''The Mad Goblin'' is an American novel by

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...

. Originally released in 1970, it was one of two intertwining sequels to Farmer's previous '' A Feast Unknown'', along with '' Lord of the Trees''. ''The Mad Goblin'' features Doc Caliban, an analogue of

Doc Savage Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a doctor, scientist, adventurer, detective, and polymath who "rights w ...

, as the main character. The novel was later retitled ''Keepers of the Secrets''.

Plot summary

At the end of ''A Feast Unknown'', Caliban and Lord Grandrith (a thinly disguised

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

) cease fighting each other upon learning that their personal war and indeed their entire lives were engineered by the Nine, a megalomaniacal and powerful secret society. The two men have a sexual affliction in common; they are impotent except when performing acts of violence. This is caused by a serum that grants them eternal life—another product of the Nine. Angered by the ways they have been manipulated, the two heroes split up to overthrow the Nine, ultimately meeting up at the end. ''The Mad Goblin'' shows the story from Caliban's point of view. '' Lord of the Trees'' tells the same story from Lord Grandrith's viewpoint. During the events of the book, Caliban (assisted by "Porky" Rivers and "Jocko" Simmons, analogues of "Ham" Brooks and "Monk" Mayfair from the Doc Savage stories) kills two members of the Nine, Jiinfan and Iwaldi. The oldest member of the Nine, XauXaz, had previously died of extreme age in ''A Feast Unknown.'' Grandrith kills one other, Mubaniga, in ''Lord of the Trees''. In the end, only five of the Nine remain alive.

Connection to Wold Newton family

Like ''A Feast Unknown'', ''The Mad Goblin'' contains many elements in common with Farmer's

Wold Newton family The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the American science fiction writer Philip José Farmer. Origins In real life a meteorite, called the Wold Cottage meteorite, fell near Wold Ne ...

concept, primarily the presence of characters based on

and

. However, there is some disagreement as to where the stories fit into Farmer's fictional chronology, or, indeed, whether they fit at all. Farmer himself said that it was best to "let the reader decide", but some Wold Newton fans have taken it upon themselves to explain the apparent discrepancies. In particular, see Dennis E. Power's essays "Triple Tarzan Tangle", "Tarzan? Jane?", and "Tarzan''s'' in the Valley of Gold".

Publishing history

The book was originally released as an "

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

Double" with '' Lord of the Trees'' in 1970. This copy featured cover art by

Gray Morrow Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow (March 7, 1934 – November 6, 2001).e., the Gilberton Company, publisher of the ''Classics Illustrated'' comic-book series of literary adaptations], and I was given a script. One thing led to another and I was soo ...

. Another Ace Double edition was published a decade later, in 1980. The book was later published in the United Kingdom in 1983 by Severn (publisher), Severn with art by Julie Smith. It was also released by

Sphere A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is th ...

in 1983, and in 1988 as an omnibus called "''Empire of the Nine''", as well as a separate omnibus edition entitled "''Keeper of the Secrets''". It was also released as part of a Russian omnibus series along with '' Time's Last Gift''. This book was volume twenty-three in the "Worlds of Philip José Farmer" series of Russian collections.

Reception

Dave Pringle reviewed ''Keepers of the Secrets'' for ''

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

'' magazine, and stated that "''Keepers of the Secrets'' drips with much blood but nothing else. A pity, in a way. At his best, Farmer has an outrageous imagination, but here it was not permitted to frolic to the full."

Reviews

*Review by Lester del Rey (1971) in ''

Worlds of If ''If'' was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. The magazine was moderately successful, though for most of its run it was not considered to be in the first tier of American ...

'', January-February 1971 *Review by Steven E. McDonald (1980) in ''

Science Fiction Review Richard E. Geis (July 19, 1927 – February 4, 2013) was an American science fiction fan and writer, and erotica writer, from Portland, Oregon, who won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1982 and 1983; and whose science fiction fanzin ...

'', Winter 1980 *Review by Spider Robinson (1980) in '' Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact'', December 1980 *Review by Chris Barker (1986) in ''

Vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

'' 132

References

External links

''The Mad Goblin''
at Farmer's official website.

at Farmer's official website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mad Goblin, The 1970 American novels 1970 fantasy novels Novels by Philip José Farmer Wold Newton family Pulp stories Crossover novels Ace Books books