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3.0 AVERAGE
3.0 AVERAGE
I received a copy via a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
The Green God is actually a collection of 2 of L. Ron Hubbard's short stories, "The Green God" and "Five Mex for a Million". The book also includes a short preview of another story ("Spy Killer"), a glossary of dated slang, and a short biography of Hubbard as a writer (which is just white-wash and aggrandization).
If the stories in the book hadn't been so short, I would have stopped reading them almost immediately. I'm all for some pulp now and again, but both "The Green God" and "Five Mex for a Million" were badly written. So badly written that I couldn't even "hate read" the book for pleasure.
"The Green God" is all action without the details that might actually allow you to immerse yourself in that action. It's short (23 pages) and yet I fell asleep a third of the way in... while the main character was escaping from a coffin and certain death, which is honestly the kind of action scene you'd expect a person to remain awake through.
"Five Mex for a Million" has a slightly more fleshed out story (possibly due to it's length: 56 pages). However, it suffers from the same faults as the preceding story: you don't know much about the main character and ultimately don't feel invested in what happens to him.
The postives:
- The book itself is really nicely put together and has some great images in it.
- There's a good glossary at the end of the book for the 1940s slang used throughout the stories.
- The female character in "Five Mex for a Million" holds her own during the fight scenes. (Unfortunately, she's nowhere near self-actualized.)
The negatives:
- The writing is awful. Almost every action is described in excruciating detail, yet there are no details about any of the Nouns (people, places, things). Two exceptions: boring, very short physical descriptions of The Green God and Sandra.
- There's no reason to care about any of the characters. You don't know their histories or motivations, or even what they look like.
- Racism. It's not as bad as it could be (mostly because the people in the book are so poorly described) and, to a certain degree, racism is expected in pulp fiction from The Golden Age. However, "coolie" is commonly used throughout both stories (and the included snippet for "Spy Killer").
The Green God is actually a collection of 2 of L. Ron Hubbard's short stories, "The Green God" and "Five Mex for a Million". The book also includes a short preview of another story ("Spy Killer"), a glossary of dated slang, and a short biography of Hubbard as a writer (which is just white-wash and aggrandization).
If the stories in the book hadn't been so short, I would have stopped reading them almost immediately. I'm all for some pulp now and again, but both "The Green God" and "Five Mex for a Million" were badly written. So badly written that I couldn't even "hate read" the book for pleasure.
"The Green God" is all action without the details that might actually allow you to immerse yourself in that action. It's short (23 pages) and yet I fell asleep a third of the way in... while the main character was escaping from a coffin and certain death, which is honestly the kind of action scene you'd expect a person to remain awake through.
"Five Mex for a Million" has a slightly more fleshed out story (possibly due to it's length: 56 pages). However, it suffers from the same faults as the preceding story: you don't know much about the main character and ultimately don't feel invested in what happens to him.
The postives:
- The book itself is really nicely put together and has some great images in it.
- There's a good glossary at the end of the book for the 1940s slang used throughout the stories.
- The female character in "Five Mex for a Million" holds her own during the fight scenes. (Unfortunately, she's nowhere near self-actualized.)
The negatives:
- The writing is awful. Almost every action is described in excruciating detail, yet there are no details about any of the Nouns (people, places, things). Two exceptions: boring, very short physical descriptions of The Green God and Sandra.
- There's no reason to care about any of the characters. You don't know their histories or motivations, or even what they look like.
- Racism. It's not as bad as it could be (mostly because the people in the book are so poorly described) and, to a certain degree, racism is expected in pulp fiction from The Golden Age. However, "coolie" is commonly used throughout both stories (and the included snippet for "Spy Killer").
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
This is another in the line of pulp reprints put out by Galaxy Press, and continues their tradition of excellent physical quality. I should also give a shout-out to GP’s distinctive shipping materials. This time, the focus is on adventures in the exotic land of China.
“The Green God” is an exciting tale of Lieutenant Bill Mahone of Naval Intelligence. It seems someone has stolen a jade idol, and the city of Tientsin has erupted in riots. There’s a minimum of exposition, and the lieutenant is in constant danger from the first sentence. Among other things, he is buried alive according to the customs of the local Chinese.
Bill takes quite a beating over the course of the story, and it eventually becomes a bit much for him still to be moving, even by pulp standards. There’s some on-screen torture, so be advised.
“Five Mex for a Million” is novella length, and requires a bit of explanation for the title. A “Mex” was a Mexican peso, which was used as a trade coin with and in China from 1732-1949. As it happens, Captain Royal F. Sterling has five Mex and a small silver coin in his pockets at the beginning of the story.
That’s not very much money for a man on the lam for murder (it was self-defense) from the Chinese military. He goes to the Thieves’ Market in Peking to buy local clothes for a disguise, but sees a mysterious chest and purchases it on a whim. The chest carries the ideograms for “Good luck”, “Long life” and “Happiness.” The contents of the chest? That would be a spoiler, but it leads Captain Sterling on an adventure to Outer Mongolia.
This story has a bit of romance, rushed though it may be. Sandra Kolita starts the story as a damsel in distress, but pulls her own weight quite well once Royal gets her out of the initial fix. Just don’t ask for realistic character development for anyone involved.
Both stories treat the Chinese as superstitious at best, and expendable fanatics at worst. This was typical of pulp stories of the time, but is still jarring to modern readers.
There is also a preview of “Spy Killer”, the lead story in the next volume. Violent sailor Kurt Reid jumps ship when he’s falsely accused of murder, but on land he may be in more danger from Varinka Savischna, sultry Russian spy.
There is a glossary of terms that may be unfamiliar to 21st Century readers, which should be helpful to most. As with all volumes in the set, the book is fitted out with the stock prologue and author biography. Because the book is such a fast read, and the repeated material makes it even shorter than it looks, casual readers may want to check their library or used book stores.
Still, this is exciting stuff, with non-stop action–great for a night’s escape from the everyday world.
This is another in the line of pulp reprints put out by Galaxy Press, and continues their tradition of excellent physical quality. I should also give a shout-out to GP’s distinctive shipping materials. This time, the focus is on adventures in the exotic land of China.
“The Green God” is an exciting tale of Lieutenant Bill Mahone of Naval Intelligence. It seems someone has stolen a jade idol, and the city of Tientsin has erupted in riots. There’s a minimum of exposition, and the lieutenant is in constant danger from the first sentence. Among other things, he is buried alive according to the customs of the local Chinese.
Bill takes quite a beating over the course of the story, and it eventually becomes a bit much for him still to be moving, even by pulp standards. There’s some on-screen torture, so be advised.
“Five Mex for a Million” is novella length, and requires a bit of explanation for the title. A “Mex” was a Mexican peso, which was used as a trade coin with and in China from 1732-1949. As it happens, Captain Royal F. Sterling has five Mex and a small silver coin in his pockets at the beginning of the story.
That’s not very much money for a man on the lam for murder (it was self-defense) from the Chinese military. He goes to the Thieves’ Market in Peking to buy local clothes for a disguise, but sees a mysterious chest and purchases it on a whim. The chest carries the ideograms for “Good luck”, “Long life” and “Happiness.” The contents of the chest? That would be a spoiler, but it leads Captain Sterling on an adventure to Outer Mongolia.
This story has a bit of romance, rushed though it may be. Sandra Kolita starts the story as a damsel in distress, but pulls her own weight quite well once Royal gets her out of the initial fix. Just don’t ask for realistic character development for anyone involved.
Both stories treat the Chinese as superstitious at best, and expendable fanatics at worst. This was typical of pulp stories of the time, but is still jarring to modern readers.
There is also a preview of “Spy Killer”, the lead story in the next volume. Violent sailor Kurt Reid jumps ship when he’s falsely accused of murder, but on land he may be in more danger from Varinka Savischna, sultry Russian spy.
There is a glossary of terms that may be unfamiliar to 21st Century readers, which should be helpful to most. As with all volumes in the set, the book is fitted out with the stock prologue and author biography. Because the book is such a fast read, and the repeated material makes it even shorter than it looks, casual readers may want to check their library or used book stores.
Still, this is exciting stuff, with non-stop action–great for a night’s escape from the everyday world.