To be honest, I never knew the stories of LESTER DENT’S ZEPPELIN TALES even existed. When I always thought of Lester Dent, the one and only thing that would spring to mind would be Doc Savage. But Dent wrote a variety of other pulp tales in his time, and this collection showcases his love for the airships.
The collection rounds up five such stories, nicely reprinted with some of the text harkening back to what Dent originally wrote before editors hacked away at it. A warning label on the cover cautions us of bad words and violence that permeate the stories. Some of the terms in the tales indeed may be considered offensive, but I don’t think we really needed a glossary for them.
Inside, the stories are just packed with pulp. The first, “Zeppelin Bait,” is a war story involving spies on a British air base and a German enemy commander in the vein of the Red Baron. The second is a nice, long piece called “Blackbeard’s Spectre,” which involves a new zeppelin hijacked by gold-seeking air pirates during its maiden voyage. This one blows away all the action in the similar-minded but sadly disappointing film called SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, since this actually has character development, not just really neat effects.
Up third is another story of a hijacked airship called “Peril’s Domain.” Its ideas are a little too close to the previous tale since it also involves a large-scale robbery, but instead of gold, jewels are the target, and it all goes down in the Arctic Circle. “Helene Was a Cannibal” is the shortest of the stories, and also the weakest of the bunch, dealing with an airship stowaway who holds a dark secret.
Finally, we get “A Billion Gold!,” which is more a detective story than an airship one, since three-quarters of it take place on land. It deals with a couple of kids getting mixed up with more air pirates who plan on stealing from a building using a zep.
Even with its pricey cost, the whole collection is well worth searching out. For those craving a pulp fix, ZEPPELIN TALES will not only quench it, but leave you drooling for more. Let’s hope there a VOLUME 2 will take flight at some point. –Bruce Grossman
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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• DOC SAVAGE: FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE / THE DEVIL GENGHIS by Kenneth Robeson
• DOC SAVAGE: THE CZAR OF FEAR by Kenneth Robeson
• DOC SAVAGE: THE SPOOK LEGION by Kenneth Robeson
Related posts:
- Doc Savage: Fortress of Solitude / The Devil Genghis
- All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories
- Retro Pulp Tales
- BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS >> Direct from the Death Cloud Peril
- Daikaiju!: Giant Monster Tales
