September Reading Summary

I gave Tubb and Bulmer a miss this month so that I could fit in a long read by Moorcock.  I won't do that again for some time.  In fact, I only have one more Moorcock book on my shelf.  As with Piers Anthony, I have likely run my full course with the author.

From the year 2000 comes Michael Moorcock's King of the City, a 421 page small print hardcover that purports to be a novel.  With 27 chapters, several of which are very long, it took me 10 1/2 days to get through this mess.  If you only read chapters 1, 25, 26, and 27 you won't be missing a thing, and the story might actually make sense.  I think that Moorcock is attempting to channel Iain Banks, who wrote some of the finest and much more timeless novels of contemporary times.  He fails miserably.  Most of the book is filled with name dropping, which won't mean anything today to many readers, and absolutely nothing to younger readers.  Moorcock's biggest fantasy yet is that he seems to want to be a rock star and musician (the two often do not go together), and so his drugged out avatar Denny Dover gets to play in the greatest rock concert since Hitchhiker's Guide (oh wait, that might have been in the future).  But it's meaningless to him since the girl of his dreams is giving him the frozen shoulder.  The problem with "contemporary" fiction, that is fiction that uses real people and real events, almost immediately dates itself.  Published a year before 911 events, the big deal here is the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.  The big war going on is the Bosnian War, which most people today have completely forgotten or never heard of.  The big genocide event was in Rwanda, again mostly forgotten today.  Events in the story were upended by 911, the two wars against Iraq, the Afghanistan affair, President Trump, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the civil war in Sudan, and on and on.  Perhaps if I'd read the story 25 years ago I might have felt different about the book.  But I doubt it.  It is poorly written, a sad imitation of James Joyce's Ulyssess in places, and mostly gives us the thoughts of a crude though half intelligent paparazzi (Dennis Dover) and the people he most interacts with.  Though he makes continuous fun of magazines like Hello! and People, the author gives us his own version of the same, and much of it is incoherent.  Sometimes writers write to impress other writers, friends, and a certain type of (clueless?) reviewer.  His audience for this novel must be a very small one.  Not recommended, though there are a few very funny passages that break up the monotony.  And the first chapter and the last three are quite good.  It even has a happy ending, a sort of utopia that came about rather unexpectedly at the very end.

 

James Branch Cabell's sublime novel The Cords of Vanity is from 1909.  I first came into contact with this author as a teenager collecting Lin Carter's Adult Fantasy series.  Carter published several novels by Cabell.  At the time I didn't like them and didn't "get" them.  Rereading them in later years I came to appreciate the incredible talent of this writer, almost forgotten today.  I was so pleased when Delphi Classics came out with his complete works!  This novel follows an idle and selfish young man in his various love affairs, and can seem at times like Oscar Wilde prose.  The wit is similar, as well as the understatement when dealing with emotions.  We begin with Robert (Robbie) Townsend's first love as a boy in his early teens, and follow him through to his disastrous 26th year.  That is the year that Robbie (hopefully) grows up and becomes a man.  The tragedy at the very end comes as a big surprise.  I had to read it twice to make certain I'd read it correctly at first.  I had.  A stunning novel, and worth many readings.

 

Ashes of Empire continues the tale of the invasion of France and the siege of Paris by the Prussians in 1870-71.  Robert Chambers' three novels give a complete chronicle and insider's view of those devastating events.  This novel, from 1897, was the last to be written on the subject.  However, to read them chronologically (I didn't) begin with Lorraine.  Next comes The Red Republic and finally Ashes of Empire.  Though Chambers is remembered more for his spine tingling tales, including The Yellow King series, his knack for historical fiction is quite amazing.  What struck me again and again as I read these 3 novels over a period of about 2 1/2 years was how much of this kind of murderous nonsense still continues today.  The novel is written in such a modern style that it hasn't dated much, and the basic facts of the war in France remain accurate.  By adding fictional characters, in this case two American reporters and twin sisters from Brittany who are in Paris, the emotional depth of what was occurring really strikes home.  The girls arrived in Paris to look after their uncle's pet shop after he died.  While the birds were released just before the siege, the lion (very tame), monkey and tropical bird had to be sent to the zoo in order to be fed.  One feels just as sorry for the lion as one does for the suffering people, as it is badly affected by the sound of canon fire.  I highly recommend the entire series, available very inexpensively as part of the Delphi Classics series for Kindle.  Then you can also read the King in Yellow, another must read.

 

Pearls Are a Nuisance is a novella from 139 written by Raymond Chandler.  It's an amusing and quite short read, as the detective strives to find missing pearls, which he knows are fake.  With very few characters in the story, it isn't too difficult to figure out who done it, but Chandler throws out all the roadblocks and red herrings that he can.  A fun story to read, and though it isn't classic noir, the style is spot on.  Recommended.

 

Uncollected Short Stories by Kate Chopin.  There are 44 of these small treasures, and it will take them 11 at a time.  

"Wiser Than A God" (1889) tells the story of Paula Von Stolz, who wishes to become a concert pianist.  She is highly sought after by George, an agreeable man, who eventually proposes marriage.  Paula realizes that if she accepts, it will likely be the end of her career chances.  What will she do?  Hint:  this is Kate Chopin writing, one of the earliest female writers to stand up for women.

"Emancipation: A Life Fable" is the story of an unnamed creature accidentally freed from its cage and venturing out alone into the big wide world.  The story can be taken as allegory for any number of situations, including and not limited to an animal becoming free to roam, a woman coming from from her closed environment, or a slave being freed and having to face life on his or her own.

"A Point At Issue" (1889) is a sweet tale of a husband and wife who appear to be in love and a perfect emotional and intellectual match for one another.  While their post-marriage relationship appears strange to outsiders (including readers), it works out well for them, until the big change finally comes.  A lovely story.

"Miss Witherwell's Mistake" (1889) is a humourous tale about a 19 year old girl suddenly showing up at her aunt's house, in a small town far from where she grew up.  What is her reason for being there?  The reasons she gives her aunt seem plausible enough, but eventually we learn the truth.  Another sweet story and not without humour.

"With The Violin" (1889) is a truly Victorian tale, as a grandfather tells his young grandchildren a true story of how a handsome young musician and his music saved the life of someone who was at the very end of his rope.

"Mrs. Mobry's Reason" (1893) is a tragic tale of a woman's attempt to keep her son and daughter from marrying.  Readers will assume that the woman is just being too possessive and selfish, but we don't find out the sad truth until the very end.

"The Going Away of Liza" (1892) Liza left her husband suddenly one day.  This is the story of her unexpected return.

"The Maid of St. Philippe" (1892) is a tale of the early settler days.  A French town musts evacuate as the land has been turned over to the English.  One young resourceful woman and her father refuse to leave.  When he dies she has several options from which to choose.  She chooses the one that suits her best, alarming her friends.

"A Shameful Affair" (1893) A 19 year old girl visiting a farm becomes obsessed with a handsome young farmhand.

"A Harbinger" (1891) is a very short tale about an artist who paints a beautiful girl's portrait one summer.  He thinks of her often over the winter and returns the following summer hoping to win her as his wife.

"Doctor Chevalier's Lie" (1893) A doctor in a poor and rough area of a town comes across a victim whom he had personally known.  He writes to the parents regarding the bad news, lying to them about the cause of her tragedy.

 

I chugged through another story by The Old Sleuth.  A Desperate Chance, Or The Wizard Tramp's Revelation is from 1897.  This is an adventure tale rather than the usual mystery story.  It begins in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains as a young man teams up with an old timer to look for gold.  They in turn hook up with a third member.  The young man finds a stash of gold and he is sent back East to attend university.  He has an adventure on the train ride home with some card sharps, and eventually makes it to university.  This story is a bit unusual from the mystery stories I have read by the author previously, and not nearly as interesting.

 

I finished up the month with Meteor Menace, a Doc Savage adventure from 1934.  A long time ago I purchased a ten-pack of these fun pulp SF novels, and read one of them occasionally.  As a young teen I read nearly the entire canon, over 80 novels.  This is one of the better entries in the vast series.  An ancient meteor that crashed into Tibetan mountains has been harnessed for evil purposes by a brilliant professor, and Doc and his gang of 5 assistants have to stop him.  A beautiful girl figures into the plot, and for a time readers are led to believe that Doc is engaged to her.  As if.  He even blushes slightly at one point.  The tale begins in Chile before moving to Tibet for the finale.  Doc's list of scientific gadgets and weapons would make James Bond envious.  An exciting adventure, and Doc really does get his clothes tattered, too!

 

Cover art from 1964 paperback edition by James Avati.
 

 Mapman Mike 

  

June Readings

 The reality of trying to make a living as a professional writer in the 1960s is on full display in this Robert Silverberg 1965 soft-core porn novel Killer, originally called Passion Killer.  For a decent SF writer to have to resort to writing this stuff is not only sad, but also not very surprising.  Its 156 pages contain a short story about a hired killer about to double cross the man who hired him to kill his wife, but in the end someone else also gets double crossed.  The actual story is about 40 pages long; the rest consists of people having sex nearly every which way.  And the top heavy females, who just love to have sex, consist of a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead.  All bases covered.  The basic story is okay, similar to any number of crime story plots from so many novels and or films.  The sex described in the book, which was probably sold under the counter in those days in certain types of book shops, is likely milder than in most best sellers of today.  Some may call this progress.  I call it something else.

