It's that time again, when I look back and see what I've been doing with some of my time. In this case, reading books. There were three clear nights used for astronomy, thus cutting into my night reading time last month, and of course the passing of Deb's mom. Even so, I managed to get through all Avon/Equinox books (eight of them), and four others. One of those was an epic novel which took some time to get through. Seven books in total were read on Kindle.
Robert Silverberg started out the month with a collection of short tales, volume six in a nine volume oversize paperback edition, all with great covers. The stories are from 1983-87. Silverberg introduces each story, and provides a forward as well. There were fourteen stories, including three novellas, lasting over 400 pages. The stories "Multiples," Symbiont," and "Sailing to Byzantium" are singled out for recommendations to readers. "Multiples" is a fascinating story about the near future, when people with multiple personalities are the envy of people who only have one. A young woman tries to fake her way into the "club" of multiples, only to be found out. But perhaps there is a way for her to become more than a single person after all. Intriguing story telling. "Symbiont" is Silverberg's throwback to the days of monsters in pulp fiction, and this is a great little story about future war and its hideous weapons and after effects. Highly recommended for pulp fans! On to "Byzantium." Nearly every SF writer in the 80s wrote a version of this kind of story--are we real or just a computer construct? When The Matrix film came out in 1999, everyone freaked out about the concept. But it had already been done many times by some fine writers. When a man is brought to the 50th C from 1984 New York, he finds the inhabitants a queer lot. They resurrect 5 cities at a time, people them with semi-intelligent AI human types, and use the cities as tourist attractions. But when a man from the 20th C eventually meets up with another captive like himself, but from the 25th C, he learns that he isn't really who or what he thinks he is. A great story, with an interesting love interest.
Next came a one-off novel co-authored by Piers Anthony and Philip Jose Farmer, entitled The Caterpillar's Question. I had been anticipating reading this for some time. Though a good enough story, it suffers from a confusing and disjointed plot line. One book doesn't really do justice to the theme, and might have been a series if the authors had so decided. All in all, it's rather a restless story that some might find appealing. However, it does win Cover of the Month.
Next came Volume 2 of Harry Harrison's Stars and Stripes series, called Stars and Stripes In Peril. Though devious Brits are up to no good, and looking for revenge against Americans after their defeat in Vol 1. Harrison has concocted one of his best series here, and I zoomed through Vol 2 as easily as Vol 1. There is very little variation in the quality of Harrison's writing--let's just say that he has the knack and loves to use it. High adventure and fun to read!
Kenneth Bulmer has written a winning series about the British navy in the time of the Napoleonic wars. Set mostly in the Mediterranean Sea, the series of 14 books called Fox are must reads for Bulmer fans, as these might be his best books, and fairly consistent in quality. #7 was called Court Martial, as Fox gets his reward from the British navy for risking his life, saving his crew, and picking up after the mess left by his captain. Hilarious in one way, but quite believable. Bulmer's sense of humour is at its best in these books, too. I love books about the sea that have a great authenticity about them, and these books rank highly.
Next came another group of stories by E C Tubb. Though I still have a massive SF series of his to read (Dumarest saga), I am reading his other stuff first, and mostly enjoying his short story writing. Mirror of the Night is a collection of ten of his weird stories, many published in the 50s and 60s in Weird Tales magazine. At least three of the tales are worth reading. They include "The Ancient Alchemist," "The Artist's Model," and "Sell Me A Dream." In this last tale, a man hunts through junk shops to find something worthwhile. He eventually does find something of considerable interest. Like a story by Dunsany. The first two are traditional ghost stories, but well told.
I have read all of the novels of Jack Williamson, and what a fantastic adventure it was! I am now reading his shorter fiction from the early 30s, but I found People Machines in my collection, a group of 9 stories written between 1939-1969. The author discusses writing technique (he taught SF writing at a New Mexico university) and how it is applied to short story writing, with each story illustrating one or more of the techniques discussed beforehand. The best story is called Jamboree, and is from 1969. Have you ever been to Girl Guide or Scout camp? Me neither, and this story reminds me how glad I am never to have gone. Both humourous and horrifying at the same time, this is a very good story. Other good stories abound. I will only mention one more,"Starbright," from 1939. A man acquires a small piece of a meteor in his brain, and it gives him almost magical powers. The first part, dealing with the man's family and financial problems, is quite priceless. A fun story.
Next I read An Alien Heat, Michael Moorcock's first book in his "Dancers At The End of Time" series. The action takes place a million years in the future, amidst the most decadent society ever imagined on paper. Jherek Carnelian is the main character. We first meet him at a lakeside picnic with his mother. Here we discover that Jherek was "born," something that appears to be a rare event in this time. Next we attend a grand party, where the full picture of the decadence of the age is fully illuminated. We follow the adventures of Jherek that lead from the events of the party, until he is hung for murder in 1896. In between, quite a bit happens. The book, while mostly refreshing, is quite tedious in places, especially as it deals with Jherek's naivete when he returns to the 19th C to look for a woman, who was sent back to her time. It becomes very tiring, and we are often reminded of the Eloi in the film version of "The Time Machine." Jherek has no skills whatsoever in dealing with events in the 19th C, and becomes even less than a child in the hands of people from that era. He is incapable of dealing effectively with any situation that arises. For even a child would learn minute by minute, and begin to deal more effectively with events than Jherek ever does. So at times one wishes to throw the book against the wall. Be warned.
Barry Malzberg again teams up with Bill Pronzini in Acts of Mercy, a murder mystery from 1977. Who is murdering the opponents of the current President? Is it the First Lady? Is it the President himself? Is it a secret service agent? A friend? Foe? Read and find out. A good yarn, and easy to read.
I am running low on books by Harry Harrison and Jack Williamson, and will soon have only six authors remaining. I can also the see the end of the Silverberg books approaching.
Turning to books off the shelf and sitting around on my Kindle, I read one actual physical book and three from Kindle. The 7 Wonders is by Steven Saylor. I use to e-mail Steven a long time ago, before I realized how major an author he was (tons of books published). He had a website about sword and sandal movies, such as Hercules, as we had some fun discussions. Then I began getting notifications from him regarding books of his being published, about a character in ancient Rome called Gordianus. Gordianus is a detective, possibly the fictional world's first big solver of mysteries and murders. His books are set in ancient Rome, and he deals with actual events happening as his stories develop. We both have read many of his books. The present book tells of a journey Gordianus made when he was 17-19, with a trusted scholar, to see the 7 ancient wonders of the world. The book is extremely well researched and great fun to read. First published as a serious of short stories, he has grouped them chronologically and added material to sew them together. In addition to visiting all 7 ancient wonders, we also spend a lot of time in Alexandria, so the lighthouse and library are included. This book caused me to dig out a Thames and Hudson book I bought many year ago in London, UK, called 70 Wonders of the Ancient World. I read the section pertaining to the 7 Wonders, and am now carrying on reading the rest of the book, one wonder at a time. Great fun (and educational, too)!
No comments:
Post a Comment