From 1975 comes the 124 page SF thriller The Ghosts of Epidoris
by E. C. Tubb. For the third time Cap's old arch enemy Kaifeng is back
and as bad as ever. Kaifeng is the Fu Manchu of Cap Kennedy's galaxy,
or the Master from Dr. Who's universe, a man who is evil through and
through. He loves to punish people who fail him, though in this story
he admits that he failed at something yet doesn't mention any self
punishment. Could he be a hypocrite? Once again the ancient Zeltyana
race is at the forefront of Kaifeng's evil plan to rule the galaxy, as
the evil one is using old alien technology to hide his doings from the
rest of a planet's population. Did I mention yet that he is evil? Are
there really ghosts wandering at night on Epidoris? Or, is there a
scientific explanation to what is happening and what people are seeing?
As usual, Tubb has a good SF premise and reasonable enough sounding
explanation. There is plenty of action, and even a bit of high culture
talk between Cap and Kaifeng's equally evil female assistant, who
harbours a bit of a crush on Cap. My main complaint has to do with
Tubb's ridiculous brief ending. Less than half a page from the major
climax the book suddenly ends. No doubt the author wanted to bring back
Kaifeng in a future story and didn't want to deal with his possible
escape. My secondary complaint is that any time relics of the ancient
race are found, the bad guys get to it first and then Cap has to blow it
all up at the end. Seriously?
** 1/2 stars.
Original publication with cover by the great Jack Gaughan.
I read the Kindle edition.
Next month I will return to Kenneth Bulmer's engrossing Dumarest Saga, but now it's time for more Delphi Classics reading. Clark Ashton Smith was up next. Smith has written some of the best horror and fantasy short stories I have ever read, so I always look forward to him when his turn comes around again. This time its a collection of 14 stories published in 1948 under the title Genius Loci and Other Tales. The first story is the title one, very much influenced by H P Lovecraft (Poe is another influence on this terrific writer). A young artist visits a friend in the country and discovers a very dismal swamp. He becomes fascinated by the atmosphere and strives to capture its likeness on canvas and in sketches. Alas, the swamp has its own plans, not only for him but also his young fiancee. Smith writes so much better than Lovecraft, even though many of his ideas are borrowed from him.
"The Ninth Skeleton" and "The Phantom of the Fire" are minor efforts but told well, though the skeleton story has some nice touches (no pun intended) and the fire story sounds like something supernatural that could actually happen to someone.
"The Eternal World" is almost a novelette, combining influences as disparate as H G Wells and Olaf Stapledon. It is the story of a man who builds a kind of time machine and encounters two different kinds of intelligent life, a good kind and a bad kind. It's the kind of story that Jack Williamson might have written back in the day. Quite good reading for classic SF fans.
"Vulthoom" is top notch Smith SF writing, as two men stuck on Mars encounter a much older and stranger being than the current Martians who trade with Earth. In this novelette Vulthoom is a legendary god among the Martians, one who awakens every 1000 years, but as the two men discover, the godlike alien being is all too real. As good as the story is, the ending is also one of the best.
"A Star Change" sees a depressed human approached by two aliens from Mlok while he is sitting on a mountain top. They sense his depression and offer him a lift to their distant planet. He refuses, but they later visit him in his San Francisco apartment. He finally agrees. On Mlok he has trouble adjusting to the new sensations. Despite the friendliness of the aliens he spends much of his time shrieking in terror. They perform some medical procedures on him and he is finally able to adjust. Pangs of homesickness hit him, however, and he wishes to return to Earth. He gets his chance when Mlok is invaded by a space born parasite, dooming the world and its people. Meanwhile back on earth, his adjustments he received back on Mlok make him unfit for life on Earth. Only Smith could come up with these bizarre but fascinating stories and their tragic endings. Great stuff!
"The Primal City" is a great little horror story about two adventurers who trace down the location of a vast lost city in the mountains of northern India. They and their guide trek for many days, at last coming to the ruins. The city seems to have been made for giants, and was destroyed by some unknown force. Soon, however, that force will make itself known once again. Only one man and one camel survive.
