Flaming Zeppelins: The Adventures of Ned the Seal

by Joe R. Lansdale | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
ISBN: 1616960027 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 1/25/2012
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5 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
When I found out that Joe Lansdale had written a steampunk tale - actually, more of a historical-mashup with comedy and (of course, being Lansdale) crudeness - I had to order a copy! Turns out it's actually two short novels, Zeppelins West and Flaming London, and is subtitled "The Adventures of Ned the Seal", an actual seal whose part in the stories I have yet to discover {wry grin}. These actually look more "bizarro" than "steampunk", though I suppose they could be both...

Later: Quite a romp here - humor, sex, violence, and literary-mashup. Zeppelins West opens with a fleet of brightly-colored zeppelins heading for Japan, where Buffalo Bill Cody ("or what was left of him" - he's currently a head-in-a-jar who sometimes rides around atop a steam-man body) plans to put on his Wild West show as part of a diplomatic mission. His show includes Wild Bill Hickock and Annie Oakley (now lovers), and a very snarky Sitting Bull, along with the whole contingent of horses and buffalo and performers.

Despite the wacky setup - cowboys and Indians and zeppelins vs. samurai and biplanes? - the story has its darker elements, but then Lansdale's known for blending "nasty" and "deadly" and "hilarious". The diplomatic mission goes south fairly early, and our heroes wind up crash-landing in the ocean, where they're picked up by a huge undersea craft of some kind, led by a fellow called Captain Bemo. Oh, and the craft is named the Naughty Lass. Hee! This is also where we meet Ned the Seal: "a seal was perched in the stuffed chair, tail curled, holding a book with its flippers. It wore glasses on its nose, and a large, square, metal hat. It was obviously engrossed..."

I don't want to give away any plot points, as the many and varied twists and turns are part of the fun, but I will say that we meet still more familiar-sounding characters, such as a metal man who calls himself Tin, and a humanoid creature that seems to have been sewn together, and an island where a mad doctor experiments on changing animals to humanoids, and - oh, just sit back and enjoy the fun. And the (often surprising) romance. And the sex, and the violence, and the spot-the-references. I got a huge kick out of this story.

Flaming London opens with a quote from The Autobiography of Ned the Seal, in which he mentions many of the events of the previous tale, so there's some continuity, but for the most part we pick up a new set of characters - including Mark Twain and his pet monkey Huck Finn, Jules Verne (depressed at having lost his wife and family to Phileas Fogg), and Ned the Seal (found wounded on the coast by Twain and dragged along to his meeting with Verne). And then there are the invaders from Mars... Oh, and the pirates ("Of the yo-ho-ho variety. Appearing to be of an age long lost"). And a truly immense - oh, no, I'll leave that as a surprise for the reader, though by this point I admit it was hard to be surprised at anything that turned up!

This story's told from different viewpoints, some in third person and some from Ned's diary. (His discussions of the books he loves - and his fanboy behavior whenever he meets another favorite author - really tickle me.) Goofy, grisly fun...

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing at Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Released 11 yrs ago (10/9/2012 UTC) at Nashua, New Hampshire USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm adding this book to the Steampunk bookbox, which will be on its way back to BCer emmejo in New York today. Hope someone enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2012 Chills & Spills release challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2012 TICK-TOCK Challenge for the embedded "AM" in the title. ***

Journal Entry 3 by emmejo at Trumansburg, New York USA on Sunday, October 14, 2012
This came to me in the Steampunk Bookbox. I've read Zeppelins West, but the other one is new to me.

Journal Entry 4 by emmejo at Trumansburg, New York USA on Tuesday, March 26, 2013
This book was a fun read. I think Zeppelins West was the stronger of the two stories, although the alternate take on The War of the Worlds in Flaming London was entertaining. The second didn't flesh out the characters much, and the amusing idea of these authors actually saving the world wasn't enough to carry the tale. The first story is far more action and adventure oriented, while the second keeps with Wells original in using suspense and sneaking about to build tension. Sadly, the subtlety called for in the second isn't something Lansdale's dramatic flair is well-suited to.

I find Lansdale's irreverent writing amusing, but I know it gets on some people's nerves. If you don't like having everything and anything open for mocking, sarcasm or crudeness, you probably won't enjoy it much.

Journal Entry 5 by emmejo at Trumansburg, New York USA on Thursday, May 23, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (5/23/2013 UTC) at Trumansburg, New York USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book is starting out the Otherworldly Bookbox

Journal Entry 6 by wingperryfranwing at North Ogden, Utah USA on Monday, June 10, 2013
Selecting from emmejo's Otherworldly bookbox. Thanks!

