Kurt Newton's dark and cryptic Black Dog graced the Microstory A Week site today.
Black Dog tells the story of a wandering boy, his canine and their unusual relationship.
This is a good read, one you should check out -- and don't forget to check out next Wednesday's tale, Terrance Aldon Shaw's dialogue-driven, phallic-funny Señor Gordo.
(pb; 1991: third novel in the Rama quadrilogy)
From the back cover:
"By the twenty-third century Earth had already experienced two encounters with the massive, mysterious robotic spaceship from beyond our solar system -- the incontestable proof of technology that far exceeds our own. Now three human cosmonauts are trapped aboard a labyrinthine Raman vessel, where it will take all of their physical and mental resources to survive. Only twelve years into their journey do these intrepid travelers learn their destination and face their ultimate challenge: a rendezvous with a Raman base -- and the unseen architects of their galactic home. The cosmonauts have given up family, friends and possessions to live a new kind of life. But the answers that await them at the Raman Node will require an even greater sacrifice -- if humanity is indeed ready to learn the awe-inspiring truth."
Review:
The first half of Garden is Clarke's usual awe-inspiring, optimistic "hard" science fiction mixed with Lee's relatively darker and more detailed take on humanity. The second half, with its introduction of significantly more characters, becomes brutal, nasty and especially cynical (or, as I acknowledge, realistic) -- Lee's influence, I'm guessing. Fans of Clarke's work may be put off by this violent second half, but it is still well written and -- as I wrote before -- realistic, a cautionary tale that reads like current events.
Garden is an excellent follow-up read to the first two Rama books, if you do not mind its pervasive, timely darkness and its occasional glimmers of hope. Followed by Rama Revealed.
(1967; screenplay)
Review:
Orton’s sly, madcap, sexual and plot-lite
screenplay [written as a possible silver screen vehicle for the Beatles]
subverts – and expands – mainstream mores with its pointed political jibes,
episodic sketch-pieces and sexually suggestive, PG-fied post-coital scenes of
threesomes and pre-marital sex. It reads like a distinctive product of the
Swinging Sixties, and, as such, is a fast and giddy-fun experience.
I did not read Orton's 1971 posthumous novel, Head to Toe, that Against was paired with.
Emily J McNeely's entertaining nautical story, Peragua, graced the Microstory A Week site today.
Peragua, as she describes it, is a "an excerpt from a longer story, about a pirate crew in the Caribbean in the 18th century and the tensions between the captain and his first mate, who is looking to leave his service."
This is a great read, one you should check out -- and don't forget to check out next Wednesday's tale, Kurt Newton's dark and cryptic Black Dog.
(hb; 1989: second novel in the Rama quadrilogy)
From the inside flap:
"Decades have passed since Commander Norton and his crew met with the enormous alien ship dubbed Rama and declared it an intelligent robot with no interest in the creatures of our solar system. In those years the world has undergone dramatic changes -- from the wild prosperity immediately following the Raman visit to the cataclysm of the Great Chaos, also spurred by Rama. And then, near the dawn of the twenty-third century, a spacecraft is identified hurtling across our solar system. A crew of a dozen is assembled to rendezvous with the massive ship. And mankind has a second date with destiny.
"Some of the best and brightest minds on Earth are assembled to intersect with Rama II just inside the orbit of Venus. Among them are the brilliant engineer Richard Wakefield, scientist Shigeru Takagishi (author of The Atlas of Rama), heroic life science officer Nicole des Jardins, stern commander in chief Valeriy Borzov, and the duplicitous video journalist Francesca Sabatini. But even though the crew is equipped with every piece of information that is known about Raman technology and culture, there is nothing that can prepare them for what they will encounter on board. For while Rama II appears to be much like its predecessor, the crew will discover startling -- perhaps even deadly -- differences."
Review:
Rama II revisits an initially familiar, century-plus-later, new Rama, but differentiates itself from its source novel by -- plot-wise -- moving quicker, injecting more intrigue and human darkness, and showing brief violence. There is plenty of "hard" science, new (and updated) creatures and elements that reveal more, but not all of, Rama's intentions. The writing is excellent, the story more personal (if sometimes word-chatty) and its scope more expansive.
