Pascal Bruckner believes that the threats of global warming, terrorism, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and divisive politics motivate more and more people to retreat to the safety of their homes. However, Bruckner cites many of the costs of this retreat from public life: depression, increased suicides, drug addiction, isolation, and social atrophy.

The Pandemic lockdowns accelerated these trends. The home became a wired cocoon that discourages any travel to the outside world. The internet, Netflix, and home delivery of Take-Out food make withdrawal comfortable and appealing. “Countless people in France and other European countries no longer wish to return to the office…” (p. 4). Both Patrick and Katie work from home a couple days a week now. They only go into the office for meetings and Birthday Parties.

“Should we be surprised that the birth rate collapsed in 2020…” (p. 11) Now economic as well as cultural factors make raising a family a pricey proposition.

“Every exceptional person,” writes Nietzsche, “instinctively seeks out his fortress, his secrecy, where he is delivered from the crowd, the multitude, the majority where he is allowed to forget the rule of ‘humanity,’ being exception to it.” (p. 71)

With so many divisions in our country, Bruckner’s warnings that isolation could make things a lot worse in the long run provides plenty to think about. Do you feel isolated? GRADE: A

Table of Contents

Preface: The Oblomov Hypothesis — viii

Chapter 1: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse . . .  — 1

Chapter 2: The Bankruptcy of Eros? — 8

Chapter 3: Forbidden Travel? — 15

Chapter 4: Is a Banal Life Worth Living? — 24

Chapter 5: The Bovarysme of the Cell Phone –31

Chapter 6: Cave, Cell, and Bedroom — 36

Chapter 7: The Beauty of One’s Own Home — 43

Chapter 8: The Torments and Delights of a Life in Shackles — 49

Chapter 9: The Land of Sleep: Hypnos and Thanatos — 55

Chapter 10: Digital Wonderland or the Triumph of Slouching? — 61

Chapter 11: Diderot’s Dressing Gown — 73

Chapter 12: Those Who Have Deserted Modernity — 79

Chapter 13: Weather Sorrow — 87

Chapter 14: Existential Defeatism — 93

Chapter 15: The Extremists of Routine — 99

Conclusion: Fall or Transfiguration? — 104

Notes — 109

A little more than a year ago, I read the first volume of M. R. Carey’s “Pandominion” series, Infinity Gate (you can read my review here). Now there’s volume two in the series, Echo of Worlds. Carey presents a Universe at war–genocidal war. Two galactic empires are battling each other: the machine run the Ansurrection and the human Pandominion. Things look dire for human civilization because the intelligent machine civilization has technology vastly superior to that of us puny humans.

While billions of machines and humans battle it out across hundreds of planets, a group of mis-fits stand a slim chance of saving both colossal empires.

Let’s start with Hadiz Tambuwal, a brilliant scientist who currently exists only as an uploaded person–mostly she resides a a portable box. Hadiz’s best friend is Rupshe, “a massively powerful untethered AI,” friendly and protective to humans. Most of the planning and strategy of Echo of Worlds come from Hadiz and Rupshe.

Next comes two soldiers in Iron Man suits. The human Essien Nkanika deals with massive guilt. My favorite character is the feline Moon Sostenti, with her irreverent comments and constant anger. She’s a born killer. Finally we have Paz, a young female “lagomorph.” Paz lost about 25% of her brain in an explosion and has to deal with significant effects from her injuries. Paz’s AI companion, Dulcie, an ex-spy for the Ansurrection, is the most enigmatic character of the team.

Carey sets up a series of missions that might turn the tide of the war…if they were successful. Needless to say, there’s a lot of failed missions in Echo of Worlds. But Carey saves some surprises for the last part of this novel. Echo of Worlds is perfect for Summer Reading! GRADE: B+

From 1982 to 2004, TOR Books published 48 Conan pastiches (the complete list is here). I’ve read a couple dozen of those TOR Conan novels and found the quality to be uneven. But there seems to be agreement that one of the best pastiches in the TOR series was Conan and the Emerald Lotus (Nov. 1995) by John C. Hocking (check out rankings here).

After almost 20 years, John C. Hocking finally finished the sequel to Conan and the Emerald Lotus: Conan and the Living Plague (2020). Titan Books has brought out Conan and the Emerald Lotus and Conan and the Living Plague together in one large volume titled Conan: City of the Dead (2024).

Conan and the Emerald Lotus tells the tale of Conan and a beautiful, but addicted sorceress who travels to The Dragon’s Spine deep in the desert to get more magic power from the Emerald Lotus. Evil sorcerer Ethram-Fal’s stronghold in the badlands of ancient Stygia holds both the Emerald Lotus and deadly traps.

Conan and the Living Plague is a solid sequel to Conan and the Emerald Lotus. Conan is recruited by a weak nobleman to be part of a small mercenary force headed to the isolated mountain city of Dulcine. Dulcine is situated on a diamond mine and rumored to have colossal wealth. But, the city is filled with ghouls and a murderous entity created from dark magic. The mercenary force manage to enter the doomed city of Dulcine, but the terrors just begin. I really loved Hocking’s adding a dash of H. P. Lovecraft to the mix!

If you’re a fan of Conan the Barbarian, you’ll love Conan: City of the Dead. GRADE: A (for both)

On June 13, 2024, I posted about The Soul Story, Volume 2. Steve Oerkfitz liked the compilation and commented, “Probably the best one you have reviewed that I can recall.”

So to honor Steve after his untimely death, I offer this initial 2-CD set of the TIME-LIFE series. I would like to think Steve would have loved this compilation as much as he loved The Soul Story, Volume 2. GRADE: A

TRACK LIST:

Robert Hichens (1864-1959) was a prolific writer producing over 60 novels, a dozen short story collections, travel non-fiction, and plays. Several movies were made based on Hichens’s works, most prominently, Alfred Hitchcock’s THE PARADINE CASE (1947).

In his excellent “Introduction,” S. T. Joshi maps Hichens’s long writing career from decade to decade. Of the short stories included in The Folly of Eustace and Other Satires and Stories I was most affected by “The Lift.” A young man finds himself stuck in a stalled elevator with a middle-age woman who does not understand his language. The woman is married to a man who insults her and abuses her. The woman’s husband has threatened to kill her. The woman begs the young man for help, yet he thinks he’s helpless in this situation. The psychological aspects of the story are haunting.

Hichens’s stories always feature strong women. I also liked “A Boudoir Boy” where a 64-year-old woman entices a young man to teach her how to be “decadent.” A clever and satiric story!

If you’re looking for something different from a century ago, you might give The Folly of Eustace and Other Satires and Stories a try. You’ll be entertained and surprised! GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by S. T. Joshi –7

The folly of Eustace — 13

The Two Fears — 33

The Lift — 38

The Last Time — 51

The Facade — 92

The Letter — 135

A Boudoir Boy — 181

The Piano — 192

The Worth While Man — 206

Bibliography — 222

I fell in love with Lucy Lawless when she showed up on my TV in  Xena: Warrior Princes. Now she plays PI Alexa Crowe, former detective of the Victoria Police Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) in My Life is Murder.

The fourth season consists of 8 episodes. If you’re in the mood for a “cozy” style of mystery, give My Life is Murder a try. I’ve only watched one episode so…GRADE: Incomplete but trend towards a B.

Dmitri Alperovitch is a member of a national security think tank. He is also cofounder of Crowdstrike, one of the world’s largest cybersecurity companies. Alperovitch believes China is preparing for a 2028 invasion of Taiwan. He provides the data that leads him to this conclusion.

Alperovitch suggests several strategies to prepare for this eventuality…and perhaps dissuade China from taking this world order destabilizing step. But we have to act quickly!

Alperovitch believes China plans the Taiwan invasion as a result of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Alperovitch’s analysis of the U.S. and NATO response to Putin’s actions only gives China incentives to prepare to conquer Taiwan. One way China might be deterred from their Taiwan plans is if Ukraine “wins” against Russia. If the U.S. and NATO can provide the weapons and resources for the Ukrainians to stop the Russian advances into their territory, China may re-think their Taiwan plans.

So far, both the U.S. and NATO have not done a good job providing the Ukrainians with the resources they need to resist Russian aggression. That leads China in believing if they attack Taiwan, the U.S. and its allies in the Pacific won’t support Taiwan enough to stop the Chinese invasion.

My favorite chapter in World on the Brink is Chapter 4: They Are Weaker Than We Think. Alperovitch’s analysis of Chinese politics and culture show significant problems. The major problem is China does not have advanced computer chips that make Western military weapons so sophisticated and and powerful. That could be a turning point in an attack on Taiwan if the island nation has better weaponry. Chinese leaders know that a long war could be a threat to their Government.

Alperovitch calculates that if the U.S. can keep its allies united, China will continue to procrastinate with their military plans. Also, if the U.S. can stay focused and avoid the gaffs committed in the past year with failures to supply Ukraine adequately, disaster might be avoided. What do you think? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Prologue: A Dispatch from the Future 1

Introduction 13

Part I Cold War II, a New Era

Chapter 1 The Road to the Brink 31

Chapter 2 Distracted and Disoriented 67

Chapter 3 The Taiwan Dilemma 95

Chapter 4 They Are Weaker Than We Think 139

Chapter 5 We Are Stronger Than We Think 169

Part II A Game Plan for Victory

Chapter 6 Step One-Enable Innovation 191

Chapter 7 Step Two-Defend Innovation 257

Chapter 8 Step Three-Say Yes to Our Friends 299

Chapter 9 Step Four-Say No to Distractions 329

Conclusion 353

Acknowledgments 363

Source Notes 367

Should Biden stay or should he go? The Economist and The New York Times and plenty of other media outlets and pundits–including George Clooney–say Biden should withdraw from the Presidential race. What do you think?

I tend to live in the Past and from time to time I go on a nostalgia kick. This week it was Doc Savage (it was Tarzan a couple of weeks ago). I started reading and collecting Doc Savage paperbacks back in 1964 and I’m nowhere near reading all 182 Doc Savage novels but I have read dozens of them.

Robert Micheal “Bobb” Cotter’s A History of the Doc Savage Adventures presents plenty of information on the series and captures the unique aspects of the character. Doc Savage first appeared in 1933 with the Great Depression and the prospect of a world war affecting the stories. Science is blended with acton as Doc Savage and his band of skilled heroes take on villains and mysterious entities.

The artwork section of A History of the Doc Savage Adventures features illustrations, covers, and original artwork. I enjoyed the chapters on Doc Savage paperbacks, the pulp magazines, the comic books, and various fanzines. Also useful is an appendix that offers biographies of all major contributors to the Doc Savage series.

If you’re a Doc Savage fan, A History of the Doc Savage Adventures is a must-read! Do you have a favorite Doc Savage novel? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction—Who Is Doc Savage?      1

One. A New Deal, a New Hero      11
Two. All This and World War, Too      105
Three. The Bronze Age Meets the Atomic Age      140
Four. The Doc Savage History of Comics      158
Five. Doc Savage on the Air and in the Movie(s)      173
Six. The Fan(zines) of Bronze      190
Seven. The New Adventures of Doc Savage      202

Appendices
1. The People Behind Doc Savage      211
2. The Best of Doc Savage: Novels, Pulp and Paperback Covers      218
3. Street & Smith’s Doc Savage Magazine Issues      221
4. Bantam’s Doc Savage Paperbacks      223
5. Doc Savage Comicography      224
Bibliography      229
Index      231