Escape from Loki

Doc Savage (Bantam) #183

by Philip José Farmer

In this novel, Philip Jose Farmer, best known for his Riverworld novels, chronicles the earliest known adventure of 1930s and '40s pulp hero Doc Savage. Young Clark Savage, shot down while balloon-busting over WWII Germany, finds himself a captive in Camp Loki, a prison camp specially designed for incorrigible escapees. Doc pits his super abilities against Camp Loki's commandant, the wiley Baron von Hessel. The novel provides insight into Doc's motives for his later life of crime-fighting.

Farmer, who once wrote fictional biographies of Doc Savage and Tarzan, was well qualified to pen this prequel which stands on firm ground with the original Doc Savage series by Kenneth Robeson.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Pulp, Action, Pulp Adventure, Science Fiction

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

About the author

Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, but spent much of his life in Peoria, Illinois.

Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.

Reviews

[MB Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished reading Escape from Loki Tuesday night. It’s billed as “Doc Savage’s First Adventure”. It’s not too bad. It takes place in 1918, when Doc was 16. The Man of Bronze, the first published Doc Savage adventure, appeared in 1933; so Doc was 31 when the pulps started (and 47 when the last one was published in 1949). That would explain why he so much more mature in the pulps.

It’s been awhile since I read any of the pulp stories, but in my memory this was not as exciting as the early stories. This also wasn’t the Doc I remember, that Doc was virtually infallible; this Doc is young and still impulsive and more fallible. In some ways he more like the Doc of the later pulp magazines, after they turned more into detective stories and Doc was scaled back into someone more human.

I started reading the Doc Savage Bantam reprints in the 1965 or 1966. If memory serves there were 181 Doc Savage pulps published between 1933 and 1949 and one that didn’t get published back then that was later published in 1979. Then after Escape from Loki was published, between 1991 and 1993, seven more were published that were written by Will Murray. So there are something like 190 published Doc Savage novels. I never even finished reading the pulp reprints (although I do have them all); and this is the first Doc novel I’ve read in a long time.

Farmer does a pretty good job. He’s a good writer (at his best, he’s fantastic; if you haven’t read To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971), you should). And he knows Doc Savage, he wrote the character’s biography after all: Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (1973). He also wrote two novels about Doc Caliban (A Feast Unknown (1969) and The Mad Goblin (1970)), a Doc Savage-like character. Unlike Doc Savage, Doc Caliban is not a classic pulp hero. Wikipedia calls A Feast Unknown a “a pastiche of pulp fiction, erotica, and horror fiction” and if memory serves that’s a pretty good description (although I would have included SF).

So what does all that have to do with Escape from Loki? I think Farmer was trying to be on his best behavior when he wrote Escape from Loki; probably the Doc Savage copyright holders required it. The result is not a bad book; but it’s not as exuberant as I remember the pulp stories and not as wild as I expect from Framer. Farmer is also trying to make this an origin story and needs to introduce all 5 of Doc’s aides and explain Doc’s back story. He may also have introduced some villains that appear in later in the novels (I don’t have easy access to either of my copies of Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, so I can’t check, but some of the characters had that feel to them).

And part of it is just me. I read my first Doc Savage novel some 45 years ago, and I’m not the 11 year boy I was then. No matter how good Escape from Loki is, reading it can’t have the same emotional impact as reading my first 20 odd Doc Savage novels. I’ve read too many other books in the intervening years.

All in all, I think I enjoyed the Doc Caliban novels more.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this one twice now, enjoying it more as a PJF fan than as a Doc Savage fan. This is the story of the young Doc, his service in the US Army in World War I, and how he met the men who became members of his team. So it is very different than the Doc adventures as they were written by "Kenneth Robeson" in the 30s and 40s. I don't know how the Doc Savage "purists" have accepted it, but I enjoyed it as great wartime adventure as written by Farmer. It's done with his tongue-in-cheek style and commentary on the human condition.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read, and enjoyed, PJ Farmer's Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, A Feast Unknown (his completely over-the-top and pornographic pastiche of Doc Savage and Tarzan), and quite a few other works by the sci-fi great, I had very high hopes back when this book was about to be released.

Alas, oddly enough, Farmer doesn't actually seem to really get the character of Doc Savage, or rather, he doesn't quite know how to write a true Doc Savage tale. There are neat ideas here, yes, and I don't have the reflexive distaste for some elements of this story that I've heard others speak of...but it's just not that engaging a read. It bored me. And I, a hoarder of books, especially adventure novels, actually traded it in to my local used book store for credit.

