I’m launching MARS WEEK with this fun science fiction adventure novel, In the Courts of the Crimson Kings. S. M Stirling’s alternative universe presents a continuing Cold War between the Sino-Soviet bloc and the U.S with their political strategies working their ways to the Red Planet. Mars has an atmosphere (sort of) and water resources. The Martians are tall and thin (think NBA) and conspiring for the advancement of their schemes. Amid the ruins of ancient cites, Mars holds another alien artifact that holds astounding power. Archeologist Jeremy Wainman is sent by the U.S. Aero-Space Force to explore the lost city of Rema-Dza out in the “Great Beyond” (think desert). Along with a beautiful Martian mercenary, Teyud za-Zhalt, Wainman discovers secrets that various factions attempt to steal. Plenty of action, intrigue, and romance make In the Courts of the Crimson Kings entertaining with a Sense of Wonder. GRADE: A

The Buffalo Bills take on the New York Giants in this 2014 Hall of Fame Game tonight. Yesterday, Bills wide receiver Andre Reed was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Andre Reed joins fellow teammates Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, James Lofton, and their head coach, Marv Levy. It will be more than 20 years before another Buffalo Bill gets into the Hall of Fame. The Bills haven’t made the NFL Playoffs in 15 years. They have defined mediocrity for over a decade. Poor drafting, poor coaching, poor management produced few wins and fewer stars. But a new owner of the Buffalo Bills is on the horizon. Will it be Donald Trump? Or Jon Bon Jovi? We’ll have to wait and see.

I saw Guardians of the Galaxy in a Regal Theater with about 30 other fans, half of them kids. This is a movie for 12-year-olds (or the 12-year-old inside many of us). A team of misfits are thrown into a high security alien prison. Of course, they break out. The plot involves an alien artifact called “The Infinity Stone” that grants incredible powers. But, typically, the Infinity Stone falls into the hands of a villain who plans to use it to destroy a planet. There’s plenty of action and silliness. I liked Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana. Karen Gillian (the Best Dr. Who Companion ever!) goes to the Dark Side in this movie. If you’re looking for an entertaining Summer Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy qualifies. GRADE: B+

