A (Black) Gat in the Hand: John Bullard on REH’s Rough and Ready Clowns of the West – Part II

A (Black) Gat in the Hand: John Bullard on REH’s Rough and Ready Clowns of the West – Part II

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“You’re the second guy I’ve met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail.” – Phillip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep

(Gat — Prohibition Era term for a gun. Shortened version of Gatling Gun)

Last week, fellow Robert E Howard Foundation Award-winner John Bullard wrote about Breckenridge Elkins. At the end of his life, it wasn’t Conan and fantasy that REH was earning a living with – it was Westerns with humor. So, here’s Part II, covering more funny Westerns. Next week, another Pulp (and Sherlock  Holmes) buddy, William Patrick Murray, will delve into REH’s Weird Westerns. Read on! 

Rough and Ready Clowns of the West:  Robert E. Howard’s Humorous Western Characters Part II

Last week, we looked at Robert E. Howard’s attempts to break into other pulps besides his humorous boxing tales, and fantasy, and horror stories. His creation in the summer of 1933, of Breckinridge Elkins, a recurring funny Western character series for the Action Stories pulp, became very popular and lucrative. His success with it had Howard try to create more funny Western characters to sell to increase his earnings, just as he had done with his funny boxing characters. He created three characters that were each based off Breckinridge Elkins to varying degrees. He was able to sell all three to the pulps, with two starting on the road to becoming recurring characters that only ended with Howard’s death.

Bearfield Elston, the Psychotic Breckinridge Elkins

There was one rejected Breckinridge Elkins story, “A Elkins Never Surrenders”, that Howard rewrote to star his new character of Bearfield Elston. Under its “newish” title, “A Elston Never Surrenders”, Howard sent it to his agent, Otis Kline. Kline eventually sold it to the Star Western pulp in May, 1936, where it was published in the September 1936 issue under its new title of “The Curly Wolf of Sawtooth”. In comparing the two stories, Howard generally just changed the name of Breckinridge to Bearfield Elston.

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Howard Andrew Jones and Todd McAulty on Exploring the Fine Art of Short Epic Fantasy

Howard Andrew Jones and Todd McAulty on Exploring the Fine Art of Short Epic Fantasy

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Image by Tor.com

It’s been three years since I’ve had the chance to partner with Black Gate‘s first managing editor, the ever-creative Howard Andrew Jones, on a feature article for Tor.com. Back in 2019-2020 we wrote a series of pieces showcasing overlooked fantasy authors and games, including Five Forgotten Swordsmen and Swordswomen of Fantasy, Five Classic Sword-and-Planet Sagas, and Traveller: A Classic Science Fiction Simulator. (I co-wrote those articles as ‘Todd McAulty,’ the byline I use for writing fiction.)

In honor of the publication of Howard’s breakout novel Lord of a Shattered Land, we looked back at some of the greatest fantasy sagas of all time — in particular, those that began as humble series of short stories, before they exploded into novels. They include Karl Edward Wagner’s classic Kane, Michael Moorcock’s groundbreaking Elric, and Stephen King’s bestselling The Dark Tower. Special shout-out to our Black Gate regulars who braved the trip to Tor.com to read and comment, including Rich Horton (ecbatan), Eugene R, NOLAbert, James Enge, and Joe Hoopman. Thanks team!

Check out the complete article at Tor.com, and don’t forget to grab a hardcover copy of Lord of a Shattered Land while they’re still available!

A British Country Mystery in Space: Murder on Usher’s Planet by Atanielle Annyn Noël

A British Country Mystery in Space: Murder on Usher’s Planet by Atanielle Annyn Noël

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Murder on Usher’s Planet (Avon, April 1987). Cover by Jill Bauman

I’m going to be reviewing a few novels, of ‘70s/’80s vintage, that were foisted on me generously given to me by Black Gate’s panjandrum, John O’Neill. For his sins, he gets to publish these reviews here in Black Gate!

I exaggerate – I bought some of these novels of my own volition (though often because John alerted me to their existence with a Black Gate Vintage Treasures article!) and I am sincerely grateful to John for those he did give to me, and those he made me aware of, either by pointing them out at a convention, or by writing about them. The novels I’m looking at now do cluster in the ‘70s and ‘80s – a period James Davis Nicoll likes to call the “Disco Era.” And I think it’s worthwhile to consider books from that period – when I was a teenager or a newly hatched adult – especially the more obscure books. But this does mean a good many of these reviews might not be, er, entirely positive!

