Christmas gifts can extend the season substantially. I received a Christmas present of the DMR edition of Manly Wade Wellman’s novel Cahena: A Dream of the Past. I read it this week, thus drawing my holiday out longer. Well, Merry Christmas to me; what a fine gift. Manly Wade Wellman was one of the last… Continue reading Cahena, Manly Wade Wellman’s Heroic Historical Fiction
Author: admin
Writer of two-fisted fabulism.
Bard IV. A Bloody Culmination.
I have been belatedly reading through Keith Taylor’s Bard series. I was going to write “working my way through” but that phrase suggests effort, labor. The Bard books are effortless. Reading them is a joy, not a chore. Book Four, Ravens Gathering, is, as the title suggests, a story of a convergence, a gathering. Characters,… Continue reading Bard IV. A Bloody Culmination.
The Watchers Out of Time. H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth.
H.P. Lovecraft receives top billing for The Watchers Out of Time. But the stories in this collection appear to have been actually written by Lovecraft’s acolyte, August Derleth. He seems to have used notes of Lovecraft’s as the springboard for the fifteen (fourteen and a half, rather, since Derleth died before completing the titular tale)… Continue reading The Watchers Out of Time. H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth.
Ending the Year in Corpus Christi
I loaded MBW and the HA into the car Thursday morning and headed south to Corpus Christi on a gloriously bright morning. Similarly bright mornings and days have persisted, though the mornings can be a trifle chilly. I may be adjusting to Texas; a year ago I wouldn’t have considered these temperatures worth the trouble… Continue reading Ending the Year in Corpus Christi
Kane’s Christmas.
With apologies to Karl Edward Wagner. The bitter wind snarling and screaming across the slate tiles of the little cottage fit Kane’s bleak mood. Endless shrieking; eternal, pointless motion rushing nowhere. It never ended. He never ended. And here he had arrived at yet another frigid winter, suffering an ennui that might drive him outdoors… Continue reading Kane’s Christmas.
On Stranger Tides: Tim Powers’ Swashbuckling Adventure
It has been years, decades, since I first read On Stranger Tides. I suppose I have been busy reading other things. It’s a pity those other things couldn’t all have been as fun as this. It’s long for a work of (perhaps) sword and sorcery, 322 pages in my paperback edition. But despite the length… Continue reading On Stranger Tides: Tim Powers’ Swashbuckling Adventure
Tomball German Christmas Market
Today MBW and the HA and I drove north to Tomball, Texas to spend a few hours wandering about the Tomball German Christmas Market. The town of Tomball celebrates Texas’ German roots and the Christmas season. There were food and drink booths galore, various vendors, wandering street performers, a carnival, multiple venues for live music,… Continue reading Tomball German Christmas Market
Jack Vance’s Maske: Thaery. Plus Beer Tasting Notes.
I can conceive of no reason not to accompany a review of Maske: Thaery, by the sui generis literary genius Jack Vance, with a review of a few brews. And I might as well do it while watching a football game. If that seems an unexpected, odd, and yet ultimately compelling combination, welcome to the… Continue reading Jack Vance’s Maske: Thaery. Plus Beer Tasting Notes.
Death Angel’s Shadow. A Terrific Trio of Tales from Karl Edward Wagner.
Karl Edward Wagner created a truly unique character in Kane. Yes, that Cain (maybe, more or less, perhaps in a different world.) Death Angel’s Shadow collects three Kane novellas/stories. Reflections for the Winter of My Soul is an excellent werewolf story. It is a massacre in an isolated chateau. It should be filmed by Neil… Continue reading Death Angel’s Shadow. A Terrific Trio of Tales from Karl Edward Wagner.