Henry Bedford-Jones was known as King of the Pulps – the sort of man that writes two novels at the same time, working on two typewriters*.
Bedford-Jones loved Dumas, and if historical adventure was probably is preferred field, he also wrote any other kind of story he was able to sell to the pulps.
A real pulp writer, he had a dozen pen names.

One of the best, earlier finds of this year is the reprints of H. Bedford-Jones stories by pulp specialists Black Dog Books, which complement the meagre selection of stories in the public domain found through the Gutenberg Project and its Australian counterpart.

The Master of Dragons collects the stories starring O’Neil and Burke, two American adventurers that find themselves in the employ of the self-styled Governor of Szechwan in the 1920s.

The stories were written in the 30s, and are therefore removed enough from the actual events of the Warlord years to be “historical” adventures, but close enough for the author to have a lot of fresh details to spice his narratives.

The heroes’ adventures do feel sometimes a little wild – but then, one stumbles upon the diaries of some actual adventurer of the time**, and one finds out that reality was usually wilder, and a lot less plausible.

Bedford-Jones’ style is straightforward, his prose clear, and his characters are well-drawn.
O’Neill and Burke are competent, decent-enough fellows, and do not fall into the hero-and-sidekick routine, and except for the first story, they both share a central, active role.

The ebook of The Master of Dragons goes for something like two euros, and is well worth the expense.

The introduction by Tom Roberts is particularly good, and rounds up the volume by sketching clearly the historical and political setting.

A good catch, a fun read.
More H. Bedford-Jones titles are on my reading list.

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* one of theplasures of reading pulp fiction is the side serving of legends that seem to surround every major author.

** we’ll talk about it.