The first review to fit this paradigm might be my look at Mick Farren’s The Song of Phaid the Gambler (1981). And now we come to Murder on Usher’s Planet, by Atanielle Annyn Noël, published by Avon in 1987 (just as the Phaid the Gambler books appeared in the US.) This actually was a gift from John – we were wandering through the dealers’ room at the Chicago Pulp and Paper convention a few months ago, and I noticed this book, largely I think because of the author’s unusual name; and John grabbed it (along with a few others for himself, as I recall), and having bought it, pressed it on me – suggesting that if I read it I should review it for Black Gate. And here we are!

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New Treasures: Dead Water by C.A. Fletcher

New Treasures: Dead Water by C.A. Fletcher

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Dead Water (Redhook, June 13, 2023). Cover design by kid-ethic

C. A. Fletcher is a Scottish writer, and the author of the popular post-apocalyptic novel A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World. I’m unfamiliar with his work, but I decided to pick up his latest when it was released in paperback in June.

Dead Water is described as ‘Folk Horror,’ which I think means it’s a tale of horrible stuff that happens to people who live in the country. As someone who’s tired of all the terrible stories told about my home town of Chicago, this has immediate appeal to me. It’s the story of a waterborne pathogen that afflicts a remote Scottish Isle, and the dark secrets the rapidly-spreading plague uncovers. The Library Ladies calls it “a creeping, dread-filled story,” and Ancillary Review of Books says that “horror fans will enjoy the misty, desolate atmosphere interspersed with moments of genuine fear… individual scenes are paced to perfection.”

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Goth Chick News: Kicking Off Spooky Season with a Ghost Story

Goth Chick News: Kicking Off Spooky Season with a Ghost Story

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Ghost Story (Pocket Books paperback reprint, September 1, 1989)

When fall finally starts descending on Chicagoland there are a few rituals which are essential to getting me in the mood for Spooky Season. Granted, this time of year isn’t dramatically different from the rest of the year around here, considering. But there are certain things that ramp up the countdown to October 31st.

For example, a more than average quantity of gothic elements appears in the décor, the sweatshirts come out, and the scent of pumpkin candles permeates every room along with the music of Midnight Syndicate. September also finds me revisiting quite a few literary favorites as nothing sets the fall tone better than a good ghost story, and in this case, I mean that literally. Ghost Story by Peter Straub remains to this day, the only novel that scares the snot out of me every time I read it.

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A World of Sand and Sorrow: The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

A World of Sand and Sorrow: The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

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They say there is no water in the City of Lies. They say there are no heroes in the City of Lies. They say there are no friends beyond the City of Lies. But would you believe what they say in the City of Lies?

In the City of Lies, they cut out your tongue when you turn thirteen, to appease the terrifying Ajungo Empire and make sure it continues sending water. Tutu will be thirteen in three days, but his parched mother won’t last that long. So Tutu goes to his oba and makes a pact — she provides water for his mother, and in exchange he will travel out into the desert and bring back water for the city. Thus begins Tutu’s quest for the salvation of his mother, his city, and himself.

Tor.com’s greatest service to the SFF world has been the return of the novella. (OK, it’s greatest service has been Murderbot, but since all but one of Murderbot’s adventures have been novellas, I’m going to call them one and the same.) Arguably the true format of SFF since the 1920s, the novella does what the short story cannot, in terms of world-building and plot, while never losing focus — as so many doorstop fantasies do today.

The clever folks at Tor.com saw that and seized on it; and have also been good at bringing interesting new voices to market. With Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi, they’ve done both.

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How Reviews Help Authors

How Reviews Help Authors

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Image by Ted Erski from Pixabay

G’day, Readers!

I’m sure that any reader who follows any writer will have heard the plaintive cries from any one or perhaps all of that author’s social media, pleading for a review. Any review. It doesn’t have to be a good one. Or very involved. For the love of all things good and green in this world, would you please leave a review! You’re probably sick to death of it, actually. Don’t fret, writers are sick to death of asking, as well. Unfortunately, reviews do help, and they’re one of the few things that are actually useful in helping an author out; particularly those of us who are largely unread and struggling to be seen in a very flooded market.

It seems like such a silly thing to be true — that someone’s opinion could matter so much in helping a book and its writer find their place in the world. Surely any other avenue would work, no? Well… perhaps a little, but nothing else has the impact of a review – both individually and as a cumulative effect. Even negative reviews can absolutely help! If ever you’re hesitating to post a review, let me try my best to convince you.