From 1979 comes the next volume in the Dray Prescott series. A Life For Kregen is #19 in the series.  Bulmer seems to be having a lot of fun destroying the country where Dray is now Emperor, and seeing the locals fight to win it back from the enemy.  Vallia always depended on mercenary soldiers to defend its borders.  That didn't work so well when those soldiers were paid higher to revolt.  So now the average Vallian citizen is learning how to fight, something never seen before in the country. 

Bulmer may have created the best longest running fantasy series ever written.  It is essentially a story of battles against evil rulers, and Dray's attempts, often futile, to abolish slavery.  This volume is no exception.  But another theme continually emerges in the later books, that of Dray's family.  His wife and at least one daughter belong to a mysterious women only cult, which trains women warriors, among other things.  Dray rescues Jillian (see smaller cover, below), a new and fun character added to the many friends Dray has made during his stay on Kregen.  But one of his daughters is still out to kill him and help overthrow Vallia, though we don't know why.  She hates her father and thinks he is a coward.  Obviously she does not know him.

Though the book is filled with some thrilling battles and daring rescues, it's often at its best when Dray is thinking about things, wondering why things are happening the way they are, and figuring out how best to proceed with his plans to restore Vallia to its former glory.  The author's sense of humour is now always on display, and the proceedings, though often dire, are often relieved by moments of fun.  The books are more complex than anything I have ever read, with the amount of different countries, cities, mountains, deserts, seas, creatures, birds, and various races of people being very hard to keep track of.  And each book is obviously well planned before it is written.  Bulmer continues to succeed with this fun and everlasting series.  As a final note, once again he is not against killing off an important character.

 

The 4th entry in the SF series Cap Kennedy by E C Tubb is actually quite good.  In #4, Enemy Within The Skull, Cap Kennedy must stop a mad alien from using a powerful new concoction that brings out the worst violent nature in humans when exposed to it.  The alien plans to administer massive doses to people on Earth, in the hope that they will turn violently on each other, thus dooming the human race (not really needed, if he knew anything about humans).  As usual, the alien finds a receptive planet all too willing to believe his lies, which promises them untold power and riches once his plan succeeds.  Not too likely.

This is a lively entry in the series.  Cap usually works with a small team, like Doc Savage, and these people are finally being characterized more deeply as we come to know them better.  One of them is the giant man depicted on the original cover, below.  I think Tubb is borrowing a bit from the Doc Savage team, but not enough that it seems like a ripoff.

 

Cover by Jack Gaughan. 

 

Though better written than the previous Elric story, The White Wolf's Son by Michael Moorcock still has several problems.  In this story, published in 2005 and 339 pages long, Moorcock attempts to unite many of his favourite characters, including Elric, Bastable, Lord Renyard (the fox), Corum, and others from different series.  Oona is back (the Dreamthief's daughter), as is our trusty bad guys, Gaynor and his sidekick Klosterheim.  New to the story is Oonagh, the 12 year old granddaughter of Oona.  It's all quite confusing, especially if you haven't read the Corum series books in a while.  Those same events are seen now from a different perspective.

While Moorcock makes a heroic effort to bring so many previous characters into one book, his plot is still mostly fantasy nonsense.  Of course the bad guys get their way until the final twenty pages or so, and the great climax of the story is a sword fight between Gaynor and Elric (how original, I comments dryly, rolling my eyes).  And the problem of having a 12 year old as the central character, is that we know deep down that nothing bad will really happen to her.  She does lose some blood for a sacrifice, but as she is telling the story, she obviously survives.  She is plucky and smart, and is actually a welcome character compared to the morose people usually found in Moorcock's fantasy novels.

Now for the plot. The two bad guys have worked for hundreds of years for their chance to destroy everything, or rule everything, or something (big yawn).  Their plot can't miss (remember "The Master" from Dr. Who?).  Well, here is a spoiler.  They fail again.  What a surprise ending indeed.

I get the feeling that the author was trying to wrap up his Elric tales with this book.  We shall see....

 

Published in 2007, Barry Malzberg's Breakfast In The Ruins is a direct sequel to Engines of the Night.  Published in 2007, Engines is included (see last month's reading blog) for a total page count of 396.  Each book is thus close to 198 pages.  More essays on SF can be found here, dating from the 80s and 90s mostly.  Often Malzberg's writing does not get to much of a point, while at other times he scores direct hits.  His essay on Ballard is an example of both in one, as the text seems to wander about for a while before zeroing in on why Ballard's writing matters, and what effect it had on later writers.  However, he totally dismisses the early novels, such as The Crystal World, as being too derivative of early British SF disaster writing.  Hmm.  Not quite, Mr. Malzberg.

Many writers and editors are discussed, and the name dropping is quite astonishing.  It was a small world indeed for SF writers back in the day when almost all stories were first published in magazines, and everyone knew everyone.  The history of SF writing is not so very complicated, as separate essays on Asimov and Campbell illustrate.  Those two writers/editors largely influenced most of the SF that was written in the 50s, for example.  For anyone well read in older SF, this book will be a treasure to keep and reread.  Highly recommended, especially if you get the edition with both collections.

