Back in the 1960s, Gordon R. Dickson was one of my favorite Science Fiction writers. He knew how to tell compelling stories. Dickson would throw some humor into some of his tales (a rarity back then). Hank Davis selected a representative group of Dickson’s stories for a 2003 BAEN Books collection. Hank Davis knew Dickson’s work because there’s a little bit of everything in these 400 pages of wonderful story-telling! And Hank’s insightful “Introduction” shows he’s just not an editor, he’s a fan of Gordon R. Dickson’s work. Dickson won the HUGO AWARD for “Soldier, Ask Not” for Best Short Story, 1965; “Lost Dorsai” for Best Novella, 1981; “The Cloak and the Staff” for Best Novelette, 1981. Dickson also won a Nebula Award for “Call Him Lord” for Best Novelette, 1966. And Dickson won a August Derleth Award (Best Novel, British Fantasy Society) for The Dragon and the George, 1977. Gordon R. Dickson’s strengths as a writer ore on display in Hank Davis’s fine collection. Inexpensive copies can be found on the Internet. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: The Dickson Edge, by Hank Davis 1
“Danger—Human” (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1957) 5
“Sleight of Wit” (Analog, December 1961) 31
“In the Bone” (IF, October 1966) 53
“3-Part Puzzle” (Analog June 1962) 83
“An Ounce of Emotion” (IF, October 1965) 103
“Brother Charlie” (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1958) 133
“The Game of Five” (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April, 1960) 175
“Tiger Green” (IF, November 1965) 217
“The Hard Way” (Analog, January 1963) 247
“Jackal’s Meal” (Analog, June, 1969) 297
“On Messenger Mountain” (Worlds of Tomorrow, June 1964) 325
“The Catch” (Astounding Science Fiction April, 1959) 391

In a recent comment on Mike Ashley’s classic Science Fiction anthology, Lost Mars (you can read my review here), Steve Lewis wrote: “I try, but I find that I’m out of step with 95% of the SF that’s being printed in any of the last few best of the year anthologies. What’s not in the anthologies I can’t imagine. I know, I know. It’s me who’s out of sync here.” Well, I’m out of sync, too. While reading The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017 Steve’s voice was ringing in my head as I slogged through story after story. I kept thinking: are these stories really “the Best”? I can only recommend two of these stories: I liked “The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight” by E. Lily Yu and “The Story of Kao Yu” by Peter S. Beagle. I can also give a nod to the most kitschy story I’ve read in a long time: “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” by Dale Bailey.

Most of the rest of these stories didn’t hold my interest. Some didn’t even seem like SF stories or fantasy stories. They were mood stories or “slice-of-Life” stories. I realize styles change and tastes change. But I know what I like to read and only E. Lily Yu and Peter S. Beagle delivered the goods. GRADE: C
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword by John Joseph Adams ix
Introduction by Charles Yu xvii

“Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail” by Leigh Bardugo (Summer Days and Summer Nights) 1
“Teenagers from Outer Space” by Dale Bailey (Clarkesworld) 27
“I’ve Come to Marry the Princess” by Helena Bell (Lightspeed) 56
“Everyone From Themis Sends Letters Home” by Genevieve Valentine (Clarkesworld) 71
“The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight” by E. Lily Yu (Uncanny) 96
“When They Came to Us” by Debbie Urbanski (The Sun) 111
“Vulcanization” by Nisi Shawl (Nightmare) 128
“Openness” by Alexander Weinstein (Beloit Fiction Journal) 141
“Not by Wardrobe, Tornado, or Looking Glass” by Jeremiah Tolbert (Lightspeed) 152
“The Future is Blue” by Catherynne M. Valente (Drowned Worlds) 167
“This is Not a Wardrobe Door” by A. Merc Rustad (Fireside) 188
“On the Fringes of the Fractal” by Greg van Eekhout (2113: Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush) 194
“The Story of Kao Yu” by Peter S. Beagle (Tor.com) 206
“Smear” by Brian Evenson (Conjunctions: Other Aliens) 223
“The City Born Great” by N.K. Jemisin (Tor.com) 230
“Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station | Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed) 245
“Successor, Usurper, Replacement” by Alice Sola Kim (BuzzFeed READER) 251
“Caspar D. Luckinbill, What Are You Going to Do?” by Nick Wolven (F&SF) 267
“I Was a Teenage Werewolf” by Dale Bailey (Nightmare) 286
“The Venus Effect” by Joseph Allen Hill (Lightspeed) 304
Contributors’ Notes 331
Notable Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories of 2016 343

Caitlin Kiernan’s Black Helicopters is an expansion of her 2014 World Fantasy Award Best Novella of the same title. The story of an “event” that kills thousands of people (and might be the harbinger of something much Worse) appears in a series of chapters from different time-lines. The story shifts from the near Present to the Past to a couple of hundred years into the Future to back to the near Present. Much of what is going on is mysterious (at least to me). Agents from secret agencies duel in the back alleys of Dublin. Strange characters with telekinetic powers send the story careening toward the growing Darkness. Caitlin Kiernan has always been an atmospheric writer. Black Helicopters might be her moodiest book yet by far. GRADE: B

Charlize Theron plays a mother named Marlo on the edge of a breaking point in Tully. She’s enormously pregnant with her third child. Her other two kids, Sarah (8-years old) and Jonah (kindergartener) with “problems,” are draining her energies. Her husband, Drew (Ron Livingston), is busy working to support this growing household. Marlo’s wealthy brother suggests a “Night Nanny” to watch the new baby (Mia) while Marlo sleeps. Marlo realizes she needs help as her family spins out of control. When Tully, the Night Nanny, shows up she’s a 20-something bundle of wit and verve. While Marlo sleeps, Tully not only cares for little Mia, she cleans the house. Before long, Marlo is waking up to freshly baked cupcakes complements of Tully. So far, so good. Then Tully veers into Magical Thinking. Some may like the direction that Diablo Cody takes her movie in. I did not. GRADE: C

The motto of AshleyMadison.com is “Life is short, have an affair.” Esther Perel, a therapist in New York City, has worked with couples with marriage problems for the past 10 years. And, the Number One problem these couples deal with is affairs. The Internet acts like gasoline dumped on a fire. Sex is just a click away. Many people think an affair will “fix” what’s wrong in their relationship. Perel writes about marriages where one partner loses interest in sex. There’s also the pornography factor. The mass migration to online life is also an accelerant for infidelity. And then there are all the Presidential affairs. Ester Perel provides a thoughtful guide to a growing social problem. GRADE: A-
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Acknowledgments p. ix
Introduction p. xiii
Part I: Setting the Stage
Chapter 1 A New Conversation About Marriage and Infidelity p. 3
Chapter 2 Defining Infidelity: Is Chatting Cheating? p. 18
Chapter 3 Affairs Are Not What They Used to Be p. 36
Part II: The Fallout
Chapter 4 Why Betrayal Hurts So Much: Death by a Thousand Cuts p. 55
Chapter 5 Little Shop of Horrors: Do Some Affairs Hurt More than Others? p. 76
Chapter 6 Jealousy: The Spark of Eros p. 92
Chapter 7 Self-Blame or Vengeance: The Dagger Cuts Both Ways p. 109
Chapter 8 To Tell or Not to Tell? The Politics of Secrecy and Revelation p. 127
Part III: Meanings and Motives
Chapter 9 Even Happy People Cheat: Mining the Meanings of Affairs p. 151
Chapter 10 An Antidote to Deadness: The Lure of the Forbidden p. 172
Chapter 11 Is Sex Ever Just Sex?: The Emotional Economics of Adultery p. 190
Chapter 12 The Mother of All Betrayals?: Affairs Among Other Marital Misdemeanors p. 214
Chapter 13 The Lover’s Dilemma: Conversations with the Other Woman p. 233
Part IV: Ever After
Chapter 14 Monogamy and Its Discontents: Rethinking Marriage p. 255
Chapter 15 After the Storm: the Legacy of an Affair p. 280
Notes p. 303
Index p. 311

I enjoyed this second tale of the Lovecraft Middle School. Twin sisters are possessed by aliens from another dimension. Charles Gilman manages to convince the reader that Sarah and Sylvia Price aren’t Middle School students, but are actually hideous monsters in disguise! The Slither Sisters plan to win the Student Council election and then abduct the entire Seventh Grade. This Young Adult novel is great fun! And, I just love the cool hologram cover! GRADE: B+

The Buffalo Bills Rookie Camp kicks off next week so I thought this might be a good time to review what the Buffalo Bills did in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Bills have needed a franchise quarterback for 20 years! They’ve mis-fired on their Draft picks in this area (J. P. Losman, Trent Edwards, E.J. Manual, etc.) in recent years. The Bills had to trade TWO Second Round Draft Picks (and their #12 Draft Pick) to Tampa in order to move up to draft Josh Allen. Who knows if the Bills picked the right “Josh.” Josh Rosen was also on the Board (the Arizona Cardinals drafted Rosen with the Number 10 pick). The Bills also aggressively moved up (from #22) again to draft 19-year-old linebacker, Tremaine Edmunds, at #16. They had to give Baltimore a Third Round Pick to move up, but most “experts” think the Bills got one of the best players in the Draft with that move. After this action, the Bills drafted to fill holes on their Defense and finally got around to drafting some depth players for Offense.

Draft Picks can only be evaluated after two or three years in the NFL. But, for what it’s worth, Draft Guru Mel Kiper, Jr. graded the Buffalo Bills Draft an “A.” How did your favorite NFL do in the Draft?
BUFFALO BILLS 2018 NFL DRAFT PICKS:
Round 1, Pick 7 (No. 7 overall) [via Tampa Bay]: Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming

Round 1: Pick 16 (No. 16 overall) [via Baltimore]: Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Virginia Tech

Round 3, Pick 32 (No, 96): Harrison Phillips, DT, Stanford

Round 4, Pick 21 (No, 121 overall): Taron Johnson, CB, Weber State

Round 5, Pick 17 (No. 154 overall) [via Baltimore]: Siran Neal, CB, Jacksonville State

Round 5, Pick 29 (No. 166 overall): Wyatt Teller, G, Virginia Tech

Round 6, Pick 13 (No. 187 overall): Ray-Ray McCloud, WR, Clemson

Round 7, Pick 37 (No. 255 overall): Austin Proehl, WR, North Carolina

Subterranean Press just published this third volume of Seabury Quinn’s COMPLETE TALES OF JULES DE GRANDIN. This 500-page volume includes the only novel in the series, The Devil’s Bride. Seabury Quinn’s stories were a staple of Weird Tales during the 1920s and 1930s. These tales with supernatural elements were very popular with the Weird Tales readership. If you’re in the mood for classic detective fiction with a ghost or ghoul or mummy, Seabury Quinn’s entertaining stories will fit the bill. My review of Horror on the Links (Volume One) can be found here. My review of The Devil’s Rosary (Volume Two) can be found here. Highly recommended! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction – George A. Vanderburgh and Robert E. Weinberg vii
Jules de Grandin: “The Pillar of Weird Tales – Darrell Schweitzer xiii
1931
The Lost Lady (Weird Tales, January 1931) 1
The Ghost Helper (Weird Tales, February-March 1931) 34
Satan’s Stepson (Weird Tales, September 1931) 53
1932
The Devil’s Bride (Weird Tales, February-July 1932) 103
The Dark Angel (Weird Tales, August 1932) 253
The Heart of Siva (Weird Tales, October 1932) 284
The Bleeding Mummy (Weird Tales, November 1932) 316
The Door to Yesterday (Weird Tales, December 1932) 340
1933
A Gamble in Souls (Weird Tales, January 1933) 373
The Thing in the Fog (Weird Tales, March 1933) 404
The Hand of Glory (Weird Tales, July 1933) 441

The most recent story in Lost Mars: The Golden Age of the Red Planet is J. G. Ballard’s “The Time Tombs” from 1961. These stories were all written when people believed the Martian canals actually held water and that Mars had an atmosphere like Earth’s. Better science and space probes discovered Mars is actually a chilly desert with little air. These retro stories focus on story-telling and classic themes. Lost Mars is the first book in the “British Library Science Fiction Classics” series. If you’re a fan of Golden Age Science Fiction, you’ll love these vintage tales. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION 7
“The Crystal Egg” – H. G. Wells 27
“Letters From Mars” – W. S. Lach-Szyrma 51
“The Great Sacrifice” – George C. Wallis 73
“The Forgotten Man of Space” – P. Schuyler Miller 101
“A Martian Odyssey” – Stanley G Weinbaum 127
“Ylla” – Ray Bradbury 163
“Measureless to Man” – Marion Zimmer Bradley 181
“Without Bugles” – E. C. Tubb 229
“Crucifixus Etiam” – Walter M. Miller, Jr. 253
“The Time Tombs” – J. G. Ballard 281

I’ve enjoyed Jack McDevitt’s “Academy Series” with star pilot Priscilla “Hutch” Hutchins. The latest volume (and possibly the last), The Long Sunset, kicks off with an alien transmission 7000 years old. The political environment of 2256 is isolationistic. The politicians want to ground all the interstellar ships and just “hunker down.” A scientific group contacts Hutch and convinces her to pilot a FTL starship to the region where the alien transmission originated. The Government tries to stop them, but the starship manages to launch. What happens next is predictable. The Long Sunset features one of the lamest First Contact stories I’ve ever read. The conclusion will surprise no one. The best thing about The Long Sunset is the John Harris cover. Disappointing. GRADE: C
Academy Series – Priscilla “Hutch” Hutchins
The Engines of God (1994), ISBN 0-441-00077-0
Deepsix (2001), ISBN 0-06-105124-1
Chindi (2002), ISBN 0-441-00938-7
Omega (2003), ISBN 0-441-01046-6
Odyssey (2006), ISBN 0-441-01433-X
Cauldron (2007), ISBN 0-441-01525-5
StarHawk (2013), ISBN 0-425-26085-2
The Long Sunset (2018), ISBN 1-481-49793-6
The short stories “Melville on Iapetus” (1983), “Promises to Keep” (1984), “Oculus” (2002), “The Big Downtown” (2005),[7] “Kaminsky at War” (2006), “Maiden Voyage” (2012), and “The Cat’s Pajamas” (2012) are also set in the Academy universe.