A Whiff of Madness

by Ron Goulart

Of all the colonized galaxy, the Barnum system was the whackiest. Nobody could ever predict what would likely to happen there, so it was no surprise to newsman Jack Summer when he was sent to check out the King of Laranja East on the planete Peregrine. But surprises were waiting for him anyway in the person of the universe's most lecherous photographer, in the weird claimant to the Starbuck fortune, in the highwaywoman known as the Scarlet Angel, and in the numerous ways catmen, scheming lizardmen, and finally in the person of the wily King Waldo, who alone could bring justice to the land, even though he himself was surely the notorious Phantom of the Fog!

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor

156 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Pseudonyms: Howard Lee; Frank S Shawn; Kenneth Robeson; Con Steffanson; Josephine Kains; Joseph Silva; William Shatner.
Ron Goulart is a cultural historian and novelist. Besides writing extensively about pulp fiction—including the seminal Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972)—Goulart has written for the pulps since 1952, when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres and using a variety of pennames, including Kenneth Robeson, Joseph Silva, and Con Steffanson. In the 1990s, he became the ghostwriter for William Shatner’s popular TekWar novels. Goulart’s After Things Fell Apart (1970) is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award.

In the 1970s Goulart wrote novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom, and in 1980 he published Hail Hibbler, a comic sci-fi novel that began the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. Goulart has also written several comic mystery series, including six books starring Groucho Marx. Having written for comic books, Goulart produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Whiff of Madness is a return to Goulart's Barnum System with the laconic newsman Jake Summer and Palma "the universe's most lecherous photographer." There are plenty of madcap encounters with catmen and lizardmen and deranged androids and lovely damsels, both distressed and distressing. The title says it all, but it's more than merely a whiff.

[Charl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing story, decently written. Good writing alone makes it stand above the crowd, and the story has a gentle tongue-in-cheek mood. Worth reading.

[Charles Stauffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it years ago and thinking about it just now made me start laughing out loud. Very funny indeed.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Whiff of Madness feels like a futuristic western fever dream in the best way possible. A bit silly and outlandish, it is very well written and keeps up a modest pace throughout

[Adam Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mercifully short, almost radically insubstantial and little more than a series of semi-funny euphemisms for tits and baldness. But I didn’t hate it.

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review of "Wildsmith".