Engines ended with a fictional short story about a characteristic SF writer from the 50s, as he ages and realizes that what he has done with his life has little or no meaning (written well before Kindle editions of practically everything ever published began to come out).  In Breakfast he writes a sequel to that story, taking the writer to his final bedroom scene, where he exits, forever.  The two stories neatly summarize what it must have been like to have been a SF pulp writer.  One doesn't even need to read the essays to find out.  But do read them.

 

Turning now to (mostly) Delphi Classics, I began with a wonderful novel called Gallantry, by James Branch Cabell and published in 1907.  Each of the ten stories relates an episode that illustrates the title term.  Most of them have overlapping characters, and should be read in sequence, but this is not your ordinary novel.  Cabell at his best (which is pretty much always) cannot really be described well by this writer.  This novel is like being presented with ten of the finest bon bons or aperitifs ever created.  They should not be gobbled down, but rather first looked at, then lightly sniffed, then touched, and finally bitten in to and carefully chewed and swallowed.  And low and behold, those flavours!  Witty delicacies tell only part of the magic that await readers of Cabell.  There is more solid fare, too, but it is delivered in a seemingly harmless and off hand manner, so that the reader must be careful when things appear to become frivolous;  they really are not.  A wonderful collection of examples of men and women fulfilling their roles in magnificently human ways.  A treasure!

 

Next came Robert Chambers' next novel dealing with the Franco-Prussian War.  Lorraine was published in 1897 and comes first in the 3-book chronology.  Previous novels and short stories of his dealt with things from inside Paris.  However, this time we are in Lorraine, a province of France that borders Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium.  The German attack comes through Lorraine first, and it is devastating.  The Prussian War lasted from 1870 thru 1871, and the French suffered terribly.  Chambers mixes in a love story between Lorraine, a young girl raised in a castle, and Marche, an American whose aunt and uncle own a big chateau not far from the castle.  Though he quickly falls in love with the young French girl, she takes a lot longer to fall in love with him.  Lorraine comes with a history, one that she will never fully learn.  She is a very simple character, her childhood formed by having no mother, and a father who chooses to work on his scientific projects rather than spend time with his daughter.  The relationship between Marche and girl, and the girl and her father, are handled well by the author, but it is his recounting of the beginning of the war that really shines here.  Chambers lists his sources and military advisors.  Though overlaid with a fictional plot, the war events are accurate.  The brutality and senselessness of war is brought home time and again, and the civilians and soldiers who survive are left permanently scarred by events, not to mention any wounds incurred.  While a 'happy' ending might seem a bit naive to readers today, this reader was very glad to come across it.  Any war, anywhere, and at any period of history, is a violent and shameful event.  The fact that wars are still being fought in 2024 tells us that no one learns very much from history.  In this case, the Prussians might have 'won' the war, but they too suffered terrible losses.  Despite much gloom and doom, this is a very rewarding novel to read.  Highly recommended.  It can be read for free on-line at Project Gutenberg, but I can highly recommend the Delphi Classics version.

1897 edition. 

 

Jump ahead 42 years and we arrive at Raymond Chandler's crime thriller The Big Sleep, published in 1939.  It isn't a complicated novel, and most actions have an equal reaction.  I've seen both movies many times, the 1978 version staring Robert Mitchum being the most recent screeening.  This film (there is a 1946 Bogart one, too) closely follows the written word, not leaving out very much of the plot.  Philip Marlowe isn't really much of a hero.  He has had experience with life, and has learned to only trust himself.  He is brave, somewhat stupid from time to time, but at least he is on the up and up.  He doesn't take advantage of clients, only charges $25 a day (plus expenses), and seems to keeps his hands off of girls.  He often does not carry a gun, though he ends up collecting some as the story moves along.

An old man hires Marlowe to keeps his two daughters out of trouble.  One is separated from her husband and likes to play roulette.  The other one, much younger, is not only big trouble, but also certifiable as insane. The body count is soon rising.  To my surprise, Marlowe only becomes unconscious once, and is never hit on the back of the head.  Movies and TV detective shows like these sort of tropes, but Chandler doesn't much go in for them.  The story continues to wind like a California Pacific Coast road, taking sharp turns again and again.  It's easy to get lost if you are not paying attention, or have set the book aside for several days.  It's best to read this one quickly.

It's quite well done, though the writing never gets much higher than average pulp fiction standard.  And Marlowe is not a very charismatic hero.  Enjoyable but not essential reading.

