The Evil in Pemberley House is one of the last entries in the Wold Newton mythology which Philip Jose Farmer had a direct hand in producing. The novel based on an outline by Farmer is the work of Win Scott Eckert, a writer who has specialized in Wold Newton yarns for several years now. This is one is a hoot and full of hard-nosed action and some provocative and at times erotic sex. Patricia Wildman is the daughter of Doc Wildman, Farmer's Wold Newton version of Doc Savage. Patricia is a young vital woman and a freshly made widow who is filled with complex sexual hang-ups, many having to do with her father. Patricia's "Daddy Issues" are only part of a longer and at times complex tale of which sets its action in the estate from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It's a scary house full of hidden passages, legendary haunts, and a gang of murderous relatives.
We first meet Patricia as she is heading to take control of the titles and the estate which has fallen to her through inheritance. I will not even begin to try and to explain the family tree, but the book offers the reader two, one at the front which is spoiler free and another at the end which fills in those blanks. As is the case with much of Farmer's Wold Newton material most people are related to one another, if only tangentially, or related to someone you've heard of or read about. We follow the story from Patricia's perspective, and she is a young woman who is capable and astute thanks to her genetics and her upbringing. Still, she makes more than a few blunders which create some fearsome challenges.
Like all the Wold Newton books, this one is a celebration of the myriad adventure fictions which have fired civilized imaginations for centuries. One of the problems with reading Wold Newton stuff is that the sheer complexity can get overwhelming and at times works against the momentum of the narrative. In this story for instance there is an embedded short story, which is read by Patricia over time which supplies necessary clues, but which unfortunately takes the reader out of the chase somewhat. But that's also the glory of his kind of stuff. Making the connections, getting that "Aha!" moment as the secrets unfold is pure fun, if at times a wee bit agonizing.
Featuring a sexy painting by the late Glenn Orbik up front, this is not a book for the faint of heart. If explicit sex scenes offend you, this is not the book for you perhaps. Eckert in a forward says that Farmer was insistent that the sex stayed in the story, that those aspect of the story was as potent as possible. In the spirit of An Feast Unknown which in many ways ignited the Wold Newton universe so many decades ago, this late addition is full of blood, thunder and other vital juices. You have been warned.
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So the Doc Caliban of the Mad Goblin and Feast Unknown is not part of Wold Newton, or is Wildman just an alias?
ReplyDeleteI think I have this right -- Doc Caliban of A Feast Unknown predates the Wold Newton Family framework that Farmer developed in the 70's and beyond. Doc Wildman is his other dimensional counterpart. Patricia is Wildman's daughter. The two Docs encounter one another in the novel The Monster On Hold which is a sequel to A Feast Unknown.
DeleteThat's not confusing at all. I hope I got most of that right. But if I didn't Win Scott Eckert checks in here from time to time and I hope he sets the record straight.
So Farmer wrote his stories out of his own universe and someone else is writing stories that are in his universe? I'm going to have to revisit Godel's Theorem, while the alternate universe version of me gets hammered.
ReplyDeleteThe novels A Feast Unknown, Lord of the Trees, The Mad Goblin and The Monster on Hold (finished by another Eckert) are part of Farmer's attempt to pay homage to his literary heroes, and are lumped together under the "Secrets of the Nine" banner. Later he took another stab at it with the Wold Newton concept which has been added significantly by others who are fascinated by what Farmer was up to. It's rather like what Lovecraft did when he invited folks to write C'Thulhu Mythos stories when they were so popular.
DeleteIt all makes sense sort of.
Oh, all right. I seem to remember a character called Greatheart Silver that Farmer wrote for Weird Heroes who was involved in a showdown between aged versions of various pulp heroes like the Shadow and Doc Savage against villains such as Fu Manchu. I guess it's just something that he (and Alan Moore) liked to do.
ReplyDeleteYep. The fusion of classic characters into a (more or less) coherent universe.
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