"The Disinternment of Venus" takes place in a Franciscan monastery in 1550, and is one of those stories that could easily have been a local legend. A masterpiece of Roman sculpture is dug out from a monastery garden by two monks. Afterwards, discipline breaks down and rules are constantly being broken. Anyone who sees the statue is affected. One non-viewing monk sets out to destroy it with a hammer. He is found next day locked in the arms of the statue, His body cannot be freed and he is buried forever with the statue and the garden is abandoned. A terrific short story!
"The Colossus of Ylourgne" is a novella detailing the doings of an evil dwarf wizard seeking revenge on all those who wronged him in a small area of France in the early 1200s. This is by far the best story of conjuring a demon-like being that I have ever read. The gripping tale is filled with violence, both as the beast is being formed from buried corpses, and after it goes on its countryside rampage. First two monks fro ma nearby monastery attempt to deal with the conjurer, but are sent back dully punished. What I love about Smith's writing in this genre is that religious beliefs hold no sway over evil magic; churches are destroyed, the monastery is destroyed and many monks die as they pray. A one time student of the wizard decides to give it a go, and while he pays dearly for his attempt, his eventual success gives the novella's climax a ring of truth and lasting freedom. An excellent story and, like many of Smith's tales, would make a great film. Highly recommended for sword and sorcery fans.
"The Satyr" is a short horror story about two lovers accosted not only by the woman's husband, but by Pan. The cuckolded husband is the least of the worries for the woman. Ever since my dream about Pan several years ago (I actually met him and he is a very scary guy), I suspect that this story and others like it are true. Once again a terrific ending, and not a happy one (unless you are Pan).
"The Garden of Adompha" is another dark tale of black sorcery, with quite a hideous theme. With the King's permission his cruel wizard grafts human parts onto various trees and plants in the King's secret garden. This is one garden door readers do not ever want to open.
"The Charnel God" is another one of those stories about strange gods and customs. A young couple stop overnight in a strange town. She is cataleptic and has an attack and is pronounced dead by a local doctor. Anyone who dies in this city has their body given over to the god. Her boyfriend tries his best to rescue her, and he is unwittingly aided by a trio of body thieves. A very unusual tale.
"The Black Abbot of Puthom" is a tale that Fritz Leiber would have greatly enjoyed reading, as did I. Two body guards and a eunuch are sent to fetch a girl for the harem. Her beauty is renowned and is coveted by the king. The trip home is fraught with danger and adventure, as the four people are kidnapped by an evil sorcerer and brought to his monastery. He wants to have his way with the girl but the two loyal bodyguards stand in his way. A great adventure with even a touch of humour at the end.
"The Weaver In the Vault" (such great titles on some of these tales)
Cover of the first edition (1948) by Frank Wakefield.
Bruce Pennington.
Olaf Stapledon is a very strange SF writer, likely well into the spectrum for autism. If he was an artist he probably would be drawing those incredible detailed maps and drawings produced by people with such gifts. Darkness and Light (1942) presents his best and worst case scenario for humans on Earth. In past novels he has taken on the entire universe, with Earth as a mere dust mote in the grand scheme of things. Well, this time he devotes the entire book to this dust mote and the people who dwell upon it. Like a good Tarot card reading, Stapledon is not making predictions. He is providing a framework for some grand ideas to be played out. In the first half of the book we get the bad stuff. Try to imagine the world in the near future if more Trump-like leaders emerge in the world's most important countries. He does, and it isn't pretty. In the second half of the book he provides a vision for Utopia, a vision that very few people today would ever accept. Joining together for a common cause? Ya, right. Growing until we rise above consumerism and then leading more spiritual (not religious!) lives? I don't think so. As grand and hopeful as the author is, his first scenario is much more likely to happen, and sooner than most of us would want. Stapledon's books could spark endless discussion, and they lead off in so many directions that a person could spend his life tied to any one of his visionist novels. Even his best case scenario is frought with problems that defy correcting. Well worth reading, but don't wait around for any of the good stuff to happen soon.