 

The Club of Queer Trades is a collection of six stories by Chesterton published in 1905.  The title, as explained in an introduction, examines 6 different and completely unique ways of earning a living.  The prospective member must earn his living in a job never seen before.  It must be different from others in significant ways, not merely a variation on an existing occupation.  We read about six different achievements by members of the club.  Imagine having to come up with no less than six unique occupations, one per story.  The stories are often humourous, and any violence turns out to be mostly unnecessary and quite comic.  The stories show Chesterton to be both highly intelligent and very witty.  He slyly pokes fun at Holmes and Watson, using three main characters that recur in each story.  And at the very end he brings all the characters from each story together for a wonderful conclusion.  Highly recommended fun for lovers of unusual mystery stories, as we never learn the occupation of an individual until the end of each story.

 

Next to last came Iain Banks' 2002 novel Dead Air.  Though a bit of a pot boiler, as if the author owed his publisher a book but wasn't really feeling it, the story nevertheless eventually becomes interesting, if a bit far fetched and over the top.  The main character, Kenneth McNutt ("two Ts"), is a type of morning radio show shock jock.  You have to like a character that describes himself late in the book as "a fuckwit with his thumb superglued to his personal self-destruct button."  Don't we all feel that way sometimes.  Ken gets in way over his head when he begins to secretly meet with the wife of a London crime boss for sex.  Yes, he could have chosen a safer partner, but Ceel is one of a kind.  The novel has several characters that are merely there to fill space, so there is no 'dead air' on the pages.  However, one of my favourite characters is a friend of Ken's called Ed.  Ed is a black DJ who lives at home with his mom in a tarted up old house and drives a black Hummer with blacked out windows.  Try to imagine what it might be like to drive a Hummer through the streets of London, or virtually any European city.  In one funny sequence Ken is doing just that with Ed.  The Hummer is a left hand drive, making it even weirder to drive in London.  Ken says to Ed, who is driving, that he is surprised they haven't been pulled over yet by the police.  And Ed replies, "That's cuz they think you're driving, Mate."  The book is a long one, and takes a lot of time to build up steam.  It all takes place in London, and I think Banks was writing for a London audience (and London press reviews).  It would not be a book I would recommend to someone who has never read Banks, but it does allow the author to have his say on many topics, from Nazis and holocaust deniers to what the Jews were doing to the Palestinians (and vice versa) back in 2002.  Banks likely had to go back and rewrite some of it after the 911 bombings, which are part of the backdrop of the story, though not a major part of it.  Though a mediocre effort from Banks, I did enjoy much of the book.

 

The final book of the month was Kate Chopin's second and final novel, The Awakening, from 1899.  It was her final book, since most publishers disowned her afterwards, due to its themes of sexuality and freedom for the female lead character.  And Edna Pontellies is a very troublesome character.  Modern in many ways, more than a little selfish, she is a Kentucky girl who married into a Catholic Creole family.  She lives in New Orleans, but the story opens in Grand Isle, a summer resort on the Gulf Coast for well to do families escaping the summer heat in the city.  Edna is 28 and has two children.  She comes to realize that she does not love her husband, nor wish to be around him very much.  It is fortunate for her that he travels a lot.  She falls in love with Robert, whose mother runs the summer camp on the Isle.  Robert is 25, and very much appreciates the company of Edna.  They become splendid friends over the summer, and Edna slowly awakens to her feelings of love for the young man, the first time she has felt such feelings.  When Robert realizes what is happening, he heads to Mexico looking for work.  We spend a lot of time inside Edna's head, and truly there isn't a lot going on there except confusion.  She certainly has no precedent, so help from friends in any shape or form is not available.  When Robert returns several months later, he does his best to keep his distance.  Edna's passion for him now totally consumes her.

Critics (male) found Edna to be mostly a repulsive character, mostly for not being satisfied with a loveless marriage and her two children.  Though she loves her children, she is happiest when away from them.  Look to Ibsen for similar themes, and much later Woolf.  But a strongly Catholic outlook at the time had no sympathy for a female character like Edna.  Critics were mostly ruthless, though she did find some support, mostly from women.  She never was allowed to publish again.  Another great victory for a patriarchal society tied to the church.  The only revenge we can have today is to read the novel and marvel at Chopin's strength for writing such a story at that time.  And we might also continue to support women writers, film directors, artists, etc.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 

May 2023 Books Read

It was the beginning of June 2016 that I began my massive Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery Series project, reading and reviewing in a companion blog not only the 27 books in the 1970s series, but all or most of the books written by those authors.  It was a crazy idea, but ultimately it has been very rewarding.  I am now beginning my 8th year of the project, down to five authors from 24 (6 this month, due to a Jack Williamson book ordered back in February finally arriving).  A few of the authors had written very few books, so they were wrapped up (too) quickly.  But others, such as Robert Silverberg, happily go on and on.  The only author I gave up on was Piers Anthony, who wrote some of the best books among the 24 authors, but who ultimately became very tiresome and trivial.  By his own admission he writes mostly light fantasy, and he does it for the money.  So I eventually abandoned him.  It shows.  So who is left?  Read on.

