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Millennium Bug
WHO IS DOC BRAZEN?
The world's most famous crimefighter, scineeist, and adventurer from the Thirties and Forties comes out of his fifty-year retirement when his anti-crime operation is attacked. Someone has discovered one of his a clandestine program to turn criminals into productive members of society.
Aided by a new groups of assistants, Ulysses Brazen, Jr. finds a genius equal to his own at work with a plan to take control of the world without firing a shot.
THIS NEW 2ND EDITION INCLUDES AN ALL-NEW 3500 WORD AFTERWORD EXPLAINING HOW THE CHARACTER AND THE NOVEL WAS DEVELOPED.
The world's most famous crimefighter, scineeist, and adventurer from the Thirties and Forties comes out of his fifty-year retirement when his anti-crime operation is attacked. Someone has discovered one of his a clandestine program to turn criminals into productive members of society.
Aided by a new groups of assistants, Ulysses Brazen, Jr. finds a genius equal to his own at work with a plan to take control of the world without firing a shot.
THIS NEW 2ND EDITION INCLUDES AN ALL-NEW 3500 WORD AFTERWORD EXPLAINING HOW THE CHARACTER AND THE NOVEL WAS DEVELOPED.
277 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 28, 2018
4 people are currently reading
1 person want to read
About the author
Jeff Deischer
113 books9 followersJeff Deischer is best known for his chronologically-minded essays, particularly the book-length The Man of Bronze: a Definitive Chronology, about the pulp DOC SAVAGE series. It is a definitive chronology, rather than the definitive chronology, he explains, because each chronologist of the DOC SAVAGE series has his own rules for constructing his own chronology. Jeff believes his own chronology to be the definitive one – using his rules, which were set down by Philip Jose Farmer in his book, Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life.
Jeff was born in 1961, a few years too late, in his opinion. He missed out on the Beatles, the beginning of the Marvel Age of comic books and the early years of the Bantam reprints of the DOC SAVAGE series, the latter two of which he began reading when he was about ten years old (on the other hand, he was too young to go to Viet Nam …).
Jeff had become enamored of Heroes – with a capital “H”, for these were not ordinary men – at a very young age. He grew up watching DANIEL BOONE (to whom he is distantly related, by marriage), TARZAN, BATMAN, THE LONE RANGER and ZORRO on television. There is a large “Z” carved into his mother’s sewing machine that can attest to this fact (as you might imagine, it did not impress her the way it always did the peasants and soldiers on ZORRO).
This genre of fiction made a lasting impression on his creative view, and everything he writes has Good Guys and Bad Guys – in capital letters. As an adult writer, he tries to make his characters human, as well.
Jeff began writing as a young teenager, and, predictably, all of it was bad. He started to write seriously while in college, but spent the next decade creating characters and universes and planning stories without seeing much of it to fruition. This wasted time is his biggest regret in life.
In the early 1990s, Jeff began a correspondence with noted pulp historian and novelist Will Murray, while he was writing both the DOC SAVAGE and THE DESTROYER series (THE DESTROYER #102 is actually dedicated to Jeff). Jeff currently consults on Will Murray’s DOC SAVAGE books (as evidenced by the acknowledgements pages in the novels of “The Wild Adventures of …” series), a privilege that he enjoys. Will Murray’s sage advice helped turn Jeff into a true author.
Producing few books over the next few years, Jeff’s writing finally attained professional grade, and, after being laid off from the auto industry in 2007, he was able to devote more time to writing. From 2008, he produced an average of three books a year, most of it fiction, and most of that pulp. Reading so much of the writing of Lester Dent, the first, most prolific and best of those using the DOC SAVAGE house name “Kenneth Robeson”, Jeff’s own natural style is similar to Dent’s. He “turns this up” when writing pulp, and “turns this down” when writing non-pulp fiction.
Jeff primarily writes fiction, and, combining his twin loves of superheroes and pulp, began THE GOLDEN AGE series in 2012. This resurrected, revamped and revitalized the largely forgotten characters of Ned Pines’ Standard, Better and Nedor publishing companies. These characters, drawn from superhero, pulp and mystic milieus, fill the “Auric Universe”, as Jeff calls it.
Jeff’s webpage is jeffdeischer.blogspot.com, where he posts the first chapters of his novels, so that potential readers can peruse his work without having to spend several dollars on a trade paperback to find out if they like it or not.
Jeff was born in 1961, a few years too late, in his opinion. He missed out on the Beatles, the beginning of the Marvel Age of comic books and the early years of the Bantam reprints of the DOC SAVAGE series, the latter two of which he began reading when he was about ten years old (on the other hand, he was too young to go to Viet Nam …).
