We have just returned from an 8-day road trip in the US, so things will remain backlogged for some time. With no piano practice for 10 days (I managed some today), I have a piano performance group get together here on Friday evening. So besides unpacking, editing photos, doing laundry, getting groceries, paying bills, and trying to continue my travel volume write-up of the journey, things will be busy around here for some time. Tonight's full moon party is a hopeless case; perhaps tomorrow night we can have a small celebration. Much more on the journey later, including it's own blog entry.
March reading began with 6 books by Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery authors, with Silverberg up first. The New Springtime is from 1990, the 2nd and final book in a truly wonderful series, certainly the best series he ever wrote. The story continues from the first volume, but 25 years later. Life is reemerging on Earth 700,000 years after a meteor storm strike sent everyone into caves and underground. The same characters, and several new ones, are encountered in this story of survival and a search for a permanent home. There
are so many good things to say about this story, and so few negative
things. Though the covers of both volumes might make readers think of
the Planet of the Apes series (and indeed Silverberg might have
been influenced by the first novel by Pierre Boule), this series is
totally different. There are no "humans" in this series, though they
have left their mark. And these are not apes, but a different offshoot
of evolution, possibly even created through genetic engineering by the
long lost humans. Within a few pages readers will quickly forget that
these characters are not human; there is humanity in nearly everything
they do, think, and say. I cannot recommend this series highly enough. I only wish there were more stories forthcoming.
The Shame of Man is the 2nd book in Piers Anthony's Geodyssey series. While not a terrible book by any stretch of the imagination, this marks for me the final book of his that I will read, possibly ever. If I do read any more of his stuff, it won't be for several years. I need a break. His attempt to "make history interesting" is, for this reader, a failure. However, it might inspire kids to take an interest.
I continue to read pulp fiction by Kenneth Bulmer and E C Tubb. Fliers of Antares by Bulmer is from 1975, continuing the adventures of Dray Prescott. This is a good entry in that series, and I enjoyed (mostly) reading it. Tubb's multi-volume pulp hero is Dumarest, a planet-hopping adventurer searching for Earth, which no one has heard of, despite all people originating from there. From 1971 comes Lallia, the name of another ill-fated female character that gets involved with Dumarest. It's a great little story on its own, but Lallia also ties in to
earlier parts of this epic tale, too (that mysterious ring, for one thing). So far this is a recommended
series for SF/adventure readers, harkening back to the great pulp
writing of the 40s, 50s, and 60s.
Next came a real treat: a Doctor Who novel by Michael Moorcock ! Despite
the poor cover, The Coming of the Terraphiles is a cracking good read. From 2010, this adventure features the Matt Smith Doctor and fellow traveler Amy Pond,
one of the best combos in the entire series. Imagine if Michael
Moorcock had sat down with P D Wodehouse to write a Doctor Who novel,
and called in assistance from Neil Gaiman and Iain M Banks. Well folks,
here it is! This
is the only Doctor Who novel I have ever read (though I have seen all
but the most recent episodes), and will likely be the only one I ever
read, unless Moorcock writes another one. It is totally brilliant,
loads of fun, and has enough science to keep the geek in me satisfied.
In The Stone House is a collection of 25 short stories from the 80s and 90s by Barry Malzberg, published in 2000 with a modern afterword by the author. There are several really good stories here, the finest one being the title story. What if Joe Kennedy, Jr. had not died in a WW II plane explosion, and
had become President from 1952-56? Would it have caused him to end up
assassinating JFK in Dallas in November 1963? Malzberg is endlessly
fascinated by the Kennedy family and their doings, real and imaginary.
If you think that the subject of politics can't make a good horror
story, you have never read Malzberg. A classic.
And now, the cover of the month.....
Now we turn to books off the shelf, of which four were read. Astronomy nights and our road trip cut into my reading last month. First up was Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, from 1926. It is tied with The Great Gatsby for best novel of the 20s, according to Barry Malzberg. It's an alcoholic trip through Paris and Spain, specifically Pamplona during the festival of the running of the bulls. Though I preferred Gatsby, I found myself really liking this novel as well. The bullfight, a "sport" for which I have no love, is treated properly here at least, and explains how important it is to a certain type of Spaniard. The characters are well drawn, and the missed opportunity love interest is brilliantly handled. The back story is given in only brief glimpses by the main character, as if the memory of it (wounded in the war; falls in love with his nurse) is simply too painful to speak of, even internally. Probably no other book drew tourists to Pamplona (and still does). I have no memory of ever having read this book before, though I have read A Farewell To Arms, and The Old Man and The Sea. I will try to get around to a few more.
The Grand Babylon Hotel is from 1902, and was written by Arnold Bennett. This is the 2nd book of his I have read, and again I was quite pleased with what came across. The story is a mystery one, with a rich American father purchasing, on a whim, London's best hotel, and staying on with his daughter to run it. Parts of it are very funny, and the murder/mystery angle, though standard fare for readers of the genre today, is still interesting enough to keep readers turning pages. A fun book to read.
The Listener and Other Stories, by Algernon Blackwood, is from 1907. There are 10 horror stories, some of them supernatural. The last two have women as the main protagonists, an unusual feature for the time. My favourite stories were "May Day Eve", "The Willows", and "Miss Slumbubble--And Claustrophobia." While Blackwood tends to dwell too much about how frightened his victims are, his ideas and stories can be rather chilling. This is the 2nd group of his stories read so far, and I look forward to the next round.
Lastly came a 2022 novel by Emily St John Mandel, Sea of Tranquility. Though not nearly as good as Moorcock's Doctor Who novel (see above), this is an effective and thoughtful time travel SF story, with very good characterizations and excellent story telling technique. Like her much more well known work Station 11, this one deals at times with a pandemic, but in a vastly different way.
All of the above four novels are recommended reading.
Mapman Mike
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