 

May began with the usual book by Silverberg.  This one was a novella, published separately in book form, called Thebes of the Hundred Gates. Silverberg was also a popular historian who wrote many non fiction books, and here it seems that he has taken his passion once again into the field of time travel, this time back to Thebes in its heyday.  A man is sent back in time to rescue two time travellers who were mistakenly sent to the wrong time and location.  However, when he finds them, they do not want rescuing.  The novel really gets into the sights and sounds of the city, and will be treasured by lovers of ancient Egypt.

 

Cover of the month.  Jim Effler and AIR Studios.
 

Next came Bladesman of Antares, the next Dray Prescott adventure by Kenneth Bulmer, writing as Alan Burt Akers.  Prescott is a direct rip off of E. R. Burroughs' John Carter of Mars, and the stories are pretty similar, too.  Written in 1975, Dray becomes a spy in the midst of the enemy camp in this very engaging story.  He becomes a sort of Zorro figure, imitating a fop as his main disguise.  This brings forth a lot of humour from Bulmer.  This turned into a very enjoyable entry in the on-going series. 

 

E. C. Tubb's Dumarest saga continues with volume 8 in the series, Veruchia, from 1973.  Whereas Bulmer's series is mostly sword and sandal, Tubb's is pure SF, as Dumarest searches for Earth, a planet no one has heard of.  Each episode we get to visit at least one new planet.  The present story is quite a bit different from the others, despite there being an arena fight starring Dumarest, and the usual assortment of bad guys.  This time he gets to use the secret knowledge from his ring for something useful; this is knowledge that the Cyclans, a human/cyborg race, are after.  And another possible clue to finding Earth is uncovered.  But surprise of surprises, at the end of the book he decides to stay awhile with Veruchia (surprise of surprises, the girl he loves does not die [yet]).  A very good entry in the series.

 

A book of early stories by Jack Williamson, long overdue in the mail, finally arrived this month.  The volume, The Early Williamson, was published in 1975, and contains 11 stories and two essays by the author.  In addition, Jack introduces each story at the end of the previous one.  It is 268 pages long.  Unable to afford any more of the hardcover editions, I found this paperback one on line.  I have already read and reviewed most of the stories it contains, but it does have The Metal Man, which is a pretty good story, the first of his to be published (back in 1928).  I did read all the introductions, even to the stories previously read. 

 

Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn was my Michael Moorcock selection for last month.  There are fifteen stories, five of which I had previously read in other collections.  The highlight story The Black Blade's Song is from 1994 and is 32 pages long.  This is a top notch tale as Elric meets up with Von Bek as they witness the surreal destruction of Chaos.  Elric is offered a unique choice.  As good as anything Leiber ever wrote. 

 

Lastly came On Account of Darkness, short SF tales by Barry Malzberg and Bill Pronzini.  The volume contains 25 stories and an intro by the authors.  My favourite story was Shakespeare MCMLXXXV from 1982, and is 8 pages long.  Shakespeare tries to earn a living as a writer in 20th C. New York.  He doesn't have much luck.  Many of today's writers know the feeling.

 

Turning now to books off the shelf and on Kindle, unrelated to the above series, I managed to read 5 novels.  The first was a SF double (counted as one book due to short length), one novella by Theodore Sturgeon and one novelette by Isaac Asimov.  Sturgeon's The Widget, The Wadget, and Boff is from 1955, about aliens observing a typical (American) Earth family.  It's related to a whole series of type novels about the lives of people living and interacting in a boarding house, though this one is SF.  Some fun characters and situations, and a good read.  The Ugly Little Boy by Asimov is from 1958, about a prehistoric boy brought through time to be observed by doctors and scientists.  He has no hope of ever being released, and so must remain a captive all his life.  However, his nurse has different ideas for his future, and hers.  Again this is a worthwhile read, a blast from the past by another one of the greats.

 

Max Carrados is a blind private investigator, invented by author Ernest Bramah.  Bramah is represented in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series by two fabulous Orientalist novels.  But he also wrote many short tales about a blind detective who is called in from time to time by the experts. His lack of sight does not seem to impede his detection skills in the least.  This first volume contains 8 stories published in 1914, each of them as good as a Sherlock Holmes tale, and about the same length.  The Tillling Shaw Mystery was my favourite of the bunch, though none of them are bad in any way.  The story can be read for free on-line.  But I strongly suggest getting the Delphi Classics complete works of Bramah for Kindle.

