Wild Adventure Of The Empire Of Doom!

Empire of Doom teams up Doc Savage with The Shadow one more time. The time is the late 30's when the world is suffering under the threat of a worldwide war. The United States is not yet a combatant, but is helping its ally Great Britain, in various ways including sending them a decommissioned naval destroyer. But before that can happen the "Golden Master" steals it with the aid of his Mongolian soldiers. He then launches an attack on NYC and specifically the Shadow by destroying the hotel in which he resides. Shiwan Khan also steals various super-weapons the Shadow has collected and cached. Using this might he and his forces fend off attacks by both Doc Savage and the Shadow. 

Will Murray writing as "Kenneth Robeson" has spun an action-filled yarn this time. The emphasis on the previous team-up was atmosphere and mystery, more suitable to The Shadow. This time the goal seems to be to deliver as much slam-bang action as possible, which gives Doc Savage the spotlight despite the fact the villain is a Shadow regular. The pace of the story is remarkable and pulls the reader along almost as quickly as the pages can be turned. Since Doc and the Shadow now have a history, there's little need for the two of them to spar and they join forces almost from the beginning, albeit each in his own distinctive way. The scale of his story is larger too as the whole of the United States Navy is brought into play attempting to foil Shiwan Khan's plans. In fact, this tale is so large it actually feels more like two pulp adventures rolled into one, when the action shifts from the oceans to the mysterious land of Xanadu as detailed in the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 

The previous meeting of these two pulp giants was largely interested in the lore of the Shadow and was told very much from that perspective. This tale reads very much like the Shadow is tagging along on a classic Doc Savage adventure. In that regard we get a lot of the Shadow operating in relative sunshine, not his ideal environment. There are a great many dandy Doc moments and we all of the gang of five save for Johnny who as he often is, is opening tomb somewhere and is too busy. 

This one is highly recommended. 

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