The ending is open-ended, sequel-friendly. Worth owning, this. Followed by The Garden of Rama.
(hb; 1989: seventh book in the Elric series)
From the inside flap:
"[Fortress] is set early in the warrior's career, opening as the Lord Gho Fhaazi seeks the principal seat on the ruling Council of Seven of the city of Quarzhasaat. He lures Elric into seeking the Pearl at the Heart of the World -- the price of admission to the council -- by addicting him to a slow-acting poison to which he, the Lord Gho, has the only antidote. Moorcock leads Elric over a course of monstrous and horrifying obstacles, pits him against the Sorcerer Adventurers, servants of Quarzhasaat's jaded rich, and then thrusts him into a dreamworld within the mind of an adolescent girl. Trapped in a comatose state by the Sorcerer Adventurers, she is undergoing her own rite of passage into adulthood. Through the vast and turbulent landscape of the Dream Realm, guided by the Dreamthief Lady Oone, Elric seeks the Pearl."
Review:
Note: Fortress -- written and published as the seventh Elric book -- is a prequel, which chronologically happens in a period of time between Elric of Melniboné and The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (the first and second book in the series).
This word-spare, surrealistic and metaphor-deft prequel shows Elric not only trying to save himself from a poisonous death, but also a Quarzhasaatim boy (Anigh) and a Bauradiam "Holy Girl" (Varadia, a citizen of the Silver Flower Oasis) from equally horrible, if different, fates.
In order to do so, he must travel down the deadly Red Road (where bizarre, armed attacks can take place at any moment), as well as the expansive Sighing Desert to the Silver Flower Oasis, where the wise folk of Bauradim hold vigil over Varadia, a "Holy Girl" whose dream-coma fragility and inevitable disintegration threatens all of existence. This compels Elric and Oone (an experienced Dreamthief, who may be more than a traveling companion) to astrally traverse the seven, surrealistic lands of the Dream Realm to not only find the Pearl, which will save Elric's life and end Anigh's captivity, but shatter the paralyzing hold of whatever layers Varadia in life-draining slumber.
What sets Fortress apart from most of the previous Elric books is that it is a whole novel: it is not broken up into a series of tightly linked novellas, like Books two through six. Elric, in this seventh work, also possesses a hope that he lost early on in the series (Cymoril -- his fiancée -- is still alive and Melniboné has not yet fallen), which lends a different side-tale feel to these new adventures -- adventures whose events further shape and deepen readers' understandings of what was previously shown in Books two through six.
This, like previous Elric works, is excellent, word-efficient and otherwise masterful, a book worth owning.
Followed by The Revenge of the Rose.
(pb; 1973: first novel in the Rama quadrilogy)
From the back cover:
"In the year 2130, a strange object is discovered, hurtling through space on what could be a collision course with Earth. What is it?
"Where did it come from?
"And, most important, what does it want?
"Those are the questions scientists on Earth have to answer -- and fast -- if Mankind is going to be ready for its first encounter with an alien intelligence!"
Review:
Rendezvous is an intriguing, steady-build story, its first quarter dedicated to giving its readers a chance to see (in cinematic and word-tight prose) the technological beauty of Rama, as well as the reactions and personalities of the humans witnessing this anomalous and history-changing ship -- or planet. (Those looking for immediate, wall-to-wall action sequences may be disappointed by this, though curiosity, caution and danger are constant tonal elements throughout Rendezvous.)
The latter part of the book picks up, action- and intensity-wise, as Rama begins to show visible signs of waking, and its in-this-moment intentions. As always, Clarke's writing is crisp, plot-progressive and well-edited (within its gradual escalation situations) and engaging, making Rendezvous -- which is clearly a series set-up work -- a worthwhile and gently provocative read.
Followed by Rama II.
#
According to IMDb, a film version is forthcoming. I will update this information when -- if -- more information is available (and I have the time to do so).
