This was originally published on Larry Widen's website. A Message from Will Murray In the Fall of 1992, I hit a snag writing my 7th Doc novel, The Forgotten Realm. I had a very heavy schedule and couldn't afford any down time. I expected to be writing three Docs, as well as the usual four Destroyers, in 1993. I had to keep going. I didn't want to start my next Destroyer early and lose the Kenneth Robeson mood. So in anticipation of my next Doc contract I started three Docs, The Infernal Buddha, The War Maker and The Phantom Lagoon, which was then titled Hell Cay, putting them aside when I solved my problems with The Forgotten Realm. I figured these chapters would give me a head start on my next three Docs. As most Doc fans know, Bantam chose to put the Man of Bronze on another infamous hiatus, and I never got to finish those Docs, though I did the next spring write the opening chapter to a fourth Doc, The Ice Genius, when inspiration got the better of me. I don't know whether or not I'll ever get to finish these novels, as well as the others I had planned, including The Smoking Spooks, The Nullifier, Grotto of Spiders and Terror in Gold. That's up to Bantam Books. But I remain optimistic. Rather than letting them languish on my hard disk, I thought I'd share them with my fellow Doc fans. While they speak for themselves, a few words about their positions in the chronology of the series. The Infernal Buddha is set in 1937, during the time of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. It takes place after my The Whistling Wraith, which follows Lester Dent's The Sea Angel. Phantom Lagoon takes place circa 1939, as does The Ice Genius, which will feature the return of a major Doc Savage foe. I haven't placed them exactly in my Doc chronology, which is based on the order Dent wrote the novels as opposed to the Street & Smith publication order. The War Maker is based on the unused portions of the outline to The Devil Genghis--which is most of it actually!-- and falls neatly between Fortress of Solitude and The Devil Genghis. It's designed to tie up a lot of loose ends left dangling when those novels were spaced apart, defeating Dent's plan to run them as consequtive adventures I hope Doc fans will enjoy these glimpses of unfinished Docs and excuse any early-draft flaws they might find. I'd enjoy hearing comments at willmurray@delphi.com And if you'd like to read the complete stories, for heaven's sake, don't tell me... tell Bantam Books. I'm just the latest in a long line of writers who take pride in signing himself-- --Kenneth Robeson
A Will Murray proposed novel. If you have any information on this novel please write me at murrayinfo@docsavage.org
A Will Murray proposed novel. If you have any information on this novel please write me at murrayinfo@docsavage.org
A Will Murray proposed novel. Based on a Johnson outline. If you have any information on this novel please write me at murrayinfo@docsavage.org
A Will Murray proposed novel. Based on a Johnson outline. If you have any information on this novel please write me at murrayinfo@docsavage.org
A Will Murray proposed novel. Based on an unused outline. If you have any information on this novel please write me at murrayinfo@docsavage.org
"The most momentous discoveries are sometimes made by accident, so history tells us. The navigator Christopher Columbus, considered a great man today, set out to discover a short cut to the East Indies, and stumbled upon the New World, hitherto-unknown. It was an accident. Ignorance of the world's spherical shape resulted in the great discovery. That Columbus died in abject poverty matters not a whit. The world changed forever because of him." Thus begins Will Murray's The Ice Genius. In 1996, Murray wrote "Phantom Lagoon takes place circa 1939, as does The Ice Genius, which will feature the return of a major Doc Savage foe. I haven't placed them exactly in my Doc chronology, which is based on the order Dent wrote the novels as opposed to the Street & Smith publication order." If you have any information on this novel please write me at murrayinfo@docsavage.org
A wise man once observed that trouble has walked around in skirts since the beginning of things. This particular wise man did not proclaim such a thing in so many words, but every man knows it to be true. Particularly seamen know this, just as they know to batten down their hatches and furl sail when the wind strengthens and becomes strange. Will Murray, "Phantom Lagoon takes place circa 1939." The working title of this novel was "Hell Cay". If you have any information on this novel please write me at murrayinfo@docsavage.org
Fiana Drost was the first one to discover the terrible black thing that could not be seen, touched, smelled or explained. The thing was in fact not known to be black, but was only supposed to be black. Rather, a smothering impenetrable blackness was the predominent sensation of those who came into contact with the impossible darksome thing and lived to speak of it. Or perhaps it was after all black. No one could say--not even those who stared directly into the blackness and heard the beating of its leathery wings. It was confusing to say the least. From Will Murray's introduction to the 1996 publication of the first four chapters of The War Maker: "The War Maker is based on the unused portions of the outline to The Devil Genghis--which is most of it actually!-- and falls neatly between Fortress of Solitude and The Devil Genghis. It's designed to tie up a lot of loose ends left dangling when those novels were spaced apart, defeating Dent's plan to run them as consequtive adventures." If you have any information on this novel please write me at murrayinfo@docsavage.org
"The mad mystery of the Infernal Buddha, as it came to be called, started east of Singapore, which is a speck of an isle off the lowermost tip of Malaysia. It was a fitting day for a mystery to begin, there being a fog, which was highly unusual for that part of the South China Sea." The Metal Master was started, abandoned and then re-written from scratch.Will Murray took the notes of that novel to write The Infernal Buddah. Murray abandoned the novel after writing four chapters when Bantam dropped the series. Murray then published the those chapters on Larry Widen's website until Bantam sent a cease-and-desist letter. Murray wrote, "The Infernal Buddha is set in 1937, during the time of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. It takes place after my The Whistling Wraith, which follows Lester Dent's The Sea Angel. " This novel was also based in part on Davis' first outline for Land of Fear. If you have any information on this novel please write me at murrayinfo@docsavage.org
Based on an unpublished outline by his creator, this incredible tale begins in the wild moors of Scotland and draws Doc Savage to the Forgotten Realm. No one know who -- or what -- the strange being who calls himself "X Man" truly is. He was found wandering the ruins of a crumbling Roman fort, dressed in a toga, speaking classical Latin -- and clutching a handful of unearthly black seeds. Declared insane, the X Man patiently tends his weird plants until the day, impelled by a nameless terror, he flees Wyndmoor Asylum to unleash a cyclone of violence that is destined to suck the mighty Man of Bronze into the blackest, most unbelievable mystery of his entire career. For far from Scotland lies a domain of death unknown to the world and called by the ancient Latin name of Novum Eboracum -- New York
Based on an outline by his creator, the mystery begins when a visiting Balkan king vanishes, whisked away by the Whistling Wraith. Called to Washington, Doc Savage confronts the impossible -- a mad monarch who vanished centuries ago. Unstoppable and untouchable, the demon stands ready to plunge his uncanny sword into the vitals of all who seek to unravel the most baffling enigma ever to confront the brilliant Man of Bronze!