I can't recommend it, particularly now, when the far superior original Savage pulp tales are being released once more. If you want Doc Savage adventure, go find the Nostalgia Ventures books and read the real thing, not this.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had some pretty high hopes for this one. I’ve been reading Doc Savage novels off and on since the 1970s and my interest has been rekindled in the last couple of years due to the influence of some of my Goodreads friends. I had read PJ Farmer’s Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life back when it first came out and I remember he had described some inconsistencies in timelines, plots, and even character traits. It was obvious that he was an enthusiastic student of the books. So when his opportunity came along to write an original Doc Savage tale, especially what amounts to an origin story, I feel sure he was as happy as a clam.

Unfortunately, the story was fine, but nothing special. Now, I confess to being picky here because, after all, this is my beloved Doc Savage we’re talking about. Doc is a young 16-year-old aircraft pilot in WWI, shot down over Germany and captured. After several temporarily successful escapes he is placed at “Loki” the inescapable prison camp. Through the first half of the novel he meets the other five men who would become the core members of his crime-fighting group down the road. Doc Savage readers will know that he first met his men at a German prison camp in WWI but until now, we never got to experience that part of the history.

While I did enjoy seeing some of the origin story perspectives such as how Ham got his nickname, how Johnny got his eye patch, and how Clark Savage, Jr. came to be known as “Doc”, I was ultimately disappointed. If PJF was attempting to imitate the style of author Lester Dent, he failed. Not only the word and sentence structure was different but the very nature of Doc’s character was markedly different than the original books. This Doc is more violent, sexually active, and even a little morally ambiguous at times. He does contemplate his actions and wonders why he just acted the way he did…but it’s not the same Doc as I’m used to. I suspect PJF was making this story his own, putting his own stamp on the characters and not trying to write “just another Doc Savage novel”.

Still, the story itself is entertaining. What’s a Doc Savage novel without an evil genius? One is provided here along with an ill-described elixir that severely curtails aging. In the end, the villain escapes, no doubt to be heard from again down the line somewhere. If a reader completely new to Doc Savage’s adventure stories were to pick this one up in anticipation of reading in a chronological pattern, I would advise against it. Stick with the traditional first in the series, The Man of Bronze.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10. Media de los 23 libros leídos del autor: 7/10.

En su momento otro de mis autores favoritos, aunque con algún gran “truño” entre sus obras. Me enamoró con su novela “Relaciones extrañas”. Y tb muy buenas “Los amantes” o la Saga “Mundo río”, tremendamente original esta última.

Esta es una pulp flojita, flojita. Debe ser de la saga de un personaje, "Doc" Savage, pero no leí nada más suyo. Olvidable.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

PJF's prequel to the Doc Savage pulp series reads in a much more naturalic fashion than the original series - Ckark Savage Jr. comes off as a much more human character with much more of a personality and a sense of humor along with sympathetic fallibilities despite his preternatural skills. He also manages to keep the future sidekicks less repetitive and irritating (esp. in their dialogue) than in the pulps and manages to avoid the proto-Scooby Doo plots cranked out by Lester Dent and company.

My only criticism so far is regarding the incongruous sequence of the ruined chateau and its hidden chamber with his evidence of gruesome black masses - a bit that comes out of left field in a WW1 action plot and is better suited to one of Farmer's underground horror novels (like Blow) than a Doc Savage prequel as it is not a good match stylistically.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a feeling this would be sub-par. I was correct.
We learned in the first Doc Savage story that Doc and his five sidekicks met during WW I. This is Farmer's take: Doc enlists in the war by lying about his age (he's sixteen), becomes a pilot, gets captured after a daring stunt, eventually winds up at the Loki prison camp. Meeting the guys along the way, he leads them all in a breakout.
Trouble is, the whole thing is plodding as hell. Like a lot of Farmer characters, Doc is awfully introspective and navel-gazey, constantly analyzing his own motives, which bogs things down big time It's mostly a mundane war adventure which throws in a minor SF subplot. The hot Bad Girl is way more sexist than Dent's best female characters. Worst of all, there's no sense of fun or adventure which is what I expect from a Doc Savage book.
Oh, and Farmer gets one major detail of the canon dead wrong.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

What seems like a fool proof idea, letting Farmer write an actual Doc Savage novel, results in a pretty blah read.
Some great ideas, getting to see the young Doc in WW1 and meeting his famous five for the first time, but there are long stretches that feel bland and lack the punch of the original Doc pulp stories.
It picks up a bit when Doc is captured and sent to the prison camp 'Loki'.
then the gang is all together and they have to hatch a brilliant escape plan while dealing with the camp's commander and his equally evil mistress.

