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Pulp Awakenings

I came across the perfect analogy of my own pulp awakening in John C Wright's foreword to Jeffro Johnson's Appendix N: The Literary History of Dungeons & Dragons.

"Imagine if you had lived in a house for decades, as had your father before you, and grandfather, and you thought you knew all its halls and chambers. Idly, some rainy day, or when the snow has covered all the roads, you take up a lantern and go to see what is stored in those old boxes in the cellar, or where that one small door you never opened before leads. You pry the door open, and it groans on rusted hinges, and beyond are caves of wonder, heaped with treasure. Here, like a column of fire, stands a strange genii and other spirits bound to serve your family. They are willing to carry you whirling through the air like an autumn leaf, in less time than it takes to gasp in awe, to far and fabled lands beyond the cerulean ocean, to elfish gardens of dangerous glamor, to jeweled mountains, alabaster cities, or perfumed jungles dreaming in the moonlight where ancient fanes to forgotten gods arise. The genii explains that all these things are yours, your inheritance. You have merely to claim them."

The years ahead still herald a magnificent bounty of riveting tales deep within the Library of Pulp as my own library grows with their volumes. I'm currently seeking lesser known novels and authors beyond the Appendix N list. Goodreads has been a reliable source for leads, but there is much more trudging through those tracks yet to be done before I report back on my most cherished spoils. Have you found any heretofor forgotten gems?


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