Lun and laundered Dollars
The Marathon of 78 series spoke of Donald Sikert, "dark brown hair studded with silver threads" and "toughened steel blue eyes," who, as an orphan, was brought up to master the world, by big gangster trio, but by the way, he was overestimated and over educated: he was taught by famous professors of universities, artists, athletes, judo and jiu-jitsu fighters, equilibrists, cowboys, obsessives and magicians; he earned degrees in engineering, physics and law, defended his PhD in chemistry.
Along the way, however, he loved people, and turned against his masters and dealt with them. He established a base in London, from where he, with the help of his permanent associates - scientist Jane Whittington, sailor Samuel Makferson, journalist Arthur Markinc and Makferson's stepson, Ro Hach - declared war on world crime. And what a war that is!
Today you will hear everywhere that the Lun was better than the biggest role model, James Bond. That comparison is not without the merit, it is not an exaggeration to say that Lun really outstripped and surpassed the famous 007.
However, Lun, King of Midnight, quickly became a genre for himself. At first glance, it was not a classic crime, not just an action adventure novel or a spy, but all together, with the generous addition of humor, politics and erotica, not as a buzz but as a balanced, recognizable thing. Lun fought the evils well before the advent of the New World Order - from the classic drug and gangster bosses, through the FBI, CIA, MI5 and MI6 to various other megalomaniacs, dictators, tyrants and secret organizations besides which Masons and Templars act as golf clubs.
In these novels, everything was somehow more grandiose, high-budgeted, more screwed up than in Lun's other equivalents. Always on the verge of science fiction, the list of sneaky criminals Donald Sikert would embark on - corpse sellers, headhunters, porn-makers or death squads.
With the exception of early episodes that were not without its charm, Lun used to draw his guns less and rely more on gas bombs and bullets that paralyze limbs, hypnosis and truth serums, bugs for tapping and masking from head to toe. He even tried to rehabilitate criminals by brainwashing and conditioning, often with catastrophic consequences, as the villain would crumble under own repressed criminological urges.
The reader would be particularly interested in getting into the story, when he did not yet know where it was going to take him (for a conditional long-form series, each story was rather unpredictable). The introduction is usually about getting acquainted with new fascinating characters and discovering how it would all have to do with.
The later titles were too baroque, but at the time, the author is mostly just trying to overcome himself - which he often managed. Most favorite titles are the first four (Lun, King of Midnight; Lun Threats; Lun vs. Hecate; and Lun and the Lords of Chicago), because they are fresh and define the series, but also later are exciting, complex stories that already describe the main setting in the title (Lun and the blackmailed bridge, Lun in the abducted submarine, Clepsidra for Lun). The extravagant, elusive, imaginative villains he fought against were countless: Black Shadow, Nictalop, Ambidexter, Phantom Din, Nemesis, Asmodeus, just a few worthy to appear alongside Lun's name on the cover.
As is custom in the five-story universe, everything in the novels is forgiving of sex, and writer was particularly inspired in those scenes. In general, his stories were populated by a handful of fascinating women, whether powerful individuals on this or that side of the law, either a victim of circumstance or a subordinate position in a criminal community. Aston often dealt with the problems of prostitution, slave trade, or sexual slavery before awareness of these plagues spread across the planet. Lun has gallantly always been on the side of women, helping them or considering them equal competitors. The bad one would enslave him and work to convert him or even make him love them, but he would remain true to justice and longtime girlfriend Jane.
Along the way, however, he loved people, and turned against his masters and dealt with them. He established a base in London, from where he, with the help of his permanent associates - scientist Jane Whittington, sailor Samuel Makferson, journalist Arthur Markinc and Makferson's stepson, Ro Hach - declared war on world crime. And what a war that is!
Today you will hear everywhere that the Lun was better than the biggest role model, James Bond. That comparison is not without the merit, it is not an exaggeration to say that Lun really outstripped and surpassed the famous 007.
However, Lun, King of Midnight, quickly became a genre for himself. At first glance, it was not a classic crime, not just an action adventure novel or a spy, but all together, with the generous addition of humor, politics and erotica, not as a buzz but as a balanced, recognizable thing. Lun fought the evils well before the advent of the New World Order - from the classic drug and gangster bosses, through the FBI, CIA, MI5 and MI6 to various other megalomaniacs, dictators, tyrants and secret organizations besides which Masons and Templars act as golf clubs.
In these novels, everything was somehow more grandiose, high-budgeted, more screwed up than in Lun's other equivalents. Always on the verge of science fiction, the list of sneaky criminals Donald Sikert would embark on - corpse sellers, headhunters, porn-makers or death squads.
With the exception of early episodes that were not without its charm, Lun used to draw his guns less and rely more on gas bombs and bullets that paralyze limbs, hypnosis and truth serums, bugs for tapping and masking from head to toe. He even tried to rehabilitate criminals by brainwashing and conditioning, often with catastrophic consequences, as the villain would crumble under own repressed criminological urges.
The reader would be particularly interested in getting into the story, when he did not yet know where it was going to take him (for a conditional long-form series, each story was rather unpredictable). The introduction is usually about getting acquainted with new fascinating characters and discovering how it would all have to do with.
The later titles were too baroque, but at the time, the author is mostly just trying to overcome himself - which he often managed. Most favorite titles are the first four (Lun, King of Midnight; Lun Threats; Lun vs. Hecate; and Lun and the Lords of Chicago), because they are fresh and define the series, but also later are exciting, complex stories that already describe the main setting in the title (Lun and the blackmailed bridge, Lun in the abducted submarine, Clepsidra for Lun). The extravagant, elusive, imaginative villains he fought against were countless: Black Shadow, Nictalop, Ambidexter, Phantom Din, Nemesis, Asmodeus, just a few worthy to appear alongside Lun's name on the cover.
As is custom in the five-story universe, everything in the novels is forgiving of sex, and writer was particularly inspired in those scenes. In general, his stories were populated by a handful of fascinating women, whether powerful individuals on this or that side of the law, either a victim of circumstance or a subordinate position in a criminal community. Aston often dealt with the problems of prostitution, slave trade, or sexual slavery before awareness of these plagues spread across the planet. Lun has gallantly always been on the side of women, helping them or considering them equal competitors. The bad one would enslave him and work to convert him or even make him love them, but he would remain true to justice and longtime girlfriend Jane.
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