Friday, November 23, 2007

Mike Resnick's "Exploits": Collection of 10 stories about Lucifer Jones' adventures in Asia during 1926-1931

Table of contents below will get commentary as I go through the stories:

  1. "The Flame of Bharatput" (A): Humor. Lucifer successfully convinces his lady love of the moment that he is an expert tiger slayer! Humor is good enough, but leading lady is a snob. No where near the class of Lucifer stories set in South America, but not bad. Set in Jaipur, India.
  2. "Secret Sex" (B): Probably the worst Lucifer story I've read yet. Set in Delhi & Khajuraho, both in India. I found the humor in bad taste. Facts are generally right, but interpretation wrong. And a couple of plot elements are utterly incredulous - someone lending an elephant to a stranger, e.g.! I am not sure this is the India western audiences expect or believe, but I cannot identify with it & I've lived here all my life. Title is corruption of "secret sects" as the phrase passes through men speaking different languages.
  3. "The Master Detective"
  4. "The Sin City Derby"
  5. "The Insidious Oriental Dentist"
  6. "The Great Wall"
  7. "The Abominable Snowman"
  8. "The Land of Eternal Youth"
  9. "The Scorpion Lady"
  10. "The Other Master Detective"

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