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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superior Pulp Adventure For All Ages, May 22, 2009
This review is from: Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom (Hardcover)
Sometimes the twist and turns of fate can make you sit back and ponder those magical things we call coincidence. Early yesterday morning, via the internet, I learned that one of our finest fantasy, science fiction writers had died; Philip Jose Farmer. Amongst his many popular works, Farmer had invented a strange heroes mythology wherein he surmised not only were all the great literary heroes of the late nineteenth and twentieth century based on real people but that they were also related in one fashion or another. This was called his Wold Newton Mythology.
In this fanciful theory, Farmer postulated that there had actually been a 1930s globe trotting adventurer who was the basis for the pulp hero, Doc Savage. Farmer also suggested this man was related to the jungle lord we call Tarzan. Amongst his elaborate genealogy of heroes, Farmer several times replaced the name Savage with Wilde, again to indicate historical personages and their fictional disguises.
So why bring this all up now? Simply because on the day I learned of Farmer's passing, this book arrived on my doorstep; DOC WILDE AND THE FROGS OF DOOM by Tim Byrd. In his action-packed story, Byrd tells us this Doc Savage figure not only existed, but that he went on to marry and have a son and grandchildren. The son is one Doctor Spartacus Wilde, a golden hued chip off the old block. Like his dad, now ninety-nine but still fit as an Olympian athlete, he is a famous scientist, inventor and world traveler. He is also a widower raising two fantastic kids, Brian and Wren, both of whom have inherited the family adventuring genes.
As the book opens, Doc and his children learn that Grandpa Wilde has disappeared at the same time they are attacked by a variety of bizarre, hybrid frogs. Surviving these bizarre assaults, Doc, Brian, Wren and Doc's aides, take up the search from the Empire State Building, where they interview Grandma Pat Wilde to the halls of Harvard. Oh, and the two aides I mentioned are a red-headed Irishman named Declan mac Coul and a natty, debonair lawyer named Phineas Bartlett. (Of course any self-respecting pulp fan will recognize them immediately.)
The trail of the missing senior Doc leads our group to the South American jungles of Hidalgo, as yet another well known name from the Savage canon. The innocent fun of this book, which is a Young Reader's offering, is that it does not attempt to shy away from its origins and is a worthy pastiche for all Doc Savage enthusiasts. Byrd is having a grand time offering us a satisfying what-if adventure that rings true from start to finish and left me wanting more. All the trappings and clichés of the hero pulps are here, but presented in such a fresh and carefree manner, the reader will be swept away by the outlandish exploits performed by this one-of-a-kind family. The Wildes are old fashion heroes in the best sense of the word and their adventure is sure to thrill pulp fans, both old and new.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Over-the-top Fun!, May 17, 2009
This review is from: Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom (Hardcover)
Mr. Byrd has done what I would have thought was impossible. He has written an adventure story with almost no internal conflict whatsoever. And it works.
The Wilde family is a world-famous family of adventurers. Doctor Spartacus Wilde is the dad; tall and golden, with a muscular physique, the brains of a scientist, and so cool that he can handle anything--even the sight of his ten-year-old son plunging off the side of the Empire State Building. Throughout the story, nothing ruffles him. Well, one thing does. But only for a few minutes. He is an expert in everything he does--martial arts, marksmanship, foreign languages, nanotechnology--you name it.
His children, Brian and Wren, are his carbon copies, but each has their own personality. They can think quickly while plunging off the side of a building, or while being dragged through underwater caves by mutant frogs. Their training is over-the top, and then back over it again. When they argue, they switch languages to try to trip each other up. And they love each other to pieces.
The Wilde family is assisted by two trusty employees, Declan mac Coul and Phineas Bartlett. Declan is a bearlike Irishman, and Phineas is a proper British majordomo. They insult each other mercilessly, but are the best of friends.
And then there's grandpa. He's gone missing. Again. The kids' reactions?
Cool!
For naturally, it's time for an adventure.
The adventure is a blend of Cthulhuian gods and a 10-year-old boy's passion for all things squishy--like frogs. I mean, who can possibly find a frog anything but harmless? If anything, there a bit icky, but they don't even have claws! They have little suction-cup thingies. They're kind of cute . . . in an amphibian kind of way.
Not Mr. Byrd's frogs. They are green menaces! They have claws and gnashing teeth! And tentacles!
It's fun. It's also smart. There's all sorts of interesting stuff in this little novel, like dark matter, nanotechnology (in a rather over-the-top way) and a smattering of Latin.
I can't finish this review without some remarks on the typography. It's partially straight-up novel, but interspersed throughout the text are comic-book effects, that make it even funner.
It's only fault is that it's too short. Way too short. So short, that I wonder why they made it a hardcover. But like all juvenile hardcovers, the price is reasonable, especially considering all the great typographic effects.
Fun for everyone, age 10 and up!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DOC WILDE: A smart book for kids of all ages, May 24, 2009
This review is from: Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom (Hardcover)
The book jacket for Georgia author Tim Byrd proclaims that he is interested in everything. Damn straight. How else to explain his judicious use of quotes from such diverse sources as H. P. Lovecraft, Henry David Thoreau, and (my personal favorite), Dr. Seuss? How else to explain references to classic automobiles, dark matter universes, amphibian biology, Japanese meditation techniques, and South American topography? Not only are all these elements, and countless others, interwoven into this novel, they work together in such a seamless manner that the reader is left both breathless and awed.
This roller-coaster ride of a story is one to be enjoyed by all. Byrd's family of adventurers, the Wildes, are a fascinating group who endeavor to save the world from mutant frog-men while at the same time remaining steadfastly loyal to one another. The characters are as exciting as their adventures, yet they never lose sight of the love and learning that binds them to one another more strongly than the sticky goo on the underbellies of the spy-frogs. Yes, it is a swashbuckling great read. But it is also a story of unconditional love, empowering optimism, and the value of learning.
The gross frogs and insane gadgets are pretty cool, too.
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