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
Category: Authors
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.
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.
Liavek. Not Coming Up Sevens.
The Thieves World series made a splash in the eighties with its stories of anti-heroes, burglars, wizards, crime lords, warriors, bards, various underworld denizens, and the occasional common, law abiding (more or less) citizen of Sanctuary. Will Shetterly and Emma Bull, et al, decided to see if they could recreate that Thieves World magic with… Continue reading Liavek. Not Coming Up Sevens.
The Tritonian Ring: Barbecue in L. Sprague de Camp’s Backyard.
L. Sprague de Camp’s The Tritonian Ring is bronze-age sword-and-sorcery. In its pages he fits in lost continents, suggests origins for certain myths: medusa, gorgons, Amazons, etc., and provides a whirlwind tour of his pre-historic world of anxious, fallible gods, overly arrogant wizards, and bizarre societal habits. The driver of the narrative is the quest… Continue reading The Tritonian Ring: Barbecue in L. Sprague de Camp’s Backyard.
Castaways In Time. A Mood Piece.
Robert Adams’ Castaways in Time served a load bearing function in my youth. I must have been twelve or thirteen the first time I read it. Along with The Lord of the Rings, it was a book I went back to again and again. LOTR I continue to return to. Castaways, however, has remained untouched… Continue reading Castaways In Time. A Mood Piece.