Cross-pollinating famous 19th-century fictional characters and historical figures from disparate sources, this wild, steampunk fantasy presents two consecutive tales of madcap adventure. Hilarious and unpredictable, the first section follows Wild Bill Hickock, Annie Oakley, George Custer, Sitting Bull, and Buffalo Bill Cody’s head—which is affixed to the top of a mechanical body—as they take the Wild West Show to Japan by zeppelin. Further exploits involve Frankenstein as an aphrodisiac for a local shogun, encounters with Captain “Bemo” and his submersible, and a trip to the “island of Dr. Momo.” The second phase of this nonstop romp—partly inscribed by a courageous young seal on his trusty notepad—accompanies Mark Twain and Jules Verne against the backdrop of a Martian invasion. Escaping the carnage on a speedboat converted into a touring balloon, the boisterous group encounters more perilous experiences in the form of an island of pirates, a steam-powered robot, a Kong-sized ape, and multiple tears in the space-time continuum. Raucous and inventive, this dime-store pulp parody is rife with absurdist comedy while maintaining a literary scope.
Review
"Only one of the wildest alternate-worlds, rip-in-space-time, sf-pastiche romps this side of 50s B movies." —Booklist
"Irrepressible, irreverent, and unpredictable, this hilarious fantasy with nostalgic touches of yesterday's SF shows off the narrative skills of an inventive author altogether comfortable in his metier." —Publishers Weekly
"A folklorist’s eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur's sense of pace." —New York Times Book Review
"One of the more versatile writers in America." —Los Angeles Times
"Like 10-alarm chili, Lansdale is pretty strong stuff . . . He has become a cult figure." —People Magazine
"Lansdale is a storyteller in the Texas tradition of outrageousness . . . but amped up to about 100,000 watts." —Houston Chronicle
"A terrifically gifted storyteller,” —Washington Post Book Review
"He may be violent, gruesome and shocking, but Lansdale is also one of the greatest yarn spinners of his generation: fearless, earthy, original, manic and dreadfully funny.laugh-out-loud funny, acquainted with the night and often acutely profound." —Dallas News
About the Author
Joe R. Lansdale is the author of 30 novels, including Bad Chili, The Bottoms, Lost Echoes, and Mucho Mojo, and more than 200 short stories, nonfiction articles, and comic books. His novel, Bubba Hotep, was made into a major motion picture, and he is the winner of seven Bram Stoker Awards, the British Fantasy Award, and the International Horror Award. He is a writer in residence and teacher at Stephen F. Austin University. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas.