Customer Reviews

Doc Savage: "Fortress of Solitude" and "The Devil Genghis" (Paperback - variant cover)

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Doc Savage stands as one of the most remarkable series in the history of heroic science fiction. Although little known to today's younger generation of sci-fi adventure, Doc's remarkable career as the star of his own monthly magazine through much of the 1930s and 40s surely places him in contention for the greatest adventure hero in the history of fiction. Certainly his record of derring-do, exploration, invention, crime fighting and mystery solving stack up against any other character that can be named. This career spans 182 novels (all but a handful written by his creator, the prolific Missouri pulp writer Lester Dent). And now with this brand new series of reprints, a new generation of readers is ready to discover Doc again.
During his career, Doc, with the help of his five remarkable friends, did some pretty amazing things. He battled colorful villians and saved the U.S. and the world from the most insidious of plans. He also came up with some spectacular inventions and innovations; and, in the course of his exploits, discovered dozens of lost civilizations and legendary artifacts. His popularity during his time was so great that the creators of Superman borrowed from him several aspects of Superman's character, including the concept of the fortress of Solitude. However, Doc as a hero is more similar to Batman than to Superman, as there is nothing supernatural or extraterrestrial about his powers - rather they are the result of pure physical and scientific development, the result of an experiment in which Doc was trained from infanthood to become a superior human being.
The selection of the two novels in this mini-omnibus constitute the entire "John Sunlight" saga. Sunlight was Doc's Moriarty, the only villian to survive an encounter with the Man of Bronze for a return engagement. In "Fortress of Solitude" Sunlight establishes himself as one of Doc's most formidable adversaries by stealing some of Doc's most secret powerful weapons and using them for his own campaign of evil. And in the sequel, "The Devil Genghis", Sunlight is back again, with world domination as his goal and only Doc standing in his way.
While I'm disappointed that the editors of these new reprints chose not to follow a straight chronological reprinting of this series, starting with the first volume (the best introduction to the series) and moving on from there, I must say they couldn't have picked two more representative stories than these. And even if you already possess the text of all 182 original Doc novels as I do, these reprints would be worth owning because of the original pulp presentation and art - I've also heard that some of these new reprints actaully offer restored text that never appeared in any published version.

Doc Savage was the first superhero. He was the inspiration for Superman, Batman and many other of the heroes everyone knows today. An interesting thing to note is Doc Savage's first name is Clark, and Kenneth Robeson's Real last name was Dent. Put them together and you get Clark Dent. HMM. . . Where have I heard that name before?

If you enjoy Science fiction, action, adventure, or just a good old mystery, these books are for you. Written is a fast paced manner, they read very well and keep the action moving as fast as you can read. Unlike many books today, where the author adds so much detail that a minute's worth of dialogue and activity takes 6 pages to read, these novels keep you moving at the speed of an action movie, not a documentary.I have been a fan of Doc Savage since about 1978. I grew up reading and collecting the Bantam editions. In college, I lost my focus and missed the last years of the series and have been trying to find them, ever since. I was excited when I heard this was coming, but after reading my copy, I can only say one thing. Awesome!

This book reprints the two appearances of Johnny Sunlight, one of Doc Savage's most challenging opponents. He is introduced in the first story, where he discovers the hidden research and storage lab of Doc. Doc chases him across the continent back to his fortress, where you think Johnny has been killed, but returns to menace the entire world even worse in the second story.

This book is printed in the original pulp magazine style. in the 1930's entire novels were printed on 7X10 paper with illustrations and extra articles and such. This edition is a true book, with quality covers, printed spine and heavy paper. Even the original illustrations have been used, along with the original cover paintings from the first editions. Additional articles about the author and the series add interest over and above the enjoyable stories.

This edition reprints the famous cover painting by James Bama.

Buy yours today! You won't regret it.

After an official 12 year hiatus, the adventures of Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze, are coming into print for a new generation. This is landmark day for die-hard Doc Savage fans such as myself and an opportunity for new fans to discover him. Doctor Clark Savage Jr. was raised by scientists to be a "super-man" who righted wrongs and defended the innocent. He made his headquaters on the 86th floor of the "tallest building in New York" and with his five aides -- all experts in different fields -- he travelled the world looking for excitement and adventure.

The series was written (mostly) by Lester Dent and explored many ideas that were later <ahem!> borrowed by other charaters. (Yes, Virginia, Doc Savage had the ORIGINAL arctic Fortress of Solitude in 1933 fully 5 years before Superman was even published.) Virtually every adventure character since then has "borrowed" from Doc. It is good to have his original adventures back in print.

I love all the Doc Savage novels, but please to the publishers of reprints of these stories! Please stop putting down Kenneth Robeson as the author! There is no "Kenneth Robeson"-- that was just a house pseudonym given to the original author of the stories-- and that was Lester Dent. Why is it that even after all these years Lester Dent is a forgotten man and still subjected to the nonsense of that silly pseudonym? It is unfair for the publishers of these new texts to do that. Unfortunately, this rant is probably the closest that anyone is going to come to fixing this injustice and giving Mr. Dent credit for his incredible imagination!

I was reading "The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril" that stars Lester Dent and Walter Gibson as characters who get into some adventures. The more I read about these men the more it made me interested in their writings of "The Shadow" and "Doc Savage". So I picked this up here on Amazon and I fell in love with the Pulp genre. Just plain fun and adventurous. It reads along at a quick pace and is just wonderful fun. Just like reading a comic book without the pictures.

I first started reading the Doc Savage adventures when I was in Elementary School. My uncle had read the pulp magazines as a kid and he gave me a copy of the Bantam reprints in the 1960's. They were a great source of heroic adventure and always expressed the highest values of courage, loyalty and charity. Plus gun battles, cool gadgets, damsels to rescue, nefarious villains, car chases, mysterious lands, etc.

The Doc Savage Code as expressed in the books sets the tone for the heroes of the stories:
The Code of Doc Savage:

Let me strive, every moment of my life, to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it.

Let me think of the right, and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice.

Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage.

Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do.

Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.

- This is great stuff. I highly recommend all the Doc Savage stories.

One of the greatest of the pulp: Clark "Doc" Savage, the man of bronze. The model for Superman (Man of Bronze, Man of Steel, Fortress of Solitude, Clark Savage, Clark Kent, etc), emerging in the aftermath of the success of Walter Gibson's the Shadow. Written under the house name "Kenneth Robeson" it was primarily written by pulp workhouse Lester Dent though others --Norman Daniels, Ryerson Johnson, etc. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE introduces us to the sinister John Sunlight -- a sinister figure who dresses in different colors according to his mood. He has the distinction of being the ONLY villain Doc faced more than once.

This is not a thick little paper back: its a huge 81/2 " by 11" tradeback. it has art & photos in it and background information. It is so well done, I was surprised what I got, I think I liked it! I did not enjoy the story or John Sunlight. There was so much left unmined and unexplored in this approach to the story! I was let down by the way they do not explore the fortress of solitude and give more of how John Sunlight got away in the first story. I have had a lot more fun reading other Doc Savage stories and I almost didn't finish reading this one because the second story kept going on about mongols and nothing about John Sunlight and his doings. It was a real disappointment, the ending was stone set with no tricks.