I lost seven days of reading in March, due to an unprecedented series of clear nights during the monthly astronomy session. It wore me to the ground, and I ended up traveling just over 500 miles altogether. But what a month for observing! The April session begins on the next clear night, and I am excited to get back to my galaxy observing project. Despite the loss of a week, I still managed to get through much of my usual amount of reading, including ten books related to the Avon/Equinox series, and one by a non-related author, along with another 4 hours of volume 2 of 1001 Arabian Nights. Here is last month's line-up:
As usual, Robert Silverberg lead things off. I read To Live Again, a novel from 1969. The novel (including an intro by the
author) seems to fulfill J G Ballard's wish of having SF
look inward rather than outward. Silverberg looks inward in a very
unique way: in the future it is possible to have your mind and
personality preserved on tape. Only the very rich can afford such a
thing, and updates are suggested every six months. Once you die, your
memories etc. can then be purchased by another rich person. Impressed
into the single mind comes a complementary personality, making inner
dialogues possible between the person and their acquired persona, and
the person gains the life experiences of their intimate companion. Not
only this, but more than one persona can be added if desired. I like the idea, and the writing, a lot, even though the complications of such tomfoolery could never really be fathomed. *** 1/2 stars.
Next, I began yet another series by Piers Anthony, called Incarnations of Immortality. The first novel is called On A Pale Horse, and the novel finds a man suddenly faced with becoming the figure of Death, and having to carry out his day to day duties and responsibilities. There is a lot of humour, but also some interesting moral decision-making that must be done. While the book is long, it is followed by a 22 page essay by the author that proves to be every bit as entertaining as the story. I liked the story, though there were some weaker moments. The next installment deals with the figure of Time. *** stars.
One of the best books in the actual Avon/Equinox series is #23, Bring The Jubilee,
by Ward Moore. It is a brilliant book dealing with time travel and the
American Civil War, published in 1955. It would be difficult not to
admit the influence of that book on Harry Harrison, in his time travel/Civil
War effort called A Rebel In Time. While I much preferred the Moore novel, the Harrison one
has its good points, too. For one thing, the hero is black. Imagine
being black and educated today and being sent back to the American south
in 1859. Good luck with that. So Harrison opens a brand new area with
his confrontation of racial issues in America. His writing is always
so smooth and stylish, the book reads well and easily, and is hard to
put down once begun. *** stars.
From
1971 comes a novel as quirky as its title, The Electric Sword Swallowers (which I cannot fathom). Nor
does the cover byline "Every man his own Napoleon" make any sense, either.
This is one of the oddest stories I have ever read, and
I've read many odd ones. In essence, the emperor of a planet (a
self-proclaimed Napoleon), reenacts famous battles. This particular
story deals with the Battle of Waterloo at its climax. Intelligent
robots with some human DNA are utilized in the battle, thousands of
them. A group of reformers want
to oust him, and use the robots for greater good and profit. Our hero,
Ferdie Foxlee, is hired as a top technician, after barely escaping two
previous jobs.
The
story begins as a comedy farce, but grows more serious as it goes on.
Some good points are raised throughout the story about revolutions, war,
and the inhuman use of robots that are partially intelligent, and can
act and feel on their own. It's the kind of story one comes across more
often in Ace Doubles than any other publisher, and I doubt any other
publisher would have printed this as is. Bulmer knows his military
history, and he knows his emperors, too. While I am not a fan of
military history (or military anything), I found the book to be highly
readable, and so original in concept that I enjoyed reading it a lot.
The ending is also very well handled, as the planet finds a worthy
purpose after all, rather than just being a fun place to reenact
battles.
*** stars. Beyond Capella by John Rackham was the unrelated book for the month, an anti-war space adventure from 1971. Though very sexist for today's reader (what SF wasn't from earlier
days?), Rackham at least tackles the issue of women in space and women
in combat. He also tackles other major issues such as the morality and
wastefulness of war, computers replacing humans, and even alcohol on
board ship (no one smokes on board in this book, either). *** 1/2 stars.
