Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bizarre, wacky, and a bit disappointing., July 9, 2001
This review is from: Zeppelins West (Hardcover)
There are many Joe Lansdale's. There is the award-winning mystery author Lansdale. There is the award-winning horror author Lansdale. There is the western author Lansdale (award-winning?). And there is the simply wacky author Lansdale. 'Zeppelins West' is written by the latter Lansdale. 'Zeppelins West' is difficult to categorize. So much happens throughout the course of the novel. At its core it's an adventure story. But it also contains parts of each different incarnation of Lansdale. There are horrific elements, such as when Dr. Momo's half-human half-animal creations decide to feast on each other. There are humorous moments such as when Frankenstein's monster (who has chosen the name 'Bert') falls in love with the Tin Man of Oz fame. No matter how you classify this book, it's a fascinating read. Lansdale has thrown together dozens of historical and fictional personages, from Annie Oakley & Wild Bill Hickok, to thinly guised versions of Captain Nemo & Dr. Moreau. My favorite character is Ned the Seal, Captain Bemo's intelligent companion with a passion for Ned Buntline's pulp novels. Yet, at the end of the novel I felt unfulfilled. The plot was solid. The characters were fascinating. Mark Nelson's illustrations were great. For whatever reason this novel didn't 'do it' for me. There's only one Lansdale. He's the wackiest, most bizarre writer in America. Each new Lansdale novel is a treat. Don't miss this one. Even though it doesn't make my Best-of-Lansdale list, it very well could top yours.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
AN OUTRAGEOUS FARCE THAT'S FILLED WITH DARK HUMOR!!!, January 14, 2002
This review is from: Zeppelins West (Hardcover)
Joe R. Lansdales newest novel, ZEPPELINS WEST, published in a signed, limited edition by Subterranean Press, gives the reader a glimpse into the outrageous and humorous side of this fantastic authors personality. Be warned that this is a novel that will probably appeal to only Lansdales diehard fans; but, then again, maybe not. Written in the classic tradition of H.G. Wells, Julies Verne, and Frank Baum (add a lot of sex, dark humor and violence), Mr. Lansdale has created an adventure story that combines actual historical characters with fictional characters from the novels of the above writers. You might say ZEPPELINS WEST takes place in a parallel universe, or that it could even be an alternate history of things that might have happened in our own world. However you choose to view it, the one aspect that stands out for me is that the story had me laughing from beginning to end. It starts out with Buffalo Bill Codys Wild West Show heading to Japan on board a flying zeppelin. Accompanied by Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull, Wild Bill Hickok, Ned Buntline, and the shows other employees, Buffalo Bill is definitely not his usual self. It seems as though his wife caught him cheating on her and shot a rather big hole in him. To save the famous entertainers life, Dr. Samuel Morse and Professor Maxxon, who happened to be visiting with the Codys at the time, removed Bills head and stuck it in a mason jar filled with pig urine and whisky. A motorized crank was then attached to the jar so that electrical charges could be sent to Bills head in order to keep his mind activated. Now, the true purpose behind the Wild West Shows visit to the Land of the Rising Sun isnt to entertain the Japanese, but rather to steal the body of the Frankenstein monster that is being held prisoner by Sokaku Takeda, Shogun of Japan. Morse and Maxxon think that if they can get hold of the monsters body, itll help them to figure out how to successfully re-attach Buffalo Bills head to the rest of his torso. Takeda, however, is using parts of the monsters body as an aphrodisiac so that he can satisfy his many concubines. He therefore has no intention of letting anyone take the monster away from him. One event leads to another and before you know it, Buffalo Bill and his crew have rescued the monster and are trying to escape in the slow zeppelin. Japanese biplanes eventually shoot the dirigible down over the Pacific, and thats when the real adventure begins. Before the story is over with, the whole gang will encounter a submarine thats operated by Captain Bemo and Ned, the reading seal, which then leads to the island of Doctor Momo and the strange creatures that inhabit it. What really