The Gold Ogre

Doc Savage (Bantam) #42

by Kenneth Robeson (House Name), Lester Dent

A legion of tiny terrorists launches a startling series of raids against Crescent City. Death, destruction, and a disease which drives men mad, are the results of the audacious attacks. The Man of Bronze meets a new quartet of allies—and confronts the oddest opponents he's ever challenged....

Genres: Adventure, Mystery, Fiction, Pulp, Action, Pulp Adventure, Science Fiction

122 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1939

About the author

Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including:

William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson

Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson.

All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.

Reviews

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be highly enjoyable. To me, this book had a Hardy Boys feel to it. The story starts out with a gang of four youths in a summer camp who are drawn back to their town of Crescent City when they learn of a strange affliction that strikes some of the men there, including one of the boys’ father. Doc Savage is called where upon he flies down to help out with the story. I really enjoyed the story because, for much of the book, none of Doc’s crew are involved. Just Doc and the resourceful boys helping.

Monk and Ham are later called in from vacationing in Massachusetts. They don’t really play a significant role in this adventure. Renny, Johnny and Long Tom are in Europe on work related business. I was always wishing for a Doc only story, at least once. This is the closest thing to it.


Written by Lester Dent and published May, 1939.

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the pulp era heroes few stand out above the crowd, Doc Savage is one of these. With his 5 aides and cousin he adventures across the world. Fighting weird menaces, master criminals and evil scientists Doc and the Fab 5 never let you down for a great read. These stories have all you need; fast paced action, weird mystery, and some humor as the aides spat with each other. My highest recommendation.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gold Orge is a "Doc Savage" novel by Kenneth Robeson. Kenneth Robeson was the house name Street and Smith Publications used as the author of their popular Doc Savage novels. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including:
William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson
I love reading these old pulp novels from time to time. I read about 80%+ of the Doc Savage novels when I was a teenager but that was a very long time ago. I have been trying to find them again in the Bantam editions I read in my youth. I have found several of them in used bookstores and have bought several from online aftermarket bookstores.
In this one, Doc Savage and his men are in the thick of it again. The action is classic Doc Savage, filled with good old-fashioned adventure and gadgets that always seem to be there when the hero needs them. You can relax and escape for a little while. A good read in the Doc Savage series.

[Robert D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the typical Doc Savage novel. The small town of Crescent City has a rash of disappearances. When Don Worth learns of his father's disappearance he and his three friends (B. Elmer Dexter, Mental Byron, Leander Tucker) leave the summer boys camp to investigate. On their own they discover strange little golden men that are wandering the countryside at night. They also recover one of the missing men but when they go to question him the next day he is no longer acting entirely sane and tries to kill Marcus Gild, the wealthiest and meanest man in town.

When they realize they are not getting anywhere on their own they contact Doc Savage and ask him to come help. Doc agrees but none of his able assistants are available. He travels to Crescent City and is instead assisted by the four young men, whom he readily allows to help him.

They learn that the disappearances and bouts of insanity affecting others is spreading and seems to be part of an orchestrated plot.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Doc adventure that I read in the 70s

[Mark Desrosiers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mysterious gold midget ogres. Death, destruction, and a disease that drives men mad, what more can you ask for. + Doc gets help from four Boy Scouts, it was like a Hardy Boys mystery but better. A+

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pulp novel featuring Doc Savage. Mysterious dwarves terrorize a small town. Much chaos ensues.

[Duane Olds · Rating 2 out of 5]

What did I just read? It felt like a teen knock off Doc Savage book with Doc Savage sprinkled in at the end. It's like they had everything pretty much solved before Doc got there.

[John Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a test run for a more juvenile spinoff of Doc with the gang of young adventurers. Odd, because Doc Savage is basically written for 12 year old boys.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first Doc Savage story appeared in 1933 and the series ran in pulp and later digest format into 1949. Bantam reprinted the entire series in paperback with wonderful, iconic covers starting in the 1960's. Doc was arguably the first great modern superhero with a rich background, continuity, and mythos. The characterizations were far richer than was common for the pulps; his five associates and their sometimes-auxiliary, Doc's cousin Pat, and the pets Chemistry and Habeas Corpus, all had very distinctive characteristics and their byplay was frequently more entertaining that the current adventure-of-the-month. The settings were also fascinating: Doc's Fortress of Solitude, the Hidalgo Trading Company (which served as a front for his armada of vehicles), and especially the mysterious 86th floor headquarters all became familiar haunts to the reader, and the far-flung adventures took the intrepid band to exotic and richly-described locations all over the world. The adventures were always fast-paced and exciting, from the early apocalyptic world-saving extravaganzas of the early days to the latter scientific-detective style shorter works of the post-World War Two years. There were always a few points that it was difficult to believe along the way, but there were always more ups than downs, and there was never, ever a dull moment. The Doc Savage books have always been my favorite entertainments... I was always, as Johnny would say, superamalgamated!

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were no other Doc Savage novels quite like "The Gold Ogre." That alone, with 181 other original tales of the Man of Bronze out there, makes it worth checking out. But it also happens to be a good story, though one likely to polarize the faithful.

Here writer Lester Dent allows a group of four boys, residents of a Great Lakes town, to take center stage, at least for a little while. It seems the folks at Doc Savage magazine publisher Street & Smith wanted to test out the characters for a possible spin-off that, ultimately, never happened.

The boys' ages are never stated, though they seem about 15. They're among the first to confront the mystery of gold-colored, tiny caveman types who, wielding spiked clubs, abduct townspeople, who later are released or escape and have become subject to fits of violent rage.

The boys are broadly drawn, but they are likable in an old-fashioned way, and there is some fun banter between them. Dent spends a lot of time on the quartet early on, and it feels a little like the boys from the "Stand By Me" movie have wandered into a Doc Savage tale. Incredibly, Doc doesn't appear until a third of the way into the novel, when the boys seek out his help as they try to solve the gold ogre mystery. In addition, none of Doc's aides (only Monk and Ham appear) is seen until almost the three-quarter mark of the story.

Some readers might not be so thrilled with the juvenile slant to things. I didn't necessarily love it, but I did like it. With Monk and Ham not yet aboard, Doc enlists the aid of the boys for a good stretch. Kid sidekicks! It is, of course, incredibly irresponsible of Doc to put unarmed boys in great danger, but they do have a blast even as they occasionally get scared shitless. I think there was far less coddling of the young 75 years ago, less inclination to kid-glove them through life. There were plenty of seemingly unparented youths in entertainment back in the day, from Our Gang onward. Anyway, it's interesting to note how Doc deals with the boys. This unemotional man, raised from the cradle to battle wrongdoers, probably is living out through the gang repressed juvenile longings to just be a boy.

In truth, the violence and danger in "The Gold Ogre" are tamped down somewhat for a Doc Savage adventure, though it's still a good ol' tale, quite solid.

Street & Smith is clearly setting the stage for the boys' reappearance when, as things wind up, the boys ask Doc if they could help him again sometime. Doc gives them a rather incredible maybe (hey, Doc, do you think you should check with their parents at some point?). But Don Worth, B. Elmer Dexter, Funny Tucker and Mental Byron are never heard from again.

Love the young Savage sidekicks or hate 'em; I consider this highly unusual Doc Savage adventure a low-key treat.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun change of pace story.
Starts out feeling like some kind of weird Hardy Boys mystery with the introduction of the four friends.
Then Doc Savage shows up and they become his sidekicks for the rest of the adventure. None of the Famous 5 show up until the 3/4 mark.
Almost feels like this was a try out story, to see if the boys could rate their own series.
Don't think we ever see them again, which is too bad, as they were fun characters.

The mystery revolves around a small town being terrorized by a tribe of golden pygmies.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Villain-wise this is a now familiar Doc Savage set-up, a seemingly supernatural menace (tiny gold ogres from within the Earth!) covering up a criminal scheme. Story-wise it's unusual because publisher Street & Smith were hoping for a spinoff series, which is why most of the adventures goes to four teenage boys (Don, Funny, B. Elmer and Mental) instead of Doc and his team. It wouldn't have been bad if it had been some kind of Hardy Boys series, but the kids are not what I read Doc Savage for.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

read during fall 1969

[Keith B · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the sillier stories. Doc seems almost to 'just' make an appearance. 5 for nostalgia!