When I heard that Will Murray had a new Doc Savage coming out (his first in 18 years), I had to get warmed up by rereading his first, Python Isle.
Python Isle was the first of seven all-new Doc adventures Will wrote for Bantam between 1991 and 1993, and it’s a classic. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear this was a lost work by Lester Dent. Actually, it was based on a Dent outline, but every word of prose rings true. Will nails the characters, the relationships, the dialogue, and the humor better than any of Dent’s contemporaries - a list that includes Laurence Donovan, Harold A. Davis, William Bogart, Alan Hathaway and Ryerson Johnson.
This one features a lost civilization, a mysterious babe, a zeppelin, a gang of ruthless thugs - and, as you may have guessed, a mess of giant pythons. It was a kick in the butt to go adventuring with Doc and the gang again, and I’m now looking forward more than ever to the new one coming from Altus Press - The Desert Demons. Even cooler, it will be the first of a seven book series, with the next, Horror in Gold, coming late this Summer. You'll find more on The Desert Demons HERE.
And f that isn’t enough good news for you, you’ll be pleased to know that Python Isle is now available as an audio book from Radio Archives. They plan to release all seven of Will’s earlier Doc novels on CD, plus classic adventures of The Spider and Secret Agent X. I know what you’re dying to say about that, so I’ll say it for you. I’ll be super amalgamated!
8 comments:
"Python Isle" is a title so adventurous that it hurts.
Yeah, I definitely like the title. Haven't read any of his docs. I should try some.
If I had this one in hand right now, I'd go find a chair on the patio and read the thing. I have read exactly one Doc Savage, or maybe it was a double. Enjoyed it though wasn't knocked out by it (them?) but it's perfect summer reading, and this one sounds excellent. Plus that cover... Yow.
Once again I wish I'd bought the whole set when they were available at the book shop near my home, a uniform set of paperbacks with matching cover art. Ah, what did I know?
I started reading Doc when I was thirteen (same time I started Tarzan and James Bond) so he and I are old pals.
Those Bantam books, that used to be everywhere, are now hard to find, and go for at least several bucks each. A couple of the later, scarcer doubles command up to a hundred.
Don't recall reading any Doc Savage, but Python Isle looks like a National Geographic TV show on the Everglades in Florida. The Burmese pythons are eating the alligators and they estimate there may be around 10,000 of 'em since a couple of them were released in the wild.
Does Murray get a name-check anywhere on the older one?
Twice. In the front it says Copyright 1991 by Will Murray and Mrs. Lester Dent. And in the back, there's a preview presentation of the first chapter of the next book, White Eyes. The intro to the preview reads, "Continue the all new series written by Will Murray, writing as Kenneth Robeson, with an adventure story based on an unfinished manuscript written by Lester Dent."
Glad to hear Will Murray is doing another Doc.
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