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.
Category: Reading
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.
The Harp and The Blade. John Myers Myers Sparkling Heroic Historical Fiction.
I keep going back every decade or so to John Myers Myers. Usually it is to immerse myself fully in his magnum opus, Silverlock. But this most recent re-read was The Harp and The Blade. The cover art in my edition is nice, though the cover description is utterly misleading: “A fantasy of Druidic England.”… Continue reading The Harp and The Blade. John Myers Myers Sparkling Heroic Historical Fiction.
Beowulf: Part of a Healthy Root System.
I have read Beowulf a couple of times, but it has been some years since my last visit to Heorot. I picked up a copy of Seamus Heaney’s translation a week or so ago and plunged right back into the feasting and carnage and recounting of raids, counter raids, and giving of gifts. It remains… Continue reading Beowulf: Part of a Healthy Root System.
Leigh Brackett’s The Coming of the Terrans. Mars as God and ERB Intended.
Leight Brackett’s The Coming of the Terrans is a slim volume, packaging five thematically related stories. Slim, yes, but not light weight. Brackett takes what could be a frothy, fun topic of men on ancient, dusty Mars and instead gives us insightful tales in her own unique Martian setting: a grim intersection of Edgar Rice… Continue reading Leigh Brackett’s The Coming of the Terrans. Mars as God and ERB Intended.
Poul Anderson’s Rogue Sword.
I picked up Poul Anderson’s Rogue Sword in a batch that also contained Clark Ashton Smith’s The Last Incarnation and Leigh Brackett’s The Coming of the Terrans. So, good company all around. Insofar as the book is historical fiction marketed as fantasy, it reminds me of Edgar Rice Burrough’s I Am a Barbarian. However, whereas… Continue reading Poul Anderson’s Rogue Sword.