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This is the only actual autobiography ever written by a person who has been what is called a medium since early childhood. ... Read more

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Sorbanus brought the skewbald stallion. Not far away a group of women danced around a dozen drunken men, who sang uproariously. Seen against the background of purple and dark-green gloom, with crimson torchlight flaring on the quiet water and the moon descending behind trees beyond them, they were mystically beautiful -- seemed not to belong to earth, anymore than the pan-pipe music did."Ride into their midst!" Norbanus urged, pointing. "Tickle the stallion thus."The Cappadocian lashed out savagely."Here is a bottle of goat's blood. I will bring weapons, and I will join you as soon as possible after I have made sure that the temple priests, and all Daphne, are positive about your death. Now mount and ride!" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great read
A thoroughly well written book.A story of Roman intrigue at a glance, but upon further reflection the story becomes a complicated tale of moral ambiguity.The only man great enough to be Caesar is mad and there are none with the fortitude and perseverance to wear the mantle.A quick and enjoyable read, by an author that clearly has done his research well.

One of Talbot Mundy's best
The Plot:Commodus, son of Marcus Aurelius and Emperor of Rome, has gone insane.His powerful inner cirle of supporters gather to plot his death.While each person has reasons for killing Commodus, who will be the person who finally assumes responsibility and kills this "Roman Hercules"?

The rest of the story:As in most of Mundy's books, he does not portray people as good or evil.He presents their motivation and lets you judge.There is no hero to this book.In fact the Hutchinson edition's cover had a subtitle stating "An episode withtout a hero".The closest character to being "a hero" comes across as being an idealistic simpleton.

Commodus does not strike you as being evil (insane maybe but not evil).Commodus enjoys the fame of being Roman Emperor but doesn't like the everyday grind of being emperor.He prefers to fight in gladitorial events against both men and beasts. Being as the Emperor can't actually fight in the arena, He finds a "look-a-like".The "look-a-like" sits in the emperor's chair at the arena while the real Commodus fights in the games.All Rome knows he's a "look-a-like" but who's going to point this out?Not anyone who has hopes of living a long life.One day the "look-a-like" is killed and Commodus can no longer go participate in the fighting.Unstable in the first place, he now goes the rest of the way into madness.He says that Rome has become decadent and now will get the Emperor it deserves.

The rest of the slim novel (156 pages in the paperback edition) revolves around the plot to kill the emperor.And this is the part of the novel that I find most intriguing.There are seven or eight plotters.Each professes unselfish reasons for believing that Commodus must die.Yet when asked to perform the actual killing, each plotter states reasons why he can not be the killer.Who eventually steps forward and kills Commodus?Read this book.It's a great one!

Last comment: As is true with most of Mundy's historical novels, the events told in the novel are basically true.All but one or two of the main characters were real people that actually participated in the history just as Mundy portrays them.In the case of Caesar dies, this is especially true.While it will give away the identity of the killer, you can go to the url http://www.roman-emperors.org/commod.htm and read for yourself how accurate Mundy wrote this historical novel.

Should you be interested in Talbot Mundy (and I hope you are) please read my other reviews of some of Mundy's books.Please help keep a great author's books alive.Oh, and please don't curse at me too much when you find yourself trying to track down used books of his other titles as many are no longer in print. ... Read more

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Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon) (1879-1940) was an English writer who wrote under the pseudonym Walter Galt. His most famous book is King of the Khyber Rifles: A Romance of Adventure (1916), which is set in India under British Occupation. He wrote many other books and stories, including Hira Singh: When India Came to Fight in Flanders (1918) and a number of stories about Tros of Samothrace, a Greek freedom fighter who aided Britons and Druids in their fight against Julius Caesar. In 1919, Mundy serialized On the Trail of Tippoo Tib, a novel about treasure hunting and ivory poaching in East Africa, which Mundy always claimed was the most autobiographical of his novels. His other works include Rung Ho! (1914), The Winds of the World (1915), The Ivory Trail (1919), Told in the East (1920), The Eye of Zeitoon (1920), The Guns of the Gods (1921), The Bubble Reputation (1923), Caves of Terror (1922), and The Lion of Petra (1922). ... Read more

