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.
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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.
A Dying Earth Feast
(With humblest apologies to Jack Vance.) The Feast of Regrets — held annually, biannually, or at irregular intervals at Boumergarth, the four-towered castle of Ildefonse the Preceptor — was in full swing. The bloated red sun had limited its worrisome eructations to nothing more than a polite belch or two during the last month and… Continue reading A Dying Earth Feast
Golden Blood. A Jack Williamson Adventure Textbook
Was the 1930s the last great period of adventure fiction in the modern era? There’s Indiana Jones, Tales of the Golden Monkey, Robert E. Howard’s oriental and boxing tales, to mention a few examples. And then there is Jack Williamson’s Golden Blood. What captured my attention was the tank on the cover. And then… Continue reading Golden Blood. A Jack Williamson Adventure Textbook
The Borgia Blade. All Killer, No Filler.
Gardner F. Fox‘s The Borgia Blade is a distillate of Rafael Sabatini, served with a squeeze of romance novel in a man-sized pewter tankard. Fox streamlines the historical adventure novel, keeping only the good stuff. And yet at the same time one gets the impression that he’s putting all his research on the page. That is… Continue reading The Borgia Blade. All Killer, No Filler.
Tsalmoth. Vlad Taltos Bears Up Under Adversity.
That saga of Vlad Taltos continues with Tsalmoth, the sixteenth book in the series. Tsalmoth is a tale set in Vlad’s early days. He’s still a minor boss and occasional assassin. There’s a touch of the original ‘cool’ factor and at the same time, Brust is layering in universe-building information which may, or may not, become… Continue reading Tsalmoth. Vlad Taltos Bears Up Under Adversity.