 

My classic literary book of the month was another 600 page super epic.  The Invisible Man was published in 1952, and is Barry Malzberg's choice for best fiction of the 1950s.  Written by Ralph Ellison, the story is about a young black man attending a black college in the south who is kicked out for an unintentional indiscretion.  He makes his way to New York, where he eventually becomes a speaker for the communist party there.  The book rambles a lot, and parts of it seem to have no real purpose.  I enjoyed the first part of the book a lot, but the narrative slows down often for introspection once in New York.  However, it picks up steam again, and ends in a blaze of rioting and mayhem in Harlem, with the hero quite changed by his many experiences.  For this novel I would read 75 pages or so, then read a Max Carrados story by Bramah, thus reading both in turn.  The story is invaluable for teaching how blacks were/are treated by whites, and as far as walking a mile in another person's shoes, this book certainly provides a very rich experience.

 

Needing a break from such severe reality, I read The Gods of Mars, E. R. Burroughs' 2nd Martian novel featuring John Carter.  Published in 1914, the book begins in a really great way, with good writing, a massive comment on religion and false hopes, and enough action to please the pulp fans.  Carter finds himself in a real, live hell, which pilgrims believed to be a holy place to come for rest, never to return to the outside world.  But the facts versus the belief are very different, even though to say otherwise is to blaspheme and be condemned to death (sound familiar?).  There are layers on layers here, a rich ground for some fine writing.  However, the 2nd half of the book becomes a straight forward pulp adventure, with some very poor writing, as Carter tires to rescue Dejah Thoris, his Martian wife.  The book actually ends with a cliff hanger, and readers won't know what really happens to the woman until book 3 is read.

 

I finished up with another masterpiece by James Branch Cabell.  The Line of Love was first written in 1905, and spruced up a bit in 1921.  My Delphi edition of the complete works of this astounding writer includes a foreword to the newer edition by H L Mencken, as well as ten beautiful full colour illustrations by Howard Pyle.  This volume consists of nine novelettes, each one loosely connected by someone from the next generation related to someone in the previous story.  One of my favourites features a love story from the life of Falstaff; another takes part of the life of Francois Villon and gives us a dramatic glimpse into his character and why he was the rogue that he was.  There is even a very touching one about Christopher Marlowe.  Each story is a tiny jewel about marriage, often humourous, sometimes wistful, and other times just very sad.  My first exposure to Cabell was through Lin Carter in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, though my first attempts when a younger reader were unsuccessful.  Later, when I committed to reading and blogging about the entire Ballantine series, I reread his books and fell completely in love with them.

 

One of ten illustrations for Cabell's book, included with the Kindle Delphi edition. 

 

And now some statistics for the reading year, June 2022 through May 2023.  I read 85 books by authors included in the Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery series, and an additional 56 books by other varied authors, for a total of 141 books since last June 1st.  That brings my total since beginning in 2016 to 769 Avon/Equinox authors' books read and 166 other books.  This upcoming year should be the first year that "other" books will outnumber those from the 24 SF authors from the Avon/Equinox series.  And I do have another SF reading project planned should this one ever finish!  Happy reading.

Mapman Mike

 

March Reading, Part 2

 My first book after reading my monthly allotment of Avon/Equinox authors' works was one from my miscellaneous shelf.  It was called Changing Planes, by Ursula Le Guinn, a book Deb appropriately purchased at the Detroit airport on one of our excursions.  It is a volume of short stories, mostly anthropological in nature, about various other planes of existence.  One can learn to get to these planes only after being stranded many times in airports.  Acquiring the knack is worthwhile, as it alleviates the boredom of such places by allowing the traveller to visit other places and other cultures.  It is a very funny and witty book, and well worth seeking out.  Don't look for deep plots or depth of character.  It seems like a type of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, only more restrained and informative.

Next came my introduction to the writings of Algernon Blackwood, one of my Delphi Classics purchases for Kindle.  Blackwood's ghost stories influenced writers such as Lord Dunsany, H P Lovecraft, and William Hope Hodgson.  I read his first collection of tales, called The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories, from 1906.  While several of the stories are pretty standard haunted house yarns (a murder was once committed there, therefore an evil presence still lingers), a few are really quite surprising and good.  "Keeping The Promise" is a plausible tale of two students who made a pledge in blood when they were younger that the first to die would come back to see the other one.  Other unusual and worthwhile stories are "Wood of the Dead;" "Smith, An Episode In A Lodging House;" and "The Strange Adventures of a Private Secretary in NY."  I am really looking forward to more by this influential author.

