One by one the rich nitrate miners of Antofagasta, Chile, were being hideously crushed to death by falling boulders. Then the Man of Bronze saw the evil hand of The Mad Earth Shaker -- and uncovered his terrifying plot to control the world!
Kenneth 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.
I was a great fan of the Doc Savage stories in my childhood through teens. There was right and there was wrong and right always won because an amazing team of gifted individuals worked together to benefit all. And then I grew up and realized the world is not quite like that. No where near that, most times. And running an international business really killed that idea. But I still hope. And when I do, I pick up a Doc Savage. He always delivers. Specific to this The Man Who Shook the Earth, this must be the first Doc Savage book I'm reading through author's eyes. Incredible storytelling for a pulp book. That's probably indicative of the time more than much else. I suspect authors as a whole were better at their craft than the moderns (again, as a whole). There are some amusing bumbles. One which I truly chuckled at was introducing and explaining a device after it'd been used, a case of someone using a gun on page 5, realizing you never mentioned it earlier in the narrative, so introduce a talking-head to explain it on page 8. But hey, it's Doc Savage. I wasn't going for high literature, I was going for a relaxing, blow-off read for the holiday. And as always, Doc Savage delivered.
A solid tale of the Man of Bronze and the Fantastic Five. That second description is no canon and only expresses my opinion. No need to call Marvel on me.
That said, the secret identity of the main villain stayed under wraps far better than in many other of Doc's adventures. At the end, the final reveal makes real sense on how he was able to move around so easily and why no one seemed to pick up on it; except, of course, for Doc. Published back in 1934, the author was eerily accurate in how certain groups in the near future moved on resources needed to manufacture arms and build an army.
One thing that moved this up from three to four stars was how each member of the Five got something to do this time or had their skills showcased in some manner. Also, at no time were Ham and Monk tricked by a femme fatale.
As a note to those who must consume all things about Doc Savage both macro and trivial, this is the adventure where Doc repairs the damage to the left eye of William Harper Littlejohn, or Johnny as he is known to generations of fans. The subplot occurred at the start of the novel and left a smile on smile on my face.
Ugh... the worst Doc Savage story since the very debut of the character, "The Man Who Shook the Earth" is a very simply written story that bores from beginning to end. Doc, as always, shows that he is just an incompetent fool who possesses super strength and is surrounded by five idiot savants that happen to be smarter than he, and beautiful women who dont understand he is a closeted homosexual. This story starts slow and only drags and drags until an ultimately uneventful and lackluster end.
This installment in the Doc Savage series has a lot in common with previous volumes "Quest of the Spider" and "The Czar of Fear." All of these stories deal with a disguised criminal mastermind trying to muscle out the competition and take over a specific industry. The previous two books involved lumber and mining, while this one involves nitrate production.
I groaned a bit when I saw the direction this story was taking, but the end result was more interesting than those previous two stories. Rather than taking place in the US, this story involved both New York and Chile, and—even when lightly sketched and reliant on broad stereotypes—Doc Savage's globe-trotting adventures tend to be the most fun.
The villain was also more intriguing this time, as his interest in nitrate production was about more than just personal enrichment. The reader is kept guessing as to the villain's true identity up until the very end, as well, instead of being obvious from their first appearance.
Despite the somewhat formulaic approach, this ended up one of the more interesting installments in the series.
A quick and entertaining read. I enjoy how the bad guys know where Doc Savage lives and everything else about him, but have no idea what he or his aids look like, then how would they have caught him? Kidnap all the tall, good-looking guys in the building? It's also funny how Monk is amazed at doors that open by themselves. He must go crazy at grocery stores. Hell, if he's like this with doors keep him away from escalators. It was funny that Doc decided there were too many of the one character that he told them to refer to this as guy 1 and guy 2 – but after that no one does.
As usual, this adventure gave us some gems, like: You’re such a freaky-looking pair that I had no trouble recognizing you. (Well thank you....HEY! WAIT A MINUTE!)
Draped on the floor were all of their foes—seven rather evil-looking gentry. (But damned if they weren’t the most handsome pile of sons-of-a-guns ever)
Long Tom was spoken of as a wizard of the juice. (*WINK* *WINK* 'the JUICE'...they mean Orange Juice right?)
In the course of his surgical research, Doc had learned how to apply pressure upon certain nerve centers so as to induce a paralysis. (In other words, the Vulcan Death grip)
One was a large screw driver. (He was drinking this early in the morning? Guess it's 5 o'clock somewhere.)
