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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 4, 2022 19:56:21 GMT -5
Definitely haven't really read much lately, but we hit the big outdoor used book shop in CT after a college trip and I stumbled upon a library book sale after my daughters dance recital, so hoping the new stuff will get me back in the swing:
The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll
(Perry Mason)
I got this one a bit of a whim at a big trip to a semi-local used book store... I'm not particularly a fan (I don't recall ever watching the show). I did like the Cool and Lam book I read, so I had good expectations of Gardner.
The cover and the back cover makes you think noir, but the story was too.. happy for noir. Sure, there was murder and blackmail, but the ending was WAY too happy.
There book was pretty much split evenly between Perry doing legal things in or for court and the readers seeing the events of the case, though I feel pretty confident any actual lawyer that got this involved in a case would notbe allow to continue.
Still, it was entertaining enough of a page turner, though definitely not as good as Cool and Lam.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 8, 2022 11:31:54 GMT -5
THe People That Time Forgot Edgar Rice Burroughs  One of these days I need to actually read Burroughs in an organized way.. I tend to see a random paperback with cool art on the cover at this book sale or that and grab it and read it, but I suspect I might enjoy them more with some or of logic. This is told very much in the 'travelogue' style of John Carter and others, where the fantasy part is meant to be 'real' but hearsay. A lost last that time for got in the antarctic is a trope now, but in 1918 it must have seemed like a novel idea, and perhaps a few people even believed it. (After all, some modern conspiracy theorists thought the Martian might be true). This is the 2nd book set in 'Caspak'.. the first, I suspect, being very similar. In this one our hero, Tom Billings, is looking for his lost friend (and social better) and likely goes on a similar adventure, though I can't confirm since I just read this one. The unique part of this world Burroughs created is that several stages of human evolution exist at once...with each indiviual 'evolving' on the fly to the next group, so as you move north the civilization get more advanced and the wildlife less prehistoric. It's a fun concept, and one of raising yourself up that the early 20th century man would be particular fond of I think. Of course there's also a girl, who of course is saved by the hero and falls madly in love. Tom has trouble at first with her being a 'barbarian' but, shockingly, comes around as the book continues (while I suppose that's a spoiler, the plot is quite clear 10 pages in, so until you actually live in Caspak it's not reallya suprise). While far from a classic, definitely hits all the right notes if you're in the mood for the style. Incidently, I really like the cover, for a 90s printing it's surprisingly good! Anyone recognize the artist?
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 8, 2022 11:59:00 GMT -5
THe People That Time Forgot Edgar Rice Burroughs One of these days I need to actually read Burroughs in an organized way.. I tend to see a random paperback with cool art on the cover at this book sale or that and grab it and read it, but I suspect I might enjoy them more with some or of logic. This is told very much in the 'travelogue' style of John Carter and others, where the fantasy part is meant to be 'real' but hearsay. A lost last that time for got in the antarctic is a trope now, but in 1918 it must have seemed like a novel idea, and perhaps a few people even believed it. (After all, some modern conspiracy theorists thought the Martian might be true). This is the 2nd book set in 'Caspak'.. the first, I suspect, being very similar. In this one our hero, Tom Billings, is looking for his lost friend (and social better) and likely goes on a similar adventure, though I can't confirm since I just read this one. The unique part of this world Burroughs created is that several stages of human evolution exist at once...with each indiviual 'evolving' on the fly to the next group, so as you move north the civilization get more advanced and the wildlife less prehistoric. It's a fun concept, and one of raising yourself up that the early 20th century man would be particular fond of I think. Of course there's also a girl, who of course is saved by the hero and falls madly in love. Tom has trouble at first with her being a 'barbarian' but, shockingly, comes around as the book continues (while I suppose that's a spoiler, the plot is quite clear 10 pages in, so until you actually live in Caspak it's not reallya suprise). While far from a classic, definitely hits all the right notes if you're in the mood for the style. Incidently, I really like the cover, for a 90s printing it's surprisingly good! Anyone recognize the artist? I recently re-read the entire Caspak series (which is something of a misnomer as they were really one, not that big, story). The first book is somewhat different in how it starts as they come upon Caspak by accident. It's the hero of Book One, Bowen Tyler, that Tom Billings is looking for. After the initial set-up it's pure Burroughs. The three books are pretty interesting and the mystery of the evolution unfolds over the course of all three. I have the gorgeous Roy Krenkel covers.  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2022 16:08:05 GMT -5
When I started my steampunk dive, I was in the middle of reading Moorcock's Runestaff series and partway through the third volume, The Sword of the Dawn, which I put down to do the dive. I picked it back up and finished it this week...  This has been the worst of the series for me. Lots of interesting ideas, nothing developed well or given time to breath. Hawkmoon just stumbles form one conflict to another and none of the opponents ever feel really dangerous because none of them are given any time to develop into a threat, it's like one random encounter after another in a D&D game. Very little moves the story forward or develops the overall plot or lore, and the one adversary who should have been the BBEG in the climatic encounter got the shortest shift of all and the final fight was decided by random NPC showing up to turn the tide against overwhelming odds while Hawkmoon wins because...he had to and someone else handed him the "W" he didn't do anything to earn it except show up. I do think Moorcock is very inventive and has written some really strong stuff. This isn't it. This feels like it was mailed in, or like I picked up a random fill in issue in a 70s Marvel and the DDD had struck so they added a 2 page framing sequence to make it feel like it was part of the larger story being told. Not good. -M |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 8, 2022 20:43:45 GMT -5
I have the gorgeous Roy Krenkel covers. Oohhhh.. that IS nice  . I'd definitely read the other two if I come across them... the evolution thing especially is intriguing what he was going for. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 10, 2022 14:45:23 GMT -5
 Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest by A. Lee MartinezAnother fun romp by Martinez who continues to remind be of Tom Holt on Holt's better days. In this one Helen, an Enchanted-American (she's a minotaur) and Troy, the perfect young man, end up forced on a quest by The Lost God, after He was summoned to the burger restaurant they both work at. Along the way they encounter a cyclops, a dragon, a mysterious house and an Orcish biker gang. Just a fun lightweight fantasy in the vein of Holt, Rankin and company. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 13, 2022 5:24:56 GMT -5
The GolemIsaac Bashevis Singer, 1982  This is a retelling of the golem of Prague legend that was originally published in Yiddish in a magazine in the late 1960s; Singer then later translated it himself and had it published as a children’s book with illustrations (by Uri Shulevitz). There are different versions of the legend, although the main elements are that during some peril to the Jews in Prague the late 16th century the city’s chief rabbi (usually identified as Loew or Löw) crafted the golem out of clay, then wrote one of the sacred names of god (‘shem’) on a tablet or scroll and put it in the golem’s mouth which brought him to life. Called Joseph, or Yossel, the golem then indeed saved the Jews, although later he got out of control and wreaked some kind of havoc (and accounts differ on how and why this happened, and what kind of destruction he caused) until the rabbi was able to remove the shem and disable him. In Singer’s story, the precipating event is that a dissolute Bohemian noble named Bratislawski accuses an honest Jewish banker of abducting and killing his young daughter to use her blood for matzoh bread (the notorious blood libel). He does so because the banker refused to give him a loan to cover his gambling debts. Other Jews also get accused of being the banker’s accomplices, and they’re all threatened with execution. So the rabbi, here called Leib, crafts the golem on the advice of a mysterious shabbily dressed visitor who just appears in his chambers late one night (he’s one of the hidden Jewish saints who wander the world). Here the rabbi writes the sacred word in tiny letters on the golem’s forehead rather than on a piece of paper inserted into its mouth.  The golem indeed saves the day (I won’t say how exactly) and then the rabbi disables him. However, his wife talks him into reactivating the golem, because she believes it can remove a giant stone in the yard which purportedly conceals a wealth of gold that she wants to use for charity in their community. However, once reactivated, the golem no longer does as he is commanded, and ends up wandering around the community and wider city, sometimes being helpful, but sometimes being destructive while engaging in play (mostly behaving a like a small child).  This, of course, puts unwanted attention on the Jewish community by the city authorities as well as the Holy Roman Emperor himself. Also, the golem ends up falling in love with the rabbi’s servant girl, Mirriam. I won’t give away any of the details in case anybody wants to read this, or read it to children or grandchildren. The illustrations are pretty nice as well.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 16, 2022 11:05:30 GMT -5
Two for the MoneyMax Allan Collins, 2004   (cover to the 2021 re-issue) After recently finishing the latest Quarry installment, Quarry’s Blood, I felt the need for another Collins fix and remembered that I purchased this with a whole stack of other ebooks in a Hard Case Crime Humble Bundle offer last fall. This is in fact a sort of omnibus edition of two novels, Bait Money and Blood Money, that were originally published in 1973 – making them two of Collins’ earliest published works (they were re-issued in 1981). So the first book, or rather in the first half of this book, Bait Money, introduces the character of Nolan, a top-notch and super-tough professional thief who, at 48 years old, would like nothing better than to retire from that profession. But he’s been on the run from the Chicago mob for about 16 years, and a series of events sees him organizing a bank heist in Iowa City with several amateurs less than half his age. Once completed, he should be square with the mob, and one underboss in particular. But things don’t quite work out as planned, of course. In the sequel, Blood Money, some loose ends from the first story come back to bite Nolan in the a**, and he goes on a chase in much of the Midwest (from central Illinois to Iowa City then Milwaukee and back) to recover money that he had stolen fair and square and exact revenge on an old enemy. As usual, Collins delivers a fun romp, full of action but also engaging and likable characters. Bait Money in particular is just a really tightly-plotted, fast-paced heist story. I got the same Humble Bundle. I just read Bait Money a week or so back. Overall I enjoyed it. It was pretty clearly a Parker pastiche and Collins is a much more accomplished writer now than he was then, but it was a fun read. I'll read Blood Money in a few weeks. Finished up Blood Money a couple days ago. Fun stuff and the two of them together read well. Certainly not as strong as even middling Parker novels, but fun reads and well worth the time. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 16, 2022 11:38:33 GMT -5
Nolan looks like what might have happened if Lee Van Cleef had Clark Gable's baby. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 16, 2022 11:46:26 GMT -5
Nolan looks like what might have happened if Lee Van Cleef had Clark Gable's baby. It's mentioned in Bait Money that Nolan looks like Lee Van Cleef. Jon had a copy of this poster on his wall and noted the resemblance.  |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 16, 2022 13:13:14 GMT -5
It's mentioned in Bait Money that Nolan looks like Lee Van Cleef. Jon had a copy of this poster on his wall and noted the resemblance. Yeah, Nolan's resemblance to Van Cleef is a point that's emphasized frequently in all of the Nolan books I've read so far. That's why I find it a bit puzzling that when Hard Case first published the Two for the Money omnibus in the early '00s, the cover illustration had this really generic-looking guy...
...who looks more like the way Collins' other serial character, Quarry, is described.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 16, 2022 19:53:55 GMT -5
Marching Sands by Harold Lamb is available at the Gutenberg project, much to my delight. It's pretty obvious why Lamb was one of Robert E. Howard's favourite writers; both have the same talent as storytellers, drawing you in after just a few sentences and never letting go. Both love mysterious peoples, lost cities and romanticized history.
This is a very pulpy oriental story type of thing, pure adventure and exoticism. And boy, does it make the little boy in me dream of the steppes of Central Asia!
Bison Press reprinted a lot of Lamb's adventure stories several years ago, which was a great gift to fans of pulpy historical adventure. I'd love to find more of his biographies of famous historical figures though; they're not that hard to find on ebay and the like, but haven't been reprinted in a good long while.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 18, 2022 10:23:01 GMT -5
Bad Actors (Slough House #8)
By Mick Herron
I wasn't totally sure I was going to read this, since it's not a TV show (and authors tend to stop being good when they get TV shows, IMO) and I was annoyed at what happened with River last book, but then the hard cover turned up at a library book sale, so I felt like it was calling me a bit.
It definitely took a while for me to get into this one.. the focus was on most of the people in his pretend Regent's Park, rather than the actual denizens of Slough House, but it did pick up before the end. I do appreciate Herron's writing, and he does a great job using current events to make the book feel more real, but there was defnitely a lack of character power in this one.. I think it's time for him to bring back some previously thought dead people or do something different (like let one of the Slow Horses go back to the Park) if the series is going to continue.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2022 9:43:12 GMT -5
Stalled reading a lot of prose lately, and wanted something I could read through quickly to try to get some momentum back, and being on a Trek kick lately since we got Paramount, I grabbed the first of the early New Adventures novels to read (i.e. the stuff done in the early/mid 70s before Star Trek novels became a cottage industry in the 80s). So I picked up Spock Must Die by James Blish (who wrote most of the episode adaptations to prose).  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly good either. It was a mash-up/rehash of elements of a couple of classic TOS episodes (the Organians/Klingon/Federation conflict and a transporter mishap creating a double, but this time with tachyons involved in an experimental transport feat in the desperation of the conflict b/c the Federation and the Klingons because of the disappearance of the Organians. Blish wrote competently, though aside from Kirk, his characters don't display much depth, but it was a pretty by the numbers plot and resolution that felt overly long even though it clocked in at only 118 pages. It was one of the first new Trek stories, and it did feel more like he was trying to write in the style of an adapted teleplay than that of an actual novel, and it felt constrained by the format of Trek TV episodes, so it's probably a victim of its earliness in Trek history where the boundaries had not started to be pushed. Worth a read if you're a Trek fan or as a historical curiosity within Trek fandom, but doesn't stand on its own well. -M |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 1, 2022 10:28:32 GMT -5
(...) Spock Must Die by James Blish (...) Worth a read if you're a Trek fan or as a historical curiosity within Trek fandom, but doesn't stand on its own well. -M Yeah, that pretty much parallels my own thoughts on this one. |
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. I'd definitely read the other two if I come across them... the evolution thing especially is intriguing what he was going for.