One of the more difficult things about undertaking the collecting and reading of (and blogging about) the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, was not going into further depth with some of the incredible writers I encountered.  I was focussed on the series only, and not reading beyond it at the time.  Fortunately, a few authors had several volumes of their works published in that series, but some did not.  Now, as I come towards the end of my Avon Equinox project, I find I have time and inclination to go back and read more of the Ballantine authors.  One of the authors whose writing I fell in love with was Ernest Brahma.  Lin Carter published 2 of his Kai Ling books, as well as a Kai Ling novella and another short story.  Kai Lung is a Chinese story teller from long ago, and he could be found unrolling his mat under a mulberry tree in various towns and cities throughout the season.  He passes a wooden donation bowl around, then sets out to tell a tale.  This month I read the first such volume, called The Wallet of Kai Lung, from 1900.  The very first story is called "The Transmutation of Ling", and was the novella that Carter published in the Ballantine series.  I reread it joyfully, as it is one of the best of the author's stories.  He writes about a China that never was, an ancient China that he conjured up in his imagination.  The many Kai-Lung stories that he wrote are highly imaginative, very witty, and sometimes brilliant in their messages.  Somehow, the stories are never racist or condescending, and can be read easily today.  This first volume, overall, is not up to the same level of sophistication as his later books in the series (from the 1920s), except for the novella, though there are a few stories that make reading the volume highly worthwhile.

An early edition. 

Next up, I finally returned to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs!  Between the ages of about 12-16, I collected and read everything available at the time by this author, who greatly influenced me growing up.  Tarzan was a special hero of mine, and drew my mind towards the rain forest, and on to such works as Hudson's Green Mansions, among many others.  Though I read virtually all of the author's books, I did skip out on some of the later Tarzan novels (there were 24 in all), and I never read the Mars series, for some strange reason, even though I collected it.  Anyway, I started with his first published work, A Princess of Mars, which was serialized beginning in 1912, and finally published in book form in 1917.  Just after reading it, the SF lectures series I am watching discussed this book at length!  It combines SF and fantasy, mixes in the style of western pulp stories (of which Burroughs wrote several), and leads readers into a new world from which SF would never be the same.  Using what was known about Mars in 1912 (almost nothing), Burroughs takes us on an unforgettable adventure to a dying planet filled with monstrous alien beings, animals, ruined ancient cities, and people very much like humans.  Because everything is so new, there is a lot of explanation in the story, especially the first third or so.  But once things get going, the action is non-stop.  Having enjoyed Michael Moorcock's version of Burroughs' Mars stories, it's time now for the real thing.  Great fun from the earliest days of SF pulp writing.

 

 

The first cover, art by Schooner, is included in my Kindle edition.

Song of the Lion, by Anne Hillerman, marked my second female author project for this month.  Anne is Tony Hillerman's daughter, and she has carried on his Navajo mystery series, with the same characters and locations, but focusing more on a female officer introduced by Tony but not developed.  She takes that character and runs with it, and I'm sure her father would be proud of her accomplishments.  Though we have been to NM 38 times, we have not been to Shiprock, the area where many of the tales take place.  But readers learn a lot about Navajo life by reading the books.  This story takes place in and around Tuba City, AZ, and the Grand Canyon.  An easy read, it was my choice for my day of recuperation last month from a minor medical procedure I had undergone.  I finished it in one day.

Another fabulous Ballantine author whose writing I fell in love with was James Branch Cabell.  Thanks to Delphi Classics, I now have all his works on Kindle, with original covers and interior art work.  I read his very first novel, The Eagle's Shadow, which sounds a bit like a Navajo mystery story.  It isn't.  It is a drawing room comedy, with such subtle and delightful humour and turns of phrase, that from the outset Cabell was obviously a very fine writer.  The silly plot reminded me of a book by Wodehouse I read not long ago, and would make a fine comparison between the two works (the first Jeeves book).  Both authors are very good at storytelling, and both are hilarious.  But Cabell is so sly and subtle, his prose so low key and unintrusive, and his characters so finely carved, that there can be no mistaking the two writers.  Both are essential reading, but Cabell will be a major revelation to someone who has never encountered him before.  Before being published as a book in 1904, it was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post.

Last up for March was another book from the shelf, one I've had for many years awaiting its turn.  The Necropolis Railway, by Andrew Martin, is a murder mystery story set in London in 1903, specifically in and around Waterloo Station.  It follows the exploits of a young Yorkshire lad who wants to drive trains, fast ones, and gets hired on as a cleaner in London, the first step to becoming a driver.  He cleans engines that are used to run funerals out to Brookwood Cemetery, southwest of the city.  The book gives vivid descriptions of working class life in London at the time (gruesome), and a lot about the funeral railway.  In fact, this book sparked renewed interest in the history of that railway.  A fun read, though mostly for the environment of the time.

Before leaving off, I will include a few more pictures from our summer of /82 trip to Spain.  these next images are all from Segovia.  One of my favourite pics from that trip was the one of the aqueduct.  The other two are what I call "here and there" photos.  First, from the Alcazar looking out towards a Norman church, then back to the Alcazar from the inside of the church.

Roman aqueduct, downtown Segovia, Spain.

 

Looking towards a very old church from the Alcazar.

Looking back to the Alcazar from the church interior.  

Signing off for now.  Looking forward to a visit from Jenn G. on Monday.  There will be ale tasting with snacks, and some fun conversation.

Mapman Mike