We are currently in line for the first big snowstorm of the season. It appears we will take a direct hit, and up to 18" of snow is predicted on Wed. and Thursday. Not my favourite thing to report, especially as it has been such a dry winter so far.
This past month I seemed to have a lot of very long books in the queue. I managed to get through my 8 Avon/Equinox authors by the 19th, and then continued on to read three others, as well as a chapter of the Beethoven biography by Swafford.
As usual, the month got started with Silverberg. I read his Dying Inside, from 1972. Silverberg continues to have problems with his writing, and it is not difficult to see why he lost so many of his readers in the early 70s. His lead character is quite awful, being morally suspect, unimaginative, and quite boring. He also continues to write poorly regarding female characters. He mustn't have known very many women. They are either far background characters, or mere sexual objects there only for the pleasure of men. This time he does insert an important female character, but she is not treated as such. The novel is about a man born with the gift, or curse, of being able to read other people's minds, even those of animals. What he chooses to do with his powers is what really drags down the novel. He becomes a mere voyeur, probing unsuspecting people's minds to get his thrills. We are supposed to sympathize with him when his powers wane and then fade out. Not recommended.
Next up was volume four in a fairly interesting series by Piers Anthony. Wielding a Red Sword puts Mars, Incarnation of War, into the crosshairs, and the story is actually pretty good. For one thing, the page count is shorter than most of Anthony's later novels, and this helps keep the story uppermost. Anthony tends to wander off into infinite explanations of why things happen, and as a result his story is often bloated by a hundred pages or more of needless trivia. This time he sticks closer to the tale at hand, as Mars has to visit Hell to rescue someone, and then find a way to escape. There is some good imagery and pacing, making this a successful entry in his Incarnations Of Immortality series (8 books, I believe).
Next up was The Hammer and the Cross, a gargantuan epic novel by Harrison from 1993. It deals with 8th and 9th C. England, and imagines the vikings ruling the land. It is alternate history at its finest, and only veers off from fact very, very slowly. In fact, it is difficult to say exactly when the fantasy element enters the story. I am a sucker for a good Viking story, and this is a great one, ranking up there with those told by H Rider Haggard and E R Eddison. There are actually three groups battling it out. The Vikings have split into two camps, one being your basic rape and pillage gang, and the other, far more interesting, being a splinter group that follows old Nordic religious beliefs. Of course there are the Roman Catholics opposing all heretics, but it would appear that they are going to lose out in this series. Yes, it is a series, with three giant books in all. Can't wait to get at the 2nd one in a few more days!
Following on the heels of the Viking saga came a dashing and daring pirate novel, the 2nd and final one of a series written by Kenneth Bulmer. Captain Shark: Jaws of Death takes up where the previous novel left off, and the swashbuckling action comes fast and furious. There is a very funny episode when the captain, dragged overboard and presumed drowned by his crew, finds them again months later drinking in a tavern. He disguises himself as a man back from the grave and enters the tavern. One of the best scenes Bulmer ever created! Good jolly fun.
The inexhaustible source of stories written by E C Tubb continued last month, with I Fight For Mars, another 1950s pulp novel that is much better than its title. This story brings back memories of Quatermass and the Pit at times, and I continue to enjoy reading Tubb's SF.
Once again Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson team up for a fine novel. The Singers of Time is from 1991, and was pretty long (I consider books with small printing over 300 pages to be pretty long--this one was 340). There is a lot to like about this story of the future. Earth has been invaded by merchant aliens resembling turtles. They trade their technological advances for Earth's raw materials. They have eliminated war on Earth, and seem to be able to bargain for anything they want, since humans are hungry for technology. Before too long we have left Earth and are traveling in space and time. There are many unusual features to this story, not the least of which is that the humans are constantly bickering and fighting among themselves. I feel the story is missing something that would have made it even better, and by the end I found myself wishing there would be a sequel (I don't think there ever was). The book is good enough to recommend, and the wrap around cover wins best cover for January.
