Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Crossover Covers: Maxim Gunn

Pro Se Press has collected Nicholas Boving's Maxim Gunn novels in two omnibus editions. In the first novel, Gunn is an agent of the British Intelligence group known as the Organization, but in the following novels he works independently of them. Given that Boving has contributed to the Tales of the Shadowmen series and other anthologies for Black Coat Press, it is not surprising that the series has a few crossovers. In the first novel, The Chaos Project, Gunn battles the evil Wanda Liszt, who is planning to conquer the world with the aid of Queen Sheba’s Necklace. Wanda’s father, Otto Liszt, had been cast in the mold of the great criminals, like Carl Peterson and Professor Moriarty. Queen Sheba's Necklace is from John Buchan's novel Prester John. Buchan’s Richard Hannay novels contain references to John Laputa and Captain Arcoll, both of whom appear in Prester John. Carl Peterson is Bulldog Drummond’s archenemy. Professor Moriarty needs no further introduction. Philip José Farmer identified Peterson as Professor Moriarty’s grandson. In the second novel, The Demon Plan, MI5 sends Harry Pearce to recruit Gunn, now retired from the Organization, for a mission. Pearce is from the TV series Spooks (aka MI-5 in the United States.) In the fifth book, The Sun Fortress, Gunn rescues the kidnapped Princess Alicia Flavia of Ruritania. Gunn, who is revealed to be a descendant of Rudolf Rassendyll, is also acquainted with a half-Chinese Shaolin priest in California. This is a reference to Kwai Chang Caine II from the television series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, himself the grandson of the original Kwai Chang Caine from the Western series Kung Fu. In the sixth novel, The Leopard Legion, Gunn meets Alex Arcoll, the great-grandson of Captain Arcoll from Prester John, and his Shaolin monk friend is mentioned again.

No comments:

Post a Comment