The Green Lama: Scions

The Green Lama Legacy, Book 1

By: Adam Lance Garcia

Narrated by: Jiraiya Addams

Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

A cruise ship crashes suddenly on Liberty Island. All onboard are dead by

their own murderous hands. All but one. What secrets does the lone

survivor harbor within her very soul? And what horrors does she bring?

These are questions only the Green Lama can answer!

Reintroducing the most unique pulp hero ever! In reality, The Green

Lama is Jethro Dumont, a millionaire playboy who spent 10 years in Tibet

and now uses his Buddhist training to pursue justice for those denied it!

Can even the Green Lama, with his mastery of the supernatural and his

radioactive salts, be enough to prevent the coming of...scions?

©2013 Kendra Crossen Burroughs (P)2017 RadioArchives.com

Pulp fiction hero reconstructed.

The Green Lama, an old pulp fiction hero from the past, is reconstructed in audiobook format for our pleasure. Jethro Dumont, a millionaire playboy who fights the wrongs and helps the innocent, as The Green Lama. Sort of a supernatural detective who uses the mystical powers learned during his ten year stay in Tibet. In this first novel a cruise ship crashes on Liberty Island. All the passengers but one is dead by their own hands. The Green Lama must discover how and why this tragedy took place and what the spirits inhabiting the dead want. Not my cup of tea; three.point.five for the effort. This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

Great pulp superhero and some Lovecraftian touches

A sudden crash of a cruise ship on Liberty Island has the population in New York terribly worried. But the crash is not the most worrisome part, the real problem is that all people aboard the ship are dead with heavy injuries like they were inflicted on each other. The police and the press readily get busy with the mystery, but this is a case for the Green Lama, a superhero with mystic powers which he gathers from some radioactive salts.

I loved the pulp atmosphere in this book. The story is set and written in 1938, and listening to it one feels transported to that era. It is like watching a film noir movie. The book starts presenting the Green Lama and how he came to be. Then we are transported to the moment just before the cruise ship crash. I found the premises very interesting and the mystic halo around the Green Lama very appealing.

This is a of pulp superhero with novella with Lovecraftian touches. Fans of both movements will undoubtedly enjoy this book. There are some gruesome descriptions but nothing too scary for the public nowadays.

I found quite funny how nobody, except for the reader, realizes that the Green Lama is in fact Jethro Dumont, when both had a past in Tibet. I guess it is the same as what happens with Superman; it’s super clear that Clark Kent is Superman but nobody seems to notice. I found those touches endearing.

What did not completely convince me was the amount of secondary characters for this short novella. They seem excessive and, somehow, redundant. At first I had a clear idea of who was who, but towards the end, when they join, I found it a very confusing, and I am not sure that it added anything to the story.

The narration was perfect for this story. Jiraiya Addams’ voice and style matched perfectly the pulp atmosphere of the book, and his Green Lama interpretation was sublime. He did a good job providing different voices to the characters. He also used some interesting sound effects for some parts of the book, which contributed to enrich the final product.

I really enjoyed this audiobook and I hope to listen to more adventures with the Green Lama.

I received a copy of this book in audio format from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

The Pulps are Back

The original Green Lama first appeared in the 1940 issue of Double Detective magazine. The Green Lama: Scions: The Green Lama Legacy, Book 1 is continuation of the original stories. The Green Lama is the first Buddhist "super hero". His powers are enhanced by the use of radioactive salts. The book tries to stay true to the pulp genre, but at times it seems forced. The Green Lama is back, but it is not a totally successful return.
The narration was good.

Great start of a Lovecraft-inspired series

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I loved the inclusion of the Lovecraftian content with the Cthulhu Mythos. I really enjoyed the complexity the author included in his tale and the narration was very well done. I will definitely look for more in this series.

1930's Mystical Super-hero

The Green Lama is one of the early Old Time Radio and Pulp Fiction super-heroes, debuting in 1940.

This particular story takes place in the late 1930's. The Green Lama is the vigilante alto-ego personification of multi-millionaire playboy Jethro Dumont. He is a hero with some supernatural powers. Also he doesn't use guns and restores his powers with radio-active salts.

In this tale he battles zombie like beings possessed by evil entities.

Although the narrator was very good and the story was enjoyable I feel this performance would of been more fun if it had been been a multi cast production done in the style of Old Time Radio.

For fans of OTR, comics and super heroes this book would be a good fun listen.

I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

More fun than I expected!

This story was way more fun than I expected. I do enjoy pulp fiction but I usually have to be in a mood for it as so much of the genre can be campy and sexist. Not this one! I was happy to see so many female characters in the book – and they get stuff done too! They don’t just look pretty while being rescued.

Set in New York, there’s a variety of characters for the Big Bad Evil to infect and/or kill. The creeptastic aspects lead back to a ship that crashed into Liberty Island. It’s something out of a horror movie and it has the police baffled. But never fear! The Green Lama knows what this evil is, much to his sadness.

For such a short story, it’s a pretty big cast of characters. I did have a little trouble keeping them all separate. However, they are all interesting. There’s Jean Farell, who is a good shot and doesn’t shy away from rescuing men knocked unconscious. Frankie, who is French Black American, has a soft spot for kids that need rescuing.

Jethro Durmont, the hero of this tale, is a bit standard. He’s a millionaire white guy who lost his parents under horrible circumstances, and ran off to Asia to learn some mystical self-defense arts. Sound familiar, no? Batman, Iron Fist, The Arrow, etc. He does have at least one unique aspect – he needs his special radioactive salts on a regular basis to maintain his special powers. I hope he labels those appropriately so the guests don’t use them to flavor their soup!

Betty Dale, a newsreporter, has me wondering what will happen in the next book. She knows the Green Lama’s secrets but he also knows who she is. Then there’s poor Lt. Caraway. He made me laugh a few times but things didn’t go well for him in this story. Overall, it was a fun story. 4.5/5 stars

The Narration: Jiraiya Addams puts on a great performance. He has unique voices for all the characters and his female characters sound feminine. He went all out voicing the Evil, which was multi-layered voices for individual characters affected by it. Chilling! There were no technical issues with the recording. 5/5 stars

A true blast from the past, updated nicely!

I am a pulp fanatic, and a lover of OTR (Old Time Radio), the Green Lama is one of those classic characters that few younger people have ever heard of today. I even though that his character had slipped into the public domain, but was informed otherwise by our fine narrator. The Lama comes in the vein of The Shadow, The Spider, Doc Savage, etc.

I have to admit, when I learned of this book I couldn't wait to get it. The aniticipation was great, and this could have been disasterous, as any kind of a buildup leads to a large let down if the product is even slightly below what you are expecting. I'll be honest, for me, the defining moment came when I heard Addams say the Lama's catch phrase, "OM MANI PADME HUM". That is like seeing Supermaqn fly, or hearing the Shadow's mocking laugh. Needless to say, he nailed it.

SO, let me talk first about Jiraiya Addams. His voice provides a moody atmosphere, just like those OTR shows. He plays each character as if he were an ensemble cast, and he sets the tone and pace for the book effortlessly. Best of all, he conveys the tranquility of the Lama, even while he is embroiled in a life threatening situation.

Garcia really knows the character, and clearly loves him and thie era that he is from. It feels as if he had been one of those kids of yesterday sitting in front of his radio listening to the Lama or the Shadow. The story starts off with a gruesome mystery and then jets along at a great pace. Betty Dale is reminescent of Lois Lane, and tails Dumont doggedly trying to ascertain if she is correct about him being the Green Lama. Once Garcia ets everyone where he wants them he blows the lid off the story and sends the listener into an excitment filled clown car ride (you never know what is going to pop out).

I really can't wait to get the rest of the series. Thank you Mr. Garcia and Mr. Addams! What a fine job. I am eager to hear more of these exciting yarns.

Fans of the shadow or brother bones rejoice

Love the old school radio noir heros? This is for you. Meet the Green Lama and his band of allies. In this story they battle none other than a lovecraftian horror from beyond. The ancient ones have risen. They seek the keystone and only the lama can stop them. Great story well written and well narrated. They really captured that old school style. Enjoyed and can't wait for the next one. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Classic Pulp-Hero Vs. Cthulhoid Pulp-Horros

I first discovered the Green Lama through another audio-book 'Green Lama: Mystic Warrior', a collection of shorter stories by various authors, and with the same narrator. I liked it well enough to follow it to 'Scions', and I'm glad I did! Garcia's version of the classic characters is simultaneously true to the 'feel' of the old pulp novels of the 30s,but with some interesting twists and expansions that will engage modern readers,such as lightly touching on social issues like racism and persecution of LGBTQ people.). Fans of H.P. Lovecraft will be pleased by the inclusion of content from his famous Cthulhu Mythos, which I gather continues throughout the series. Once the action gets started (which doesn't take too long) it never stops, and the combination of derring-do, cliffhangers, and gory/horrific imagery kept me up listening past my bedtime. The bad-guys are REALLY bad, and how they pursue their awful goals will likely creep you out. The sound quality is pretty good,and the narrator's voice-acting is excellent : the various characters are distinct with unique voices, and the more intense emotional scenes are handled with vividness without being too over-the-top. My favorite character-portrayals were Caraway (the tough-guy detective), Jean (the actress turned daredevil adventuress), and of course the Lama himself (with a fierce passion for justice simmering under the serene calmness). I plan to listen to the rest of the series as it comes out.

Vigilante Pulp Noir meets Lovecraftian Horror

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I was given a copy of this audiobook by the Narrator in exchange for an honest review.

So, how does an enlightened Buddhist vigilante battle the unnameable legions of cosmic horror? This modern continuation of a rather obscure hero from the 1940s attempts to answer this question when a mysterious ghost ship crashes into Liberty Island.
The story combines early superhero tropes of East-Meets-West, crime story, and surprisingly. Lovecraftian Horror. Fans of Lovecraft will either be delighted or appalled to find so many familiar references to the Mythos.
I found the story and characters mildly amusing. The protagonist seems to be more of a capable hero than a clever one; make of that what you will. I really liked the married couple that became part of the adventure. They had a charming chemistry.
Jiraiya Addams does a solid job of narrating. His characterizations and voices are well-performed. He has a good voice for this kind of thing.
If you like Dr. Strange, Green Arrow, The Scarlet Pimpernel, or Zorro, I recommend you give this series a try.

Would you be willing to try another book from Adam Lance Garcia? Why or why not?

No. It isn't bad. It's just not my cup of tea.

Which character – as performed by Jiraiya Addams – was your favorite?

The reformed gangster.