Today, April 30, marks the birth of science fiction and fantasy author Larry Niven (b. 1938). I’ve been away from the house for most of the day, so I’ve not had a chance to read anything by him. Niven was one of the first authors I read when I was getting into science fiction and fantasy, and he’s someone I reread when I get a chance.
So Happy Birthday, Mr. Niven, and many happy returns.
As I write this, there are still a few hours left in April 29, at least in this time zone. Final exams start a week from today, and between trying to get my classes ready and dealing with emails from students who are suddenly concerned about bad lab grades they received months ago (and mostly didn’t bother to read the lab syllabus), I’ve not had time to read anything by these gentlemen. So no close look at any work by these guys. Just a shout-out to bring them some recognition. So in order of their births, here are: Continue reading
Frank Belknap Long
Today, April 27, is the birthday of Frank Belknap Long (1901-1994). Long is best remembered today as a member of the Lovecraft Circle, and his best-remembered work is arguably “The Hounds of Tindalos”, one of my personal favorites.
It’s unfortunate that his Lovecraftian fiction has overshadowed his other work. Long was a pulp writer who wrote a lot of other things than just Mythos tales, including science fiction and other types of fantasy. I want to look at one of his fantasies, “Fisherman’s Luck”. It was originally published in the July 1940 issue of Unknown. It has been reprinted a number of times since. I read it in The 9th Golden Age of Weird Fiction Megapack: Frank Belknanp Long Vol. 2.
Continue reading
Today, April 23, is the birthday of Talbot Mundy (1879-1940). It’s been a hectic week, and I haven’t had a chance to read anything by him. (I did manage to remotely attend a few panels at the Jack Williamson Lectureship today, though.)
I read the first of the Zebra editions of the Tros of Samothrace books last summer. I started the second but got bogged down. I’m going to try to at least finish that one once the semester ends.
Even though I didn’t manage to read anything by Mundy for today, I didn’t want to let the occasion pass without acknowledging it. Mundy was an influential writer and deserves to be remembered.
Henry Kuttner
Today, April 7, is the birthday of one of my favorite writers, Henry Kuttner (1915-1958). For today’s post, I’ve inadvertently broken my informal rule about only reviewing works that are easily available.Today’s post is a review of “Wet Magic”. It had been a number of years since I read the story, and most of the details had faded from my memory.
I knew I had at least three copies of it. The original issue of Unknown Worlds (February 1943), an electronic copy of that same issue, and a copy in Echoes of Valor, edited by Karl Edward Wagner. It was in the latter where I had originally read it, and that was where I reread it. Then I went to find where else the story had been reprinted.
It hasn’t been. I was a little surprised, because “Wet Magic” is an excellent story. Kuttner had a dry sense of humor, and it shows here. John W. Campbell, Jr. wanted much of the fantasy he published in Unknown Worlds to be set in the modern world and not take itself too seriously. “Wet Magic” was a perfect fit. Continue reading
Today, April 5, is the birthday of Robert Bloch (1917-1994). Bloch was one of the best writers of horror, suspense, crime, fantasy, and science fiction of the 20th Century. Sadly, his excellent body of work will probably always be overshadowed by his most famous novel, and the basis of the Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name, Psycho. And if you’re only familiar with Psycho from the movie, there are some differences between the film and the book.
Bloch took the story of real-life killer Ed Gein and turned it into the source of many people’s nightmares, and in the process made taking a shower an act of courage.
For today’s post I’m going to look at his fictionalization of another famous murderer, H. H. Holmes, who killed many people (the exact number is open to question) during the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893. Like he did with Gein, Bloch fictionalized the events and changed the name of the character. Continue reading
Today, April 4, is the birthday of Stanley G. Weinbaum (1902-1935). Weinbaum had a very short career, only about 18 months or so, but he had a major impact on the science fiction field. He wrote about aliens that were truly alien, and his solar system was imaginative and full of whimsy.
Yes. I know. This is a fantasy blog.
But the two stories I want to look at today are a good fit for this blog because the first one reads like a fantasy for the most part and the second is very much a horror story. Continue reading
Dennis Etchison
Today, March 30, is the birthday of Dennis Etchison (1943-2019). Etchison was primarily a short fiction writer, but today’s story, “A Wind From the South”, was Chapter 2 in Etchison’s novel California Gothic. I liked it enough to want to read the novel.
A woman named Evie who lives in a California suburb is about to get in the shower when the doorbell rings. Her husband is out, and her son is visiting a friend, so she foolishly answers the door.
A young woman is standing there asking how to get to – no, not Sesame Street – the local elementary school. Evie invites her visitor in, her second mistake. The young woman begins to describe the life she hopes to have in the neighborhood. A life that sounds frighteningly like Evie’s.
I’ll refrain from saying any more about the story. Which may not be fair, since it isn’t currently in print. I read it in The Death Artist.
It tired some of Etchison’s work years ago. It didn’t seem to be my cup of tea at the time. But given the high regard in which he’s held by a number of authors who work and opinions I respect, even if I don’t always agree with, I’m going to give him another try.
William Morris
William Morris (1834-1896) was born today, March 24. Morris was active in a number of creative endeavors throughout his life, but the one that concerns us here is his writing.
Morris has a reputation today, when he’s remembered at all, of being difficult to read. And while there is some justification for that, I think it’s largely undeserved. I’ve read one of his novels, The Wood Beyond the World, which I reviewed some years ago at Black Gate, when I was reading through the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected it to be. There’s a cadence to Morris’s work. Once I got into that rhythm, it was fairly easy going. Continue reading
Today, March 9, marks the birthday of Novalyne Price Ellis (1908-1999). She is remembered today for her memoir One Who Walked Alone. It was based on the diaries she kept while she dated Robert E. Howard during the final two years of his life.
One Who Walked Alone provides the best account of what Howard was like. She wrote the book, which was published by Donald M. Grant in 1986, in order to counter some of the things said in L. Sprague de Camp’s biography of Howard, Dark Valley Destiny.
If you are interested in Robert E. Howard, and really, who around this blog isn’t, then you should really read One Who Walked Alone.