Jeff had become enamored of Heroes – with a capital “H”, for these were not ordinary men – at a very young age. He grew up watching DANIEL BOONE (to whom he is distantly related, by marriage), TARZAN, BATMAN, THE LONE RANGER and ZORRO on television. There is a large “Z” carved into his mother’s sewing machine that can attest to this fact (as you might imagine, it did not impress her the way it always did the peasants and soldiers on ZORRO).
This genre of fiction made a lasting impression on his creative view, and everything he writes has Good Guys and Bad Guys – in capital letters. As an adult writer, he tries to make his characters human, as well.
Jeff began writing as a young teenager, and, predictably, all of it was bad. He started to write seriously while in college, but spent the next decade creating characters and universes and planning stories without seeing much of it to fruition. This wasted time is his biggest regret in life.
In the early 1990s, Jeff began a correspondence with noted pulp historian and novelist Will Murray, while he was writing both the DOC SAVAGE and THE DESTROYER series (THE DESTROYER #102 is actually dedicated to Jeff). Jeff currently consults on Will Murray’s DOC SAVAGE books (as evidenced by the acknowledgements pages in the novels of “The Wild Adventures of …” series), a privilege that he enjoys. Will Murray’s sage advice helped turn Jeff into a true author.
Producing few books over the next few years, Jeff’s writing finally attained professional grade, and, after being laid off from the auto industry in 2007, he was able to devote more time to writing. From 2008, he produced an average of three books a year, most of it fiction, and most of that pulp. Reading so much of the writing of Lester Dent, the first, most prolific and best of those using the DOC SAVAGE house name “Kenneth Robeson”, Jeff’s own natural style is similar to Dent’s. He “turns this up” when writing pulp, and “turns this down” when writing non-pulp fiction.
Jeff primarily writes fiction, and, combining his twin loves of superheroes and pulp, began THE GOLDEN AGE series in 2012. This resurrected, revamped and revitalized the largely forgotten characters of Ned Pines’ Standard, Better and Nedor publishing companies. These characters, drawn from superhero, pulp and mystic milieus, fill the “Auric Universe”, as Jeff calls it.
Jeff’s webpage is jeffdeischer.blogspot.com, where he posts the first chapters of his novels, so that potential readers can peruse his work without having to spend several dollars on a trade paperback to find out if they like it or not.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 5, 2018
“Action From Beginning To End”
The author gave me a copy of the book for an honest review. Set in contemporary times, Doctor Ulysses Brazen, Jr. returns to New York from retirement in Coronado when ex-criminals suddenly return to their old habits after years of being cured. Brazen, now approaching 100, still looks to be in his fifties; a giant, muscular golden man, he had been instrumental in fighting crime and world power grabbers in the 1930s and ‘40s, and curing men of criminal behavior during a brain operation. But now it appears someone has discovered his methods, and is returning criminals to their original ways. Doc Brazen knows it’s a direct attack on him and his past.
His old team members are now all dead, but he has new followers to take their place: Ozomatli, called Oz, and his cousin, Tlazotidapilzin, called Noble, are two Aztec warriors he has trained. Both are young, in the twenties, and may be sons of previous aides. Then there is Robert Laffite, called le Chat, a French cat bugler that could not be cured, but has a good heart; and Henry Prevost, a Gulf War vet and computer genius; Finally, Norma Crale, the granddaughter of a famous aviatrix and pilot extraordinaire, who goes by the name of Thunderbird: These are the new aides of Doctor Brazen.
Possibly the author’s best yet. This is actually a clone of Doc Savage, but Doc is an old man now – though he’s still in great shape and married to the Aztec Princess. Pat is mentioned, as Lucrezia Brazen, and was listed as missing in the Amazon Jungle in 1961. Oz has the appearance of a monkey or ape, so he’s apparently Monk’s son. I’m not sure if Noble is also a son of one of the aides. There is action from the beginning to the end, and though old, even Doc is still The Man Of Bronze, and he faces an old foe once again. It was a great story, and the new aides are fun, but regrettably I did miss the old gang and Pat Savage.
The author gave me a copy of the book for an honest review. Set in contemporary times, Doctor Ulysses Brazen, Jr. returns to New York from retirement in Coronado when ex-criminals suddenly return to their old habits after years of being cured. Brazen, now approaching 100, still looks to be in his fifties; a giant, muscular golden man, he had been instrumental in fighting crime and world power grabbers in the 1930s and ‘40s, and curing men of criminal behavior during a brain operation. But now it appears someone has discovered his methods, and is returning criminals to their original ways. Doc Brazen knows it’s a direct attack on him and his past.
