Author Archives: Keith West

A Birthday Recognition for Two Ladies.

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I can say that, can’t I? “Ladies”, I mean. If that verboten? I mean Mike Resnick and Barry Malzberg got in all kinds of trouble for referring to a “lady editor”, but Mary Robinette Kowal, who (I think) was leading the charge against those two has a series about a lady astronaut with the word “lady” in the title. I’m so confused.

I guess the lesson is you ain’t gonna please everybody, so you might as well please yourself.  I’m gonna please myself be recognizing two ladies who have left their mark on the field were born on this day, August 24. The first was Alice B. Sheldon (1915 -1987), who wrote under the pen name of James Tiptree, Jr., and Bea Mahaffey (1926-1987), who was the lady Resnick was referring to when he got in trouble. Continue reading →

To Ray, With Much Thanks

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Today (August 22, 2020) marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ray Bradbury. If you’ll indulge a bit of nostalgia, I’m going to discuss the impact Ray had on my life.

It must have been the 6th grade, but it might have been the 5th. It’s been too many years now to be sure. One day in Mr. Thayer’s reading class, there was a guest waiting when we arrived from whatever class we’d been in before.

I don’t recall the gentleman’s name, but he was there to read to us. He told us was going to read a story by Ray Bradbury, who was a science fiction writer. Continue reading →

Firing the Canon: An Appreciation of H. P. Lovecraft

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I was going to do a review in honor of H. P. Lovecraft’s birthday (August 20, 1890-1937) , but then one of the usual suspects, a writer noted for ripping off writing in the styles of better writers from a previous generation ignited a small tempest in a teapot about the need of having a canon, or in his case, not having one. No, that’s not a typo in the title of this post. He wants to fire the canon, as in “You’re fired”. Those are my terms, not his, just to be clear.

So here are my thoughts, using the Gentleman From Providence as a key example since it’s become so fashionable to hate on him. And John W. Campbell, Jr., and Issac Asimov, and Robert E. Howard, and… Continue reading →

Hester Howard Slept Here

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Hester Jane Ervin Howard

I would like to thank John Bullard for his assistance in the preparation of this post.

Recently I was traveling through Carlsbad, Texas, something I’ve done many times over the years. There’s not much in Carlsbad, other than the San Angelo State Supported Living Center and some houses and churches, post office, and a few other establishments that owe their existence to the state facility. San Angelo is about fifteen to twenty minutes to the southeast.

I seemed to recall reading something about Robert E. Howard’s mother Hester having been a patient in a facility north of San Angelo, but it had been a while. Memory is a tricky thing, and I wanted to get confirmation. It happened that I was talking to John Bullard on the phone as I was passing through, so I asked him about it. He thought I was right, that Howard had mentioned such a thing in one of his letters. A few hours later he sent me the following excerpt from one of Bob’s letters. Continue reading →

My Runnin’ Around Buddy Ain’t Around For Me To Run Around With No More

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I knew this day was coming.

I’ve known it for years.

I knew it when we boarded a plane with the little butterball in Almaty, Kazakhstan. I knew it when we walked down the steps of the orphanage in Shemkent the day he officially became our son.

I knew the time would fly by. I didn’t know it would fly so fast. I knew today would be bittersweet. It didn’t know it would be this bitter nor this sweet.

Sunday my son and I left home. Today I came home alone.

My son starts college on Monday. He’ll be living with my mother-in-law, which will be good for both of them. I’ve spent the last few days helping him get settled and doing some chores my MiL needed doing. I am incredibly proud of my son. I’m not going to say his name or which college he’s attending out of respect for his privacy. He has turned into a fine young man. He still has some growing up to do, but compared to the typical college freshman I see, he’s ahead of them. He’s smart, charming, handsome. And since I had nothing to do with his genetics, I can brag on him without having to assume any false modesty.

The time has come when he has to stand or fall on his own merits. I’m putting aside the doubts and second-guessing that’s normal at a time like this. Whether there was something I could have done differently or better (there was, there always is), what’s done is done. There’s very little left I can do, at least unless/until I’m asked to.

