James Blaylock delivered a fine sequel to The Elfin Ship with The Disappearing Dwarf. What I wrote about Elfin Ship remains applicable to Dwarf. Blaylock did not stray far from the formula. Why should he? If it ain’t broke…It was a nice break from some of the more dour and serious minded works I’ve been reading. It isn’t all whimsy; Blaylock does fine work in the spooky department, providing some scares bookended by humor. And of course our hero returns home once again, in sterling Bilbo Baggins style. Good stuff.
With Expendables 3: The War Games of Zelos I returned to more straightforward action fare. Richard Avery (Edmund Cooper) continues the accounts of his team of planetary explorers determining whether or not a world is fit for human colonization. This one indulges in some traditional heroic fiction tropes: the planet hosting a medieval tech level society; gladiatorial combats; small units with high-tech weaponry taking on superior numbers of comparatively poorly armed foes. At times I almost heard the Captain Kirk fight music from Star Trek playing in my head. Appropriate, I suppose, given that the planet Zelos happened to be inhabited by human beings. That head-scratcher is actually addressed, though inconclusively. No matter, it made for a hard-charging, engaging action story.
If you are in the mood for an engaging action story (or several) take advantage of the low-priced, four-book set of Semi-Autos and Sorcery. Good bang for your buck.