(hb; 2015: fourth novel in the Millennium series. Translated from the Swedish by George Goulding.)
From the inside flap:
"Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist return.
"She is the girl with the dragon tattoo -- a genius hacker and uncompromising misfit. He is a crusading journalist whose championing of truth often brings him to the brink of prosecution.
"Late one night, Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female superhacker -- a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering. Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Salander for help. She, as usual, has her own agenda. The secret they are both chasing is at the center of a tangled web of spies, cybercriminals, and governments around the world, and someone is prepared to kill to protect it."
Review:
Lagercrantz's pick-up of Larsson's Millennium series maintains the same steady-build-then-explosive feel of the first three books in the series. Again, the characters -- some of them familiar, some of them new -- are worth rooting for or hissing at; the intensity and intentions of those characters are alarming and thrilling, lending additional urgency to the physical (sometimes fatal) action. These elements are further heightened by the cinematic (but character-true) jump-cut editing, especially during the multi-character cliffhangerish sequences.
Spider's Web is a fun, reader-hooking-from-the-get-go and deepening-of-the-familial-storyline read, one worth owning -- as are the previous Millennium books. (For those who have not read the first three books, Spider's Web also works as a stand-alone read.)
Followed by The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye.
#
The resulting film was released stateside on November 9, 2018. Fede Alvarez directed the film, from a screenplay by himself, Jay Basu and Steven Knight.
Claire Foy played Lisbeth Salander. Sverrir Gudnason played Mikael Blomkvist. LaKeith Stanfield played Ed Needham. Sylvia Hoeks played Camilla Salander. Vicky Krieps played Erika Berger. Paula Schramm played Malin Erikson.
Beau Gadsdon played "Young Lisbeth Salander." Carlotta von Falkenhayn played "Young Camilla Salander." Cameron Britton played Plague.
Stephen Merchant played Frans Balder. Christopher Convery played August Balder. Claes Bang played Jan Holtser.
(hb; 1977: sixth book in the Elric series)
Review:
The first story, "Dead God's Homecoming," pits Elric, his cousin Dyvim Slorm, and Jharkorian Queen Yishana and her many White Leopard guards against the combined armies of Kings Sarosto (of Dharijor) and Jagreen Lern (of Pan Tang). These savage regents, also allied with a planet-decimating "Dead God" (Darnizhaan), threaten the balance of the known world. Elric's situation is further exacerbated by the fact that Darnizhaan has kidnapped his wife, Zarozinia.
"Dead" not only brings together the Melnibéan's past-tale companions, but serves as a major turning point in the series: Elric, an Eternal Champion (as revealed in The Vanishing Tower), gets his first real understanding of his destiny -- this comprehension comes courtesy of Sepiriz, an ancient Nihranian, one of the "Ten who sleep in the mountain of fire," an ally whom Elric has not seen the last of.
In "Black Sword's Brothers," Jagreen Lern's Chaos-bodied (and ever-growing) army of darkness is running roughshod over the worldwide Young Kingdom, possessing -- incorporating -- those fallen soldiers into its black, murderous mass.
Fighting against this world-ravaging tide is Elric, Moonglum, Dyvim Slorm (who bears Stormbringer's brother blade, Mournblade), Rackhir the Red, Kargan Sharpeyes (spokesmen for the Eastern Sealords) and their forces, whose men stand little chance of holding back Lern's monsters. While Elric is guided by Sepiriz's seer-like visions, Lern is guided by enfleshed gods of Chaos.
When Sepiriz tells Elric that his cursed sword, Stormbringer, has spirit brothers in an alternate realm that might help them cast out the Dukes of Hell from this largely-toxic planet, the pale ex-emperor does what he must to summon the spirit-blades.
"Sad Giant's Shield" and "Doomed Lord's Passing" details the fallout from the events of the preceding tales. Elric, once again aided by Straasha (King of the Water Elementals)**, seeks the shield of a battle-inclined giant, Mordaga (whose castle lies in -- of course -- in a far-away realm). This shield, Sepiriz has claimed, is resistant to the evil magick of Chaos, as practiced by Jagreen Lern ("the Theocrat") and his ally, the powerful Lord Pyaray, who have taken Elric's wife, Zarozinia.
