Starting in August, I plan to revive the Pulp Fantasy Library series – at least for a month – as a bit of a trial run. Longtime readers will recall that this series was once a mainstay of Grognardia, where I looked at older works of fantasy, science fiction, and related media that either directly influenced or ran parallel to the early days of roleplaying. For this trial revival, I’ll be posting four entries, one for every Monday in August, each devoted to a story by H.P. Lovecraft I’ve never previously written about directly. August, after all, is the month of Lovecraft’s birth, making it an ideal time to give him his due.
Whether Pulp Fantasy Library continues beyond that will depend largely on reader interest.
As I’ve noted before, these posts are among the most time-consuming I write. They require not only re-reading the stories but also researching their backgrounds, thinking about their content, and then writing something worthwhile about them. That’s time I could otherwise be spending on Thousand Suns, Secrets of sha-Arthan, or any number of other creative endeavors.
To be clear, I’m not complaining: I wouldn’t even consider bringing the series back if I didn’t think it had value. However, I do want to make sure that value is shared by readers. If this is something you’d like to see more of, I’d appreciate hearing from you, whether through blog comments, emails, or other means. Grognardia has always thrived on the feedback and enthusiasm of its readers and your encouragement helps me decide where to focus my limited time and energy.
I’ve been feeling more creatively energized lately than I have in many years, perhaps even since the earliest days of the blog. Between that and the addition of my Substack, I have more outlets for my writing than ever, but also more decisions to make about what gets my attention. If Pulp Fantasy Library is something you'd like to see more of, this is the time to say so.
Yes please! I always read these, and use the reviews to form my reading list.
ReplyDeleteYou've mentioned that blogspot's analytics are lacking. Please don't take lack of comments as lack of interest. It could just be lack of opinions about a story we haven't read yet, but should!
This is good news, as Pulp Fantasy Library was always my favourite series on this blog. I didn't comment much because I haven't read most of the entries (yet) and didn't have much to say (plus, I'm more of a lurker than a commenter anyway).
ReplyDeleteAnd to tie into your question last week about who would buy a Grognardia Collection (either in PDF or book form), I'd definitely buy a Pulp Fantasy Library collection (although with all the entries you've done, it might run to multiple volumes).
Good content because pulp fantasy needs to be kept alive. Make it so.
ReplyDeletePulp Fantasy Library has always been my favorite thing about Grognardia. I'm glad to see it come back.
ReplyDeleteI somehow failed to notice that these "reviews" were a series!
ReplyDeleteI'm almost 69 yrs old and spent my formative years in the 60s and 70s when A LOT of this fantasy was being reprinted. The early 1960s started with the reprinting of Edgar Rice Burroughs' fiction (in increasing amounts) which led to the reprinting of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories (and later almost everything he ever wrote). 1965 saw the paperback printings of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings which hit college campuses like a bomb!
This caused a huge thirst for fantasy literature in the marketplace and the publishing houses started mining the old pulp magazines for content. Any content. Some was bad, most was readable and entertaining, and some was absolutely fantastic!
What a wonderful time to be alive!
So please, please keep this series going. I now have to go back and read every one of them and keep track of what you have already covered - so that I can recommend certain works.
Mmmmm . . . Wonderful, pulpy goodness . . .
Deep dives like you describe re: classic pulp fiction are useful, but shorter overviews would be good as well. There are lots of cheap "megapack" collections published by Wildside Press for cheap - but not all those stories are great...some are. Which ones, in your opinion, are worth reading - and in a sentence or so...why? This would be very helpful. We've never had greater access to the best of yesteryear, but finding th best (vs. mediocre) is a challenge.
ReplyDeleteI'm always up for some Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, or other writers of weird tales!
ReplyDelete