“But that doesn’t entirely explain his condition. I never saw anything quite like it." (I'm no expert, but it's called old age. CASE SOLVED!)
Doc studied the door. (there was a strange device on it, almost like a knob if you will, that could allow various persons into the building as well as let those same persons out. Fascinating!)
Both hands were kept extended well out to his sides. Still running at terrific speed. (Doc, you're a little late to try and storm Area 51)
He was the terror of radicals and political schemers. (he was even hated by babies and puppies)
If they noted that a fantastic gray vapor filled the street, they ignored the fact in their excitement. (Bob had had taco Bell for lunch so they were sed to the gray vapor)
Looking the unconscious men over, Doc selected the one with the weakest mouth. (What the hell does that even mean? Should we leave you two alone?)
“And I don’t like the way he sits around and whistles all the time, either.” (Maybe he whistles because he doesn't know the words?)
“Quiet, you snow-plow-nosed tramp!" (Oh sorry, I thought....HEY! WAIT A MINUTE!) “Scat!” said Doc. Tip scatted. (She was also really good at free form Jazz and R&B)
We also had a few (insert your own joke here) moments, such as:---------------------- "Then, in case this Doc Savage gets funny with us, we’ll do things to you."
“I guess I pulled a boner, Doc,” he said.
“They can’t take it!” Renny thundered. “They’re beating it!”
I figured it was done enough to mention that ‘Ejaculated’ was…well, ejaculated 11 times this adventure.
After a small break from Doc and the guys, its on to the next one….
Dent continues in his stride with Savage novel #12, beginning with a nice strong open, building tension for the titular earthquakes as the two primary bad guys stop scheming to tremble in terror as the ground beneath them in New York City begins to quiver...only to realize it's just a subway train rushing in a tunnel under their feet.
This adventure takes us to Chile, where our mysterious chief villain creates highly localized earthquakes, which conveniently kill the owners of nitrate mines. The villain is then able to take over those operations by having his own cronies buy them up. Ultimately, they're loyalists to an unnamed European nation which is itching to launch a new war after not faring so well in The Great War 16 years before.
The storyline is fun, and just intricate enough that -- unlike some earlier adventures -- I couldn't confirm the identity of the chief villain until late in the story. We also have great developments in the ongoing continuity: Doc's brilliance as a surgeon is finally displayed as he cures the blindness in Johnny's bad eye; we learn where Ham, Renny, Johnny, and Long Tom live back in NYC; Sassy Doc continues to tease Monk; and Monk has a hole in one ear from a bullet in battle during The Great War.
The science side is always of particular appeal to me, and Dent doesn't disappoint. In the "Prediction of Things to Come" category, Monk has invented Rain-X. (Well, he doesn't call it that, but he concocts a chemical to put on the windshields of cars which causes rain and snow to simply slide off -- no need for wipers. This is in 1934, well before Howard G. Ohlhausen introduced the actual chemical to the real world in 1972. Makes one wonder if Ohlhausen was a Doc fan!) More critically, Dent takes real science -- the relationship between crystals and electricity -- to create the monstrous instrument of destruction used by this cadre of European warmongers. It's essentially a reversal of piezoelectricity: running a powerful electric current through underground quartz formations causes them to vibrate, shaking the earth above them.
All in all, this is an excellent tale: an adventure which holds up on its own, while simultaneously refreshing for long-term Doc fans as it develops the continuing characters. Pick up a copy and enjoy!
The Man Who Shook the Earth is a "Doc Savage" novel by Kenneth Robeson. Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular Doc Savage novels. 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 I love reading these old pulp novels from time to time. I recently came across several of them in a used book store and snapped them up. I read about 80%+ of the Doc Savage novels when I was a teenager but that was a very long time ago. In this one, Doc Savage and his men are in the thick of it again. The action is classic Doc Savage, filled with good old fashion adventure and with gadgets that always seem to be there when the hero needs them. You can relax and escape for a little while. A good read in the Doc Savage series.
It was pretty fun. Usually doc Savage bits. Women immediately fall in love with doc even if they don't want to. Sometimes it seems if this happens for some men as well. This was published in 1934 and makes some predictions about world war 2.
