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Win Scott Eckert

Philip Jose Farmer

Myths for the Modern Age: Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe Paperback – Oct. 11 2005

by Win Scott Eckert (Author)

7 ratings

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In his classic biographies of fictional characters (Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life), Hugo- and Nebula-award winning author Philip Jose Farmer introduced the Wold Newton family, a collection of heroes and villains whose family-tree includes Sherlock Holmes, Fu Manchu, Philip Marlowe, and James Bond. In books, stories, and essays he expanded the concept even further, adding more branches to the Wold Newton family-tree. MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE: PHILIP JOSE FARMER'S WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE collects for the first time those rarely-seen essays. Expanding the family even farther are contributions from Farmer's successors-scholars, writers, and pop-culture historians-who bring even more fictional characters into the fold.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Monkeybrain (Oct. 11 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1932265147
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1932265149
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 522 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.66 x 2.67 x 22.81 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #1,216,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #66,342 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #72,323 in Science Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
7 ratings

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On December 13, 1795, a small meteorite plunged to the ground near the Yorkshire village of Wold Newton. According to veteran sf author Philip Jose Farmer, the crash produced a radiation shower that blanketed two horsedrawn carriages carrying some extraordinary witnesses. The meteorite was very real (a memorial marks where it struck); the witnesses were entirely fictional. As delineated in a series of papers spanning several decades of his career, Farmer's "researches" identified among the witnesses an impressive roster of celebrities, including everyone from Captain Blood, Sherlock Holmes, and Allan Quatermain to Tarzan, Doc Savage, and James Bond--often along with their offspring--just to name a few. Editor Eckert collects all of Farmer's so-called essays as well as others by several fans to fill out Farmer's fanciful scholarship. Although the volume appeals primarily to Farmer fans, anyone interested in "secret" biographical tidbits on Holmes and his popular-literary ilk may enjoy at least taking a peek. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Chris Davies

A Poorly Edited Mish-Mash of Popular Culture

Reviewed in Canada on May 16, 2006

In the early 1970s, science fiction author Philip Jose Farmer wrote a pair of biographies, one of Edgar Rice Burroughs` Tarzan and the other of pulp fiction superhero Doc Savage, which connected them and numerous other fictional characters in a family tree. He was following in the footsteps of numerous writers who`ve written biographies of fictional characters like Sherlock Holmes or James Bond. In 2005, a lawyer named Win Scott Eckert gathered together several examples of this style of writing, much of which had previously been published on the internet or in various fanzines, in this volume.

The result is a mess. Virtually every piece in the book will baffle and confuse an uninitiated reader. It`s poorly edited, containing obvious errors of fact that should have been caught in the editing process, and a lengthy section of endnotes for the entire volume, rather than a set at the end of each article.

While there are some intriguing and accessible articles here, notably Christopher Paul Carey`s fascinating "The Green Eyes Have It -- Or Are They Blue", and the contributions of Mark Brown and Cheryl Huttner, most of them can be easily accessed through the Internet by anyone who takes the time to search for them. And they certainly don`t make the volume worthy of purchase.

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Denis Bridoux

A great book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2013

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A good exploration of the Wold Newton Universe, where great literary figures from the 19th century onwards live in the same continuum, Sherlock Holmes meets Fu Manchu and Tarzan can encounter The Phantom, among many others.

One person found this helpful

J K Carrier

"Fantasy Football" for literature buffs

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2013

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It's sort of like fantasy football for literature buffs: Trying to fit all your favorite fictional characters into one gigantic family tree, a Unified Field Theory of heroic fiction. Sci-fi author Philip Jose Farmer laid the groundwork, postulating that the real-life crash of a meteor in the English town of Wold Newton in 1795 gave off radiation that altered the DNA of those nearby, creating a strain of nearly-superhuman geniuses and physical marvels who then became the great heroes and villains of fiction. Everyone from Tarzan to James Bond to Travis McGee to Phileas Fogg were part of the extended family. Since then, many other "Wold Newton scholars" have jumped into the game, expanding and refining Farmer's original family tree to incorporate even more characters from literature, movies, radio, tv, comic books and cartoons.

Myths for the Modern Age lays out the origins of the Wold Newton concept, and the generally-accepted "rules of the game". The bulk of the book consists of essays establishing, clarifying, and debating how various characters fit into the Wold Newton Family. Was Captain Nemo really Professor Moriarty in disguise? Was Charlie Chan the son of Fu Manchu? Is Zorro in all those books, movies, and tv shows really all the same person? How many children did Tarzan have, anyway? The answers are all here, exhaustively researched and footnoted, with a generous dollop of imagination and a touch of tongue-in-cheek humor.

It's a niche interest, to be sure...inside jokes don't get much more "inside" than this. But if this kind of "creative mythologizing" and pop-culture obsessing appeals to you, this is big barrel of fun.

2 people found this helpful

Perceptive Reader

Welcome to the universe!

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2006

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In literature, some pursuits acquire strange titles. The idea that Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson had been real persons, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had been acting as the "literary" manager of Dr. Watson, is called "the game". This idea, no matter how trivial it might appear to some, has resulted in truly impressive scholarship, and has made Sherlock Holmes more real than imaginary, and hence it has now ceased to be just a "game". Similarly, a basic idea of Philip J Farmer [which might have originated even before, and appeared to be perfected in Alan Moor's vision of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (before that series got stuck in its present intellectual quicksand)], that links all the known heroes & villains to a 'cosmic' incident at Wold Newton, became bigger & vaster than anything imaginable. But it's easy to make abstract ideas, you need people to do the dirty work (research!) to actually effect the linking. And in that aspect, this book plays a crucial role, as it tries to tie all the loose ends, so that the Wold Newton Universe gets its stars, black holes, and other dark matter. For those inclined in Wold Newtoniana, this book is highly recommended. But don't read all of them together. Sip them gently, interspersed with the works of Jess Nevins, to get a clearer (and perhaps, more enjoyable) perspective.

13 people found this helpful

J. Hinds

Check the website first.

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2009

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A well-written and imaginative book - but it left this non WoldNewtonWebsiteJunkie completely cold. I should have read the reviews here and gone to the website first.

5 people found this helpful

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