It was a short month, but the first half was cold enough to be inside a lot. There are seven books to report this month
Scorpio Reborn is
from 1995 and is 252 pages long, the first book of the Lovian Cycle by Kenneth Bulmer, itself part of the extensive Dray Prescott series. Our hero now finds himself in the
southern hemisphere, sent on another mysterious mission by the Star
Lords. He arrives amidst a dwelling fire and barely manages to save a
woman before he is knocked cold by a falling beam. She ends up dragging
him from the building. In a neat twist, Dray Prescott is paralyzed for
the first few chapters of the novel, watching events transpire but
unable to participate. He gradually recovers the use of his limbs, then
comes speech, and finally he is his old self again. He is paired with
another of the Star Lords' servants, this time a female. She thinks
that she saved him from the fire, instead of the other way around. Dray
allows her to lead, but when he thinks matters should be handled
differently he goes his own way. A good tale filled with evil and cruel
bad guys who get their just desserts in the end. There are three
novels in this volume.
Cover art by Ken Kelly.
Prison of Night is by E C Tubb and is from 1976 and is somewhat unusual in this
series. Earl Dumarest stays on the same planet for this direct sequel to the
previous story, something that has never happened before. Readers
should be glad he did, as some of the mystery of this very strange
planet gets solved. Every day its two suns come close together, and
when they do an effect termed Delusia occurs, which enables dead people
from a person's memory to come forth and speak with them. It can be a
very unnerving experience, though in some cases it is healing and
beneficial. That is one mystery that does not get solved in this
story. However, this planet has another surprise to claim as its own.
Humans can only be outside during the daylight hours; should they remain
out after dark it is the Sungari that rule the world. These are
mysterious creatures that kill people who leave home after dark. When
curfew is called people must remain indoors. Dumarest stays out and
attempts to meet up with these mysterious night time things. As a
result part of the mystery of their existence is revealed to readers.
The rest of the book is standard adventure, with a war to fight and a
woman who loves Earl and wants him to settle down with her and raise
babies and stock animals. It won't be a surprise to readers of this
series that Dumarest blasts off for other worlds at the end of this
book, continuing his search for Earth and his avoidance of the deadly Cyclan.
They are after information in his brain, so he remains on the run.
I began a Michael Moorcock epic novel called The Whispering Swarm. It is the first volume of a series called The Sanctuary of the White Friars. As the large first volume is divided into three books, I shall report when I have completed all three. I am reading one a month for now. If things go well I will tackle volume two.
Turning now to the Delphi Classics series, I began the month with a novel by Jerome Jerome. Tommy and Company is from 1904 and consists of a group of short stories loosely linked into a very readable type of novel. The year is significant, as the stirrings of feminism began to appear in the London public. Jerome has a field day poking fun, mostly at men, and how they react to modern women. Tommy/Jane is the central character, a sexless waif at the beginning who is taken in by Peter Hope and eventually adopted by him. The first story describes their meeting and establishes both characters in a most hilarious fashion. While the book is far from farce, it is often very very funny. It can also be quite touching. Overall, however, the stories are simply great fun to read, and give insights into the times and the people of London. We meet characters one or two at a time, and though they usually star in their own story, Tommy/Jane is usually working behind the scenes in all of them. While making only brief appearances after his/her first story, Tommy/Jane provides the main reason to keep on reading. He/she is one of the most original characters in literature. The final story is one of the finest endings to a novel this reader has ever encountered. Full marks for Mr. Jerome. **** stars.
I have added D. H. Lawrence's complete works to my Delphi Classics collection. I began with a novella of his, The Ladybird from 1923. It's an emotionally packed story that takes place from 1917 to sometime after Armistice. A young woman visits an English hospital to see a badly wounded German officer known to her family from before the war. Her own husband is fighting somewhere in Europe of Africa,and is eventually wounded himself. The wounded German and the young wife become closer and closer, until when her husband finally returns, she is faced with her great problem. A good read that delves into the psychological problems that wars create, as well as the physical ones. It also demonstrates how war can change certainties (her love for husband) into uncertainties. When one thinks one is happily married and then encounters a soul mate, what can one do? *** stars.
Next came a rereading of George MacDonald's Phantastes, his first novel published in 1858. I first encountered this fairy tale for adults in Lin carter's Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series (see separate blog) as #14. On first reading I loved the book and awarded in four stars. On second reading I sitll love the book, but rated it down slightly. This is mainly due to the main character and the many terrible choices he makes through his dream journey to fairyland, thus causing hardship and misery to others. The main character is Anodos (ascent in Greek), and his adventures are epic. They begin in the fairy woods, then on the the fairy castle, then deep underground and opening out onto a vast sea. This book, more than other other, helped start the adult fantasy trend, and direct links can be found in many places to later works by William Morris and Lord Dunsany. It likely also influenced Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis, who read the book at 16, was forever changed by it. Even Arthur Machen's writing can be traced back to episodes in this book.Therefore, anyone interested at all in adult fantasy will find this a must read novel. It isn't terribly long, and there is a lot of poetry and stories within stories. Definitely recommended. *** 1/2 stories.
Speaking of Arthur Machen, next came his earliest published short tales. The Chronicles of Clemendy, or The History of the Ix Joyous Journeys Carbonnek. In these linked tales from 1888 of medieval love and loss Machen harkens back to Rabelais, Chaucer and Boccaccio. His stories feature during a journey among fellow Silurians (lovers of wine, joy, music and letters), and are told by various men. One tale tells of a mechanical clock knight that usually hits the bells with his weapon, but appears to be walking about town after dark and catching people doing things with members of the opposite sex that they really shouldn't be doing. Another tale explains how a man wasted his life digging for treasure after overhearing some monks discussing the subject. There are two with wizards and maidens, the first one a sad tale of woe as a lovely maiden is kidnapped and ravished by an adept, then killed. The second tells of a wizard father who does not wish his daughter to see other men, afraid that his dark magic might be called out. Other tales tell of a knight trapped in a high tower, more than a mile above ground, while another tells of a knight trapped in dungeon far beneath the earth. In all it is a good collection of tale, though after a while they have a similarity that makes it difficult to remember and distinguish between them. I could see James Branch Cabell being influenced by these tales, though his writing is more erudite and dryly humourous. Machen does inject humour into the tales, however, sometimes waiting till the moral of the tale is revealed. Well worth reading, especially if you have only read his novels and later stories.
*** stars.
Ghosts (1986) is the second tale in Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. It is short, more a novella, and seems to repeat a lot of what was encountered in the first book. Again we have a private eye (a real one this time, supposedly) staked out in an apartment and keeping an eye on a man. That's pretty much the story in this disappointing sequel to the first book. Auster seems to get some of his inspiration from the final episode of the 1960s The Prisoner TV series, where Patrick McGoohan finally discovers "who is Number One." I will eventually get around to book three, but now I am in no rush. ** stars.
Mapman Mike
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