Yes, this is a new post. No, I’m not dead. I’ve just been very busy trying to wrap up parts of this semester from Hell before Thanksgiving and participate in NaNoWriMo. There hasn’t been much time for blogging or reading.
I do want to make note of two birthdays. The first is Robert Hugh (R. H. ) Benson (1870-1914). While not as prolific as his better-known brother E. F. Benson, Robert did write a few ghost stories and a couple of novels. Sadly, most of these aren’t available in electronic editions or at least reasonably priced electronic editions.
The other birthday is Alan Dean Foster (b. 1946). I was introduced to his works through Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. I soon was reading his original novels such as The Tar-Aiym Krang, Icerigger, Orphan Star, and The End of the Matter. His Humanx Commonwealth remains one of my favorite futures.
I’ve not had a chance to read anything by either of these gentlemen, but I did want to acknowledge their birthdays.
Alan Dean Foster is consistently good- from Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (also the first thing of his I read, leaving to one side his Star Wars novelisation) to the recent collection Mad Amos Malone I have always enjoyed his work.
I’ve not read the recent Mad Amos Malone collection, although I’ve read many of the stories in it. I’ll try to work it in during the holidays.
I would recommend Foster’s book “To The Vanishing Point”. It’s a comic/spooky tale of a family RV trip from LA to Las Vegas that takes a few wrong turns. I just checked his Wikipedia page and it is not listed but I’m pretty sure it belongs in the Spellsinger series.
Pass Regulus or bust!
I read that one in high school when it came out. I don’t recall much about it except that I enjoyed it. I’m pretty sure it isn’t part of the Spellsinger series. It can out while he was writing the Spellsinger books, though.