Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Crossover Cover: Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira

New Pulp author Derrick Ferguson's Dillon books and stories often have Easter Egg references to other works of fiction, including some of Ferguson's other books and stories, as well as some works by others that have already been incorporated into the CU. This novel has a few Easter Eggs, including references to a TV series and a book that have previously been incorporated into the CU. Dillon battles Professor Alonzo Sunjoy, who is instructed to cut the engines of his hydrofoil by a member of the Advanced Counter Espionage Syndicate in a Scorpion Attack Helicopter, which is from the movie Fire Birds. Some time later, Dillon is asked to investigate piracy on the island of Xonira by the Braithwaite group, which was founded in 1973 by a man heavily involved in world politics who thought globally, although he worked for the British government. Braithwaite is the British agent who recruits Lee to travel to the evil Han’s island and investigate his criminal activities in the 1973 film Enter the Dragon. Dillon asks for a Black Yukon Sucker Punch, and travels to Xonira in a high-tech submarine, the Morgan Adams. The Black Yukon Sucker Punch is a drink from the television series Twin Peaks, while the Morgan Adams is named after the pirate played by Geena Davis in the movie Cutthroat Island. Dillon tells his friend and comrade Eli Creed to fly to MARDL and stay there until he can arrange other accommodations for them. MARDL (Miami Aerodrome Research & Development Laboratories) is from the Challenger Storm novels by Don Gates. Dillon types a code into his Worldstar satellite phone that lets the Morgan Adams know that he has arrived safely on Xonira. A World Star satellite phone appears appears in Pamela Fryer's novel The Midnight Effect, but given the slightly different spelling, I'm not sure if this is a reference or not. The Pirate Emperor uses the Bonetti Defense during a sword fight with Dillon. The Bonetti Defense is from William Goldman’s book The Princess Bride, as well as Rob Reiner’s film adaptation.

2 comments:

  1. To answer FreeLiverFree's question about his previous comment...I chose not to approve it because I was worried that his comments about some of Derrick Ferguson's choices of works to reference might cause Derrick, who was kind enough to share my post on his Dillon group on Facebook, and has complimented me now and in the past for being able to spot so many of his references, to be offended.

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  2. Not everything I'm posting on BlogSpot seems to be appearing. I can't see the post that you seem to be responding too. So I'm not sure this will get through.

    Anyway, I'm sorry I did not mean to be offensive.

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