Things have been crazy this past month, and I’ve been too busy with other projects and/or just wiped out to get this up sooner.
COVID killed the lectureship in 2020. Last year’s was all online. That was better than nothing, but everyone agreed it was less than satisfactory. Fortunately, this year’s event was held in person. It was good to be back in Portales again. I’d attended in 2018 and 2019 and had a fantastic time. Continue reading
“St. Patrick’s Day at the Dancing Leprechaun” is available for purchase. My collaborator, G. Addison Blaine, and I so much fun writing “Christmas Eve at the Dancing Leprechaun” that we decided to write another story. Like before, Gayle wrote the romance parts, and I handled the fantasy.
This isn’t a direct sequel to the previous story, but there will be a couple of familiar characters. We’d hoped to have it out sooner, but Real Life got in the way. At least it’s out before St. Patrick’s’ Day.
Depending on the reception this story receives, we might write more holiday-themed fantasy romances.
Today for Black Friday, I’m going to do something a little different. Noir is French for black, and I’m a big fan of noir in both written and cinematic form. So this is my Noir Friday post.
This post would be better suited over at Gumshoes, Gats, and Gams, but I’ve not been active enough on that site this year for it to get much traffic. So I’m posting here.
One of the great writers of noir was Cornell Woolrich. He had an entire series of novels with “Black” in the title. They were all stand-alones; they are considered a series due to the word “Black”. Let’s look at them. Note, I’ve read some of these, but not all of them (yet). Continue reading
In the Palace of Shadow and Joy
D. J. Butler
Baen
trade paper $16.00
ebook $8.99
I’d like to thank Mr. Butler for providing a copy of this novel. I won it a few months ago in a raffle he held.
This is a fantasy adventure that will appeal to fans of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, although this story isn’t quite as dark as some of Leiber’s tales and has more humor. The publisher’s advertising copy says its a far future adventure, but I’m not seeing the far future aspect of it.
Indrajit and Fix are two down on their luck guys who are hired to protect an actress and singer, Ilsa Without Peer. Isla is the last of her race, and she is something of a slave to a powerful man in the city. She performs at one of the premiere theaters in town, The Palace of Shadow and Joy. A risk contract (think insurance policy) has been taken out on her. The risk merchant who holds part of the contract wants them to provide additional security. He’s got ulterior motives.
Things go wrong very quickly.
So yesterday’s post on Edgar Rice Burroughs and Harold Lamb and the recent post on the canon, coupled with today is the anniversary of the passing of J. R. R. Tolkien and the seventh anniversary of the death of Frederik Pohl, got me to thinking. I referred to Burroughs and Lamb as giants. In the canon post I quoted Newton talking about his achievements being due to his standing on the shoulders of giants.
So who exactly are the giants in the field? Continue reading
Ross Rocklynne was a fairly prolific author during the late 1930 and 1940s. These days he’s pretty much forgotten. So I was a little surprised to see “Invaders From the Stars” on the Retro Hugo ballot. After I read it, I further puzzled.
“Invaders From the Stars” was published in the January 1944 issue of Amazing Stories. Amazing has a reputation from this period of being a second tier pulp, with lots of purple prose and inferior writing.
“Invaders From the Stars” doesn’t help change that, although it’s not that bad. I just don’t think it’s nearly was well-written as any of the other stories on the Retro Hugo ballot. Given that the three remaining novellas are by Brackett, Kuttner, and Van Vogt, I don’t think that’s going to change.
The story isn’t bad, and the prose isn’t that purple. But this isn’t Rocklynne at his best. Here’s the setup. Continue reading
Hey, if all the merchants can extend their Black Friday events, why can’t I?
Today I want to look at three short works by Tanith Lee. Continue reading
Nine Horrors and a Dream
Joseph Payne Brennan
paper $9.95
ebook $7.96
If you’ve hung around here long, you know I’m a fan of Joseph Payne Brennan. Someone out there has reprinted a collection of his that has been long out of print, Nine Horrors and a Dream.
Here’s some of what you’ll find in this short collection: Continue reading
Going Native
J. Manfred Weichsel
DimensionBucket Media
Paperback $11.99
ebook $2.99
What happens when you go native? Any number of things, usually not something you would want to happen.
Weichsel has been quietly making a name for himself in the small press, and this is his first collection. It contains six stories of varying length. They range from science fiction to fantasy to odd mixes of both. I’d like to thank the author for providing me with a review copy. Continue reading
Jack Williamson and Your Intrepid Blogger gazing into the future.
Last Friday I made a trek to the Jack Williamson Lectureship at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. Even though the GoH wasn’t someone I was familiar with (film maker Alex Rivera), I wanted to make sure I went this year. I’d had an interview at a different university the previous week and felt I had a good shot at the position. (I learned a few days ago the dean and the provost decided not to fill the position but to split it into two positions next year.Oh, well. I’m under no pressure to leave where I’m at. The other position would have put me closer to family, which was the main reason I applied.) Continue reading