Writing is not for those who demand instant gratification. The pipeline is lengthy. The product received at the far end might have entered the pipe a year or more ago. The system demands patience from the scribbler. This year (from a writing standpoint at least, don’t get me started on the job search — that… Continue reading Work Continues, Paycheck or Not
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End of an Era
I am laboriously tapping this out on my phone at my daughter’s robotics completion because I forgot my computer’s power cable at home, which is five hours away. I would say that is emblematic of how my week has gone, but that would not do justice to the magnitude of events ensuing in the life… Continue reading End of an Era
Travel to the Edge of the World with Dunsany. Travel Director, Lin Carter.
At the Edge of the World is another excellent collection of Lord Dunsany‘s short fiction, curated by that notable literary docent, Lin Carter. Dunsany’s prose is by turns, melancholy, enchanting, and elegiac, but always poetic. I’ve read some of these before, but Dunsany holds up tenaciously to re-reading. That one man contributed so much poignant… Continue reading Travel to the Edge of the World with Dunsany. Travel Director, Lin Carter.
The Web Log is Off Today
Technical Difficulties
Red Moon and Black Mountain
Joy Chant’s Red Moon and Black Mountain is a book I wanted to like more than I actually did. I’ve a notion that timing is a factor. Had I read it, oh, 40 years ago, I might have thoroughly enjoyed it. It is, after all, an ambitious piece of fantasy, the language skillfully and often… Continue reading Red Moon and Black Mountain
The Polychromatic Prose of A. Merritt’s The Metal Monster
So, what is The Metal Monster? Imagine a concoction of one part She, one part The Moon Pool (natch), one part Lovecraft’s cosmic horror, one part D&D Modrons, and one part Big Hero Six. Blend and strain through A. Merritt’s glorious, vividly colorful, and painstakingly descriptive prose. It ought to make for a masterpiece. Maybe… Continue reading The Polychromatic Prose of A. Merritt’s The Metal Monster
Jack of Shadows. A Dark Gem of a Novel.
I have at last managed to fill in a lacuna in my Appendix N reading. Jack of Shadows is, in someways, Roger Zelazny condensed to the quintessence. A synecdoche of a sort. If you’ve read much Zelazny, you’ll recognize themes: resurrection, from Lord of Light; the corrupting nature of absolute power, from Amber; the ambiguously… Continue reading Jack of Shadows. A Dark Gem of a Novel.
Swords Against Tomorrow: A Wickedly Sharp Collection of Yesterday
I can’t say I get the title. The rather generic — but perfectly acceptable — introduction by Robert Hoskins does not clarify. But what is important is not the title but the contents. And what contents! The great Poul Anderson leads off with a story I’ve never encountered before, Demon Journey. Apparently it was originally… Continue reading Swords Against Tomorrow: A Wickedly Sharp Collection of Yesterday