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Drell Master
Drell Master is an epic fantasy adventure in the style of A. Merritt and Edgar Rice Burroughs, but with erotic and occult elements that are beyond what the old pulp-fiction writers could express. The story unfolds on an exotic planet of sky-islands, sailing air-ships, naked Amazons, vampires, super science and black magick. The hero, Brand of Valadeen, is on a dark quest to awaken the ancient, monstrous brood-queen of the drells--deadly air-squids that haunt the clouds of Thoon--to aid the cause of the sky-people in their war with the cavern-dwellers led by Rothgar the Avenger. Rothgar possesses the implanted Crystal Eye of Doom, and is aided in his world-conquering designs by his voluptous, evil sister Nhur the Enchantress.
Brand, and the beautiful warrior-princess Lira of Jhalimar, battle slavers, vampires, sky-pirates, and black magick while the cataclysmic course of events is secretly manipulated by an ancient artificial intelligence and the agents of a world-wide secret society.
Drell Master is fast-paced,action-packed, and suspensful while being intricately plotted and textured. The story has several surprises and twists that will fascinate the thoughtful reader. The book is lovingly illustrated, by the author, with a color frontispiece and fourteen full-page drawings in the old 1940s pulp-magazine style
395 pages, Paperback
First published May 9, 2001
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 6, 2015
I don't understand the motivation that would impel someone to graft "adult" on to any other genre. It doesn't work: you're either reading erotica or you're reading something else. And, frankly, any book that would use the words "mature subject matter" generally doesn't treat the subject with much maturity.
That's a shame because the author is on to something here. There are some good ideas here: floating sky-islands, air squids with their giant brood queen, vampirism caused by collectively intelligent maggots. And there's some good delivery: the world has a reasonable history and ecosystem and politics. A smorgasboard world of magic(k) and superscience and mounted pterodactyl cavalry and cavern city-factories and so forth.
The author's own illustrations have it in a nutshell. They're perfect realizations of images of the story, and I can't imagine better. Cartoonish and heroic and pulpish. And then, of course, the women are unclothed and completely unreasonably proportioned.
It tries to make a serious point about population and environmentalism and the social welfare system, but all gravitas has already been sucked out by the above.
The author includes excerpts of a letter with Lin Carter, whom he cites as a friend and mentor. This was actually extremely interesting, as it showed a practical if nonrigorous methodology to Carter's own writing. Then again, in it Carter also suggests adapting Beowulf to the big streen by adding a race of Morlocks from post-apocalyptic Atlantis, a kind of Gandalf figure, and a Great Sword of Power...thus proving that not even a pillar of mythic literature is safe.
That's a shame because the author is on to something here. There are some good ideas here: floating sky-islands, air squids with their giant brood queen, vampirism caused by collectively intelligent maggots. And there's some good delivery: the world has a reasonable history and ecosystem and politics. A smorgasboard world of magic(k) and superscience and mounted pterodactyl cavalry and cavern city-factories and so forth.
The author's own illustrations have it in a nutshell. They're perfect realizations of images of the story, and I can't imagine better. Cartoonish and heroic and pulpish. And then, of course, the women are unclothed and completely unreasonably proportioned.
It tries to make a serious point about population and environmentalism and the social welfare system, but all gravitas has already been sucked out by the above.
The author includes excerpts of a letter with Lin Carter, whom he cites as a friend and mentor. This was actually extremely interesting, as it showed a practical if nonrigorous methodology to Carter's own writing. Then again, in it Carter also suggests adapting Beowulf to the big streen by adding a race of Morlocks from post-apocalyptic Atlantis, a kind of Gandalf figure, and a Great Sword of Power...thus proving that not even a pillar of mythic literature is safe.
Displaying 1 of 1 review