Tolkien and a Few Others

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Today, January 3, is the birthday of J. R. R. Tolkien (b. 1892).  A month or so ago, a minor writer of short stories pulled the ol’ drum-up-publicity-for-my-book-launch-by-attcking-someone-greater-than-me trick.

It worked, just not the way the guy that thought.  At least with me.  I’ve started rereading The Lord of the Rings.  Other than The Hobbit, I’ve never read deeply in Tolkien’s other works.  I’ve decided to change that and have gotten several volumes in The History of Middle-Earth.  I don’t know if I’ll blog about them, but I’m going to dip into them over the course of 2019.

Also, there are two birthdays from yesterday I didn’t mention because I was slightly distracted by my wife’s surgery.

Those were Charles Beaumont (b. Jan. 2, 1929) and Robert Nathan (b. Jan. 2, 1894).  Beaumont I’ve written about before.  A protege of Ray Bradbury, he wrote some great short stories and a number of well-regarded Twilight Zone scripts. I’ll try to read something of his in the next day or so.

Robert Nathan is best remembered for his short novel Portrait of Jenny.  It’s a love story set in the Great Depression about an artist who keeps meeting a girl in the park.  He meets her every few weeks, but each time she’s a few years older.  It’s not an adventure story, but it’s one of my favorite novels.  It’s definitely worth tracking down.

Cancer Update: Lumpectomy

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My wife had her lumpectomy this morning.  We had to be at the hospital by 6:00, and I think we were ten or fifteen minutes early.  She was given a room in pre-op.  After some waiting, they sent her to radiology to have some type of dye injected into the lymph nodes.  I asked if she was going to glow in the dark.  That would be an interesting side job, being a living night light to a child in a wealthy family, don’t you think?

Shortly after she got back, the anesthesiologist came in, went over some things, and they wheeled her out.  I went down to the waiting room and hung out with my in-laws.  There was one scary moment, and it was only a moment, when I got a call from the operating room.  They were simply calling to let me know things were going well.  Once I realized there wasn’t a problem, I appreciated the update.

The surgeon removed the tumor and the three lymph nodes closest to it.  The whole thing took a little over an hour an a half.  We were home by 2:00.  My wife is doing well, and so far hasn’t experienced much pain.  They told her that will change tomorrow.

My wife and I would like to thank everyone for their concern, well-wishes, thoughts, and prayers.

Happy Birthday, Seabury Quinn

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Seabury Grandin Quinn was born on New Year’s Day in 1889.  He passed away on Christmas Eve in 1969.  Now where have I heard that name “Grandin” before?

Oh, yeah.  Jules de Grandin, the French occult detective.  He appeared in over 90 stories and one novel in Weird Tales beginning in 1925.  The last story was published in 1951.  They are currently being reprinted in hardcover by NightShade Books.  Four of a projected five volumes have been published as of this writing.

Quinn wrote other stories that didn’t feature de Grandin.  The first Quinn story I ever read was “The Phantom Farmhouse”.

Given how prolific he was, I’m surprised he isn’t better remembered today.  Hopefully someone will publish a collection of his non-de Grandin work in an affordable edition.

Obligatory First Day of the Year Post

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Happy New Year, everyone!

People tell me I should be making resolutions.

Why?  Aren’t most resolutions broken within days/hours/minutes?  Why would I want to set myself up for failure?

Still, in the interest of going along with the herd, here are a few of my resolutions.

  1.  I resolve to write more this year.  I resolve to finish what I write, including projects that have been back-burnered and new projects.
  2. I resolve to put something up for sale before the year is over.  In other words, I resolve to start self-publishing.
  3. I resolve to read more.  I resolve to read what I want when I want.
  4. I resolve to not read only works by women/gays/left-handed redheaded stepchildren/[insert group du jour here].  I resolve to not read books based solely on the author’s gender/skin color/plumbing/ethnicity/mental illness/sociopolitical agenda, no matter how critically acclaimed the book/story/screed/ransom note is.  OTOH, I may not read anything by any of these if some nag starts lecturing me on why I should based solely on the reasons listed above.
  5. I resolve to read what I want when I want and resolve to choose my reading material based solely on story.

I think that about covers it.  Oh, wait, I left one thing out.

I resolve to try to be less cranky.

Obligatory End of the Year Post

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In past years I’ve ended the year with a recap of what I thought were the best books of the year and possibly a summary of any key events.

This past year family and work responsibilities prevented me from reading as much as I usually do.  On top of that, much of what I did read was older stuff.  There wasn’t a lot of new work that appealed to me.  A good portion of what did is still in my TBR pile.

