I have been leisurely reading through The Lord of the Rings. This marks my 19th, or perhaps 20th reading. (It isn’t a contest, but to those of you who read it yearly, relax. I humbly yield.) One would imagine that at some point a certain degree of unforced memorization would occur, preventing the reader from… Continue reading Musings on The Lord of the Rings. I
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Writer of two-fisted fabulism.
The Continental Op: The Hardest Boiled.
I purchased a copy of a Dashiell Hammett collection, The Big Knockover. And I’m glad I did. With a single exception, the book is a treasury of several of Hammett’s Continental Op stories. The odd man out is a partially finished novel called Tulip. If one can extrapolate from Lillian Hellman’s introduction, Tulip appears to… Continue reading The Continental Op: The Hardest Boiled.
Still Thankful
There and Back Again sums it up, I suppose. I loaded the car with the HA and MBW and made the trek from San Antonio to Lincoln. Out of deference to my passengers, each way was divided into two stages of about seven hours each, with Oklahoma City as roughly the midway point. The first… Continue reading Still Thankful
Travel to the Edge of the World with Dunsany. Travel Director, Lin Carter.
At the Edge of the World is another excellent collection of Lord Dunsany‘s short fiction, curated by that notable literary docent, Lin Carter. Dunsany’s prose is by turns, melancholy, enchanting, and elegiac, but always poetic. I’ve read some of these before, but Dunsany holds up tenaciously to re-reading. That one man contributed so much poignant… Continue reading Travel to the Edge of the World with Dunsany. Travel Director, Lin Carter.
Gather, Darkness! Fall Reading.
The creation of the twain, Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser, would be sufficient glory for most any writer. But Fritz Leiber labored long in the genre gardens. Among the other fruits of his mind was the science-fiction/quasi-horror novel, Gather, Darkness! Set in the future, the novel posits a world ruled by an ecclesiastical caste, known… Continue reading Gather, Darkness! Fall Reading.
Sharpen Your Blade. The “Cesar the Bravo” Release Date is Upon You.
On November 12, Cesar the Bravo will be released into the general public. Sequester your wives and daughters, and hide the cooking wine. The book collects all the previously published short stories as well as a brand new novel-length adventure of Plenum’s toughest bravo, Cesar (“Chay-zar”, but go ahead and pronounce it however you like.)… Continue reading Sharpen Your Blade. The “Cesar the Bravo” Release Date is Upon You.
Mercs and Mayhem
Raconteur Press has just released the anthology Mercs and Mayhem. So far it is rocketing up various Amazon sales charts. I’m not saying that’s due to it carrying a story by yours truly, but then again I’m not saying it isn’t. (Well, probably not.) Anyway, you should pick up a copy and read some stories… Continue reading Mercs and Mayhem
The Wizard of Lemuria, or Thongor the Bullet Point Barbarian
At this point complaining about the quality of Lin Carter’s fiction is beating a dead horse. Some of it is better than others. I happen to think his ersatz Dunsany is excellent. But in general, if you pick up a Carter book you know what you’re getting. Complaining about it is like going to Taco… Continue reading The Wizard of Lemuria, or Thongor the Bullet Point Barbarian
Farewell Orycon
I still have one panel left today. But I’m already bidding adieu to Orycon, the convention I’ve been attending off and on since the late 80s. It has been a good run. I’ve had a lot of fun. Now that I no longer live in the Pacific Northwest, attending has been rather inconvenient, yet worth… Continue reading Farewell Orycon