Customer Reviews

The Land of Terror (The Fantastic Adventures of Doc Savage, #8)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is written like this. The sentences are short. Each one is a declaration. They follow one another like punches. These punches come from meaty fists pummeling your brain. The fists are big and tough and manly. This staccatto rhythm keeps the action immediate and tense. You get the impression that the word "idiosyncratic" is not in the author's vocabulary, but it might be. This book is smarter than it seems. Doc Savage has a physique like an ancient Greek god. This book was written in the day when a man could admire another man's manliness and nobody would call him gay because of it. Doc is the best at everything. He has superhuman abilities which are the result of rigorous training since he was a child. He is called a man of bronze. This does not seem to be a figure of speech, describing a deep tan. He actually appears to be metallic. Why is Doc metallic? This is not explained. He also has a secret arctic lab called "the Fortress of Solitude." Does Doc Savage predate Superman? Who was the first to have a Fortress of Solitude? I don't know. Doc's five companions are top experts in their respective fields, as well as great fighters. They were all buddies in World War 1. This book was written in 1933, which surprised me. I thought Doc Savage was a 1960s action hero. He lives in a world of black & white moral certainty. It's okay for Doc to massacre bad guys, because bad guys are bad. They are weak, cowardly, drug-addicted, not fully human. Doc is good. Doc is a real man. He goes around killing criminals by the carload. Cops love him for it. In this particular adventure a gang of screw-ups, led by a mystery boss named Kar, are using the "Smoke of Eternity" to assassinate people ... by completely dissolving their atoms! Kar's identity is a secret. Not even his henchmen know who he is. Not even Doc knows who he is, but you will (if you're like me) before the book is even halfway over. Kar's identity is obvious. So is the fact that the story's climax happens on an uncharted island full of dinosaurs, thanks to the cover art and the write-up on the back of the book. The dinosaur part is much better than the first three-fourths of the book. I would have given three stars, but the dinosaours were worth another star. I don't know how much of my enjoyment was ironic. Doc's brand of justice is a little bit terrifying. In modern times, he would be called a psychopath and locked up. But in the 1930s, and again in the 1960s, he was called a hero. How times change.

This is great. Some solo Doc action in an early car chase, and him vs 5 armed 'Squint'-led hoods.

A scientist friend of his deceased father, distintegration 'Smoke of Eternity' grenades (that you get to see employed), and a showdown on a dinosaur infested Thunder Island, off New Zealand.

Absolutely fabulous, in other words. Not to mention treed by Tyrannosaurs and pursued by Pterodactyls and chased by Creodonts.