*** stars.
Rabindranath Tagore's Fruit Gathering is a collection of 86 short poems from 1916, mostly dedicated to nature or god. While reading these peaceful lines it's difficult to believe that the Great War was in full swing. Many of the poems are worth quoting in their entirety, while others produce lines that are truly heaven-sent. Often meditative, never frivolous, this is poetry with some weight holding it up. A few brief examples: "I throw away all that is not one with my life nor as light as my laughter. I run through time and, O my heart, in your chariot dances the poet who sings while he wanders." "Cling to this living raft, my body, in the narrow stream of my earthly years. I leave it when the crossing is over. And then?" How about this one? "Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield but to my own strength." One more: "Let the mantle of tender darkness cover me in its folds, and cover my pain awhile from the pressure of the world." This is good stuff, with nearly every poem offering up something of worth. Recommended. **** stars.
Josephine Tey (1896-1952) was a Scottish author known best for her Inspector Grant murder mystery novels. She has two of her books in the top 100 best mystery books of all time, including the #1 position! (The Daughter of Time). The Man in the Queue is from 1929 and was her first in the Grant series, and her second novel ever. She has a highly detailed style, always told from one perspective by the narrator. The story is actually a police procedural, as we tag along with the inspector to try to solve a seemingly unsolvable murder. Clues and witnesses are few and far between, and along the way the highly intelligent inspector makes several large errors, not entirely his fault. This is one of those mystery stories where the evidence is so stacked against one man that we wonder all along if he did do it, and if not, then who? Does the inspector solve the case? Actually, no he doesn't. But he has enough of a bad feeling about the arrested man to keep digging for evidence that might help him. No luck there. He strongly feels that the wrong man was arrested and will likely be hung for the crime. To find out how it all turns out, read the book. Tey has a witty style of writing also, and brings in some uncanny but perfect small details along the way. There are even a few Holmes and Watson jokes. Well worth reading for mystery fans.
*** stars.
Brain Fruit by Stephen Oram was a gift from a friend following a recent visit to London, UK (thank you again, Caroline). From 2025 it is a SF/Fantasy novelette published in hardcover format, something one does not see very often. A limited edition, mine is 104 of 500. The story concerns a bee, a bug and a piece of fruit trying to make peace with a village of androids, to the mutual benefit of everyone. The closest thing to it that I have read before is T. H. White's The Book of Merlin, where readers get inside the lives of wild geese and later an ant colony. I think that very often individual short stories and novelettes can get lost in 'collections' of same. Publications like this one are not cheap and likely have very limited numbers of buyers. But it is refreshing to see original short works receive what one might term royal treatment. Worth reading, but good luck finding a copy.
*** 1/2 stars.
After recently watching 30 episodes of Apple TV's Foundation series, it was finally time to reread the books (it's been decades). The first novel, Foundation, is from 1951. I read this series as a teen and remembered very little of it, except that music plays a major role somewhere. Not in book 1. There are two main flaws with this first novel. The first is that it's not really a science fiction novel. It's mostly a political story, with traders and phony priests mixed in. The second problem is an almost complete lack of female characters. The only woman with speaking lines is a shrewish wife after more riches and more power, and she is a very minor character. The TV series at least made the story more science fiction than the novel, and they did add several important female characters, badly needed. However, they totally destroyed Asimov's story. They muddled it badly. After watching 30 episodes I can honestly say that I don't know what the hell is going on, or who is who or why this happens. It's a great series to look at, but it has very little skill at telling a story. Asimov's book is very clear cut and makes perfect sense, at least. I somewhat enjoyed the book, more than the series. *** stars.
I finished off the month with two more evolution essays by Stephen Jay Gould, finishing a 3-chapter section called Human Prehistory. "A Lesson From the Old Masters" refers again to prehistoric cave painting, specifically a few depictions of a giant deer, and how the discovery of this art helped bolster evolutionary theory and tie up a loose end or two. In "Our Unusual Unity" Gould takes on biases that insist that evolutionary progress is linear, something the author consistently argues against. In a linear theory only one type of humanoid can exist at any one time, like today. Gould argues that today's unity is not the norm, but the exception, showing how bias can affect a scientist's theory even when evidence strongly suggests otherwise. Bush theory says that several types of early man once existed at the same time, and may have interacted in some ways.
See you in a month (or perhaps two) or so. My reading time is slowly being reduced so I don't get through as many books as I once did. We'll see how things go, but if you don't see an August summary, there will be one in September for sure.
Mapman Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment