The Island of the Lost is a New Pulp novel from Milton Lane. The author is new and only has one other book on Amazon.
This is a clearly pulp-inspired work, giving us the first of what looks to be several stories featuring adventurer Hannibal Harken.
The world of Harken is similar to ours, but there are differences. The level of technology is loosely early 20th century with steamships, airplanes, and dirigibles. There are several nations, but not all are civilized. But while this is a world with increasing science and technology, there seems to be a rising tide of the supernatural, which is the underlying storyline of the series as Harken is trying to understand who or what is behind it.
In this one, Harken had been traveling by steamship when it bizarrely sinks during a strange lightning storm. Harken and a few others are able to get in a lifeboat and make it to a strange island. Joined by a few others, they try to figure out where they are and if there are other survivors. They discover a wrecked dirigible with some survivors, who join them. They also discover goblins and fight them, as well as signs that others have been killed or carried off by these goblins. And they strangely find their steamship inland on the island.
They also must contend with raiders who take slaves, and an aristocrat who has a dark secret.
Can Harken and his fellow survivors get to the bottom of things, and better yet, get off the island and back to civilization? And as it seems clear this will be the first of a series, who among his companions in this novel will be involved with future ones?
Overall, this is a nice first novel. While I would like to learn more about this world, the author avoids the huge data dumps that sometimes occur. Information about the world is given out slowly, though I was still unclear on several things. The cover is nice, and it gives a clear Doc Savage vibe. But Harken is no Doc Savage. While an adventurer with a bend toward science, he isn’t highly trained or super wealthy, nor does he have a cadre of associates.
I look forward to seeing what we might get from this series in the future.
