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John Maddox Roberts’ “The Islander.”

The first volume of John Maddox Roberts’ Stormlands series, The Islander, doesn’t read like a 380 page book. I had to slow down, pace myself, so as not to fly through the pages. This is heroic fiction done right. The setting is post apocalyptic. I don’t know how far in the future the story is… Continue reading John Maddox Roberts’ “The Islander.”

Imaro Ascends to the Pantheon

Charles Saunders’ sword-and-sorcery hero Imaro has been around for years, for most of my lifetime in fact. I’ve been aware of the character, encountering him in various anthologies. But until recently I’ve only scratched the surface of Saunders’ creation. With the purchase of the 2006 Night Shade edition of Imaro, I was finally able to… Continue reading Imaro Ascends to the Pantheon

Triplanetary: Cosmic Space Opera

E.E. “Doc” Smith is noted for his creation of the Lensman series. Some credit these books as the wellspring from which flow such science-fictional organizations as The Green Lantern Corps or even the Jedi: super-powered, galaxy-spanning enforcers of justice. I don’t know. I’ve only read the first book, Triplanetary. Triplanetary apparently sets the table for… Continue reading Triplanetary: Cosmic Space Opera

“The Eagle of the Ninth” Still Flies.

Rosemary Sutcliff had vision. Not only did she have vision, but she could share it with her readers. She could immerse us in detail, not only of the natural world, with the facility of Tolkien, but in period detail such clothing or architecture. And she did so with a seamless facility; nothing feels forced or… Continue reading “The Eagle of the Ninth” Still Flies.

Harold Lamb’s “Alexander of Macedon.”

Without really meaning to I’ve become relatively familiar with the life and doings of Alexander the Great. He — whether as a main character or an essential secondary character — featured in any number of historical novels I picked up as a kid (e.g. Mary Renault’s books) and over the following decades. Most recently I… Continue reading Harold Lamb’s “Alexander of Macedon.”

Two-Fer Sci-Fi Retro-Reviews

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

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

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