Fifty Days To Doom is by E. E. Tubb, a 71 page pulp novella from 1954 that I quite enjoyed. It marks the third anti-war book in a row that I read in March. Tubb's novella has a lot in common with Rackham's novel, from 1971.
Both feature a man who is caught up in a senseless war, and wants
nothing more than peace. Again it always amazes me how so much story can be crammed into such a small number of pages. *** stars.
The Moon Children by Jack Williamson was the first of three jackpot winners for the month, a novel so astoundingly good that I know I will read it again soon. Unfortunately, my copy is water damaged, so I will have to order a new one. The 1971-72 tale starts out a bit like Wyndom's Midwich Cuckoos, and also features some John Christopher inspired passages. But the direction that Williamson takes with this story of three alien children born to human mothers is completely original and totally fascinating, and remains one of the best SF novels I have ever read. Very highly recommended. ****+ stars.
I finished up Moorcock's Swords trilogy, the adventures of Corum. The King Of Swords is an excellent finish to a great series, despite the 2nd book being much less interesting than were books one and three. Definitely worth checking out. All three books are quite short. **** stars.
I finally got to read some of the short stories by J. G. Ballard, a multi-month project that will see me finish reading all of his fiction. Having heard rave reviews of his short works, especially the early material, I opened the first page of the first story with high expectations. My expectations were blown clear out of the water. I had time to read 13 stories, some of them novelettes, all his short writing from 1956 through 1960. I will merely list the names of the stories that are among the best fiction ever written. Prima Belladonna; Escapement; The Concentration City; Venus Smiles; The Waiting Grounds; Chronopolis. Absolutely astounding stuff!!
Barry Malzberg, a favourite author of mine, wrote under more than a dozen names, in all genres of fiction. Under the name of Howard Lee, he wrote the first of four novels based on episodes of Kung Fu, starring David Carradine. The first novel is called The Way of the Tiger, The Sign of the Dragon, and brought back a lot of memories. The flashbacks to the monastery are very well handled, and I would never have suspected that the smooth writing style was a work by Malzberg. A 2021 reboot of the series is planned, starring a female (of course; who else) Caine.
Lastly came the third incredible discovery of the month (Williamson and Ballard being the other two), The Seedling Stars by James Blish. Consisting of three novelettes and a short story, we get the complete history of how humans adapted to life on other planets, rather than selecting to colonize only Earth-like planets. At times I felt that I was reading the very best work of Hal Clement. Written in the mid-50s for pulp magazines, and then rewritten for paperback publication, this is an incredible series of loosely linked stories that I wish contained many more episodes. Fabulous reading. **** stars.
And now a very short film summary from the past week. Deb's three film festival choices were unrelated, beginning with the 1934 Imitation of Life, a film ahead of its time, but considerably behind by now. Imagine sitting in a theatre in 1934 and watching a film about a black girl who can pass for white, and rejecting her black mother and her black roots. Still quite watchable, though some moments are painfully melodramatic. The ending was changed from the book, which did not impress the author.
Now showing on Criterion.
Walk On The Wild Side is from 1962, starring a very handsome Laurence Harvey, along with Capucine, Jane Fonda, and Barbara Stanwyck. The New Orleans setting tells the simple story of a Texas man coming in search of a woman with whom he fell in love with three years earlier. But the woman has changed a lot since their last meeting. Filmed in beautiful black and white, the film is good, but suffers from I call the cliched Hollywood ending, in this case not the happy one.
Now showing on Criterion.
Lastly came a Preston Sturgess comedy starring a young Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck, along with just about every comic actor in the movie business in 1941. While the film has a good first half, it falls flat in the second due to overuse of very silly slapstick comedy, which does not suit Fonda at all (nor would it suit anyone else). There is some really good writing in the first half, but not much in the second. The story ends up going in circles, too. The real joy is seeing Stanwyck scintillate in the role of a card sharp, and in watching the many character actors in their small roles. It gets tiresome watching Fonda play the part of a buffoon, often expressionless.
Half good, half bad. Now showing on Criterion.
Mapman Mike
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