I finally got around to starting on Michael Moorcock's Elric stories. There are a lot of them. The first was Elric of Melnibone, supposedly the author's rebellious comeback to Tolkien, whom he claims to abhor. It's not unusual for writers to claim to dislike Tolkien, as he was so successful a writer, and so brilliant at creating a fantasy world, and still remains unequaled to this day in his field. There are certainly some problems with his writing, but they pale in comparison to the problems of most fantasy writers, such as Robert E Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs, who Moorcock takes his cues from. And so there is very little that is original in this first book, from 1972. Anyone at the time reading the Conan stories and series by Burroughs would not have seen much different in Moorcock. However, his hero is quite different, very non heroic. He is pale, sickly, needs magic to keep up his strength, and doesn't really want to do much about anything. His evil cousin tries to kill him and take over his kingdom more than once, but Elric forgives him each time, and somehow manages to survive. At least this plot device keeps the story (a rather short one, indeed) going, though it does tend to repeat itself. This would not be a great introduction to Moorcock's writing. Most Conan and Burroughs adventure stories are much better than this first effort. And then there is Fritz Leiber, in a class all by himself.
I entered a new phase of writing with Barry Malzberg, who collaborated with Bill Pronzini for several murder mystery books. The Running of Beasts is a gripping story about a serial killer in a small summer resort community, during the off season. Literally anyone in the town could be the murderer, and in a tour de force ending you will not know the criminal until the very last page. The book is fast paced and mostly, if not all, believable. Malzberg has always been the best writer about insanity that I have ever come across, and there are several such people in this story. Overall, very well done.
That takes care of my required reading for the month. I had time for three other books, one of them a very long and confusing, rambling tale by Sherry Tepper. The Waters Rising is mostly one big mess, though it has a few redeeming qualities. At slightly over 500 pages, this was a tough one to get through, and I believe that many of her readers do not make it very far. The basic story is almost directly lifted from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. There is no Sauron or Mordor; however, there is The Old Dark Man and The Old Dark House. I kid you not. There is a journey with a fellowship. There are no Hobbits, but there is a child of 7 or 8. And she suddenly transforms into a 19 or 20 year old woman part way through the story. There is a long journey, with a sort of Bree pub stop along the way (with a Bill Ferny character to go with it). There is a monastery that serves as a Rivendell. There is no ring bearer, but the child is a soul bearer. And so on and so on. The real problem with the book is the historical detail and the workings of society that the author cannot free herself from. The actual story would take about 200 pages to tell. The rest seems like it should be a massive (though hopefully shortened) appendix explaining how things work. Take the monastery, for example. We learn every single detail about how it functions, down to how the cooking is done, how tables are served, and how the dishes are done and stacked afterwards. This is only one example among pages of them I could list. The history of the lands is also very confusing, though it is a time of rising oceans, and the only chance people have of surviving is to turn into fish really soon. And they do. So go read this book if you really want to, but I suggest readers stay away.
Next up came Tales From Earthsea, by Ursula LeGuin. There are five stories, some of them of novella length and some novelette, as well as a description of Earthsea, in which she does what Tepper should have done, taking about 30 pages to describe all manner of things about Earthsea, including history, language, magic, dragons, etc. Though I did not like all of the stories, I really enjoyed most of them. Having said that, I have always been somewhat unsatisfied with LeGuin's Earthsea stories. She focuses so much on magic and wizards etc it seems as if much of the real goings on in her little universe never make it into print. A few of these stories help out somewhat in this regard, but not very much. And while it's true that not all great writers can create something as believable as Middle Earth, or Majipoor, but if they are going to attempt such a feat they must go all the way. LeGuin begins this process in her concluding description chapters, and in some of the stories found in this collectors' hardcover volume. Her wonky map of Earthsea is included, something else that needs quite a bit of work.
P G Wodehouse was my sugar treat for the month. I read Right Ho, Jeeves!, one of the funniest books I have ever read. This was my first Jeeves and Bertie Wooster book, and hopefully it won't be my last. The climax of the book is the ringing of the fire bell, and the events that follow. A master craftsman of humourous writing, his characters are rich and full of fun cliches, his plots are as well woven as Shakespeare's, and his upbeat outlook on life is the icing on the cake. Sadly, there are a few racist jokes and references amidst all the fun. These very few parts would undoubtedly have seemed funny to some people in its day (1934), though today they remind us of our sad and woeful past.
I read Chapter 22 of Swafford's Beethoven biography, dealing mostly with his 5th and 6th Symphonies. Our listening project currently has us attending to the three Op 31 piano sonatas, so we are still a long way from hearing those two symphonies again.
I will be back soon with a winter storm report, and some movie posters. Today is sunny and mild, our first day above freezing in 13 days. After today, it's all downhill till who knows when.
Mapman Mike
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