This is an incredibly interesting book and an amazing look into a genre. Now I will say off the bat that it doesn't have the sheer quantity of setting material of something like Rocket Age and even though they've provided options for aliens I wouldn't use this book. Rocket Age really has that one covered.

It does however do an amazing job of analysing and breaking down pulp stories, showing the structures and the tropes. The rules feel like a natural fit and as well as providing many pre-made characters it also has plenty of guidance on implementing them and the themes they represent. It doesn't shy away from acknowledging some of the inherent nastiness of the themes either, instead preferring to leave decisions on such things in the hands of the GM.

Its more of a 1920s to 40s toolkit than anything else and feels wonderfully conversational. I actually picked it up due to the lack of an Earth supplement for Rocket Age and it definitely delivers. Also if you aren't familiar with the Vortex rules and want to pick them up I'd recommend this or Rocket Age over the Doctor Who rpg.

Pulp Fantastic is based on the Vortex rules system, as seen in games such as Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space, Rocket Age, and Primeval. The rules fit the setting - 1930s pulp action hero adventures - very well. This book is also full of lots of pulpy goodness, including everything you need to make characters like Indiana Jones, Doc Savage, the Shadow, etc., background information and a timeline, rules for gadgets and inventions, creature creation rules, and a solid bestiary. Unfortunately, it also contains an absurdly large number of editing and proof-reading errors, including incorrect page references, rules inconsistencies, and amateurish spelling and grammar errors. Due to that, I really can't recommend anyone purchasing anything more than the PDF, and I'm not even sure about that. I'm actually sorry now that I bought the hardcover. When I eventually do get a chance to run a pulp game with the Vortex system, I'll probably just use the Rocket Age book (so that I have coherent and readable rules to reference at the table), and maybe plunder this for some setting info. If the publisher would make it a point to hire a decent copy editor to give the PDF another pass, I'd definitely bump my rating up to at least 4 stars, and maybe consider using it on its own.