The Astounding, The Amazing, And The Unknown!

The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont is a rousing sequel to his novel The Chinatown Death  Cloud Peril, about the here-to-fore unknown adventures of pulp writers Walter Gibson and Lester Dent (both are also on hand for this adventure too). After too long a delay, I've at long last gotten around to reading this delicious story. This tale is set a few years later during 1944 when the momentum in the second World War was shifting to the side of the Allies (though of course they couldn't know that then). One of the best aspects of this novel is the way it presents the dread permeating the society as a deadly war engulfed the imagination and the resources of the entire globe.

At the center of this sprawling yarn is Nicola Tesla, the celebrated (now) genius who had among other things in his famous career tried to give the world free global communication and possibly power in 1908 with the Wardenclyffe Project, a grand mushroom-shaped tower which would broadcast energy worldwide. It was an unfinished project, which in our real world is becoming a museum to celebrate Tesla, but in this novel its the centerpiece of several schemes to possibly control the planet, if it works that is.

Drawn into this mystery are Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague DeCamp, and Isaac Asimov, three pulp writers collected by Astounding editor John W. Campbell as a braintrust of sorts for the military, their mission to dream up the war toys of the future before Hitler's boys do the same for the dictator. The center of their work in the city of Philadelphia is an experiment to render a battleship invisible to mines and possibly radar. We meet the men, their wives and their lovers as they wrestle with  each other, their superiors, and the enemy to accomplish their mission. The real and the fictional blend in fascinating ways in the hands of Malmont, a sure and confident writer.

Also along for this wild ride is one Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, another pulp writer who has had less than a distinguished Navy career and finds himself tagging along and finally apart from the above gang of writers as he follows his own part of the elaborate mission. His bizarre personal life, which includes peculiar and eccentric religious rites and strange sex, resonate through the story of what I might even call "the secret history of Scientology".

On display in a way which I've never quite seen is the world of fandom itself. These writers are strong personalities and they have history, history which is quite unseemly at times. Their feuds are at once funny and exceedingly callow, but we get a sense despite all that, these are men who truly believe in something outside themselves, wishing for something better and newer for the entire world.

We hear of a real-life story titled "Deadline" by Cleve Cartmill which scares the United States government so much they send agents to investigate what must have been a leak of national secrets. We meet other writers such as Norvell Page, Hugh B. Cave, Fred Pohl, and Ray Bradbury. We encounter celebrities doing service for their country like Jimmy Stewart and Albert Einstein. The story goes from Philadelphia to Alaska to New York City to the South Pacific and back again.

There's a lot going on in this novel which grabs you and never lets go. The story is full of humor and real danger, not just for our protagonists but for the world itself. We visit remote parts of the world and see little discussed parts of the great war. This is a rich novel which at once celebrates its pulp writer heroes but at the same time makes them human in ways which make you care about them even more.

Highly recommended reading.

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The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril!

I realize I'm very late to this sumptuous novel by Paul Malmont, but better late than never. The evocative title of The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, overlays a story featuring some of the most successful writers of the Pulp Era. These writers, men who have history with one another in many instances or are just meeting, are drawn into an ever-increasingly complex story involving mysterious toxins, secret international intrigues, zombies, and ancient Oriental curses. The title will pay off, believe me.

The story involves the now famous scribe of the Doc Savage adventures Lester Dent and his wife Norma, a couple who are sadly discovering their wish for a child is  not a possibility. They are a couple clearly in love and devoted to one another, and both are drawn into a mystery in Chinatown which calls upon Dent to show some of the grand skills which made his famous character so successful. Despite Lester's shirt-ripping heroic, Norma too comes across as daring and brave, and nearly steals the story from the broad cast of famous and infamous writers.

Also on board this trek is Walter Gibson, the man behind The Shadow. Both Gibson and Dent rankle that while they are immensely successful writers their names are relatively unknown because they have been forced by Street and Smith to use the house names "Maxwell Grant" and "Kenneth Robeson". Additionally the two writers are in a feud of sorts as Gibson's efforts to suppress an early story by Dent for The Shadow prove a point of contention, despite the enormous financial success of both men.  Gibson here is seen as a man isolated, seeking romance which he finds in a torrid affair with a sexy mentalist. He even begins to see "Shadows" in the darndest places.

Also on board is "Red", a young man who would one day found his own religion. L.Ron Hubbard is an upstart in this tale, a confident youngster who idolizes the two great pulp masters Gibson and Dent, but at the same time envies their success, while always certain of his own impending road to riches. Hubbard is the least sympathetic character in the story, a callow man who seems less sure than he appears. (On a different note, the Church of Scientology just opened up in a major way in the local community. They've really made an impression.)

Perhaps my favorite character in the story is Howard Phillips Lovecraft, the failed pulpster who holds the key to the mystery the others explore. And like in his stories, despite his demise the grave proves to be less of a stumbling block than might at first seem likely. Lovecraft is set up as a somewhat bitter man who never saw success he wanted in his lifetime, and frankly while regarded reasonably well in this story by his peers, few can see the broad and deep influence his work will have. Lovecraft gets many of the most memorable scenes in  this outlandish tale.

Other writers crop up, but it's best for the reader that they remain undisclosed as their identities are kept under wraps in many instances. The story by Malmont has depth and an uneven but often fantastic pace. Sometimes the sly cultural references get a bit out of hand, as more and more creators are wedged into a scene, but by and large this gimmick works most of the time. There is a raucous energy to the action. Once in the reading is brisk. I myself did get stopped by other matters about half way through, but two strong sessions did sufficed to absorb this  wonderfully vivid portrayal of a time which is gone and never existed at the same time.

In many respects this story is a bogus secret origin for The Avenger. Want to know why he looks like he does. Check out this tale.

If you've never chanced across this tale, then I heartily recommend it to one and all. Pulp fans will likely love it, but everyone can certainly enjoy it.

Currently I just started the sequel to this tale of pulp adventures, The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown.  I'm looking forward to it.

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