North America is a vast continent, and crossing less than half of it in four days is much too quick, especially in the US. Road trips are a thing in our part of the world, a big thing. I have driven west 9 times, and back home 8 times. No, I am not still out west as I write this (I wish I was), but one time I drove west with my brother, then flew home. I miss the road trip, and hope we can do one late this year or early next year, towards Albuquerque or Denver.
Because of web site instability years ago, many of my photos are no longer on line. So I have set up a new blog, which I will attempt to update on a monthly basis, briefly outlining our past road trips. Here is a link to that blog. A permanent link can also be found in the upper right hand margin of this blog.
In April I managed to read 11 books, including one from beyond the Avon/Equinox project. I have a small stack of books in the bedroom next to the digital clock, and I am trying to read through these before embarking on all of the Kindle editions I have purchased (not related to the Avon project). This month I read the last book I have by P. D. Wodehouse, called A Damsel In Distress. Wodehouse writes the comic opera versions of Upstairs, Downstairs. His true gift, aside from being a very funny writer, is how his characters and plot, subplot, and seemingly nonsense antics all fit perfectly together by the end. Not a wasted word, character, or situation. Highly recommended. Since I have no more paperbacks by him to read, I purchased a set of a whole pile of his novels on Kindle, for $.99. The book was turned into a very bad movie starring Fred Astaire. Wodehouse, in an intro to this more modern edition, discusses his Hollywood project in detail. It was the only Astaire movie to lose money.
Beginning with Silverberg, I made it through another iteration of the remaining authors in my Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery Series project. I read a novel called Up The Line. Silverberg is a man of many writing talents. I first came across him as a youth with one of his archaeology books. Of course he also writes SF, and history, and for a time he wrote pulp soft core porn as well. Food must be put on the table, after all. Now to the present story. It is a mix of all of the above, as a man who works as a time travel guide for rich tourists takes them back to Byzantine times, just before the fall of Constantinople. So we get a very rich portrait from the author of these (and a few other) times. But the hero becomes obsessed and falls in love with one of his ancestors, whom he refers to as his great great great (etc) grandmother. Silverberg, at least in the 50s and 60s) is one of the more sexist writers I have come across in this project. Women are there for one thing, which is to please men. The book is completely spoiled not by sex, but by the author's attitudes to it. Nearly a complete wast of time. But I did learn a lot about Constantine and his fall.
Ghost, by Piers Anthony, is a pretty solid SF novel, also about time travel. His use of time travel is one of the more brilliant ones I have ever come across. A spaceship essentially stays where it is, but as the galaxy spins, the solar system rotates, and our sun moves through space with its entourage, the ship always ends up in a different place, since it remains stationary. They eventually become trapped in a ghost galaxy, and must seek to escape. The final solution is not what one might expect, however. Sadly, Anthony too often leaves the story behind in his attempt to problem solve, and the final one third of the book is more like sitting in a science class than reading a story. He has become a bit of a blowhard in his later writing, leaving storytelling behind when it suits him. His ideas, though, are brilliant.
Next came West of Eden, a long novel by Harrison which became a series for him. I am not overly fond of cave man type SF, though I have read several goods ones from the authors of the Avon series. Harrison's twist is this: what would have happened if the giant meteor had not struck the Yucatan? Answer: there would still be a lot of reptilian life forms out there, competing with humans. This is not necessarily a dinosaur versus humans story, but the two species do coexist. The dominant species, though, is reptilian, very intelligent, warlike, and not easily changed from their role over thousands of years. Humans are still low on the chain, but about to become more than they were, thanks to their reptilian nemesis. Not a bad story at all, and would make an excellent TV series.
Bulmer's The Insane City was next, a pulp novel at heart, but with that added extra that this writer does so well. Although the complexity of the story is rather high, Bulmer has a way with telling stories that makes reading easy and fun. In fact, I read this novel in less than one day, as I was forced to sit on the couch for a long time with a cat recovering from eye surgery (the cat is doing fine). There are many important themes running through the tale, almost too many to deal with properly. Robots taking jobs, human lives becoming more ruled by central computers, computer intelligence and their ability to deal with emotions, megalomaniac CEOs wanting to dominate the planet, and even clearing slums and not properly seeing to the needs of the displaced. Well worth reading, even though not his best writing.
