Last weekend author/critic Dr. Arthur Sippo interviewed me for his podcast ArtsReviews, and we had a great, far-ranging talk about pulp writing, the creation and evolution of the Doc Talos series, some of my own personal history from the 1960’s to the present, and more. A link to the interview is below…and here are someContinue reading “Dr. Arthur Sippo interviews Doc Talos author/creator R. Paul Sardanas”
Tag Archives: A Feast Unknown
Fifty years ago this month: the Doc Savage pastiche that wasn’t
Fifty years ago this month, I turned fifteen, and knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a writer, and was filled with intense energy which I focused on that goal. In addition, I knew exactly what I wanted to write…a pastiche of Doc Savage, but one that IContinue reading “Fifty years ago this month: the Doc Savage pastiche that wasn’t”
Splintered Mirror: Doc Savage and Doc Caliban – Part 2 of 2
At the end of this article’s first segment, I suggested that the core of what the character Doc Caliban offered was a literary opportunity: to explore, using techniques of adult storytelling, a whole range of compelling human drives…from ethics and morality right down through atavistic behaviors of sexual hunger and need, and their link toContinue reading “Splintered Mirror: Doc Savage and Doc Caliban – Part 2 of 2”
Splintered Mirror: Doc Savage and Doc Caliban – Part 1 of 2
Much has certainly been written about the literary and publishing decisions that resulted in the creation of Philip José Farmer’s character Doc Caliban. The character, who first appeared in 1969’s A Feast Unknown, has certainly endured. For a character that for all intents and purposes has appeared in two books (if you consider the doubleContinue reading “Splintered Mirror: Doc Savage and Doc Caliban – Part 1 of 2”
Talos Fan Fiction Contest Entry #5 – Silver Legacy
Note from Doc Talos author/contest judge R. Paul Sardanas: Atom Mudman Bezecny’s story is an ambitious weaving of elements from across a spectrum of Doc Savage works. She blends the pulp and comic worlds, and infuses them with a powerful explicit tone of eros/thanatos in the style of A Feast Unknown. The result is aContinue reading “Talos Fan Fiction Contest Entry #5 – Silver Legacy”
Transformations from the world of “A Feast Unknown”, Part 1
The Doc Talos books are in many ways a pastiche of a pastiche. To explore facets of pulp heroism and adventure that would never be allowed in canonical or mainstream works featuring Doc Savage or Tarzan, author Philip José Farmer, for his 1969 novel A Feast Unknown, shifted to doppelgangers of those iconic characters, DocContinue reading “Transformations from the world of “A Feast Unknown”, Part 1″
Clark Savage, Sr. and the Victorian World of A Feast Unknown – Part 3
In the first part of this article, a few paragraphs from the Foreword of Philip José Farmer’s novel A Feast Unknown were presented, describing how the narrator, Lord Grandrith, was certain that his biological father was Jack the Ripper. That father would also go on to sire James “Doc” Caliban, Farmer’s pastiche of Doc Savage.Continue reading “Clark Savage, Sr. and the Victorian World of A Feast Unknown – Part 3”
Clark Savage Sr., Idealist or Monster? – Victorian Roots to 20th Century Pulps, Part 2
Doc Savage’s father is mentioned in many of the pulp novels, but only in the context of his strange obsession to turn his son into a superman, trained and equipped to fight the evils of the world. Why would he do such a thing? The concept is intensely extreme…and yet what drove the elder SavageContinue reading “Clark Savage Sr., Idealist or Monster? – Victorian Roots to 20th Century Pulps, Part 2”
A Feast Unknown Sketchbook
In this month’s earlier blog post, Painting Into Books: The Creation of Readable Art, there are dynamic visual samples of Iason Ragnar Bellerophon’s method of painting directly onto the pages of books. That technique did not begin with the painted books of the Talos Saga. Years before undertaking that epic project, Iason was drawing ontoContinue reading “A Feast Unknown Sketchbook”
A Feast Unknown: 52 years later – climax and aftermath
Nobody moved. They could not accept what they had seen. And when their senses thawed, they began to realize what they faced. That line from A Feast Unknown could well summarize the experience of reading the novel. It was, in essence, one hammer-blow after another, leaving the reader stunned. This was not just because ofContinue reading “A Feast Unknown: 52 years later – climax and aftermath”
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