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1924. Mundy's classic, adventure/mystical thriller mystery about the Ahbor jade. Considered a masterpiece by many and the reader is encouraged to pick up this wondrous novel and in effect take a mystical trek to Tibet where you, too, will learn the secret of Ahbor Valley. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. ... Read more

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"Jimgrim and a Secret Society" originally appeared in the classic pulp magazine Adventure, in the August 10, 1922 issue. It is part of Mundy's series featuring James Schuyler Grimm, better known as Jimgrim, a British agent. In this volume, he resigns from the British military service to take a job (along with his friends Jeff Ramsden, Narayan Singh, and Jeremy Ross) as a freelance agent combatting criminals who threaten world peace. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Bargain
Thanks to Wildside for digging this out of oblivion from 1922 Adventure mag.A good Mundy tale.It possibly was never reprinted before because it comes a little to true to life.

Mundy novel
Short story, about 100 pages, in the JimGrim series. Very good.
Takes place in Egypt. Shoot-out at the great Pyramid.

JimGrim Returns!!
After many years of absence from current publishing, the pre-cursor of James Bond has returned. Wildside Press appears to be publishing in both hard cover and paperback nicely bound editions of JimGrim Stories that heretofore have never appeared in book form. This is one of the first. We remaining fans of Talbot Mundy's philosophical (theosophical?) hero may eventually get to read the entire cannon.

I am very happy with the quality of the book, the binding, the dust jacket and simply the fact that it is in print!! Keep going Wildside Press!!

A Grim Transition
Wildside Press must be warmly praised for its pulp reprint projects, which include facsimile reprints of individual pulps, and reprints of novels and short stories from the pulps.The books are very attractively printed and bound, and the non-facsimile material is essentially entirely free from misprints.

Talbot Mundy's character James Schuler Grim (aka Jimgrim) and his companions in adventure, Ramsden, Ross and Singh appear in more Mundy novels than any other characters.At some point circa 1920 in their narrative time they made a transition from working for the British Army in the Middle East, to freelance worldwide troubleshooters partially funded by American millionaire Meldrum Strange.However, the adventure in which they made that transition has never been published in hardback or paperback until now.

So this is a welcome reprint for that reason; however, as a Jimgrim adventure this is pretty thin gruel. There's a running gunbattle in the Great Pyramid about halfway along, and a bloodbath at the end when Grim and his pals and an unofficial party of British troubleshooters exterminate the representatives of a nameless, world-wide society of criminals.But the plot theme is much too large for the short novel; the reader never actually feels any real menace from the Secret Society of the title, since our heroes always have either the upper hand or at least an equal hand, and the baddies are wrapped up far too conveniently.The strategy adopted by Grim and his pals would never have entrapped any truly important members of the sinister group.Such defects probably explain why this short novel from the ADVENTURE pulp circa 1922 was never published in book form until now. But I, for one, am glad to have it. ... Read more

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55 B.C. - an adventurer ensnared in the Roman invasion of BritainWhen his ship is taken and his crew slaughtered Tros of Samothrace is captured by Imperial Rome. Whilst his father is held hostage, Tros is coerced by Julius Caesar into helping find the best route for his assault on Britain. Tros must play a double game-he must try to save his father and encourage the British chieftains' resistance to thwart Rome and its legions-who are ready in Gaul to make the crossing to occupy their lands. Treachery, intrigue and assassination plots threaten, before Tros must accompany Caesar in his amphibious landing and its pitched battle in the surf. Wolves of the Tiber is the first of a series-published by Leonaur-about the adventures of Tros of Samothrace, that will delight lovers of both historical and fantastic fiction. Look out for Dragons of the North, Serpent of the Waves and City of Eagles, all available now-with more to come! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

