What do you think?
Rate this book
Doc Savage Sanctum Editions #2
Resurrection Day / Repel (Doc Savage
Pulp fiction's legendary Man of Bronze returns in two of his most engrossing adventures. In "Resurrection Day", first published in 1936, the Man of Bronze perfects a method for resurrecting a dead human being -- but only one person can be revived. Who will Doc choose? In "Repel" (1937), a strange new element is expelled in a South Pacific volcanic eruption, but falls into the hands of Cadwiller Olden, Doc Savage's most formidable foe. This volume includes a foreword by Peter David ("Star Trek", "The Incredible Hulk"), the original pulp covers by Robert Harris, interior illustrations by Paul Orban, and historical articles by Will Murray.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
2 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth Robeson
915 books134 followersKenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including:
William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson
Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson.
All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.
William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson
Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson.
All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 14, 2021
Resurrection Day is one of those stories that has a high concept, but Dent just moved on (like epsidoic TV shows). Repel has a loose follow-up with "Mr. Calamity."
December 31, 2013
The idea of Doc Savage, his five aides, and their various fantastic scientific adventures is one that appeals to me greatly. However, the actual writing style exhibited by Lenter Dent, at least in this two-novel volume, is pretty bad. The characters are nothing more than stereotyped cyphers, the dialog is simpleminded, and the plots are not even close to believable.
The first novel, "Resurrection Day," starts by telling us that Doc Savage has perfected a method of reviving any dead person in history, but it can only be used once. I originally thought this was probably a ruse to lure some super criminal out into the open, but no, it was just what it was described. Doc decides to raise Solomon from the dead, but is tricked by master criminal General Ino into resurrecting an Egyptian pharaoh dubbed Pey-deh-eh-ghan ("pay day again") because Ino wants to find his buried treasure. In order to avoid offending readers by one racist stereotype, Ino is portrayed as an eccentric who randomly uses various accents for no explainable reason, and thus offends readers with multiple racist stereotypes.
"Repel" is perhaps even stranger. Doc and his gang hunt down a mysterious entity that evidently Doc knows what it is, but inexplicably withholds from his aides (he does that a lot, apparently). The criminal mastermind in this story is Cadwiller Olden, a little person with normal proportions.
The first novel, "Resurrection Day," starts by telling us that Doc Savage has perfected a method of reviving any dead person in history, but it can only be used once. I originally thought this was probably a ruse to lure some super criminal out into the open, but no, it was just what it was described. Doc decides to raise Solomon from the dead, but is tricked by master criminal General Ino into resurrecting an Egyptian pharaoh dubbed Pey-deh-eh-ghan ("pay day again") because Ino wants to find his buried treasure. In order to avoid offending readers by one racist stereotype, Ino is portrayed as an eccentric who randomly uses various accents for no explainable reason, and thus offends readers with multiple racist stereotypes.
"Repel" is perhaps even stranger. Doc and his gang hunt down a mysterious entity that evidently Doc knows what it is, but inexplicably withholds from his aides (he does that a lot, apparently). The criminal mastermind in this story is Cadwiller Olden, a little person with normal proportions.
May 30, 2009
This (very well done) reprint of two 1930s pulp novels was my first attempt to enter the world of Doc Savage since a fifth grade reading of "Man of Bronze," which I loved. Unfortunately, I've grown up. Man, this was awful. It reads like it was written by 15 year old working without an editor. Doc's teammates--five brilliant experts in various fields, who behave like nitwits--are one dimensional and annoying. (And useless, since Doc is supposedly a bigger expert in their fields than they are.) The villian in Repel is a General (I guess) who talks in a variety of foreign accents for no reason I can see. Doc himself is completely without flaw or interesting characteristic.
The reproduction of orignal pulp pages and covers is nice, and the historical essay is interesting, but it all falls apart when you try to read the stories.
The reproduction of orignal pulp pages and covers is nice, and the historical essay is interesting, but it all falls apart when you try to read the stories.
April 3, 2017
This book collects two short Doc Savage Novels published in 1936 and 1937, "Resurrection Day" and "Repel."
