Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,545
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Post by Confessor on Jan 5, 2021 16:33:15 GMT -5
I know i've raised this before, but would anybody mind -- wildfire2099 especially -- if I updated the index on the first post? This thread is potentially such a great resource for members, but there's at least the last couple of years worth of reviews not listed and linked to on the index page (and therefore not easily accessible to members and random lurkers who may be interested). That's a real shame. I don't want to tread on anybody's toes though, but I'm happy to start steadily updating the index unless wildfire2099 would rather do it himself? I have been updating it now and then.... you'll not the (145) on the top.. that's the page I left off on. That's not TOO bad. By all means, feel free to update it, or reformat, or whatever. I like the idea of it being updated, but it's alot of effort that I found over the years I have limited attention span for . Apologies, I didn't realise you'd updated it that recently. I'll have a look over the next few weeks and try to steadily update it further. I'll keep a tally of where I get up to by editing your (145).
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 7, 2021 10:01:42 GMT -5
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Corey Doctorow
I'd just like to state first for the record, that I can see other people liking this book more than me, part of the issue is that I've never been to Disney, nor will I likely ever go (no interest at all), so using it at a setting doesn't mean anything to me.
Good sci-fi makes you think, and this book definitely does.. Doctorow shows a society that you can see as a straight line from our own... death has been defeated, and people trade in social media reputation. As a result, I think what he was going for is the whole world is a clean, sanitized experience, like Disney.
I THINK that's what he was going for, but, like many modern authors, I don't KNOW, because he doesn't say it, or show it. Some people like that in a story, I do not. I want the book to make me think, but making one think about a concept is only half the job.
After you sow the seed, you have to give an opinion, so the the reader can either disagree with you, and think you're brilliant. Authors today don't like to be disagreed with, so they leave of the 2nd part, and leave it to be admired by the sort of smug, pretentious types that think they 'get it' and people that don't aren't smart enough readers.
Well, this reader gets it, and I call it lazy. So, even though the author really has some interesting ideas to think about, I can't say I would recommend the book... the ideas are new or unique, and can probably be found elsewhere in a book where the author actually is willing to offer an opinion.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 7, 2021 10:44:23 GMT -5
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Corey Doctorow I've never been to Disney, nor will I likely ever go (no interest at all). Yet another reason I like you.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 7, 2021 17:36:44 GMT -5
The Many-Colored Land by Julian MayThis is a re-read, though it's been a while. But the Science Fiction Book Club omnibus of this and "The Golden Torc" were pretty huge when I was in high school. On publication in 1981 the book was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula and came in first in the Locus Poll. High plaudits. And they were, by and large, well earned. This is the first part of a four part series. In the late 21st Century humans are a new member of a Galactic Milieu of a handful of species that have reached coadunation with metapsychic powers. Of course humans, being humans, have a lot of malcontents who are incapable of fitting in. The solution appears to be a time portal that goes from Old Earth to a corresponding spot (in France) in the late Pliocene Epoch. But instead of just finding Sabertooth Cats and Mammoths Pliocene Earth is also populated by a group of intergalactic aliens who also have metapyschic abilities that are brought out through a golden torc that they wear. The humans who have gone back are forcibly integrated into the alien society in various ways, many of which are most unpleasant. The protagonists are largely drawn from Group Green, who have all come to Exile for various reasons. They end up split up by the alien Tanu based on various attributes. The book still reads well and the plaudits from the time of publication make sense. But there are definitely areas where you can tell that it's forty years old. The treatment of homosexuality, which may have been unusual at the time, simply because it existed, can still be seen as problematic on occasions. But overall it's high quality SF with just a tinge of fantasy. And while May isn't the strongest at characterization her world-building cannot be faulted in any way.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 8, 2021 13:15:03 GMT -5
I'm always jealous when you mention people in high school you know read stuff... best I could do was find some people that were Trekkies.
I feel like I've read Julian May before and been disappointed, but that one sounds really good.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 8, 2021 13:34:14 GMT -5
I'm always jealous when you mention people in high school you know read stuff... best I could do was find some people that were Trekkies. I feel like I've read Julian May before and been disappointed, but that one sounds really good. May was really active in fandom in late 40s-early 50s. She sold her first short story, Dune Roller, in 1951. It seemed to be pretty well received. She then got married and started writing encyclopedia articles and non-fiction. She came back to SF fandom in the 70s and sold a couple of short stories before The Many-Colored Land was published. I really liked both the Pliocene Earth Saga and the follow-up Galactic Milieu series, which was pretty much her entire output from '81-'96. She did some stuff after that that I've never read.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 8, 2021 14:01:21 GMT -5
The one that I read by her was Blood Trillium... a shared Trilogy(this was the 2nd book, the others were by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Andre Norton, respectively. I bought it in High School solely on the strength that the cover was similar to the first fantasy series I read (the Darksword trilogy.. which is really not very good, but 14 year old me thought was amazing). I remember only that I didn't like it.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 10, 2021 10:43:53 GMT -5
Escape to Venus (Perry Rhodan #15) by Clark Dalton (They gorilla in the back is sorta mentioned, not idea why the evil looking guy is in a space suit... the only 'bad guys' are the Russians, and they certainly don't have them. Then there's the fact that one assumes that person in the foreground is Perry, even if he's holding a rifle that the Russians have) The authors seem intent to have time pass... where last story, the ending was a bit of a cliff hanger that seems like to pick up right away.. it seems almost a year has past. So it's more coincidently that the action goes back to Venus.. where Thora has decided she won't want any longer to go home.. she steals a ship to go radio home to get picked up, Perry follows her, and hijinks ensue. Apparently, the Russians from last book have settled in enough to fight amongst themselves, and Thora and Perry (separately) get involved. There's also a few interludes telling us how animals are people too, which was interesting, and some comic relief with Pucky and Bell. A bit disjointed (I guess to be expected, since it's multiple authors and still at establishing things), but still fun.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 12, 2021 13:03:47 GMT -5
Hoodoo Harry by Joe R. LansdaleHap & Leonard fall into another mystery when they are run off the road (and into the water) by a runaway book-mobile driven by a young boy. The book-mobile has been missing for decades, along with the prior driver, Hoodoo Harry (short for Harriet). Found hidden in the book-mobile are the body of Hoodoo Harry and a number of young children. While the police are working on the case, it essentially falls to Hap & Leonard because they are...dogged, if not brilliant. This is a nice little episode for the boys. I love that Lansdale is able to work in shorter forms and that he includes Hap & Leonard in his novella writing. It had been a bit since I'd read any of their adventures and this one felt like a return to their early form.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 13, 2021 22:19:07 GMT -5
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (Vorkosigan Saga) By Lois McMaster Bujold
I had a bit of foreknowledge about this book... I KNEW it wasn't about Miles. And in a way, it totally makes sense to go back to Cordelia, as the series began. And I would have appreciated the book as the end of Cordelia's story if it wasn't the last book of the series... it seems wrong that Ivan and Cordelia get nice endings, but Miles doesn't.
Taking that to the side, the book is.... a bit boring. While it's interesting to see Cordelia running a planet, and managing her 2nd life's romance, it's not a plot for a novel, it's a side light. There's no actual plot, or problem to be resolved... just an extended side plot. That seems to be all LMB has left to offer in the series, which is a real shame, because that's the thing I'm least interested in. While the orignal characters are quite interesting, the spouses that have come later are decidedly less so.
I'd perhaps come back for a finale for Miles, or even a story focusing on his kids, but I don't think such a story is forthcoming, sadly.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jan 14, 2021 12:47:41 GMT -5
The Mighty WarriorsRobert M. Price (editor), 2018 (Cover art by Bruce Timm) I received a little money in an Amazon gift card about a month ago that didn't even come close to covering the crazy pandemic-induced global shipping charges for a physical book, so I instead bought a few e-books and downloaded the Kindle app. This was one of my purchases. As the title suggests, it's a bit of an homage to the two anthologies edited by Hans Santesson back in 1969 and 1970, The Mighty Barbarians and The Mighty Swordsmen (the latter reviewed by me on the preceding page). Unlike Santesson's books, which contained five and six stories respectively, with two or three novellas in each, here they're all short stories, so there's 11 in all. It does feature a nice mix of characters and settings, including some legacy characters, like Lin Carter's Thongor ("Thongor in the Valley of Demons" by Robert Price), Henry Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis ("Spawn of the Sea God" by Adrian Cole), and Richard Tierney's Simon of Gitta ("The Secret of Nephren-Ka" also by Robert Price), and newer characters, most notably (and the main reason why I bought the book) Imaro - probably the last story featuring that character written by Charles Saunders. I may be biased because he's one of my favorite authors, but I think Saunders' Imaro story, "Amudu's Bargain," is far and away the best in this collection. It's set some time after the events of the last Imaro novel, The Naama War, when Imaro set off to travel along the western coast of Nyumbani (Africa, basically). A few other stories I really liked are: "The Temple of Light" by Milton Davis, also a sword & soul story set in Africa and featuring a recurring character, Changa; "The Living Wind" by Ken Amasatsu (translated from Japanese by Edward Lipsett), in which the protagonist is a Buddhist monk named Ikkyu, who stops a Cthulhu-like being from entering our realm; "Lono and the Pit of Punhaki" by Paul McNamee, which is set in the South Pacific islands; and "The Shadow of Dia-Sust" by David C. Smith, with a really harsh protagonist, Oron, a young but already hardened brigand who in this story helps a witch exact revenge on one of the leaders of his former band (who betrayed him as well). The story "Kiss of the Succubus" by Charles Rutledge is pretty unremarkable, but features a really intriguing character, Kharrn, who's kind of like an immortal Conan. Like many of the recent 'new pulp' type anthologies published in the past roughly two decades, the quality of the stories varies, but since I only paid a few dollars for this, I think I got my money's worth.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 14, 2021 13:30:14 GMT -5
Golden Gate Gloves by Jack Tunney (Robert Evans) This was probably the first "Fight Card" novella to really fall short for me. These are modern pulp or modern "men's books" of the type that were ubiquitous in the late 60s and into the 70s. As such I don't expect great literature. And that's fine. I seldom actually want great literature. What I want and what I've gotten are fun fast reads that feel like a modern update of an old genre. Unfortunately this one didn't update enough. The story itself was okay. And there was boxing to be had. The problem was that this one had a number of old-time tropes that were hoary 70, 80, 90 years ago. And while I can (mostly) forgive them from that time period, I can't forgive them in modern works, even if they're channeling an older aesthetic. One that absolutely drives me bonkers is the tope of "bad guy wants to marry the young maiden even though she hates him." It's just nonsensical and I end up expecting Snidely Whiplash to show up twirling his mustache and tying ladies to train tracks. Overall I've generally been super happy with this line of novellas. But this is probably one to avoid. Or at least leave until the very end.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 16, 2021 0:25:44 GMT -5
Isle of the dead by Roger Zelazny This is the first book by Zelazny I've read since the Amber books (which I liked alot as a kid, but am a bit afraid to re-read). I think this is one of those books that might be enchanced if you are 'a child of the 60s', lets say. Even without chemical assistance, though, it's pretty fascinating. The main character is a Howard Hughes-like reclusive that has the power to shape worlds.. which he does for a living, and apparently means he's fabulously rich. He gets some interesting correspondence from his past on day and goes on a bit of a quest, that leads him back to his origins, and his rival. The plot was a bit all over the place (though it does hang together... barely), but there are lots of fun nuggets in the book about creation and humanity.., the one early in the book where he meets a business rival that cuts him in on a deal because he assumes he was on the planet to try to steal it was priceless. There was also a heroic lizard, which makes me happy. The 'Shrugger of Thunder' is also a hilarious name for a god. Yup.... written in 1969.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 21, 2021 12:23:56 GMT -5
The Big Over Easy by Jasper FfordeThe first of Fforde's "Nursery Crimes" books introduces us to DI Jack Spratt, head of the Nursery Crimes police division and the odd cases that he investigates. Jack's latest case dealing with a PDR (person of dubious reality) is the death and apparent murder of Humpty Dumpty whose fall from his wall appears to be the result of foul play. We are also introduced to Jack's newly assigned Detective Sergeant, Mary Mary, who would rather be working with a member of the Detective's Guild. The Dumpty case comes on the heels of Spratt's failure to get a conviction after charging the Three Pigs with the murder of Mr. Wolfe. The plot is convoluted and the book is full of the kind of silliness that you'd expect from Fforde if you're familiar with his Thursday Next novels. The books are pretty clearly tied to the Next novels, though obliquely, and there is an apparent cameo by Ms. Next. Mary Mary also makes the connection clear through her description of her living quarters. This was a re-read. A decade after I first read the book it's still entertaining, but possibly didn't hold up as well as I'd hoped. It's also possible that I just wasn't in the mood for this particular book again. You never know. But it's still silly fun, not the least are the skewers of various detective tropes and the ability to play "spot the reference."
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Post by Rob Allen on Jan 21, 2021 13:37:19 GMT -5
Marvel Studios Character Encyclopediaby Adam Bray www.amazon.com/Marvel-Studios-Character-Encyclopedia-Adam/dp/1465478892My wife noticed this in the library and got it for me. It's written for younger readers; the Amazon listing says ages 7-11. Each page spotlights a character, or one aspect of a character - there's a page about Tony Stark and a page about Iron Man, for example, and separate pages for Steve Rogers, Captain America in the 40s, and Cap today. The word "comic" does not appear in the book; this is solely about the movies. This was published between Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel. The last two pages in the book are about Captain Marvel and Talos the Skrull, but the text says that CM teams up with Nick Fury to thwart a Skrull invasion, and Talos is described as a ruthless, merciless spy. So the author clearly hadn't seen the movie. This is a fun book if you like the MCU films. I learned a few things. But they really should update it every few years. With no mention of the events of Endgame, it seemed outdated already.
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