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Post by Jesse on Jun 21, 2014 16:18:14 GMT -5
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 22, 2014 14:28:48 GMT -5
Never The Twain (1987) Kirk Mitchell
Cover by Jim Gurney
Howard Hart thought he had it made when he married into one of the richest families of Nevada.But now his wife sued him for divorce,his business is failing,creditors are howling and the feds want him for mail fraud.On top of all this,he has learned he is the last surviving descendant of the obscure novelist Bret Harte. Who? Well,if it wasn't for the popularity of Mark Twain,Bret Harte could have been amongst America's literary immortals
Howard Hart has found a way to go back in time.Back for 4 months within the year 1862 in Nevada.And his scheme is simple.Prevent Samuel "Mark Twain" Clemons from assuming a writing career.Help Bret Harte with his career.And upon his return to the present ,he'll be an heir to an amazing fortune
Kirk Mitchell's novel is written in the style of antebellum America,the vernacular and details of life in the 1860s seem accurate and enthralling.Within the story is the great divide of the Civil War and the gold and silver rush taking place in Nevada at that time. There's also a stopover to San Francisco. Mitchell had certainly researched his subjects well for historical accurancy. I got caught up in the world of the old west with a Colt in every man's waistband,a brothel in every saddletown and the code of honor citizens lived by.
I easily recommend this novel
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Post by Rob Allen on Jun 22, 2014 15:43:03 GMT -5
I have that same paperback edition, and I echo your recommendation of both the book and the cover. Good work by both Burroughs and Frazetta. The first DC comics version of Pellucidar introduced me to the art of Alan Weiss. The second DC version was called The Warlord. They changed just enough to avoid being sued. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 22, 2014 18:02:36 GMT -5
That sounds really cool, Ish... definitely going on the list.
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Post by Jesse on Jun 23, 2014 8:22:47 GMT -5
Changelingby Roger Zelazny  I'm not a big fan of fantasy but I enjoyed how this novel perfectly melded magic with science fiction by pitting them against each other. When the terrible and powerful wizard Det Morson was defeated his infant son was sparred and sent to live on a parallel world without magic. To maintain the balance between the worlds another baby of the same age had to take his place. Pol would grow up in a world of technology as a poet and musician, while Mark Marakson would grow up in the world of magic obsessed with building things. After being ostracized by his village Mark would seek revenge using the very technology they shunned him for. Pol must return to the home he never knew, discover his hidden powers and restore balance to the world. Madwandby Roger Zelazny  In the sequel Pol Detson has become a powerful wizard although still untrained. After another sorcerer fails to kill him Pol decides to train with a society of wizards one of which wants him dead. On top of that he's having recurring dreams about opening a portal to a world ruled by dark magic. This is a solid sequel that expands on the world and characters Zelazny introduces us to in the first book. My only complaint is that I'm disappointed Zelazny never published a third book.
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Post by MDG on Jun 23, 2014 11:15:52 GMT -5
Yesterday I began and finished The Colorado Kid, by Stephen King. It's under the Hard Case Crime imprint and has a killer cover by Glen Orbik (which has nothing to do with the story).
I think this is the first book I've read by Stephen King since Pet Sematery or Different Seasons--around that time. It's well-written and keeps your interest, but there's a problem with it that I won't mention, but that King acknowledges in an afterward.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 23, 2014 11:24:51 GMT -5
The Colorado Kid didn't impress me even a little bit. I understand what HCC was doing...get a huge name to help kick off the line. But it wasn't good.
On the other hand, his second HCC book Joyland is a pretty darn good read.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2014 12:19:06 GMT -5
The Colorado Kid is ... yeah ... the ending (or lack thereof) is a problem.