I’m not worried. He’s turned out fine, in spite of his parents at times. He’s got a great future ahead of him.

F. Marion Crawford’s “For the Blood is the Life”

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F. Marion Crawford

Today, August 2, marks the birth of Francis Marion Crawford (1854-1909). Although he wrote only a handful of short stories dealing with the supernatural and horror, he is still considered one of the best writers of ghost stories. If he had only written “The Upper Berth”, is place in the literature of the fantastic would be assured. The story was highly regarded by none other than H. P. Lovecraft, M. R. James, and H. Russell Wakefield. Highly regarded.

I’m going to look at one of my personal favorites, “For the Blood is the Life”.

Crawford uses the familiar technique of a tale within a tale. The story opens with an unnamed narrator (presumably Crawford) and an artist friend having dinner and enjoying a smoke on the roof a tower the narrator owns. It’s summer, and they are on the roof to escape the heat.

The artist is looking out over the land, and he sees a mound with what appears to be something on it. When the artist says the mound looks like a grave, the narrator confirms it is. He decides to go down and have a closer look at what’s on it. Continue reading →

Reflections on the Retro Hugos

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Leigh Brackett

I’ve decided I’m not going to do a post on Henry Kuttner’s “A God Named Kroo” for the Retro Hugos.  I reviewed it a few years ago here. I’ve got too much Real Life stuff going on, and the winners were announced yesterday. At least I saw a notice last night after posting about Brackett’s “The Jewel of Bas“.  That was the one I was hoping would win.  Brackett did win in the novel category (which I might review because Brackett) and Best Related Work.

I hadn’t paid much attention to the other categories. I’m not a member of Worldcon and am not likely to be anytime in the foreseeable future. So it was entertaining to see the reactions on Twitter today.

Seems the wrong people won some of the awards. Continue reading →

Retro Hugos: “The Jewel of Bas” by Leigh Brackett

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I did a post on this story a few years ago, which you can find here. I’m not going to write another review.  I did reread “The Jewel of Bas”, mostly in the waiting room while my son was having his wisdom teeth removed this afternoon. I’ll post a few thoughts on it below and try not to repeat what I wrote in the original post.

“The Jewel of Bas” was originally published in the Spring 1944 issue of Planet Stories. I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be it on the cover or not. The man and the woman don’t look like the two principle characters in the story, but the rest of the illustration could be.

I said in the earlier post on this story that I didn’t think it was part of Brackett’s solar system but that it might could be. Having read the story again, I am going to back off of that position a little. I very well could be.

I also liked how Brackett  mentioned Cimmeria and Hyperborea, and made them a part of the world of the story. One thing I missed was that the god Bas said that he came from Atlantis and that the priests of Dagon there considered him a living blasphemy.  One of Henry Kuttner’s Elak of Atlantis stories was titled “The Spawn of Dagon”  Kuttner was a friend of Brackett’s and something of a mentor to her as she was beginning her career. An homage to Kuttner in this reference. I doubt we can know for sure at this late date, but I like to think so.

I really liked this story a lot.  There’s one more in the novella category left, and that’s Kuttner’s “A God Named Kroo”.  That will be the next in this series.

UPDATE: I saw after I posted this review that the Retro Hugo winners had been announced. I wasn’t expecting that for a couple of days. I had gotten the impression they were going to be announced Saturday.  I’ll still do the Kuttner post, but I may not break m y neck to get it up tomorrow.

 

Retro Hugos: “The Changeling” by A. E. Van Vogt

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“The Changeling” was published in the April 1944 issue of Astounding. The ISFDB says it’s the third in a series of four stories the ISFDB calls Pendrake. I’ve not read any of the other stories, and this was my first time to read this one.

I’m not really sure where to start. There were some twists that might have been more expected if I had read the two stories preceding “The Changeling”. But maybe not. It has the feel of a self-contained episode in a larger story arc where the background is important but the characters seem to have been introduced in this episode. I’m not sure. there are remarks toward the end that could be background information or references to previous stories.

Let’s start with the background, because I’m a little surprised this story is on the final ballot. It isn’t exactly woke in some of the attitudes the characters have. Continue reading →