Journal Entry 7 by wingperryfranwing at North Ogden, Utah USA on Saturday, August 2, 2014
This was a real hoot! Lansdale pulled out all the stops in this irreverent blend of fantasy and science fiction featuring some of the most beloved characters (both real and fictional) of the 19th century including Buffalo Bill Cody (at least his head), Wild Bill Hickok, Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, the Frankenstein monster, Dracula, the Tin Man, Dr. Moreau (Momo), Captain Nemo (Bemo), and a giant talking ape from Mars reminiscent of King Kong! This was actually the first two novels in the trilogy of Ned the Seal's adventures: Zeppelins West and Flaming London. There evidently is a third book in the works titled The Sky Done Ripped.

I loved reading Verne, Twain, and Wells along with a lot of pulp fiction including Doc Savage when I was younger so I really enjoyed this although it definitely is not for children given Lansdale's frequent use of vulgarities in the stories. The first book has Buffalo Bill and his wild west show traveling to Japan via Zeppelins on a mission to rescue Frankenstein's monster who is being used by the Japanese as an aphrodisiac by cutting off and powderizing pieces of the monster! The action then moves on to the Island of Dr. Momo where some very disturbing experiments involving animals takes place. This includes making a seal able to read and write (the titular Ned the Seal). The second story is a take-off on Wells' The War of the Worlds and has Verne and Twain in a battle to save the world. The story ends with the remaining group headed out in a time machine to try to mend the time and dimension rifts that have developed by Well's time traveler. This will probably be the subject matter of the projected third story in the trilogy.

Overall, I liked Lansdale's vivid imagination and his humor in telling these tales and would recommend this.

Journal Entry 8 by wingperryfranwing at Exchange/Trade, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, August 2, 2014

Released 9 yrs ago (8/2/2014 UTC) at Exchange/Trade, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending this one to ghir in Hawaii - a trade for 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 9 by wingghirwing at Honolulu, Hawaii USA on Sunday, August 17, 2014
Arrived safely in the mail today. Will read and pass along. Thanks so much for sharing this with me.

Meh. Don't think the Lansdale steam punk combo is my thing. Too kitchen sink-y.

Annie Oakley, Wild Bill Hickok, Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill take their Wild West show to Japan with the hidden agenda of rescuing Frankenstein's creation from a warlord that is eating pieces of the monster as a cure for impotency. And then things get weird.

Reserved for release at the Hawaii Book and Music Festival.

Released 8 yrs ago (5/2/2015 UTC) at Hawaii Book & Music Festival in -- Mail or by hand-rings, RABCK, meetings, Hawaii USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

This book is registered at BookCrossing.com to track its journey through this world. You can make a journal entry (anonymously, if you like) to say you found it, then read it and/or pass it on for someone else to enjoy. Thank you!

Journal Entry 11 by winghyphen8wing at Honolulu, Hawaii USA on Monday, May 4, 2015
This is one of the books I brought home from the book festival - I picked it up in the book swap tent. I've read Flaming London, but not Zeppelins West, so I would have picked this up even without the BC sticker on the spine. Somehow, I'm not surprised that GoryDetails started this copy. ;)

(Larger photo here.)

Here's another copy on my BookCrossing shelf.

Journal Entry 12 by winghyphen8wing at Honolulu, Hawaii USA on Monday, May 4, 2015
I love the wild lettering used for the internal book titles..

Journal Entry 13 by winghyphen8wing at Honolulu, Hawaii USA on Sunday, August 23, 2015
Found my earlier notes about this book, so I thought I'd add them here.

Starts off in a fairly innocuous manner, but by paragraph 3 it"s definitely Lansdale; he throws the reader off the gangplank and keeps right on going without a backward glance.

Since I've already read Flaming London, I had some idea of what to expect, but it hadn't occurred to me that they made Mason jars in that size; perhaps a product placement opportunity they might have preferred to skip...

...

Sounds weird to say it, but Zeppelins West felt a little over-the-top, even for Joe Lansdale. Or maybe I just haven't had enough exposure lately and my tolerance for his crazy writing has slipped a little.

Anyway, I enjoyed Flaming London (when I read it previously) more than the first of Ned's adventures, but it was fun wondering who or what was going to turn up next: I wasn't expecting that last fellow who washed up on the island, but hey, why not?

Journal Entry 14 by winghyphen8wing at Ryan's in Honolulu, Hawaii USA on Monday, August 31, 2015

Released 8 yrs ago (8/31/2015 UTC) at Ryan's in Honolulu, Hawaii USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

This book went to our TOC lunch at Little Village Ryan's Grill (since the power went out at LV) and didn't come home with me.

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