On the plus side, it served, albeit very obliquely, as the inspiration for a TV series I dearly love, Haven.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2014 12:20:22 GMT -5
And speaking of King novels with no supernatural elements whatsoever, his new one, Mr. Mercedes, is quite something. I liked it a lot.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 23, 2014 12:56:43 GMT -5
You Bet Your Life by Stuart Kaminsky
The mob says Chico Marx owes them $120,000 in gambling debts. Chico says he was nowhere near Chicago. So MGM hires PI Toby Peters to figure out what the deal is. Along the way we meet Al Capone (deteriorating from syphilis), Frank Nitti, Ian Fleming and of course, The Marx Brothers.
The Toby Peters novels aren't great literature. But they're a ton of fun and Kaminsky was a film scholar so there's an air of authenticity.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,867
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Post by shaxper on Jun 23, 2014 13:28:43 GMT -5
Chico Marx definitely had very real gambling problems. It's the sole reason the Marx Bros. kept coming back and making more films after their retirement.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 23, 2014 14:04:23 GMT -5
Chico Marx definitely had very real gambling problems. It's the sole reason the Marx Bros. kept coming back and making more films after their retirement. Kaminsky taught film studies at Northwestern and Florida State. So he's pretty on top of that kind of thing. He has Groucho talk a fair amount about the fact that they keep making less and less successful movies when they should be spending time with their grandchildren. He even mentions the death of Irving Thalberg as the tipping point. It's hard to argue. I'd say their last totally successful film was A Day at the Races from 1937. Thalberg died in late '36. The book is set in late 1940, so as a group they were well past their prime and running out of steam. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 23, 2014 21:41:03 GMT -5
I don't think I've ever read a Stephen King book... I'm not a horror fan, and the movie version of the Stand had such a horrible ending...
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 24, 2014 13:22:12 GMT -5
 The Double Man by Eando Binder This apparently is toward the end of Binder's career(1971)... odd that they used the pseudonym, when at this point I'd think Otto had some reputation. I'd never heard of Curtis publishing... looks like they weren't around that long. Decent cover, (Not the best) but quite logical and relevant to the story, which is always nice  Plot: Dr. Wayne Durk miraculously lives through a botched space mission, only to find an exact double of himself living his life. Not only that, but the year he was frozen in space continued to take a toll on society, as the 'brain bug' continued to kill the smartest people in the world, leaving him with the highest IQ on the a planet that was starting to break down do to lack of 'brain power'. Having been replaced by his 'recreate' (clone, essentially), he's put in charge of getting the recreation program up and running so that they can clone smart people faster than they die... but is there a more sinster cause of the 'brain bug' than just a virus? Analysis: Not a bad story, but not a great one, either. Dr. Durk is very much a Peggy Sue (or Marty Stew, if you prefer) character, and it gets a little silly as the story goes on both what he survives, and the amount of stuff he can do. He starts out as a biochemist, and ends up being Tony Stark and Captain America rolled into one. Also, the author's a bit obsessed with 'brain power' and how important smart people are to society, and how 'average' people are bad news. Elitist much? Still a pretty decent read, though, for all it's warts. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 24, 2014 18:08:57 GMT -5
At the Earth's Coreby Edgar Rice Burroughs  Probably my favorite Edgar Rice Burroughs story this book features some of Burroughs' finest world building and wastes no time getting right into the action. After a brief prologue where the narrator reveals that this story was told to him by a man he encountered while on safari in Africa, we are drilling into the Earth's crust with the main character David Innes and Perry the scientist responsible for inventing the spectacular machine. Thinking themselves about to die when the steering wheel becomes locked in place they instead emerge in a new world. One inside the Earth where a bright ball of gas in the sky creates a perpetual noon and prehistoric humans are enslaved by a race of evolved pterodactyl like reptiles. Their adventure is genuinely fun and exciting and the vivid world and creatures that Burroughs' creates are both a wondrous and terrifying. There's even an epic battle after David and Perry manage to unite the kingdoms of Pellucidar against the Mahars. The ending will likely have you wanting to read the other six novels in the Pellucidar saga. I would love to see this book adapted into another film. That's a fantastic cover! I've only read John Carter of Burroughs.. .I really should read more. Tarzan of the apes + the return of Tarzan, as well as The mucker, are really must-read Burroughs books. |
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