Roman, would rule from ‘behind the curtains’.

This is a story of prophecies fulfilled, of Wardens of Light coming together to reclaim the reign and the ‘Flower of Light’ being ultimately restored.

Characters:

What I found fascinating was how (despite princess Isabelle being the main character) we encounter a large number of very personable and rich characters, each with their own stories to tell. In a way this approach reminded me of Islands of Loar by E. Laurence Jr: lots of characters whose lives will eventually either converge or sometimes come apart. It’s all well structured and the author has good control of the narrative, pace, and plot line and time tables.

Another interesting thing is that this book is an original Italian-to-English translation and I found the grammar and prose quite solid all around! So good job on that front too!

I love the idea of a main character that doesn’t constantly steal the show, if you guys know where I’m coming from. Isabelle would be/could be nothing if it wasn’t for the large group of fascinating characters around her who breath life into the story. We need more stories structured that way in my opinion. 

The ‘magic’ element is always present all throughout but it never overwhelms the personal struggles and human weaknesses that all these characters must face at one point or another. This is something that helps me as a reader to stay emotionally engaged. Magic by itself cannot make for good fantasy reading if P/C/P is not solid (that’s Prose, Characters, Plot).

Worth mentioning is also the gorgeous hardcover! I mean look at that beautiful ‘ancient tom’ style hardcover! Love it!

Now for the not-so-good observations that I must mention: the fight scenes.

Reviewer’s Take:

I felt that the fight scenes could have been better written, particularly the final one when the Wardens face Roman The Demon. This is something I see all the time and I wish young authors were more aware of it. I call it the ‘villain playing with his food’ syndrome:

You have a very powerful evil demon vs. a group of less powerful good heroes. The demon at some point always decides to grab one of the heroes by the throat and suspend him mid-air, yet without killing him; just holding him still! Of course the other heroes will use this moment as an advantage to strike! A demon should snap necks like twigs, and fast,  before moving on to his next victim and repeat! All these villains ‘playing with their food’ is just cringe!

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed Flower of Light and I’m glad that despite this being advertised as book 1 it did not end with some clique cliffhanger. The end was quite satisfying and I have to give it 5 well deserved stars!

🦀

Non-Fiction/Documentary, Pet Peeves, Politics/Current Events

Throw a Rock and You’ll Hit a Parasite

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Buyer Beware

Recently I was searching the Internet for an image of a book cover. The book is Jules Feiffer’s The Great Comic Book Heroes. I have owned this book since I was nine years old and still have it, but it is a little worse for wear. I wanted the image of a pristine, legible cover.

I found one fairly easily, but I also saw a “for sale” price with one of the images…for below $7!

What?!?

Yeah, I already had  the book–but not in condition like that. And at that price? I’ve read all my life about guys who find optioned-out Hemi ‘Cudas sitting in barns for a couple hundred bucks, but I’ve never found such a deal. I would have been foolish not to buy it.

So I went to the store. The name of the site is “WOB” for “World of Books.” I ordered it and began getting emails just like when you buy anything online.

A week or so later, a package was delivered. I knew something was wrong before I even opened it. It was too thin to be Feiffer’s classic. Had the company advertised the complete, original book, but delivered the one with just the essay but the reprints removed? No, it was much worse. I would have been annoyed with that scenario, but just taken the “L.”

The Bait-&-Switch

Here is what they sent me.

Yup, with an incompetently-removed sticker on the back from some library in Virginia.

I contacted their customer service. Amazingly, they responded. I gave them all the info they requested, and somebody wrote me: “Blah blah blah I apologize blah blah blah I’d be happy to refund your order blah blah blah.”

To which I responded: “Thanks. Can you just send me the book I paid for, instead?”

Two days later I received the word: “This order has been refunded.”

And it was.

Pondering the Motive

So, what was the deal, here? Seems like it would be a disappointing prank, for a prankster. Some kind of grift? No–I got my $$ back. ID theft? I guess my info could be used by them for something–maybe forthcoming credit card fraud. Or maybe there’s some way this improves their SEO? I don’t know. I’m not interested in cheating anybody out of anything, never have been, and so never have wargamed out all the ways to take advantage of honest people online.

What I do know, beyond any reasonable doubt, is that nobody at WOB shipped me that children’s book thinking it was the same book they advertised and I ordered.

The Pervasion of Scam Culture

Scam culture is ubiquitous–and this has me thinking about it.

Know why this site is DOT NET and not DOT COM? Because a hosting company dropped the ball  while supposedly transferring us over from a different host, let the domain name expire and never told me until it was too late. When our domain name became available, apparently, somebody in Ukraine bought/secured the rights to it/whatever and then wanted thousands for me to get it back. They didn’t have any content or products to sell that related to the name in any way. They just wanted the name because somebody else had used it so must have figured it was in demand, and they could demand money for it.

Right now the world is full of people who can’t produce or conceive of anything useful, so they seek fortune by stealing or hijacking the intellectual property of others. The entertainment industry is full of such people, which is why there are so many movies about heists, glamorizing thieves, grifters and other scum who have never experienced an independent thought, but are lifted up to young people as heroes and role models because they figure out how to screw people over.

Our government is controlled by such scum. Back when elections were real, the scum were voted into power because they promised lower-caste scum to redistribute wealth from those who earned it to the Official Victim Class. You can probably name several Corporations that have grifted their way to power, backstabbing their way to the top. And of course we have entire countries like Ukraine whose primary function is parasitic, doubling down on an idiotic war and destroying its own young male population in the process, just so it can help the parasites in Washington bleed their host dry.

Parasitism is everywhere, today. There’s no escape from it. The American Dream was: build a better mousetrap that meets a need, and sell it at a competitive price; then use the profits to make a good life for your family. It has been replaced with the American Nightmare: screw over whatever decent people still exist and skate through life without ever doing an honest day’s work.

Red-Blooded American Men Examine Pop-Culture and the World