Category: Reading

The Steel Kings: Stormlands Book Four.

The Steel Kings. Cool title, and, not to bury the lede, a cool story. Book four begins almost as a book end to book three. This time Kairn, Hael’s second son is the protagonist, going on an adventure, meeting a woman. The travelogue continues, the exploration of John Maddox Robert’s post-apocalyptic North America, this time… Continue reading The Steel Kings: Stormlands Book Four.

Sword-and-Sorcery and Song and Dance: Steven Brust’s “Lyorn.”

Lyorn is the seventeenth installment in Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos series. For some reason I’d believed this would the final book, as there are seventeen houses in the Cycle of his fictional universe, and one book title now corresponds to each individual house. I was, apparently, incorrect, as this novel does not tie up loose… Continue reading Sword-and-Sorcery and Song and Dance: Steven Brust’s “Lyorn.”

L. Sprague de Camp’s “The Glory That Was.”

My edition of The Glory That Was is dedicated to Isaac Asimov and boasts an introduction by Robert A. Heinlein. So right up front you have substantial implied attestations of quality. But I’ve learned not to set my sights too high, and tempered my expectations accordingly. I expected an L. Sprague de Camp short novel:… Continue reading L. Sprague de Camp’s “The Glory That Was.”

John Maddox Roberts “S.P.Q.R.” Ave!

I missed a great deal of excellent adventure fiction by failing to stumble across John Maddox Roberts during the last quarter of the twentieth century. I don’t know why our writing/reading paths did not cross: I was reading this stuff during the same period he was writing it, and his output was precisely in my… Continue reading John Maddox Roberts “S.P.Q.R.” Ave!

Lud-in-the-Mist

Lin Carter did readers a favor with his Adult Fantasy Series. It is unlikely I would have encountered Hope Mirrlees Lud-in-the-Mist without Ballantine’s unicorn head colophon. Lud-in-the-Mist belongs to that select group of tales set on the bounds of faerie, along with Lord Dunsany’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter and Tolkien’s Smith of Wooton Major.… Continue reading Lud-in-the-Mist

Jack Williamson’s “Darker Than You Think.” Indeed.

Darker Than You Think does live up to the title in a slow burn fashion. It follows the dawning realization of the protagonist — Will Barbee, hardbitten, alcoholic journalist — that dark forces, witchcraft, and horrific legends of the past are all based on a semi-human race of beings. And that he might in fact… Continue reading Jack Williamson’s “Darker Than You Think.” Indeed.

Michael Resnick’s “Pursuit on Ganymede.”

Once upon a time, Powell’s Books in Portland used to be a trove of used paperback treasures at prices a hungry college student could afford. Now when I happen to visit PDX (to see old friends, family, visit clients, etc.) I still stop in to browse. Gone are the days of bargain prices. But still… Continue reading Michael Resnick’s “Pursuit on Ganymede.”