In Resurrection Day, Doc has discovered a chemical that can resurrect the dead, but he can only do it once. The evil criminal genius General Ino has in mind a historical figure in mind who he would like to see resurrect (and what evil criminal genius worth his salt doesn't.) and a battle of wits is on that will end up with Doc and Ino matching wits in the dessert.
In Repel, a volcano explodes and Doc goes running along with the criminal minature genius Cadwiller Olden, a figure who Doc was bound to tangle with sooner or later. He and his international cabal were after Repel, a dangerous new element.
Overall, having read several of Will Murray's newer Doc Savage novels, I have to say that I like these and in fact, prefer them. The shorter fiction form works for Doc and really makes the stories pacier and more exciting with less capture and release. Yes, they're pulp adventure stories with all the flaws of that genre, but if you like that sort of story, these really are top notch for what they are.
Of the two, I liked Resurrection Day better. Doc is determined to use his one shot at resurrection to bring back someone who will benefit humanity but Ino's greed gets in the way, and it's unspoken message shows how the evil in men's can lay waste the best intentions of science. It also happened over a much shorter time, so it had very little lag in it.
Repel had an added sense of mystery as well as an intriguing villain in Cadwiller Olden, yet Olden had some big inconsistencies with Doc Savage and his men. He ordered Doc's men executed in one case and so Doc had to rescue them in order for them to live. Doc failed to rescue them, and they still live with Olden keeping them alive to be killed at another time for no reason he states or actually makes any sense. At the start of the book, he has the gall to want Doc captured alive to work for him and then he wants him dead. This is just of a few points where I thought Repel could have used an extra edit. However, my enjoyment of the story wasn't ruined, but Resurrection Day was a better story overall.
One thing that's great about the novels is it also includes reprints of the original pulp illustrations which are really a treat to see. The book also includes an introduction by Comic Book great Peter David, and two enlightening commentaries by Will Murray.
These extras make the book a treasure for fans of Pulp Fiction despite a few rough spots in the stories. Overall, a very compelling volume.
In Resurrection Day, Doc has discovered a chemical that can resurrect the dead, but he can only do it once. The evil criminal genius General Ino has in mind a historical figure in mind who he would like to see resurrect (and what evil criminal genius worth his salt doesn't.) and a battle of wits is on that will end up with Doc and Ino matching wits in the dessert.
In Repel, a volcano explodes and Doc goes running along with the criminal minature genius Cadwiller Olden, a figure who Doc was bound to tangle with sooner or later. He and his international cabal were after Repel, a dangerous new element.
Overall, having read several of Will Murray's newer Doc Savage novels, I have to say that I like these and in fact, prefer them. The shorter fiction form works for Doc and really makes the stories pacier and more exciting with less capture and release. Yes, they're pulp adventure stories with all the flaws of that genre, but if you like that sort of story, these really are top notch for what they are.
Of the two, I liked Resurrection Day better. Doc is determined to use his one shot at resurrection to bring back someone who will benefit humanity but Ino's greed gets in the way, and it's unspoken message shows how the evil in men's can lay waste the best intentions of science. It also happened over a much shorter time, so it had very little lag in it.
Repel had an added sense of mystery as well as an intriguing villain in Cadwiller Olden, yet Olden had some big inconsistencies with Doc Savage and his men. He ordered Doc's men executed in one case and so Doc had to rescue them in order for them to live. Doc failed to rescue them, and they still live with Olden keeping them alive to be killed at another time for no reason he states or actually makes any sense. At the start of the book, he has the gall to want Doc captured alive to work for him and then he wants him dead. This is just of a few points where I thought Repel could have used an extra edit. However, my enjoyment of the story wasn't ruined, but Resurrection Day was a better story overall.
One thing that's great about the novels is it also includes reprints of the original pulp illustrations which are really a treat to see. The book also includes an introduction by Comic Book great Peter David, and two enlightening commentaries by Will Murray.
These extras make the book a treasure for fans of Pulp Fiction despite a few rough spots in the stories. Overall, a very compelling volume.
Want to read
October 10, 2018Synopsis: from the 1930s. Pulp fiction's Man of Bronze returns in two of his most engrossing adventures: Resurrection Day and Repel.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews