Friday, November 23, 2007

Mike Resnick's Lucifer Jones series of humorous stories

OK - these stories are not strictly sf. I am making an exception for them because a lot of them are just too good. I will very likely end up locating & reading all.

Going by my experience with a couple of stories set in India, I'll say the best stories are likely to be those set in locales you're not familiar with. While the treatment is authentic, perspective is of a tourist, & one who has visited places usually of interest to tourists; locals are likely to find the treatment very shallow. But no worry, the series is set all over the world, & there are likely to be ample number of stories set in locales a specific reader is unfamiliar with (hence can enjoy).

All these posts are tagged "Lucifer Jones"; so this query should locate them all.

  1. "Adventures" collection: 12 stories set in Africa during 1922-1926. None read.
  2. "Exploits" collection: 10 stories set in Asia during 1926-1931. Some read.
  3. "Encounters" collection: 11 stories set in Europe during 1931-1934. None read.
  4. "Hazards" collection: To be published sometime in 2009 by Subterranean Press; but stories published so far are available in retail. Set in South America during 1934-1938. 12 stories, most read.
  5. "Voyages" collection: Set "just before - and possibly a few months after - Pearl Harbor". In South Pacific & Australia. Collection yet to be published; individual stories are currently being published online - download links at collection's page.

See also.

  1. An article by Mike Resnick on origins of Lucifer Jones & the series.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

READING ORDER...


The first Lucifer Jones book is ADVENTURES, containing
12 episodes that take place in Africa from 1922 to 1926.

The second book is EXPLOITS, containing 10 episides that take place in Asia from 1925 to 1931.

The third book is ENCOUNTERS, containing 11 episodes that take place in Europe from 1931 to 1934.

The fourth book is HAZARDS, containing 12 episodes that take place in South America from 1934 to 1938.

The fifth book, when completed, will be VOYAGES, containing
11 episodes that take place in the Pacific from 1938 to 1942.
They are appearing 3 or 4 times a year in Subterranean Magazine prior to being collection as a book, and the first five episodes are "Heads and Tails in Paradise", "Harboring Pearls", "Weekdays", "King and Mrs. Kong", and the soon-to-be-published "Treasure Island".
It should be out in late 2012.

The sixth and final book, as yet unwritten, will be INTRIGUES, containing 11 or 12 episodes that will take place in Australia and Antarctica from 1942 to 1945.

LUCIFER JONES (Warner Books, 1992) was simply a 2-in-1 volume containing EXPLOITS and ENCOUNTERS.

When Lucifer has finally been barred from every land mass in the world, there will be one final book, the long-lost autobiography of his grandfather, Nicodemus Jones, who had a little something to do with the Little Big Horn, the Gunfight at the OK Corral, the Gold Rush, etc.

Tinkoo said...

Thanks for clarifying, Michael.

I'd not noticed "King and Mrs. Kong" - will look it up; thks.