It still feels like this was all set up for another Doc book Farmer meant to do, but never had the chance to write.
Some good moments, but it never quite clicks and captures the proper pulp feel it needed.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was fairly good, and that it stayed pretty true to the Doc Savage persona. One thing I liked was that it did show Savage, who here was just 16 years old, as not having all his skills fully developed and his personality set in stone. He even had sex with a woman, although it was off screen.

The writing was OK but not up to some of Farmer's past work. I have to give you one line that almost threw me out of the story. "Lightening was a herd of gigantic black kangarooes bounding on flashing and twisted legs toward him." Egads, that was pretty bad. Overall, though, the writing was up to the Doc Savage standard.

[Vladimir Ivanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Прочел книгу, остался в недоумении — что это было?

Похождения не по годам крутого 16-летнего пацана в Первую мировую... воздушная дуэль с кайзеровскими ��сами, плен, лагерь военнопленных, побег... конец книги... И что? И все.

Только потом выяснил, что это, оказывается, часть какой-то гигантской супергеройской комикс-франшизы, тянущейся еще с 1930-ых, наподобие «Бетмена». Отсюда и суперменские способности юного Кларка Севиджа, и банда его гротескных товарищей (причем у каждого своя сверх-способность: например, один ударом кулака выбивает любую дверь, а другой стреляет без промаха), и странные злодеи, которые временами появляются на страницах книги, ничего не делают, зловеще угрожают и навсегда исчезают из сюжета.

Судя по всему, все это отсылки к огромному корпусу оригинальных комиксов и книг, без знания которого читать эту повесть просто бессмысленно.

6/10 (хотя знатоки похождений Дока Сэвиджа, вероятно, оценят намного выше)

P.S. Русская графиня Idivzhopu и ее слуга Zad — безусловные звезды этого шапито. Дедушка Фармер, так сказать, резвицца.

[Alfonso Junquera perez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entretenida versión de un Doc Savage menor de edad mas impulsivo y violenta que se ha presentado voluntario para luchar en la primera guerra mundial antes de la entrada de los Estados Unidos en la guerra. Con sus impulsivas acciones es capturado como prisionero y enviado a Loki, un campo diseñado especificamente para evitar fugas donde Farmer nos explica que allí conoció a parte de los miembros de su futuro equipo de luchadores contra el Mal, y a dos de sus mas peligrosos enemigos.

La novela en si no es ninguna maravilla pero siempre he tenido ganas de leer uno de estos plastiches escritos por Philip Jose Farmer, un gran amante y estudioso del genero pulp, y seguramente hay un montón de referencias a novelas posteriores que yo no he pillado debido a que no tengo el suficiente bagaje en el mundillo de Doc Savage ya que solo he leido la primera de sus novelas, y sus ayudantes, con sus virtudes y defectos, solo me suenan ligeramente.

[Dennis · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a terrible book. I did not enjoy this at all.

The beginning started pretty good. There was plenty of action and Doc ran into his future gang at various places along the battle fields. However, half of the book described Doc’s capture and escapes from the German’s. It took about half of the book to actually get to the prisoner of war camp, Loki.

Some of the scenes are just ridiculous for the Doc Savage series. The first time Doc is captured, he is entails some kind of perverted struggle with a tall Russian that is attempting to force a naked Doc into a tub. All of this in front of a bunch of German soldiers. Really? All of this takes place in a damaged chateau behind German lines. Later that night, Doc is invited to a sumptuous feast by the Baron, his beautiful Russian girlfriend and other German officers. Various meats, fruits and various delicacies are offered. This is unbelievable. At a time when Germany was suffering from food shortages. This is just a sample of the absurdities that are presented. The German prison camp, Loki, is specifically or incorrigible prisoners yet there are hundreds of Russians there also. Segregated from the Western allies for some reason and undergoing medical experiments for some reason. So basically, this situation that took place during WWII aid transported by the author to WWI. Bullshit.