Elric, Rackhir, Moonglum and Sepiriz, in order to continue combatting Lern and Pyaray, also seek aid from the White Lords of Law (the deities who oppose -- provide counterbalance to -- the Lords of Chaos).
Stormbringer is an excellent, satisfying closer volume to the first cycle of the Elric saga. The pacing, structuring and other story-telling elements of the stories are inventive, the writing is crisp, exciting and succinct and the characters are reader-familiar and worth rooting for (or hissing at). Not only that, Moorcock keeps the albino ex-regent's adventures fresh by foreshadowing and increasing the stakes of Elric's quests: in this final (timeline-wise) tale, if Elric and his allies don't win, everyone -- literally everyone -- will likely die.
This is worth owning, just like the preceding Elric books. Followed by the first of several prequels, The Fortress of the Pearl.
(**previously seen in Elric of Melniboné)
(pb; 2011: graphic novel, collecting issues #1 - 4 of the Creepy comic book series)
From the back cover:
"What's that huge, terrifying thing clawing its way onto your bookshelf? It's the biggest, bloodiest, most creepy collection of new terror tales you'll find this year! Creepy Comics Volume 1 gathers all of the new material from the first two years of Dark Horse's celebrated new Creepy series and collects it into one gargantuan book.
"This 184-page monstrosity features a spellbinding assortment of gory stories about all your favorite terror-inducing topics including: cannibals, lurking demons, werewolves, zombies, psychic trauma, and psychotic murderers, illustrated in glorious black and white, following the great tradition of classic Creepy. If that's not enough to make you scream with delight, we're also adding a special color section featuring the two Creepy stories that helped re-launch Dark Horse Presents on Myspace. You'll get all of this tantalizing terror for under twenty bucks - it's a killer deal."
Review:
If you are a fan of the old EC Creepy comic book-magazines, with their twisted, clever and (often) icky morality plays, there is a good chance you will appreciate the spirit, writing and the mixed/updated artwork of this resurrected and welcome series. I am thrilled that Dark Horse Comics brought this back.
This is a collection worth owning, one that lives up to its back cover description.
Followed by Creepy Comics, Volume 2.
(hb; 2015: twenty-fourth book in the Kinsey Millhone mysteries)
From the inside flap:
"X: The number ten. An unknown quantity. A mistake. A cross. A kiss.
"X: The shortest entry in Webster’s Unabridged. Derived from Greek and Latin and commonly found in science, medicine, and religion. The most graphically dramatic letter. Notoriously tricky to pronounce: think xylophone.
"X: The twenty-fourth letter in the English alphabet.
"Sue Grafton’s X: Perhaps her darkest and most chilling novel, it features a remorseless serial killer who leaves no trace of his crimes. Once again breaking the rules and establishing new paths, Grafton wastes little time identifying this sociopath. The test is whether Kinsey can prove her case against him before she becomes his next victim."
Review:
X is a sometimes chatty, entertaining entry in the Kinsey Millhone novels, with a few effective but not earth-shattering twists thrown into its triply-mysterious tale. It lacks any white-knuckle moments (for this reader, anyway). (Note that this is not a criticism, merely an observation.)
One of the things I enjoyed about X was that Grafton, in this book, has abandoned the multiple point-of-view chapters. It was all Kinsey, this time out.
Another thing I liked is how Grafton allowed the "bad guys" -- some of whom were not entirely "bad" -- to talk like regular people, making them more interesting and relatable and making X more realistic. Grafton has done this before, of course, but it is still an effective writing choice. (On the flip side of that, Ned Lowe is an especially slimy character, and that characterization is effective, too.)
X is a good read, worth checking you are a Grafton fan who is not on the "why doesn't Grafton write shorter, terser novels?" bandwagon. (Again, this is not a criticism of those readers. It is a friendly caveat to those who fit that description. Cheers.)
Followed by Y is for Yesterday.