reprints
These books are a republishing of Mundy's series on Tros...with title changes...I have the entire series from over 30 years ago in paperback...they were enjoyable reading then and still will be for anyone who enjoys a twist to historical fiction with a heavy touch of fantasy thrown in ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Talbot Mundy was one of the most popular writers of adventure fiction in America during the first half of the 20th century.His stories and novels brought to life the customs and lifestyles of India, Tibet, and the Middle East more vividly than any other writer.Beyond that, Mundy was one of the most inspired esoteric writers of the time.His novels are filled with insights into not only the mystic traditions of India and Tibet, but also the basic spiritual principles of reincarnation, karma, destiny, duty, and beauty.While many Mundy novels are still widely read today, most of his stories, poems, and essays have been unknown for more than fifty years.This anthology corrects this omission.It reprints many of his keyshorterwritings in a singlereader,edited by Mundy biographer Brian Taves.It is an excellent introduction to the work of this seminal author--and the wondrous world of his wisdom and imagination. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A new treasure for Mundy collectors.
Any admirer of the once very prolific and popular writer Talbot Mundy will welcome this, the most recent of Brian Taves' literary coups, as a much deserved and welcome addition to their collection.

Brian Taves has obviously put much effort and research into this selection of Mundy novellas, poems and articles. Mundy wrote a lot of fascinating, thoughtful and often inspiring stories for the early pulps, in particular the popular Adventure magazine as well as writing many novels and articles on Theosophy and other spiritual disciplines.

His fascination with Eastern cultures and their riches on offer to Western audiences were skilfully moulded into many of his writings. To my knowledge his shorter fiction has only been anthologised into `Told in the East' and the extremely rare and collectable `The Valiant View' both published during Mundy's lifetime. However `Winds from the East' offers stories not found in those volumes; new discoveries hitherto found only in rare old magazines. This wonderful selection is now available at an affordable price.

Once more the fans of Mundy are indebted to Brian Taves. I highly recommend this volume.

Malcolm Henderson
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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Talbot Mundy's legendary account of the Druid Warrior Tros and his unwilling service to the Roman Empire. First serialized in Adventure, the book chronicles Tros' attempts to keep Julius Caesar from conquering the Britons, and of the young man's efforts to free his father. Stunning for its time, this work of action that shatters anything R.E. Howard could dream up also makes the case that Celtic peoples were far more sophisticated than the wicker-burning freaks they'd been painted as, and goes deeply into the mind of Caesar, depicting the supposed Worthy as a proto-fascist and demon fully capable of massacring comparatively defenseless barbarians on a whim. No mere hack and slash work, Mundy's Tros grows as the narrative presses along, and survives, ironically, in the service of Rome. This book is the author's finest work, though one that, sadly, ended his relationship with a publisher (who'd been expecting something shorter, and about Cleopatra.) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A mystery novel, involving sorcery and black magic
Supernatural adventure novel set in Tibet. Jimgrim, Ramsden, Chullunder Ghose and Narayan Singh battle the Black Circle, an organization of evil Tibetan adepts. Published later in Britain as Ramsden.This book introduces the White Lodge/Black Lodge theme. Mark Frost used it in Twin Peaks, and it seems to me that it may also have influenced Lucas' Jedi/Sith concept. I know Lucas read quite a few of the pulps, but I have never seen any mention of Mundy in the list of works he drew upon for Star Wars. Talbot Mundy's The Devil's Guard ia a bit old-fashioned, but this is more than what it seems at first. It starts out as a more or less straightforward British-chaps-in-Asia adventure, with two fellows going off to rescue an erstwhile companion, but it turns into a spiritual adventure into deepest Tibet. (And anyone who watched second-season "Twin Peaks"--this is where the "White Lodge" really comes from...)
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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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This issue of ADVENTURE TALES includes 3 stories by H. Bedford-Jones ("Mustered Out," "The Badman's Brand," and "Surprise in Sulphur Springs") plus "The Fugitive Statue," by Vincent Starrett (featuring detective Jimmy Lavender), "Miracle," by John D. Swain, "The Devil's Heirloom," by Anthony M. Rud, "The Tapir," by Arthur O. Friel, "Thubway Tham's Dog," by Johnston McCulley, "Lancelot Biggs Cooks a Pirate," by Nelson S. Bond, and "Payable to Bearer," a crime novelet by Talbot Mundy. Poetry by Avram Davidson, Poul Anderson, Clark Ashton Smith, and Fritz Leiber. ... Read more