The prison at Loki is just nit believable. The whole description of the place is beyond belief or acceptance. That and the fact that WWI German intelligence has a thorough dossier of Doc Savage and is father is equally ludicrous. Add to that the fact that the Baron is able to access this information so quickly is equally ludicrous.

I really wanted to like this book. As a Doc Savage fan, I really wanted to like this book. The fact that the author was a Doc Savage fan, that he had written a “nonfiction “ of Doc’s life that was cleverly done, I had higher expectations for this book. Alas, I was profoundly disappointed. I didn’t even touch on the politics that the author injected into the story. The Doc Savage sagas were never about the author’s politics. These books were merely about adventure, the fellowship with his men, the wonderful inventions and Doc himself. It is a shame that the author injected so much of himself into the story. That just ruined it for me.

On the whole, I would never recommend this book to anyone.

[Tranquillus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the best of Farmer’s novels, but quite enjoyable.
Sadly, the publisher didn’t bother to correct some blunders. First, what did the French officer mean when he said “bougez les barbariens!”? Apparently, Farmer thought that “barbarien” translates the English word “barbarian”, which is wrong: French for “barbarian” is “barbare”. Even so, I don’t get the meaning: “move the barbarians”?
Another mistake is the date of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: it is March 1918, not 1917.
Furthermore, serfdom was abolished in Russia in 1861, so that the countess Idivzhopu, which at the time of the World War 1 is supposed to be a young woman, could not possess serfs.
I hope some readers – such as have learnt some Russian – appreciated the name of said countess – Idi v zhopu, literally “go to the arse”. Her servant’s name is also colourful: Zad, that is “arse”.
He was a witty fellow, Farmer was, wasn’t he?

[David Grossman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farmer has picked up the torch from Robeson/Dent with the first new Doc Savage tale, actually a prequel origin story of how Doc (a med student in the grat war) met his future team of adventurers and decided to fight evil. He connects the narrative dots from his previous biography (from study of Robeson/Dent's work). Full of many "easter eggs" linked to his other adventures (most which I'm not yet familiar). Some portions written in slow ponderous detail (perhaps hinting at future Farmer books to be done), in some portions I think too brief. But very entertaining blend of superheroic "Indy Jones" & "Great Escape" war fiction. Some introspective touches and cultural observations add to the interest.

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite terrible. It only gets a second star because the first two paragraphs appealed to the "Fight in the Skies" player inside me.

Doc is captured 3x. He escapes 3x. A third of the book relates the setting up of an escape from the inescapable prison camp, however that escape never takes place. Instead the gang just scrambles out in a moment of chaos. Lots of stuff should have been edited out, as is, it is not of professional quality, except for the first two paragraphs previously mentioned.

1.5 stars

[Kendal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book better on the second reading. Pay close attention for the Wold Newton Family clues.

[Robert D · Rating 3 out of 5]

A longtime fan of Doc Savage, Phillip Jose Farmer wrote a prequel to all the stories of Doc Savage. This story takes place in 1917 during World War I. Clark Savage Jr. is only 16 years old and taking part in the war as an American flyer assigned to a French flying group. The tale departs from the traditional Doc Savage books in that the action entirely centers on Clark Savage's exploits in meeting the various members of what will be the Doc Savage team.

The beginning is fairly good but the middle bogs down. After three attempts to escape Doc is sent to camp Loki, where he reunites with other team members. It is designed to be an escape proof plan and the last half of the book dwells in that time period. In all it ends rather anti-climatically.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leave it to PJF to write an origin story for a character that has well over 100 novels already in existence.
Over all, I was underwhelmed by the story and the pacing. It was nice to have a story on how Doc and his cohorts all met during WWI but the story was very straight forward with no far fetched aspect usually associated with a Doc Savage story - not until the very end - literally, the last 10 pages.
Disappointing given the series' rich history. I primarily liked it just because of the characters involved. I think Mr. Farmer did quite a good job of keeping them all in character.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This origin story was fun, but I found it a little disappointing. Farmer was Doc's first official biographer, but I didn't think he captured the voices of the characters very convincingly. Doc is sixteen years old here in what is presented as his first adventure, and he meets up with the men who will someday comprise his famous band of associates in the midst of the First World War. It's an entertaining enough story but it should have been an apocalyptic super-adventure; it missed the mark and fell just a little flat.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a longtime Doc fan, this was the most enjoyable read of my life. I have never enjoyed a book more.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

read some time in 1991

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doc Savage prequel written by Farmer. Not bad.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

corny but...