Someone keeps unearthing unpublished manuscripts by Tubb and putting them up on Kindle. This one is called Destroyer of Worlds, and was first published in 2016. This is a really good SF novel, something along the lines of a decent Star Trek movie plot. It could have been written in the late 60s, after Star Trek. The captain of a starship searching for habitable planets with his crew encounter a galactic menace of startling complexity and intent. Though warned away by an automatic system put in place, good old Captain Maddox of the ship Ad Astra goes barging ahead away, in a very Captain Kirk-like moment. He lives to regret doing just that. Highly recommended!
The Power of Blackness by Jack Williamson is writing quite a large notch below his previous novel, The Moon Children. 4 shorter fiction tales connect the lives of Black Lantern, the hero of the tale, and his beloved female, Snowfire. The story opens on a planet colonized thousands of years ago, likely by an all black colony. The planet is hot, rich in certain minerals, and has a ritualized civilization that is not keeping up with the times. Some of the stories of pretty good; the last one is the weakest. The best thing about this collection, written in the mid-70s, is the personality of Snowfire, and independent sort if there ever was one. The love interest is well handled, as Black Lantern must overcome his own prejudices of the role of women. Not Jack's best, but worth a read, with several memorable moments.
I have began The Chronicles of Corum, by Michael Moorcroft, the 2nd trilogy about the wandering, lost hero Corum. The first short novel of the three is called The Bull and The Spear. If you are expecting a story that includes a bull and a spear, then you will get your money's worth. Corum, who lives a very long time unless killed, has outlived his original wife, who dies at 90. He mopes around his gloomy castle, as Moorcock's fantasy heroes often do when not out saving the planet. Jerry Cornelius stops by with an assignment for him, if he wants it. After hooming and hawing for a long time, Corum sets out on his next adventure. The quest is quite a good read, and Corum meets another woman, too. I am looking forward to part 2 later this month.
I read 14 more stories by Ballard, whose short fiction continues to astound me. The Garden of Time, The Cage of Sand, and The Watch-Towers are three superb stories that should be sought out and read (or reread). Ballard, as one of the blurbs on my copy of his stories says, is a one-man genre. Virtually everything he wrote is worth reading once; much of it is worth reading twice, and a large portion of that is worth a third reading. When this massive reading project eventually comes to an end, there will be a summary and accounting of the authors, ranking them overall. Ballard will at least be in the top three, if not at the very top.
I know that Ballard would have liked reading books by Barry Malzberg. Malzberg's in depth dive into the human psyche is unparalleled among most writers, and virtually all SF writers. If Ballard can be a one-man genre, then so can Malzberg. The latest read is called Destruction of the Temple, from 1972. It is a mini-lesson in the battle for civil rights in the US in the 1960s, and is obsessed with the Kennedy assassination, as well as that of Malcom X, Martin Luther King, and the white civil rights young men in Mississippi. Missing from Malzberg's writing here is his dark humour, replaced by a freezing cold irony and stark approach to truth that still gives me shivers when I think about it. Much of Malzberg's output is required reading, and this novel, though quite difficult at times, is one of those. It should be read twice, in fact.
Finishing up the month was Blish's The Quincunx of Time, a 1973 expansion of his great short story called Beep. Though beep really needs no expanding, I'm glad it happened, since it gives me more of this author to read avidly. Blish, sadly known mostly for his published Star Trek TV plot summaries, is one of the greatest minds to ever approach the subject of SF. When it is turned loose on a subject as all-encompassing as instantaneous galactic communication, itself giving access to all communications using the new device past, present, and future, then lookout, as you are in for a real treat. Blish coyly uses some of his earlier novels' plots in this story, too, making his last true novel a pure delight for his fans. Though highly recommended, and very short, I still push his Cities In Flight to new readers of him first. Simply the best.
I also read two more hours worth of Volume 2 of The Arabian Nights by Burton. I'll likely be reading that set until I die, but I do find an innocent sort of joy in reading them. As a fan of orientalist art, architecture, and literature, I seem to be in my element when reading this stuff.
I'll conclude today with a short film, Deb's weekend choice. Crumbs is a very curious, fun, easy to look at independent SF film, made by a Spaniard in Ethiopia, with Ethiopian actors. It seems to owe something to Tarkovsky's Stalker, though exactly what that is I cannot say. Definitely a good catch if you can find it, with some great photography. Featured in the movie is Santa Claus, a bowling alley, a hovering space ship, a witch, and an antiques dealer. Great little film, from 2016.
Mapman Mike
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