Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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Dwarves, Halflings and Mushroom-men

A brief post to show you the wonderful cover for my forthcoming novella, A Storm Brewing, set in the gaming universe created by my friend Andrea Sfiligoi for his company, Ganesha Games.

This will be my first all-out “traditional”, high fantasy story in about fifteen years.
And given my tastes in fantasy and Andrea’s A Song of Blades and Heroes universe, it will not be that “traditional”, after all. Nor it will be very high, probably.

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I love this cover, by the way. It’s absolutely perfect.
And yes, that’s an eyepatch-wearing, pig-riding whip-cracking halfling redhead girl in the background. Continue reading →


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The Art of Travel

titleThe idea of the work occurred to me when exploring South-western Africa in 1850-51. I felt acutely at that time the impossibility of obtaining sufficient information on the subjects of which it treats ; for though the natives of that country taught me a great deal, it was obvious that their acquaintance with bush lore was exceedingly partial and limited. Then remembering how the traditional maxims and methods of travelling in each country differ from those of others, and how every traveller discovers some useful contrivances for himself, it appeared to me, that I should do welcome service to all who have to rough it,-whether explorers, emigrants, missionaries or soldiers, by collecting the scattered experiences of many such persons in various circumstances, collating them, examining into their principles, and deducing from them what might fairly be called an “Art of Travel.” To this end, on my return home, I searched through a vast number of geographical works, I sought information from numerous travellers of distinction, and I made a point of re-testing, in every needful case, what I had read or learned by hearsay.

Francis Galton‘s The Art of Travel is available as a handy pdf through the website galton.org, that collects all the works of the Victorian scientist, explorer and polimath. The book was very popular in the 19th and was often reprinted.

The Art of Travel is an entertaining read, and a great resource for writers of historical and exotic adventure fiction.

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The Man that would be Indy: William M. McGovern

Raiders of the Lost Ark

The list of real-life characters that supposedly inspired the fictional character of Indiana Jones is long and varied.
Roy Chapman Andrews is usually at the top of the list – even if both Spielberg and Lucas denied they ever heard about him before they filmed Raiders of the Lost Ark.

But what about William Montgomery McGovern?
Today, McGovern is not very popular.
The son of a globetrotting couple (his father was an army officer), McGovern put together an impressive curriculum.
He studied Buddhist philosophy in Japan, then moved to the Sorbonne first and the University of Berlin later, finally getting his PhD in Oxford. He was then lecturer and/or examiner in Oriental
Studies at the University of London. Continue reading →


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Warren Murphy, R.I.P.

I just learned about the death, on September the 4th, of Warren Murphy.

Some probably remember Murphy as the screenwriter of the Mel Gibson vehicle, Lethal Weapon II, but to pulp lovers he will forever be half of the creative team that brought us The Destroyer.

{B5F40AF1-F5DB-4964-924B-F3E30C105D05}Img400Murphy’s piece in the book The Fine Art of Murder, in which he explains how, together with Richard Sapir, he created the character of Remo Williams in the original Created, the Destroyer, as a satire of certian macho-oriented thrillers – and the book was bought and published as a bona-fide thriller – was what caused me to track down and read the first volumes in the Destroyer series.

With tongue firmly in cheek, an obvious gusto for excess and a collection of over-the-top situations, characters and events, the Remo Williams novel are at the same time the apex of the paperback originals that replaced the pulps in the ’70s, and a satire of that same subgenre. They mix spy story, science fiction, martial arts, with a large side serving of irony.

I am saddened by the passing of Warren Murphy.
He was one of the last giants of pulpdom.


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How to cook a wolf

31670Not all pulp readings come from pulp magazines.

I discovered How to cook a wolf a few years back, as I was digging on Amazon in search of cheap Christmas gifts for my friends.

Written by legendary gourmand and writer Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, despite its grim title the volume does not explain how to get a wolf on the table – but it is indeed an interesting read1.
And it has a certain relevance for aficionados of adventure writing and pulp fiction.
Because How to cook a wolf was published in 1942, and it is a book about home economy and kitchen management for a nation facing rationing and the many dramatic shortages of wartime. Continue reading →


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Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle

I was talking with my friend Claire, last night, and the discussion shifted – as it is only natural, between a man and a woman during a stormy summer night – to the Tarzan animated series from Filmation.
Called Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, and it was originally released in 1976.

According to my friend Claire, the series was horrible.
I beg to differ. Continue reading →