hooked me with ZEPPELINS WEST was the authors sense of off-the-wall humor. He had the Frankenstein monster develop a gay relationship with the Tin Man, who was still experiencing feelings of guilt over what the Cowardly Lion and Straw Man did to young, innocent Dot and her dog, BoBo, in the Emerald City. Annie Oakley and Hickok cant keep their hands off of each other. Theyre constantly doing the two-bear mambo every time theyre left alone for longer than two minutes. Ned the Seal is the smartest of the bunch, but has an obsession with dime-store novels and his hero, Buffalo Bill. All of this, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. There are guest appearances by Vlad Tepes (Dracula), William Rickenbacher, Manfred Von Richthoften, Charles Darwin, and Victor Frankenstein. ZEPPELINS WEST certainly isnt meant to be a serious piece of literature. Its an audacious experiment of fiction that allows the author to let loose with his zany imagination and to see where it takes him. This is certainly one of the funniest novels Ive ever had the pleasure of reading, and it clearly displays the versatile range of Joe R. Lansdales talent as a writer. Still, this isnt for everyone. Illustrated by Mark A. Nelson, ZEPPELINS WEST is a novel meant for those who have a wicked sense of humor and who love to laugh out loud, not caring who hears them.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Something for everyone: blood, guts, action, adventure, homespun philosophy, and humor, May 11, 2007
This review is from: Zeppelins West (Hardcover)
Ever since his decapitation at the hands of his jealous wife, what remains of Buffalo Bill Cody has resided in a mason jar, preserved in a mixture of pig urine, 100 proof whiskey, and an amber chemical called Number 415. Although deprived of his fleshly body, Cody can still think and speak, and can even move about by using the "Steam Man," a mechanical body designed to house his noggin. Thus, despite his handicap, Cody is still fit enough to lead the Wild West Show as it tours the world.
As Zeppelins West begins, Cody, accompanied by Wild Bill Hickock, Annie Oakley, and the stoic but surprisingly funny Sitting Bull, is heading to Japan via zeppelin on a diplomatic mission to the court of Master Takeda, Emperor of Japan. An ally of America (Japanese Samurai battled alongside Custer at Little Big Horn), Japan occupies half of what modern readers know as the United States. Besides entertainment, Cody has another objective--free Victor Frankenstein's creature from Japanese custody before he can be consumed piecemeal by the Emperor, who believes the monster's flesh is actually an aphrodisiac.
As you might have guessed, Zeppelin's West is an alternate history, albeit one of the strangest in recent memory. Not content merely explore the subtleties of an alternate history where some key event has been altered, as would Howard Waldrop, or even to weave numerous literary and cultural references into his tale a la Kim Newman, Lansdale opts to do both, filtering them through his own fractured sensibilities. Thus, in addition to the Creature and the members of the Wild West show, readers are treated to appearances by Captain Bemo, Dr. Momo, Vlad Tepes, and Tin, who hails from an alternate reality where a certain wonderful wizard used to hold sway. Never one to let bad taste interfere with a story (that's meant in a good way), they're also treated to the Tepes' strange death at the hands (paws?) of Momo's beast men, and an affair between the Creature and Tin.
Similar to Pat Murphy's recent Max Merriwell/Mary Maxwell trilogy, Zeppelins West is a loving tribute to the type of literature Lansdale cut his own literary teeth on, including the works of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and John Wyndham, borrowing many of its characters, locales and situations directly from their works. In spirit, however, the parody owes much to the works of Philip Jose Farmer. Although Lansdale himself nods towards The Case of the Peerless Peer, the book seems to be more in the vein of such Farmer classics as A Feast Unknown, Lord of the Trees, and The Mad Goblin, which took great liberties with classic pulp characters. In the final analysis, Zeppelins West has something for everyone--plenty of blood and guts, outrageous action and adventure, homespun philosophy, humor (black and otherwise), and plenty of sex. In other words, everything we've come to expect from Joe Lansdale over the past two decades or so.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