The first Doc Savage story appeared in 1933 and the series ran in pulp and later digest format into 1949. Bantam reprinted the entire series in paperback with wonderful, iconic covers starting in the 1960's. Doc was arguably the first great modern superhero with a rich background, continuity, and mythos. The characterizations were far richer than was common for the pulps; his five associates and their sometimes-auxiliary, Doc's cousin Pat, and the pets Chemistry and Habeas Corpus, all had very distinctive characteristics and their byplay was frequently more entertaining that the current adventure-of-the-month. The settings were also fascinating: Doc's Fortress of Solitude, the Hidalgo Trading Company (which served as a front for his armada of vehicles), and especially the mysterious 86th floor headquarters all became familiar haunts to the reader, and the far-flung adventures took the intrepid band to exotic and richly-described locations all over the world. The adventures were always fast-paced and exciting, from the early apocalyptic world-saving extravaganzas of the early days to the latter scientific-detective style shorter works of the post-World War Two years. There were always a few points that it was difficult to believe along the way, but there were always more ups than downs, and there was never, ever a dull moment. The Doc Savage books have always been my favorite entertainments... I was always, as Johnny would say, superamalgamated!
One by one the rich nitrate miners of Antofagasta, Chile, were being hideously crushed to death by falling boulders. Then the Man of Bronze saw the evil hand of The Mad Earth Shaker -- and uncovered his terrifying plot to control the world!
My take:
Originally published in Feb. 1934 (next in line after BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF), this 14th Doc Savage pulp novel starts off like gangbusters but sags a bit in the middle and kind of limps to an unspectacular finish. Doc does have a few moments where he shows off his amazing prowess and mental abilities, but overall this is another disappointing early entry in the series, unusual in that most pre-1940 supersagas are fun and colorful reads to this day (books like THE POLAR TREASURE and THE PHANTOM CITY from 1933 are classics of their type, full of imagination, pulse-pounding action and period flavor).
THE MAN WHO SHOOK THE EARTH had potential to join the upper-tier ranks in the series, but the execution is not up to snuff. It gets the job done, but writer Lester Dent seems to lose interest somewhat after a vivid opening, and doesn't render the Chilean locale with his customary atmosphere. However, many other Doc Savage fans hold this tale in higher regard than I do, so as always, your mileage may vary.
Great James Bama cover on the Bantam paperback edition, though!
Original publication order: #12 (February 1934) Bantam reprint order: #43
Doc and his crew face off against a typically bizarre enemy: a fiend who is using an earthquake machine to murder prominent mine owners in Chile. The story opens with a bang, has a drawn-out middle section and limps into a rushed ending. I feel like author Lester Dent missed an opportunity here: this could easily have been one of the best novels in the series, but it never quite gets where it's going.
Dent may have been experimenting a bit: the style is a bit more leisurely and expansive than previous stories, and the story is longer than average. The flip side is that it's unfocused. Tough gal "Tip" Galligan has all the marks of an exciting character but is wasted after her initial scene. I'm still scratching my head over a minor villain who appears midway through the book and is promptly killed off. And the evil plot behind the story is revealed far too late and wrapped up far too quickly, as if Dent himself didn't figure it all out until the very end.
Oh well. An "average" Doc Savage story is still a good time. I just thought this had the makings of a classic, and it didn't live up.
From the blizzardly streets of New York City to the hot and sandy Chile, Doc and crew are wrapped up in another mystery. This time Europeans are attempting to take over the nitrate industry in Chile as a precursor to war in Europe. This saga occurs directly before The Meteor Menace.
Of note in this story - Doc Savage preforms corrective surgery on Johnny’s eye. This surgery restores full vision to his impaired eye. Johnny convalesces during this book. Hereafter, Johnny has a magnifying lens put into his monocle which he uses during his archeological work.
This was written by Lester Dent and was originally published February, 1939.
Of all the pulp era heroes few stand out above the crowd, Doc Savage is one of these. With his 5 aides and cousin he adventures across the world. Fighting weird menaces, master criminals and evil scientists Doc and the Fab 5 never let you down for a great read. These stories have all you need; fast paced action, weird mystery, and some humor as the aides spat with each other. My highest recommendation.
I wasn't as crazy about this adventure as some of the others. It seemed weaker, less plotted, as if Lester Dent was writing it as he went along with no real purpose or theme. Doc is, of course, on top of his game and the Fantastic Five are as useful as always. This one just didn't grab me. Looking forward to March, 1934, the Meteor Menace.
For anyone who is a fan of this Doc Sacage series. This is a wonderful story, it lives up to the action, suspense and level of entertainment that is expected.