Golden Hell

February 22, 2010
Spurred by the chance of treasure, Capt. Humbert Reynolds sets out into the Gobi Desert to find gold only to encounter impossible obstacles, not the least of which are treacherous Mongolians and a cult living at the gold's epicenter. Like much pulp fiction, this story is big on action, manly men, and simplistic and often crude depictions of nonwhites (one Mongolian character is reported to have an Oxford accent and yet the actor fails to produce anything but an overtly stereotypical “Asian” accent). This aside, the music, sound quality, and production are top-notch and the full cast and sound effects lend it nostalgic appeal. An additional story, “Pearl Pirate,” is featured at the end, and though short, by comparison it is equally polished as the main production. A Galaxy Press paperback.

February 15, 2010
Some may wonder who the intended audience is for these two undistinguished pulp-era action novellas from Hubbard (1911-1986). The title story concerns the travails of a mining engineer who risks his life in pursuit of gold and finds himself trapped in a hellish cavern in the Gobi desert. Readers should be prepared for racial stereotypes: Mongols are "yellow-fanged demons"; a Chinese moneylender in the second novella, "Pearl Pirate," is described as "the greasy fat Chinaman." Occasionally nonsensical prose ("If ever Ichabod Crane fled from the Headless Horseman, he would have had to travel very fast to even keep up with me") doesn't help. Those looking for thrills and brushes with death have plenty of modern authors better able to keep the pages turning. Extras include an excerpt from another, similar adventure story, and a glossary aimed at helping readers with "uncommon words or expressions of the era" (such as Dante Alighieri, Sir Francis Drake, and G-men).