Yes, my motivations are entirely selfish. Shall we?

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A (Black) Gat in the Hand: John Bullard on REH’s Rough and Ready Clowns of the West – Part I

A (Black) Gat in the Hand: John Bullard on REH’s Rough and Ready Clowns of the West – Part I

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“You’re the second guy I’ve met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail.” – Phillip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep

(Gat — Prohibition Era term for a gun. Shortened version of Gatling Gun)

A (Black) Gat in the Hand was primarily about hardboiled Pulp stuff when it began, because that’s what I mostly what I was interested in, and knew about. And I was the one writing it. But over our six year run here, I’ve gotten some friends to help me out. Some wrote about hardboiled, but others have filled in the Pulp gap with interesting essays on other areas. I’m really pleased that the scope has been expanded. And the next few weks, we’re gonna explore the Western genre (Duane Spurlock started us off with a 2019 essay on one of my favorites – T T Flynn).

I’ve gotten to know a bunch of neat folks through my love of Robert E. Howard. And I met fellow REH Foundation Award winner John Bullard at the 2022 Howard Days. We have several common interest areas. One is Robert E. Howard. One is NOT Howard’s Breckenridge Elkins (though we both like Sailor Steve Costigan). John joins A (Black) Gat with a deep dive into Howard’s successful character. Next week he’ll be back for a look into Howard’s other humorous Western characters. 

Rough and Ready Clowns of the West: Robert E. Howard’s Humorous Western Characters, Part I

Since Bob invited me to contribute something on Robert E. Howard and his voluminous writings for his continuing A (Black) Gat in the Hand series, I thought I would write on Howard’s humorous pulp Western characters. They are not particular favorites of Bob’s (shocking!), so he probably won’t be writing about them for this series any time too soon. Also, this summer is the 90th anniversary of the creation of Breckinridge Elkins, one of Howard’s best-selling characters during his life. Because Elkins was such a success, Howard created three more humorous Western characters using Elkins as a starting point: Bearfield Elston, Buckner J. Grimes, and Pike Bearfield. That should be enough reasons for a look at Howard’s rough and ready clowns of the West.

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To Violate the Prime Directive: West of the Sun by Edgar Pangborn

To Violate the Prime Directive: West of the Sun by Edgar Pangborn

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West of the Sun (Dell, July 1980). Cover by Richard Corben

Edgar Pangborn is remembered now as a writer for his postapocalyptic series Tales of a Darkening World, which began in 1962 with “The Golden Horn,” later turned into the first part of Davy, one of the nominees for the 1965 Hugo Award for Best Novel. But he began writing science fiction a decade earlier, with his novelette “Angel’s Egg,” and two years later, his first science fiction novel, West of the Sun, which I’ve just reread.

Even this early, Pangborn was already doing the kind of writing that came to be called humanistic science fiction. There is advanced technology in West of the Sun: It takes place on a planet of Alpha Centauri, arrived at after a decade of space travel, which implies speeds nearly half the speed of light; and the starship Argo carries various useful small devices. But all of them are lost, or stop working, during the events of the novel. The Argo is — in the literary sense — a vehicle: It exists to get the characters into the story, which is about something else entirely.

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Vintage Treasures: Shadow of Earth by Phyllis Eisenstein

Vintage Treasures: Shadow of Earth by Phyllis Eisenstein

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Shadow of Earth (Dell, September 1979). Cover artist uncredited

We lost Phyllis Eisenstein almost three years ago, in December 2020. She was a friend of mine, and I miss the long conversations we used to have at Windycon and the Windy City Pulp & Paper Show. I’ll never forget the greeting she shouted at me in 2015 (“I’m retired!”) after she finally quit her advertising job. She had numerous writing projects she wanted to complete. She died of a stroke five years later, at the age of 74.

Phyllis was an enormously respected author who influenced modern fantasy in profound ways (George R.R. Martin dedicated A Storm of Sword to her, in gratitude for her contribution to Game of Thrones), but I always thought her own fiction was unjustly overlooked. Her series Tales of Alaric the Minstrel (ten stories and two novels, Born to Exile and In the Red Lord’s Reach) was her most popular, but her catalog also included the Book of Elementals trilogy and two standalone novels. Today I want to look back at one of her first novels, Shadow of Earth (1979).

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