Monday, December 19, 2011

Pulp Science Fiction Library: The Road to the Rim





"But why?" asked Grimes. "Why?"




  1. Thanks for the pointer.

    Apparently, they've been reprinted in a series of omnibus editions in the past year. So new readers can get up to speed quickly.

    And I'm excited to see that E.C. Tubb's Dumarest saga is being published for the Kindle.


  2. Tom, THANKS for the heads-up on Tubb on Kindle. I had looked earlier in the year and it appeared that tracking down Dumarest was going to be a chore.

  3. Thanks for the review. I wasn't familiar with him at all.

  4. Can't wait to check this writer out! It's strange. I wouldn't frame Chandler as a derivative of space opera gaming simply because his work--considering its date of publication and your description--seems derivative of earlier, more primal forms of space opera. Is this true? Or does his work represent a unique deviation from previous space opera formulas? This sort of genealogical speculation is of course guesswork unless, of course, authors are explicit (like in Appendix N!). "Fun" guesswork, though!

  5. Just curious but have you ever listened to the metal band Slough Feg? One of their best albums is all about Traveller and is appropriately titled, Traveller.


    A friend of mine owns the album and has lent it to me. It has a certain bizarre charm. :)

  7. I'm a fan of Chandler and appreciate your spotlight on him. My connection is rooted in one of the first alternate history novels I read in my youth; Chandler's 1984 "Kelly Country." Chandler tells an intriguing tale of the true to life 19th Century Australian highwayman Ned Kelly whose use of homemade body armor allowed him to rob banks throughout the Outback with impunity becoming a steampunk revolutionary - employing dirigibles and machine guns to overthrow British rule and establish a republic that by the mid 20th century is a corrupt hereditary dictatorship. Inspired stuff and and a compelling read.

  8. I just discovered a few of Chandler's paperbacks at the local Half Price Books. Your right--these books would have made an incredible setting for Traveller. Still could, in the right hands...

  9. Baen books now have them in electronic format.

    I blundered onto them via the Encyclopaedia of science fiction (now itself coming out in a new edition) and interlibrary loan then bought some at a library sale.

    They are good novels in their own right. His merchant navy background lends them an authenticity lacked by many other authors.