It can be hard to sense the zeitgeist of an era while you are experiencing it, the spirit of decade you are living through, for example. But from a distance, looking back, you can notice trends, assumptions, modes of expression. I just finished a couple of paperbacks, one from the 1950s (though published in 1964)… Continue reading Two-Fer Sci-Fi Retro-Reviews
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Writer of two-fisted fabulism.
Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave Re-Read Part III: The Last Enchantment
The third book of the Crystal Cave trilogy, The Last Enchantment, swings along pretty fast. I believe it is the shortest of the trilogy. The reason for that, I guess, is that by this point in the Arthurian legend, we’ve about wrapped Merlin. He can get a round of applause from the crew, then jet… Continue reading Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave Re-Read Part III: The Last Enchantment
Corpus Christi Beach Weekend and a Birthday
I drove MBW and the HA south to Corpus Christi for the weekend. I like to get out of town for my birthday, out of the country when I get the opportunity. But this year we stayed in the States. We arrived at our hotel on Thursday afternoon only to discover that the swimming pool… Continue reading Corpus Christi Beach Weekend and a Birthday
Mary Stewart’s The Merlin Trilogy Re-Read Part II: The Hollow Hills
Given the nature of telling a well-known story through the eyes of a character with foreknowledge, it is unsurprising that The Hollow Hills is generally lacking in suspense. We readers — even more than the narrator, Merlin — know the broad brush strokes of what is going to happen. The fun comes from the variations,… Continue reading Mary Stewart’s The Merlin Trilogy Re-Read Part II: The Hollow Hills
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An Unconventional Convention
MBW, the HA, and I packed into the car on Thursday and headed northeast. Destination: ConFinement VI. We reached Louisiana by mid-morning and hit Mississippi by the afternoon. I didn’t want to subject the family to a thirteen hour run, so holed up for the night at roughly the midway point: Hattiesburg, MS. We had… Continue reading An Unconventional Convention
The Merlin Trilogy Reread Part I: The Crystal Cave
I picked up this collected edition of Mary Stewart’s Merlin Trilogy only in part because of the oddly endearing, but perhaps misleading Hildebrandt Bros. cover. The other reason was, I suppose, a form of nostalgia. Allow me to explain. When I was in sixth grade, both my mother and my step father were working. No… Continue reading The Merlin Trilogy Reread Part I: The Crystal Cave
Styrbiorn the Strong. Eddison Breathes the Northern Thing.
E.R. Eddison is known primarily for The Worm Ouroboros, and to a lesser extent the Zimiamvia Trilogy. But he also wrote a historical novel. As a youth he fell under the eddic spell of the Norse sagas (e.g., The Elder Edda.) And why wouldn’t he? The sparse, barebones recitations of blood feuds, raids, treachery, and… Continue reading Styrbiorn the Strong. Eddison Breathes the Northern Thing.
The Last of the Mohicans: Part of the DNA of American Fiction
While reading my copy of James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans I found between the pages a bank deposit slip of mine from 1986. So I know I must have read this copy before — the binding shows some wear — or at least reached about the midpoint and left a book marker… Continue reading The Last of the Mohicans: Part of the DNA of American Fiction