First, a note about the weather, and cutting grass. It's been a dry summer, with very occasional rain that doesn't really soak into the ground. While areas around us received an occasional deluge, we never did. The last time I cut our grass was June 25th. It finally got cut again yesterday, August 31st. It was mostly straggly weeds that I cut, but things do look better today. Our last rain was Monday, when again giant storms just missed us. We still got some healthy, badly needed rain, though. And a rainbow--a double one, actually.
And it's been almost a week since our driveway cement was laid down. Tomorrow night the car can finally return to the garage! The final big project for this year is the large poplar tree in the far backyard, across the creek. First, the leaves need to come off, and the bank account return to the black. Hopefully early October, as that tree tends to lose its leaves early.
In reading news, I managed to finish 15 books, very assorted. As usual, I continued my Avon/Equinox reading project, where I still have 8 authors works to complete. And I dove into my Delphi Classics Kindle library, where I have now collected over 40 authors' complete works. Of course I won't live long enough to get through most of those, but I will die trying.
It seems more than a month ago that I read Star of Gypsies by Robert Silverberg, an intriguing SF novel that takes the Roma and their culture into the far future. Though the premise is worthwhile, the execution falls short, in my opinion. The story is a very simple one, and it's a good thing, as it gets constantly interrupted by the main character's reminiscences and dream journeys. Some of the best planet descriptions in SF are to found in these pages, as well as some fun adventures. But after a while it gets to be a bit much, and we just want the main story to progress. But it barely creeps along. And at 467 pages, it is a long creep.
Piers Anthony's And Eternity was meant to be his final book in his Incarnations of Immortality series, but he eventually wrote one more (which I will read in October). It would be impossible to read this book without having read most of the others. Even having read most of the others, it's still a pretty difficult road to follow as so many threads are tied together at last. Things that happened way back in the first book (this is Book 7) now finally come to fruition. Though the series is pretty silly overall, it does have many moments that show the author's genius for plot, setting, and character. Even so, this is a weak book overall, and not a little confusing. Anthony is one of those writers who does not believe anything an editor tells him, so his books essentially are published as written, or sent to a different publisher. Must be nice.
Next came Galactic Dreams, a short story collection by Harry Harrison. However, there were only 4 of the 12 stories I had not read and reviewed already. "Famous First Words" is a very funny tale about a professor who manages to find words once spoken by famous people that would eventually become prophetic. "The Pad" is a sexist but very funny story about a rich man attempting to seduce an unwilling young woman. Think of a Pepe Le Pew cartoon, only much funnier. And a newly written (for the collection) story about Bill, the Galactic Hero, is also quite hilarious.
Fox 6 by Kenneth Bulmer, continues the saga of Abernathy Fox, a ship's officer in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars. Even though this one is just another pot boiler, it's still great fun to read. I can easily handled on of these per month. This adventure is enlivened by the appearance of a group of Turkish warriors and a horde of harem girls brought aboard, with their eunuch. The girls add humour to the proceedings, and end up surprising Mr. Fox with their ability to help out his short handed crew on deck.
Only One Winner is an interesting collection of minor works by Tubb, including the novella of the title. There is a long speech that Tubb gave at a SF convention in 1970, and though a bit rambling, it brings up some interesting points from one of the greatest pulp masters of the genre. The three short stories it contains have already been read and reviewed. Philip Harbottle also contributes a short essay. The novella itself is standard pulp fare, and not Tubb's best. 4 losers attempt to take over a space liner filled with rich people on a cruise. One of them is an alcoholic, and one is a female. They are thieves and murderers of the worst sort, and they all come to their expected end, after causing much mayhem and death.
Wolves of Darkness is the 2nd of 8 or 9 hardcover books containing most of the shorter fiction of Jack Williamson. Published in suburban Detroit, these are collectors editions, now long out of print. I managed to get Vols. 2, 3, and 4 at somewhat decent prices, but the remaining volumes, when available, are way out of price range. This volume is a 549 page collection of stories from 1931 and 1932. There is a 23
page preface, followed by 509 pages of stories, and then an afterword of
40 pages. The preface contains images of old pulp magazine covers, and
an essay by Harlan Ellison. The afterward contains some essays by the
author about some of the works in this collection, as well as a short
modern piece for this edition. This volume also wins Cover of The Month, depicting an original magazine cover from back in the day, illustrating one of Jack's tales contained herein. The cover story is very much in the Lovecraft tradition, and rather spooky at times. Another story, "The Lake of Light", seems also influenced by Lovecraft, namely his Antarctic tale "Mountains of Madness."
It took Michael Moorcock 7 years to get around to publishing the third Captain Bastable story, called The Steel Tsar. I enjoyed my stay on Rowe Island, discovering traces of Ballard in the writing setting, and some of the lost characters. Most of the action and dialogue take place in the island hospital and in the lone remaining hotel. Eventually, the Japanese arrive and capture the whites. More adventures ensue, but the writing becomes more philosophical, as the author and his characters ponder the purpose of the multiverse and their place in it. The Steel Tsar is a ruthless socialist, based on Stalin, and is also named after a giant creation that Harryhausen would have happily animated: a giant, scimitar-wielding robot created by one of the oddest characters to ever appear in a novel. My edition is amply illustrated, and I enjoyed this third and final Bastable novel as much as the others in the series. Recommended for the adventure, and the philosophical discussions. Here is a quote from near the end which I particularly liked: Mrs. Persson is speaking.... "We have only institutions and a crude, fragile kind of democracy standing between us and absolute Chaos. That is why we must value and protect those institutions. And be forever re-examining them." Well said!
