Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026 edited by Robert Greenberger
Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this book, and there’s an advertisement for this blog on page 44.
It’s time for another annual installment of this pulp-style anthology! Some returning authors, some new ones, and some familiar characters to follow.
This year, the genres represented are science fiction, mystery, sword & sorcery, adventure and the occult in that order.
“The Word I Don’t Understand” by Derek Tyler Attico leads off the book with a story that’s first set in what appears to be a post-apocalyptic cult. It keeps its members in chains to “protect” them and mandates worship of their “divine” leader. A young harpist is suddenly involved in a plot to assassinate that leader.
Then suddenly we’re in a dystopian future where a police officer is called in to help investigate a murder that his rare expertise might help solve. And also there are people popping out of teleport gates?
This is a rather weak story to put first in the book, as it’s not really a short story, but an obvious first chapter in a novel. Interesting ideas are introduced, but not developed, and there’s no resolution to any of the plot points.
“Dulle Griet” by Alisa Kwitney is the final story. It’s about a Flemish divorcee whose demons are quite literal and rapidly getting out of hand. With the help of an eccentric bookseller, she must use her cookbook to learn control and rescue her daughter, who has inherited some of her bloodline issues. If the title seems familiar, it’s referencing a legend also used as the basis of a painting by Pieter Breugel the elder.
This is a much better story, though with an editing glitch. The narrative mentions Greta/Griet has “children”, plural, several times but only the daughter is seen or mentioned by name.
Other stories of note:
“The Hero” by Michael Jan Friedman has Bob Jones, a disgruntled veteran, beat another man to a bench, largely for the pleasure of beating someone at something. He’s startled when he’s suddenly transported to another world.
Turns out there’s a riff on the old Adam Strange comics going on. This humanoid alien world has a decadent civilization that has lost the ability to repair their advanced technology, and is slowly going dark. To fix this, they’ve been sending teleportation beams to Earth, to bring over a hero. The beams strike on Earth at different locations that have a pattern and can be predicted. And they got lucky first time, with a man who is qualified to help them scientifically.
First problem: Bob “accidentally” intercepted the beam and it will be weeks before the next one gets to Earth, so the hero is unavailable. And Bob is not a brilliant scientist. Fortunately, the hero left notes on his progress, and Bob is able to figure out what the next steps need to be.
Second problem: The fix involves meddling with the sacred practices of a less humanoid alien race that shares the planet with the people he’s trying to help. He comes up with a non-violent solution for that.
Third problem: Bob completely misread the situation, and has made everything worse for the real hero who must now deal with the consequences. But now Bob has had a taste of being the protagonist, and has perhaps drawn the wrong lesson from the experience….
An interesting take on portal fantasy.
“The El Greco Affair” by Mary Fan is the cover story. Tahar Lupin, Algerian adopted son of the famous Arsene Lupin, is in Philadelphia to perform his day job as a stage magician when a famous painting is stolen. A local mobster decides the heir to the phantom thief must be responsible, and has Tahar abducted to be forced to give back the painting.
Tahar didn’t do it, and promises to find out who did, and retrieve the El Greco. He does so in style.
This one’s for fans of stylish thieves, though Tahar is depicted as somewhat less wicked than his mentor.
“Death Panels” by Paul Kupperberg, is a Max Wiser mystery. Set in 1954 during the brief flourishing of crime and horror comics before the imposition of the Comics Code, Max is a comic book writer. He’s aghast when someone starts duplicating the horrific murder scenes from panels of his company’s comic books. Time to investigate the Tableau Killer before Max himself becomes the next victim!
This one’s a good short mystery with some industry insider knowledge and a red herring or two.
“The Silver Snail” by Will Murray is a fantasy tale about a wandering swordsman who comes to a village where they put all strangers through the title labyrinth. He must use his wits and hints from his magic sword to choose the correct exit and not be devoured by what lies within. But when he does escape, the danger is not over.
I like a clever protagonist.
“Thralls of the Jungle Queen” by Esther Friesner has an expedition into the Amazon to search for a missing brother and husband. This is complicated by the expedition leader still bearing resentment against his irresponsible brother for stealing his first love and driving their company to the brink of bankruptcy.
The remains of the expedition are captured by the title character, who indeed knows where the missing brother is. The brother turns out to be no less an asshole than when he left, but the expedition leader must still try to rescue him. Now all the outsiders must face a mystical trial. What will become of them?
I like the ending.
And of course, there’s ten more stories to enjoy, including a Sherlock Holmes pastiche.
Spot illustrations from the public domain help set the mood.
Content note: “The Kidnapping of Ticonderoga Beck!” has villains who are racist and sexist in addition to being kind of stupid.
Overall, this is an enjoyable set of short stories that has a variety not unlike the old pulp magazines. Recommended to readers looking for something reminiscent of the pulp era but with more modern sensibilities.
