# What is your favorite pulp fiction? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960 "2010-10-22T00:22:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960/21 "2010-10-22T19:53:24Z")
Doc Savage, Destroyer, Executioner (Mack Bolan), Wingman, and several western series…Slocum, Gunsmith, Longarm, Renegade, Edge, Fargo, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960/22 "2010-10-23T00:36:16Z")
Not to hijack, but this might be a good place to ask… If I want to get up to speed on classic pulp science fiction, what should be the first books to read? I’m looking for space adventure of the Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers variety. Doc Smith? Burroughs? Where should I start? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960/23 "2010-10-23T01:00:48Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > Not to hijack, but this might be a good place to ask… > > If I want to get up to speed on classic pulp science fiction, what should be the first books to read? > > I’m looking for space adventure of the Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers variety. Doc Smith? Burroughs? Where should I start? Poul Anderson’s stuff is pretty good, though perhaps a bit later than you are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960/24 "2010-10-23T01:09:56Z")
I think \*Lost Horizon \*by James Hilton is considered one of the first pulp novels and I really liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960/25 "2010-10-23T01:15:04Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Poul Anderson’s stuff is pretty good, though perhaps a bit later than you are looking for. I’ll check his stuff out anyway. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960/26 "2010-10-23T02:19:03Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > As far as what I consider true pulp fiction goes, easily [Jim Thompson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thompson_%28writer%29). Second that. If you’re a Thompson fan, you might like Charles Willeford’s stuff, or at least (and especially) his pre-\*Miami Blues \*stuff. I particularly recommend _The High Priest of California_. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960/27 "2010-10-23T03:30:18Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > Not to hijack, but this might be a good place to ask… > > If I want to get up to speed on classic pulp science fiction, what should be the first books to read? > > I’m looking for space adventure of the Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers variety. Doc Smith? Burroughs? Where should I start? Can’t go wrong with either Smith or Burroughs. _Skylark of Space_ is a hoot and a half. For epic space opera that just about defined the term, Smith’s _Lensman_ books are the way to go. Where else will you find interstellar war using **planets** as projectiles? ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960/28 "2010-10-23T10:27:36Z")
Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960/29 "2010-10-25T02:48:06Z")
When I was a kid in the 1950s, I found my dad’s stash of _Weird Tales_ in a box out in the garage. They were moldy and covered with cobwebs, but that just added to the appeal. Warped me for life (in a good way). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-pulp-fiction/557960.md?page=1)