So this year, I’m going to reverse things.  I’ll let you tell me what I should have read.  Please list any works, short or long, in the comments that you think stood out or were required reading.

Imagining the Horrible with Fritz Leiber

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Horrible Imaginings
Fritz Leiber
Originally published by Midnight House in a limited edition hardcover of 520 copies, of which 500 were offered for sale
Currently available in ebook from Open Road Media, $4.99

I originally intended to read and review only one or two stories from this collection, but I ended up reading them all.  Once I got started, I couldn’t stop.

This book is a mix of early and late horror stories from Leiber’s career.  Midnight House published four collections of Leiber’s work before shutting its doors.  The Open Road edition contains the original introduction where Pelan mentions his plans to publish an alternate version of “Adept’s Gambit” as a Lovecraftian tale, one that (AFAIK still) has never seen print. Continue reading →

Alfred Bester’s “Hell is Forever”

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“Hell is Forever”
Unknown Worlds, August 1942
Most recently reprinted in Redemolished.

Alfred Bester’s birthday was a few days ago.  I decided to reread his novella “Hell is Forever” to mark the occasion.  Or rather, reread.  I’d first read it in the collection Starlight:  The Great Short Fiction of Alfred Bester way back in 8th grade.  I didn’t like the story at the time, but since that was mumblety-mumble years ago, I thought I would give it another try.

I still didn’t care much for it.

The story opens in a bomb shelter in the basement of a manor house during the Blitz.  The six people in the basement live to experience new things, and are a pretty jaded group.  In the opening scene, they’re putting on a play one of them has written for the benefit of their hostess.  During the play, one of the characters summons up a demon, which gets loose.  The hostess, who is grossly obese and not in the best of health, dies of a heat attack.

Turns out that was the intention of the other five all along, and the demon wasn’t real.  Except he was.  Oh, not the actor done up to look like a demon, but the real one who shows up after the hostess dies.  He makes a deal with the group, pass through a shimmering wall of flame where the exit used to be and they will each enter a world in which the individual’s greatest desire will be realized.  Which sounds like a good deal.  The husband of a married couple wants to stay married, while his wife wants to kill him.  The artist is in love with a woman who often models for him, but she’s frigid and wants nothing to do with him. Continue reading →

Arguments Discussions on the Best Conan Story to Begin at Black Gate

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I mentioned a little while back that I was participating in a series of posts at Black Gate on which Conan story is the best.  Bob Byrne, who is heading up this project, announced the launch date (Monday, January 7).  Bob also posted a list of the authors who are contributing to the series.  I’ll not reproduce it here because I don’t want to steal his thunder.  I’ll just say that I’m honored and humbled to be allowed to participate with this group of writers.

I’d also like to think Bob for this opportunity.

Keith Taylor’s Birthday

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Deuce Richardson tipped me off that today, December 26, is Keith Taylor’s birthday (b. 1946).  So thanks, Deuce.

I know the name, but to my knowledge I’ve never read Mr. Taylor’s work.  Based on Deuce’s recommendation, I’ll be addressing that shortcoming.  I’ve got a copy of Bard II, but since I don’t have the first volume in that series, I’ve not read it. Taylor collaborated with Andrew J. Ouffut on two Cormac Mac Art novels in the early 1980’s.

A quick check of the ISFDB shows a number of short fiction titles, including one in Skelos #3, which I’ve not finished reading.  Taylor is from Australia, and has been nominated for multiple Ditmar Awards (the Australian equivalent of the Hugo), winning twice, once for the short story “Where Silence Rules” in 1982 and for the novel Bard III: The Wild Sea in 1987.

The series that looks intriguing is Kamos the Magician.  A collection of these stories is in print, although not in electronic format.  I’ll buy a copy once things settle and and report back.

 

Belated Birthday: Fritz Leiber, Jr.

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Fritz Leiber, Jr., was born on Christmas Eve in 1910.  I was spending the day with family and didn’t get a post up.  Although considering it was Christmas Eve, I’m not sure how many people would have seen it.  And since I’m writing this while Christmas dinner is being prepared, this is going to be a short post.

But I digress.  Leiber was one of the greatest writers of fantasy, horror, and science fiction of the 20th Century.  He’s best known among fans of Sword and Sorcery as the creator of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.  It’s a landmark series in the genre.

But if that’s all you know about Leiber, then you’ve missed out.  Leiber was a leading figure in the trend to bring horror into contemporary settings.  He was also an accomplished science fiction writer.  Other than a few short stories and a some Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, it’s been a while since I read any of his work.  So later today, I’m going to work in a few of his short stories.  There are a number of his works available in electronic format, so if you would like to do the same and don’t have any of his print books handy, you can still download some (after paying for them, of course.)