Malzberg At Large is a story collection of his from 1979, containing a previously read short novel and 5 stories. I had also read two of the five stories. And one of the stories eventually became the first chapter of his brilliant novel, Overlay. There is also an essay by the author, offering insights into his life that really brings a lot of his writing into much clearer focus. The short story "Gaheena is From 1971" has been called Malzberg's Rashomon. A very brief and tragic love story is told from 3 different perspectives, with a coda. Interesting story telling. And A Soul Song to the Sad, Silly, Soaring Sixties sums up so much of Malzberg's writing. Very powerful. If you have no time or patience to read any of his assassination novels, this story would be a good substitute.
And now we turn to books off the shelf, and from Kindle. First up was another Anne Hillerman mystery, set in New Mexico's lava fields called El Malpais. Deb and I are very familiar with the area through hiking and exploring, and it is one of many unique and highly memorable landscapes in the state. Cave Of Bones is perhaps her finest novel to date, getting very close to her father's love of the land, and his ability to transfer that to writing. Like any modern mystery story, it is perhaps a bit too complex, filled as it is with characters. But it was a fun read, and it is now off my shelf.
I managed to finish a large art book which I have been perusing for many months. Towards A Modern Identity is the 3rd book dealing with the Detroit Institute of Arts' American painting collection. This one has 129 paintings, each one discussed in detail and illustrated in colour. It has been a multi-year journey reading all three volumes. This one features many of my favourite artists, including Thomas Dewing, James McNeil Whistler, along with many American impressionists and tonalists. I have now read all the published catalogues of paintings from the museum. Others include Flemish and German Paintings from the 17th, Dutch paintings from the 17th Century, and Italian baroque art. I'm still awaiting publication of early Flemish and early Italian catalogues.
I read 5 books from the Delphi Classics series. First up was a reread that I first came across in paperback at least 40 years ago, probably more. I don't know what ever became of my copy, but I have it now on Kindle, along with William Hope Hodgson's Ghost Pirates. This is one of the better early ghost stories, written in 1909. It was the 3rd book of a loose trilogy of terror by the author, which also included The Boats of the Glen Carrig, and The House on the Borderland. All three are remarkable books, and a must read for lovers of early fantasy and horror. The present novel builds nicely from corner of the eye sightings to a full fledged attack on a ship by ghost pirates. Good late night reading, if you are all alone in a creaky house (or boat).
Fergus Hume's first novel, and the one he is still most famous for writing, is called Mystery of a Hansom Cab, and was first published in 1886. Delphi has the 1898 corrected edition by the author, as well as his original intro to the updated version. Hume was a new Zealander, though he lived mostly in Australia, where this novel takes place (Melbourne). He had studied many different mystery stories before he wrote this, and it shows. He has all the necessary ingredients for a good murder mystery, and then some. With the success of this novel, he eventually went on to write about 130 books. Highly readable, and though the Victorian morals do dominate the mystery and the story, they are not nearly as hard to take as in works by other authors of the time. Well worth a read for mystery fans.
Next came a real treat, M. R. James' first collection of ghost stories, called Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, from 1904. My Delphi edition contains 8 stories, each one chilling and quite scary. If some of his stories were ever literally transferred to screen, they would prove as violent and hard to watch as something by Stephen King, or directed by Del Toro (he would actually be a perfect director for these stories). For example, in "Lost Hearts", children are murdered by a madman trying to follow an ancient formula to help him live forever. Their beating hearts are cut out while they are still alive. Imagine what Del Toro could do with that! And in "The Ash Tree," your worst nightmare regarding giant spiders will haunt you for many days after. Ohter storeis are just plain scary, without too much violence. In "The Mezzotint", an old architecture print without any people in it gradually acquires a frightening entity that is seen to move slowly across the print and into an open window. This story reminded me of the Doctor Who episode called "Blink." "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come To You" is yet another example of good, old fashioned pure blood curling horror. Great stuff!!
Next came Jerome Jerome's sequel to Three Men In A Boat, called Three Men on the Bummel. The same characters (minus the dog) go on a bicycle tour of parts of Germany. Published nearly 10 years after the first book, this one is also rich with side splitting humour. Even though there are many parts where things don't really come off too well, there is enough entertainment in these pages to keep me reading passages to Deb for the entire winter. His observations on marriage are priceless, and still give me pains in the chest when I think of them. At one point I simply could not read any further; I was hurting too much from laughing. The best parts are in the first three chapters, which are among the funniest things ever to be written down. There are stories about sailing holidays, too, as well as many walking and bicycling tales. Very rich reading.
With one day to spare before resuming my Avon/Equinox SF books, I turned to the next story by Frank Baum, entitled The Road To Oz. Dorothy sets out from Kansas one day, as she agrees to show the wandering Shaggy Man the correct road to take. They meet up with Button-Bright, and with Toto following along, are soon lost in another strange world. The first half of the book details the usual scary adventures one seems to have in trying to reach Oz safely. Along the way they meet the lost Poly Chrome, daughter to the Rainbow Man. They are also helped out by Johnny Do-It at one point, in trying to cross that impenetrable desert. He builds them a sand sleigh to sail across it! The second half of the book has the group safely in Oz, and soon meeting up with old friends. By the end of the book, virtually every character we have met so far in the entire series is present, for it's Ozma's grand birthday party, and everyone is coming to help celebrate. While there is very little adventure in the 2nd half of the book, there is spectacle. A good addition to the series.
I'll be back soon with film updates. Stay tuned.
Mapman Mike
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