Matthew Hughes frequently channels Jack Vance and writes stories and novels that capture the style and substance of Vance’s classic Dying Earth series. Hughes’s latest novel, The Ghost-Wrangler, deals with some dark issues that cloud the far, far future.

Galabras Nachecko is a necromancer who controls two spirits who serve to deliver him information that he can sell like “Where did I lose my wallet?” or “Is my husband seeing another woman?” But, it’s Nachecko’s ability to discover secrets that leads him into the orbit of the ruling Duke Simisson whose treacherous seneschal demands Nachecko capture the ghost of an executed land pirate…or else! While Nachecko successfully captures the ghost, the secrets he learns sends him on a dangerous mission as an unlikely secret agent to learn even more secrets.

Nachecko’s adventures are perfect Summer Reading for those who enjoy the exploits of mad wizards, demons, and powerful rulers who complicate the life of a necromancer. GRADE: B

Disney+ series based on STAR WARS and MARVEL have mixed reviews. Of course, The Mandalorian was a big hit. I really liked Loki. And WandaVision. I didn’t get excited about Moon Knight.

Secret Invasion is a six-episode series starring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Fury has been working with the Skrulls–an alien race of shapeshifters–but one of the Skrulls has decided to take over the Earth. Part spy thriller, part conspiracy drama, Secret Invasion spends too much time in dark alleys in Moscow and abandoned nuclear sites in Russia.

It’s hard to believe a bearded and aging Nick Fury can handle this massive threat. Kingsley Ben-Adir plays the scary Skrull, Gravik. Gravik has no problem killing people and blowing stuff up.

Olivia Colman is my favorite character. She plays an high-ranking MI6 agent and a friend of Nick Fury, but has her own agenda in protecting the UK’s national security interests. I would dump Jackson and let Olivia Colman run the whole operation. So far, Secret Invasion is a dud. GRADE: C

Leo P. Kelley (no relation) was a Science Fiction writer who edited three “academic” anthologies (see below) for McGraw-Hill. In the early 1970s, many colleges and universities started offering courses in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Some editor at McGraw-Hill saw the opportunity to create a series of textbooks for students taking those courses.

Kelley delivered an anthology of 32 stories with a “contemporary” feel. Most of the stories were published in the 1960s. There are a few stories from the 1950s and a couple from the 1970s.

Obviously, Kelley decided to skip the “historical” approach to SF–no Heinlein, no Van Vogt–and concentrated on stories students might enjoy. The most “classic” of these stories is Tom Godwin’s “The Cold Equations” from 1954.

Big Name writers like Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Harlan Ellison are included. Newcomers like Gene Wolfe, Carol Carr, Norman Spinrad, Charles Platt, and Dean R. Koontz point toward the Future.

Kelley includes some of my favorite writers: Fritz Leiber, Keith Laumer, Chad Oliver, Fredric Brown, Poul Anderson, Richard Matheson, Fred Saberhagen, C.M.Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl.

Other publishers got into the SF textbook market with more traditional chronological anthologies. Themes in Science Fiction provides short stories that are still fun to read today! Do you recognize some of these stories? Any favorites? Did you ever take a SF course in College? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• 3 • The Last of the Romany • (1963) • short story by Norman Spinrad
• 14 • The Total Experience Kick • (1966) • short story by Charles Platt
• 28 • Shortstack • [Willy Shorts] • (1964) • novelette by Leigh Richmond and Walt Richmond
• 47 • Far from This Earth • (1970) • short story by Chad Oliver
• 63 • Maelstrom II • (1965) • short story by Arthur C. Clarke
• 76 • Founding Father • (1965) • short story by Isaac Asimov
• 82 • Holdout • (1957) • short story by Robert Sheckley
• 93 • The Cold Equations • [Cold Equations (Godwin)] • (1954) • novelette by Tom Godwin
• 119 • The Father-Thing • (1954) • short story by Philip K. Dick
• 131 • The Silk and the Song • (1956) • novelette by Charles L. Fontenay
• 155 • Eyebem • (1970) • short story by Gene Wolfe
• 165 • Puppet Show • (1962) • short story by Fredric Brown
• 174 • Look, You Think You’ve Got Troubles • (1969) • short story by Carol Carr
• 187 • Young Girl at an Open Half-Door • (1968) • short story by Fred Saberhagen
• 196 • The Man Who Came Early • (1956) • novelette by Poul Anderson
• 219 • Soldier • (1967) • short fiction by Harlan Ellison
• 239 • The Good Provider • (1952) • short story by Marion Gross
• 247 • A Message from Charity • (1967) • short story by William M. Lee
• 266 • Witch War • (1951) • short story by Richard Matheson
• 271 • Gomez • (1954) • novelette by C. M. Kornbluth
• 294 • Muse • (1969) • short story by Dean R. Koontz
• 307 • The World of Myrion Flowers • (1961) • short story by C. M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl
• 313 • X Marks the Pedwalk • (1963) • short story by Fritz Leiber
• 318 • EPICAC • (1950) • short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
• 325 • The Last Command • [Bolo] • (1967) • short story by Keith Laumer
• 343 • Lost Memory • (1952) • short story by Peter Phillips
• 357 • The Survivor • (1965) • novelette by Walter F. Moudy
• 383 • The Post-Mortem People • (1966) • short story by Peter Tate
• 398 • The Travelin’ Man • (1970) • short story by Leo P. Kelley
• 409 • One Love Have I • (1955) • short story by Robert F. Young
• 424 • Who Shall Dwell • (1962) • short story by H. C. Neal

MCGRAW-HILL ANTHOLOGIES EDITED BY LEO P. KELLEY:

• The Supernatural in Fiction (1973)
• Fantasy: The Literature of the Marvelous (1974)
• Themes in Science Fiction (1972)

I’ve been listening to a couple of Greatest Hits CDs from the 1990s. Heart toured extensively in the 1980s when their videos were popular on MTV. Bob Seger and his band showed up in Western NY just a few years ago, Pre-Pandemic. Their show was sold-out.

The glaring omission on Heart–Greatest HIts/Live is the absence of “These Dreams,” one of Heart’s biggest hits. Otherwise, this CD has most of their hits: “Barracuda,” “Crazy On You,” “Dreamboat Annie,” “Dog & Butterfly,” and “Magic Man.” Plus some filler.

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band/Greatest Hits (1994) has “Like a Rock,” best known for being featured in Chevrolet truck commercials throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. I love “Night Moves” and “We’ve Got Tonight.”

Are you a fan of Heart or Bob Seger? Do you remember these songs? Any favorites? GRADE: B (for both)

TRACK LIST:

TRACK LIST:

AA

Lawrence Block’s latest theme anthology from Subterranean Press just arrived. All the stories involve games. Patti Abbott’s “Seek and You will Find” concerns a menacing twist on that classic game. “Paladin” by Tod Goldberg takes Dungeons and Dragons to a murderous level.

My favorite story in Playing Games is “Red Billie” by Joe R. Lansdale. An unusual girl moves into town and challenges the boys to a game of marbles. Needless to say, she beats them all. But, more than marbles are at stake as Lansdale slowly reveals who the girl really is.

Robert Silverberg’s “A Tip on a Turtle” features a man who wins every bet. “Chance” by Wallace Stroby involves Russian Roulette. And Lawrence Block closes the anthology with a cunning variation on a classic story with “Strangers on a Handball Court.” I’ve enjoyed all of Lawrence Block’s anthologies. Playing Games is one of his best. GRADE: B+

Table of Contents:

• Shut Up and Deal (an introduction) — Lawrence Block — 9
• Seek and You Will Find — Patricia Abbott — 13
• Game Over — Charles Ardai — 31
• King’s Row — S. A. Cosby — 49
• The Babysitter — Jeffery Deaver — 59
• Paladin — Tod Goldberg — 91
• Psychiatrist — Jane Hamilton — 117
• Knock — James D. F. Hannah — 133
• With the Right Bait — Gar Anthony Haywood — 147
• Two Norths, Two Souths, Two East, Two West, Two Reds, Two Whites, and Two Greens — Elaine Kagan — 163
• A Crokinole Tale — Avri Klemer — 189
• Red Billie — Joe R. Lansdale — 203
• Lightning Round — Warren Moore — 225
• The Puzzle Master — David Morrell — 237
• Challenge Cube — Kevin Quigley — 249
• A Tip on a Turtle — Robert Silverberg — 267
• Chance — Wallace Stroby — 295
• Strangers on a Handball Court — Lawrence Block — 307
• ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS — 321

Randall Kennedy, the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School, presents 29 essays on race in the United States in Say It Loud! My favorite essay is “Why Clarence Thomas Ought to Be Ostracized.” Kennedy criticizes Clarence Thomas and his performance on the Supreme Court over 30 years. The recent revelations of Clarence Thomas and his wife getting millions of dollars of free trips from a conservative billionaire doesn’t help matters. The same with Justice Samuel  Alito. This week’s Supreme Court rulings striking down Affirmative Action and debt relief for students just shows how out-of-touch the six conservative Justices are.

The strength of Say It Loud! focuses on various civil rights leaders who moved the nation and motivated change. I learned more about Frederick Douglass and Thurgood Marshall. But Kennedy doesn’t stop there; he writes about other, less famous, figures in the civil rights struggle like Anthony Burns, Eric Foner, Charles Hamilton Houston, Isaac Woodard, J. Waties Waring, and J. Skelly Wright.

I found Say It Loud! informative and compelling. Racial issues need to be addressed. Trump exacerbated the tensions among races in the United States. We need to work together to change the precipitous course our country is on. What do you think? GRADE: A

Table of Contents:

Preface xi

1. Shall We Overcome? Optimism and Pessimism in African American Racial Thought 3
2. Derrick Bell and Me 31
3. The George Floyd Moment: Promise and Peril 77
4. Isabel Wilkerson, the Election of 2020, and Racial Caste 84
5. The Princeton Ultimatum: Antiracism Gone Awry 93
6. How Black Students Brought the Constitution to Campus 103
7. Race and the Politics of Memorialization 112
8. The Politics of Black Respectability 123
9. Policing Racial Solidarity 138
10. Why Clarence Thomas Ought to Be Ostracized 147
11. Say It Loud! On Racial Shame, Pride, Kinship, and Other Problems 155
12. The Struggle for Collective Naming 172
13. The Struggle for Personal Naming 196
14. “Nigger”: The Strange Career Continues 210
15. Should We Admire Nat Turner? 217
16. Frederick Douglass: Everyone’s Hero 233
17. Anthony Burns and the Terrible Relevancy of the Fugitive Slave Act 240
18. Eric Foner and the Unfinished Mission of Reconstruction 255
19. Charles Hamilton Houston: The Lawyer as Social Engineer 272
20. Remembering Thurgood Marshall 284
21. Isaac Woodard and the Education of J. Waties Waring 321
22. J. Skelly Wright: Up from Racism 331
23. On Cussing Out White Liberals: The Case of Philip Elman 342
24. The Civil Rights Act Did Make a Difference! 352
25. Black Power Hagiography 368
26. The Constitutional Roots of “Birtherism” 390
27. Inequality and the Supreme Court 395
28. Brown as Senior Citizen 410
29. Racial Promised Lands? 425

Acknowledgments 449
Notes 451
Index 490

When you win a Nobel Prize in Economics you’re entitled to write a short book about how it happened. Edmund Phelps was born in 1933 and grew up in Chicago, a few blocks from Lake Michigan on Glenwood Avenue. Phelps was an only child. Phelps’s father worked in a Chicago bank. His mother was very social and became the head of the Parent Teacher Association and the local League of Women Voters. Phelps’s parents stressed education (both of his parents had college educations) and cultural events like plays.

When citing works that were important to him growing up, Phelps lists Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London’s Call of the Wild and White Fang, H. Rider Haggard’s King Soloman’s Mines and She, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by A. Conan Doyle, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Once again, a solid grounding in great books leads to greatness!

This short book captures the ups and downs of a career. In this case, it ends in a Nobel Prize for a hard-working, diligent academic. My Journeys in Economic Theory delivers hope and inspiration. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface — xi
Introduction: Formative Years — 1
1. Starting My Career: Golden Rule of Saving and Public Debt — 21
2. A New Direction: Uncertainty and Expectations — 41
3. Unemployment, Work’s Rewards, and Job Discrimination — 61
4. Altruism and Rawlsian Justice — 70
5. Supply-Siders, New “Classicals,” and an un-Keynesian Slump — 87
6. A Revolutionary Decade — 107
7. A Festschrift, a Nobel, and a New Horizon — 131
8. The Great Wave of Indigenous Innovation, Meaningful Work, and the Good Life — 153
Epilogue — 187
Acknowledgments — 197
Notes — 199
Index — 215

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is not Raiders of the Lost Ark or Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. But neither is it Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The action begins back in 1944 with Indy and his partner, Basil (Toby Jones), about to be killed by the Nazis. Director James Mangold uses de-aging technology to put a 45-year-old Indy on the screen…convincingly! The Nazis and Indy end up fighting over the Archimedes Antikythera, a device with awesome powers. Much of that fighting ends up on the top of a moving train.

The plot fast-forwards to 1969 where a 70 something Indy is teaching at a college in NYC. The students are bored and Indy is both bitter and detached. His wife, Marion (Karen Allen), has left Indy and after teaching that class, there’s a surprise retirement party. And, there’s also another surprise. Indy’s godchild, Basil’s daughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), shows up to kick the plot into high gear. She, and a group of neo-Nazis led by Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), want the Archimedes Antikythera. But, for different reasons. Helena wants to sell it because she’s in debt. Voller wants to use it to bring the Nazis back to power.

Helena and the Nazis bring Indy back to life and the chase for the Archimedes Antikythera moves to Tangier where one of the best chase scenes in the Indy series takes place. Indy chases the Nazis in a rickshaw while local gangsters join the mix.

Indy and Helena finally stop fighting and start to work together to decipher the clues to the whereabouts of the Archimedes Antikythera with the Nazis close behind. The conclusion holds a surprise I did not see coming!

Sure, there’s a lot of nostalgia in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny but I think Harrison Ford has finally put his whip and hat down. GRADE: B

Back in the early 1940s, Jonathan Latimer wrote a Private Eye novel titled Solomon’s Vineyard that was laced with alcohol, brutality, and sex. The standards of the time caused U. S. publishers to issue a censored version re-titled The Fifth Grave in 1950. Meanwhile, the U.K.’s Great Pan books reprinted the original version with all the sex and violence and boozing included. It took until 1983 until the uncensored version of Solomon’s Vineyard  was finally available for a U.S. audience on spinner racks.

Jonathan Latimer creates an Old School Private Eye (think Hammett’s Continental Op) called Karl Craven. The Fifth Grave opens with Craven arriving by train to a town in the sticks, Paulson. Craven came to Paulton because his business partner, Oke Johnson, needed help on a case. Craven quickly learns from the local police that Oke Johnson has been murdered. Craven also learns that Johnson was trying to find a missing girl at the nearby religious cult compound.

Craven quickly discovers that Paulton is controlled by a gangster named Pug who rules through the brutal power of his allies on police force. Craven investigates the connection between the corrupt city government and the cult that may be holding the girl. Plenty of pummeling, bashing, and sex result.

The Fifth Grave delivers a shocking story full of hardboiled violence and mayhem and freaky sex. While different versions of The Fifth Grave/Solomon’s Vineyard have been published over the years, this STARK HOUSE edition is the definitive unexpurgated version. You’ll really dig The Fifth Grave! GRADE: A