Wold Newton - Anyone read them?

Marathon

After reading League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Anno Dracula, I've become interested in Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton universe.

Has anybody read the original two books Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life?

Should they be read in published order, Tarzan first, then Doc Savage? Do they inter-link with each other or are they separate?

Is there an official reading order for all the other books or are they standalone within the same universe?


And one last thing, do I need to be well-versed in the Tarzan and Doc Savage stories first, or can I get by with just a basic knowledge of the characters?

dubbat138

I have read Tarzan Alive a few times. It is fun. And what got me interested in reading the Tarzan books.

[Deleted User]

I have read the Doc Savage one... it basically reads as a biography, as if he were real, his books were chronicles of his life, and as if he were part of a larger universe, populated by other pulp/pop culture characters.

I believe the whole premise of Wold Newton is not necessarily to "team up" the characters, but to provide evidence that they all occupy the same universe. Kind of a "six degrees" sort of game.

As for the book itself, I could not help but feel it would have been more fun to read the actual adventures, rather than a "biographical" accounting of them. I don't believe I actually finished it.

WetRats

Read 'em.

No order necessary.

Some of the related stuff has more narrative. (Hadon of Ancient Opar, A Feast Unknown)

kiwijase

I've read A Feast Unknown. The fight between Tarzan and Doc Savage over the ravine was...interesting.

WetRats

kiwijase said:

I've read A Feast Unknown. The fight between Tarzan and Doc Savage over the ravine was...interesting.

Memorable.

SolitaireRose

I read the Doc Savage book YEARS ago when I was probably around 16 or 17...and it upset me. Not in an angry way, but in a "that just doesn't seem right" way. I had read a lot of Doc Savage, and the connections Farmer made just disturbed me. Now, I see it for what it is, one VERY POWERFUL writer's fan notions that he talked publishers into printing up, but then...?

I did, however, like his one "in canon" Doc Savage novel. Nice origin story and it gave Doc's assistants a lot more personality than they ever had under anyone else.

WetRats

SolitaireRose said:

I read the Doc Savage book YEARS ago when I was probably around 16 or 17...and it upset me. Not in an angry way, but in a "that just doesn't seem right" way. I had read a lot of Doc Savage, and the connections Farmer made just disturbed me. Now, I see it for what it is, one VERY POWERFUL writer's fan notions that he talked publishers into printing up, but then...?

One could say most of Farmer's work was fanfic.

One might say the same of Alan Mordru.

B-)