Tales of the Wold Newton Universe

Wold Newton

by Philip José Farmer

A collection of Wold Newton-inspired short stories by Farmerphiles, experts, and the Grand Master of SF himself.A real meteorite fell near Wold Newton, Yorkshire, England, on December 13, 1795, and was found to be radioactive, causing genetic mutations in the occupants of a passing coach. Many of their descendants were thus endowed with extremely high intelligence and strength, as well as an exceptional capacity and drive to perform good, or, as the case may be, evil deeds.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Pulp, Fiction, Mystery

496 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, but spent much of his life in Peoria, Illinois.

Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mammoth collection is a set of mixed blessings. On one hand, this single paperback brought out by Titan Books brings most of the Wold Newton related shorter works together, and becomes a nice companion volume to the reissued and cherished volumes 'The Other Log of Phileas Fogg' and 'The Peerless Peer'. On the other hand, Farmerphiles like us who had got the gorgeous volumes brought out by Subterranean Press as 'Pearls from Peoria', 'Venus on the Half Shell and Other Stories', and 'Up From the Bottomless Pit' would find several works already in their possession. There are also a few works penned by authors of repute who had received authorisation from the author's estate to write works belonging to the universe created by PJF. So, for the benefit of all, let me give a list of everything that's here:
* Introduction~ The Wold Newton Tales of Philip Jose Farmer
* The Problem of Dore Bridge - Among Others
* A Scarletin Study
* The Doge whose Barque was Worse than his Bight
* Skinburn
* The Freshman
* After King Kong Fell
* Kwasin and the Bear God (Khokarsa)
* Into Time's Abyss (Time's Last Gift)
* The Last of the Guaranys (Time's Last Gift)
* The Wild Huntsman (Secrets of the Nine)
The works penned by PJF are simply wonderful. Those created by others are truthful and entertaining. Overall, an enjoyable collection.
Recommended.

[David Grossman]

Wow. Lots of other books I need to read to make more out of this. I always get mixed up over family trees, which doesnt help. Fascinating, especially when it goes into the time travel aspects. Like a challenging mystery, where you think you can barely make out something, just beyond your line of view, making it hard to put down.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite the hefty collection, and even at 492 pages there are still stories by Farmer and others missing that could fill another volume (or two) of similar size. The majority of the material presented herein is by the Grand Master himself, stories that added depth to the large family tree he'd already outlined in Tarzan Alive! and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. They range from short to novella length, starting with "The Adventure of the Sore Bridge -- Among Others," in which gentleman thief A.J. Raffles and his sidekick Harry Manders reveal what really happened during the three famously "Unsolved Cases" of Sherlock Holmes (Holmes and Watson do cameo in the story), and ending with my personal favorite, "After King Kong Fell," in which 13 year old Tim Howller of Peoria, IL, while witnessing Kong's great escape and downfall, brushes elbows with Doc Savage and The Shadow. (Howller is a peripheral member of the WN Family, and is a literary stand-in for Farmer himself.) Farmer is in fine form in all of these stories, marrying mystery, historical fiction, noir, fantasy and SF in equal measures in pitch-perfect pastiches of some of our favorite literary characters. Along the way, he also introduces a next generation to the family tree, with characters like Kent Lane (son of The Shadow and Margo Lane, naturally), and the German canine detective Ralph Von Wau Wau.

The second half of the book is comprised of stories by those worthies authorized by Phil Farmer or his estate to carry on the author's creations, and these stories are for the most part equal to Farmer's voice and intent. There's a reason Farmer hand-picked Christopher Paul Carey to carry on the Khokarsa Cycle (also known as the "tales of Ancient Opar" books), and Win Scott Eckert to continue the adventures of Pat Wildman, daughter of Doc Savage. Farmer worked closely with these authors to complete his manuscripts for The Song of Kwasin (Carey) and The Evil in Pemberley House (Eckert). Carey and Farmer's story "Kwasin and the Bear God" takes place between chapters of their novel, but is a complete, original story (not a novel excerpt) that easily wraps the reader up in Farmer's pre-history world-building. Eckert's "The Wild Huntsman" is part of his on-going Wold Newton Origins series, in which he describes how those seven couples came to be in the town of Wold Newton when the meteor struck; Eckert deftly mixes historical-political drama with science fiction and melds French pulp influences (The Black Coats) into Farmer's established continuity. (Eckert also manages to bridge the gap between Farmer's licensed Tarzan and Doc Savage novels and his pastiches, Lord Grandrith and Doc Caliban.)

The collection is highly recommended for fans of pulp adventure stories; you do not have to have a thorough understanding of the Wold Newton Family tree to enjoy these stories, and they just might whet your appetite to dive head-first into the wonderful creative mythography Farmer is known for.

Brief thoughts on the individual stories can be found at my A Story A Day community.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I powered my way through but not sure why. I think I started at the end of a long series.
Lots of names in this book and it was only saved from 2 stars by the last time travel-surprise at the end.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Half way through but not sure if I will finish the book. Unlike the Holmes books this one gives too much evidence after the facts. A series of short stories that unfortunately dragged on just a bit to much and I had better books to read

[Axel M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Einfach nur großartig.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mixed bag but quite interesting nevertheless...