His old team members are now all dead, but he has new followers to take their place: Ozomatli, called Oz, and his cousin, Tlazotidapilzin, called Noble, are two Aztec warriors he has trained. Both are young, in the twenties, and may be sons of previous aides. Then there is Robert Laffite, called le Chat, a French cat bugler that could not be cured, but has a good heart; and Henry Prevost, a Gulf War vet and computer genius; Finally, Norma Crale, the granddaughter of a famous aviatrix and pilot extraordinaire, who goes by the name of Thunderbird: These are the new aides of Doctor Brazen.
Possibly the author’s best yet. This is actually a clone of Doc Savage, but Doc is an old man now – though he’s still in great shape and married to the Aztec Princess. Pat is mentioned, as Lucrezia Brazen, and was listed as missing in the Amazon Jungle in 1961. Oz has the appearance of a monkey or ape, so he’s apparently Monk’s son. I’m not sure if Noble is also a son of one of the aides. There is action from the beginning to the end, and though old, even Doc is still The Man Of Bronze, and he faces an old foe once again. It was a great story, and the new aides are fun, but regrettably I did miss the old gang and Pat Savage.
April 26, 2025
Next best thing to having a new Doc Savage book. There are at least three excellent pastiche series of Doc Savage out there: Will Murray's superb recreations are set in Doc's original time period. William Preston's Tales of the Old Man series features a much older version of Doc set in today's modern world. Deischer's Doc Brazen series also moves Doc forward to the year 2000, giving him five new aides but an old foe. Someone is reversing the genetic procedure Doc has been using to recondition criminals into law-abiding members of society, forcing Doc out of a fifty-year retirement. Being nearly 100 years old has slowed Doc about 20%, and his new aides lack the experience of his old team, but world saving is just like riding a bike.
Like a poet shining forth brilliantly when constrained by a rigid form like a haiku, Deischer's writing shines by being constrained into the formula perfected by Lester Dent. Deischer has combined the more vulnerable human Doc of Dent's later works with the amazing gadgets of the early Doc. The new aides show a lot of potential, both for adventure and humor. I am excited by the possibilities and overjoyed to be reading new adventures of one of my favorite pulp characters.
Like a poet shining forth brilliantly when constrained by a rigid form like a haiku, Deischer's writing shines by being constrained into the formula perfected by Lester Dent. Deischer has combined the more vulnerable human Doc of Dent's later works with the amazing gadgets of the early Doc. The new aides show a lot of potential, both for adventure and humor. I am excited by the possibilities and overjoyed to be reading new adventures of one of my favorite pulp characters.
December 10, 2022
3.5. While I admire and enjoy this as a Doc Savage pastiche, it didn't really engage me the way the best of Doc Savage's adventures do.
It's the late 1990s and Ulysses Brazen (Doc Savage with surprisingly few serial numbers filed off) is retired and at peace when he gets word some of the criminals the Brazen Institute has cured (genetic treatment) over the years have returned to crime. Investigating, Brazen soon acquires a new group of sidekicks and finds himself plunged into a battle against his arch-nemesis (it's not hard to guess who if you're a Savage fan).
This was well done, but the villain's scheme doesn't make sense (it didn't gain him anything, just got Doc on his tail) and occasionally Deischer forgets which era he's working in ("aviatrix" is not a word anyone throws around any more, as far as I know). Still, fun enough I might try another.
It's the late 1990s and Ulysses Brazen (Doc Savage with surprisingly few serial numbers filed off) is retired and at peace when he gets word some of the criminals the Brazen Institute has cured (genetic treatment) over the years have returned to crime. Investigating, Brazen soon acquires a new group of sidekicks and finds himself plunged into a battle against his arch-nemesis (it's not hard to guess who if you're a Savage fan).
This was well done, but the villain's scheme doesn't make sense (it didn't gain him anything, just got Doc on his tail) and occasionally Deischer forgets which era he's working in ("aviatrix" is not a word anyone throws around any more, as far as I know). Still, fun enough I might try another.
April 16, 2018
Very enjoyable Doc Savage pastiche, bringing the Man of Bronze into the modern day. The names, of course, are changed, but the character is easily recognizable. I heartily recommend this for any of Doc’s fans, and look forward to the next chapter in the Doc Brazen storyline.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews