View Full Version : Old FE Campbell novels?
Maltese Falcon
10-21-2004, 08:38 AM
Does anyone know if there is a place on the web to view or purchase the early novels of FE Campbell? For those who do not know, he was a writer for House of Milan (HOM) who wrote scores of novels from the mid 1970s until the late 1990s. Although his work got rather repetitive and formulatic in later years, his early novels were really well crafted and clever. I have only read a couple of them, but I would like to find more. They are long out of print.
If you happen to have any of the first 25 or so Campbell novels, you might consider scanning and getting them on the Web for the sake of posterity. I for one would appreciate it.
Thanks.
Curtis
10-21-2004, 10:06 AM
I have about eight of his early books, a dozen from the middle period and the last two dozen plus that were published. (HOM released them in batches of four.) All of the early ones that I have were two-parters, and in every case I only have one part.
It was the middle group that I liked the least. They were formulaic without being 'hard' enough to suit me. The final group finally made it up to my preferred level of cruelty, so I enjoyed them the most, though I agree with you that the first group demonstrated the greatest craftsmanship.
Sorry, but scanning is out of the question. Even if I broke the spines of the books to scan two pages at a time, it would take around four hours to scan each book, and There are just too many other things to do in a day. Not to mention that I would have no idea what to do with them after they were scanned.
Mobius
10-21-2004, 03:39 PM
silly question but did you try google. I have not tried it but will
It is astonding can be found on the web.
Chuckdom19
10-22-2004, 03:16 AM
Does anyone know if there is a place on the web to view or purchase the early novels of FE Campbell? For those who do not know, he was a writer for House of Milan (HOM) who wrote scores of novels from the mid 1970s until the late 1990s. Although his work got rather repetitive and formulatic in later years, his early novels were really well crafted and clever. I have only read a couple of them, but I would like to find more. They are long out of print.
Thanks.
A good start would be to become a member here, and use the access to the art section. Lots of goodies in the FE Campbell folder.
Spitman
10-22-2004, 08:32 PM
Does anyone know if there is a place on the web to view or purchase the early novels of FE Campbell? For those who do not know, he was a writer for House of Milan (HOM) who wrote scores of novels from the mid 1970s until the late 1990s. Although his work got rather repetitive and formulatic in later years, his early novels were really well crafted and clever. I have only read a couple of them, but I would like to find more. They are long out of print.
If you happen to have any of the first 25 or so Campbell novels, you might consider scanning and getting them on the Web for the sake of posterity. I for one would appreciate it.
Thanks.
I have virtually all of FE Campbell's novels, but having once scanned a similar sized book I know how much time it took, and there's no way I could do that, unfortunately. I agree with others that his best work was the early novels, and I know he had help once he became infirm, but once you got hooked on something like that, you want more, don't you. He had a contract to deliver four novels at a time in later years. At least, that was what he did. The covers were illustrated by Bishop, who did hundreds of excellent bondage and rubber drawings by hand, mostly mono. Marvellous art before the days of computer graphics.
What I like best in FE Campbell's work was that he brought female slavery to life as an erotic fantasy. Body piercings were unashamedly a part of that, while today we don't find very much use of piercings as a fantasy element in bdsm fiction. He knew all about every kind of punishment implement as well. When he described the use of a tawse, you knew exactly how it felt by the time he had finished. Also, from time to time he made delightful use of dildos mounted on posts for restraint purposes, and my description is crude by comparison with his. I believe he had tremendous bdsm experience in his early life, but whether he did or not, what he wrote was utterly believable.
FE Campbell had schools for girls in which slavery was the only important subject, castles and country estates full of beautiful slaves who were taught not merely obedience, but the delights of erotic bondage, erotic piercings, restraint and punishment. He described slave caravans on their way across Africa and Arabia, but his female slaves were always erotic. His girls were never allowed to forget for a moment what they were sexually. Political correctness had not been invented. To him, sexual equality meant being what you are. His girls waited, restrained, for the caress of the whip and were glad of it. He knew all about medieval apparatus too. Stocks, racks and pillories appeared frequently, and he knew exactly how to exploit female vulnerabilities.
Pony girls were another favourite, described far more richly than anything we see today. He knew what he was talking about. Ginger suppositories preceded the insertion of tails, and the harnesses were described in graphic detail. Body rings played an important part. It is hard not to imagine that he wrote from experience.
Frank Campbell had a way of describing the erotic things girls did with girls as if that was the inevitable consequence of being naked together, a temptation no girl could resist. In the context of a harem or a school, I dare say he knew more than most men did. But all the time it was the eroticism, rather than any sexual orientation hangup, that came across.
I regard FE Campbell as probably the most important adult fantasy writer of the twentieth century. His earliest books never saw a word processor, but they flowed.
He was English originally, but spent most of his life in North America. In his later years he lived in Alberta, Canada.
Chuckdom19
10-22-2004, 08:46 PM
I regard FE Campbell as probably the most important adult fantasy writer of the twentieth century. His earliest books never saw a word processor, but they flowed.
Can't argue a bit about the quality of the body of work he produced. Couldn't afford them when they first came out (according to then-wife, anyway), the few I found in bookstores have a precious place in my collection.
Maltese Falcon
10-24-2004, 08:59 PM
A good start would be to become a member here, and use the access to the art section. Lots of goodies in the FE Campbell folder.
Really? I assumed that the art section contained... well... art. Not novels.
Chuckdom19
10-24-2004, 09:30 PM
Really? I assumed that the art section contained... well... art. Not novels.
Never had a chance to look up Campbell's section, but many other authors have complete illustrated books. Couldn't hurt to check!
desmios
10-27-2004, 03:31 PM
If you happen to have any of the first 25 or so Campbell novels, you might consider scanning and getting them on the Web for the sake of posterity. I for one would appreciate it.
Thanks.
I have quite a number of them, most of them quite early, I think.
I don't think I have the time (or facilities) to scan them, but I'm willing to consider sending them to you or someone... so long as it won't cost me too much.
Maltese Falcon
10-29-2004, 10:04 PM
I have quite a number of them, most of them quite early, I think.
I don't think I have the time (or facilities) to scan them, but I'm willing to consider sending them to you or someone... so long as it won't cost me too much.
I sent you a private message. Thanks.
Frito
11-06-2004, 08:56 AM
I would be willing to sign up, it just seems wrong to lurk around here without contributing toward the rent, but I have had some bad experiences.
Does this site charge me every single month for all of eternity? That really bothers me.
Chuckdom19
11-06-2004, 04:35 PM
I would be willing to sign up, it just seems wrong to lurk around here without contributing toward the rent, but I have had some bad experiences.
Does this site charge me every single month for all of eternity? That really bothers me.
All you have to do is save the billing page as a favorite, and tell them to discontinue before the end of the billing period. Easy, friendly, and helps support all these great stories ;)