Last week for FFB I reviewed Horror: 100 Best Books. You can find it here. Your response encouraged me to review the sequel, Horror: Another 100 Best Books. Friends had told me the sequel wasn’t as good as the original and I agree somewhat. Horror: Another 100 Best Books was published in 2005 (the first volume was published in 1988). This latest volume is mostly made up of 20th Century titles. The definition of “horror” is also elastic. I really don’t think of The Hound of the Baskervilles as a horror novel, but maybe the Sherlockians can persuade me it is. And I don’t think of Elizabeth Bowen as a horror writer. But those quibbles aside, I enjoyed Horror: Another 100 Best Books. I now have a list of books from this volume to find and read. If Stephen Jones and Kim Newman issue a third volume, I’ll buy it and read it. How many of these books have you read?
Table of Contents:
Forward by Peter Straub
Introduction: It Seemed Like a Simple Idea at the Time by Stephen Jones & Kim Newman
1. Robert Silverberg on The Revenger’s Tragedy by Cyril Tourneur (1607)
2. Chelsea Quinn Tarbro on Pikovaia Dama/The Queen of Spades by Aleksandr Pushkin (1834)
3. Elizabeth Hand on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1843)
4. Doug Bradley on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847)
5. Jay Lake on Rekopiz Znaleziony w Saragossie/The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan, Count Potocki (1847)
6. K. W. Jeter on New Grub Street by George Gissing (1891)
7. David J. Skal on The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)
8. Les Edwards on The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (1898)
9. Tony Richards on The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)
10. Rick Hautala on The Boats of the “Glen Carrig” by William Hope Hodgson (1907
11. Jean-Marc Lafficier and Randy Lafficier on Le fantome de l’Opera/The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston LeRoux (1911)
12. Tim Lucas on Fantomas by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain (1911)
13. Christopher Wicking on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H. P. Lovecraft (1927-1928)
14. Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden on They Return at Evening by H. R. Wakefield (1928)
15. Sydney J. Bounds on Creep, Shadow! by A. Merritt (1934)
16. Chaz Brenchley on The Trail of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (1934)
17. Stephen Volk on The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley 1934)
18. Gahan Wilson on The Haunted Omnibus by Alexander Laing (1937)
19. Robert Weinberg on The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane (1939)
20. T. M. Wright on L’Etranger/The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)
21. David A. Sutton on Sleep No More: Twenty Masterpieces of Horror for the Connoisseur ed. by August Derleth (1944)
22. Storm Constantine on Lost Worlds by Clark Ashton Smith (1944)
23. Stefan Dziemianowicz on Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales by Henry S. Whitehead (1944)
24. Gwyneth Jones on Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural ed. by Herbert A. Wise and Phyllis Fraser (1944)
25. Joel Lane on The Opener of the Way by Robert Bloch (1945)
26. Christopher Fowler on Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake (1946-1950)
27. Gary Gianni on Carnacki the Ghost-Finder by William Hope Hodgson (1947)
28. Randy Broecker on Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson (1948)
29. Tanith Lee on Tales of Horror and the Supernatural by Arthur Machen (1949)
30. Lucius Shepard on Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell (1949)
31. David Bischoff on House of Flesh by Bruno Fischer (1950)
32. Anne Billson on Fancies and Goodnights by John Collier (1951)
33. Nancy A. Collins on The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson (1952)
34. Laurence Staig on The Third Ghost Book by Lady Cynthia Asquith (1955)
35. Andy Duncan on The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (1955)
36. John Gordon on The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (1955)
37. Norman Partridge on The Hunger and Other Stories by Charles Beaumont (1957)
38. Robert Irwin on The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat (1957)
39. Mark Morris on The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (1957)
40. Howard Waldrop on A Scent of New-Mown Hay by John Blackburn (1958)
41. Ed Gorman on A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson (1958)
42. Muriel Gray on The Weirdstone of Brinsingamen by Alan Garner (1960)
43. Terry Dowling on Tales of Terror by Charles Higham (1961)
44. Peter Atkins on Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon (1961)
45. Jack Womack on We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (1962)
46. Darrell Schweitzer on The Case Against Satan by Ray Russell (1962)
47. Peter Crowther on Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (1963)
48. Ian MacLeod on The Collector by John Fowles (1963)
49. Glen Hirshberg on Who Fears the Devil? by Manly Wade Wellman (1963)
50. Simon Clark on A Wrinkle in the Skin by John Christopher (1965)
51. Nancy Holder on Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin (1967)
52. Ellen Datlow on The Playboy Book of Horror and the Supernatural selected by Editors of Playboy (1967)
53. Terry Lamsley on Pages From Cold Point by Paul Bowles (1968)
54. John Farris on Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy (1968)
55. Stephen Baxter on The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg (1971)
56. Elizabeth Massie on Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon ((1973)
57. P. N. Elrod on The Night Stalker by Jeff Rice (1973)
58. Michael Swanwick on Blood Sport by Robert F. Jones (1974)
59. Nicholas Royale on Nightshade by Derek Marlowe (1975)
60. Roz Kaveney on Peace by Gene Wolfe (1975)
61. David Drake on The Year of the Sex Olympics: Three TV Plays by Nigel Kneale (1976)
62. Marc Laidlaw on Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber (1977)
63. Paul McAuley on The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan (1978)
64. Jo Fletcher on Darkness Weaves with Many Shades by Karl Edward Wagner (1978)
65. Sir Christopher Frayling on The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (1979)
66. Thomas Ligotti on Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler (1979)
67. D. F. Lewis on The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen by Elizabeth Bowen (1980)
68. Christopher Golden on Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror ed. by Kirby McCauley (1980)
69. John Burke on Tales From the Nightside by Charles L. Grant (1981)
70. Yvonne Navarro on They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon (1981)
71. Poppy Z. Brite on The Face That Must Die by Ramsey Campbell (1983)
72. David Stuart Davies on The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (1983)
73. Michael Marshall Smith on Pet Sematary by Stephen King (1983)
74. Anthony Timpone on Clive Barker’s Books of Blood Volumes One, Two and Three by Clive Barker (1984)
75. Nancy Kilpatrick on Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind (1986)
76. Bill Sheehan on Finishing Touches by Thomas Tessier (1986)
77. Kelly Link on Strange Toys by Patricia Geary (1987)
78. Allen Koszowski on The Dark Descent ed. by David G. Hartwell (1987)
79. Graham Joyce on Misery by Stephen King ((1987)
80. Frank M. Robinson on The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (1988)
81. Mark Chadbourn on Prime Evil ed. by Douglas E. Winter (1988)
82. Jay Russell on By Bizarre Hands: Stories by Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale (1989)
83. Peter H. Cannon on The Grotesque by Patrick McGrath (1989)
84. David Morrell on Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons )(1989)
85. Stephen R. Bissette on From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell (1989-1999)
86. David McGillivray on American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)
87. Brian Hodge on Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite ((1992)
88. China Mieville on The Course of the Heart by M. John Harrison (1992)
89. Adam Simon on Flicker by Theodore Roszak ((1992)
90. Paul Di Filippo on X, Y by Michael Blumlein ((1993)
91. Caitlin R. Kiernan on Skin by Kathe Koja (1993)
92. Tananarive Due on Throat Sprockets: A Novel of Erotic Obsession by Tim Lucas (1994)
93. Simon R. Green on The Off Season: A Victorian Sequel by Jack Cady (1995)
94. S. T. Joshi on The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti (1996)
95. Roberta Lannes on A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell (1998)
96. Michael Shea on Reprisal by Mitchell Smith (1999)
97. John Pelan on A Haunting Beauty by Sir Charles Birkin (2000)
98. Jeff VanderMeer on House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (2000)
99. Richard A. Lupoff on Feesters in the Lake and Other Stories by Bob Leman (2002)
100. Tm Lebbon on More Tomorrow and Other Stories by Michael Marshall Smith (2003)
Lists of Recommended Reading
Appendix I: Horror: 100 Best Books
Appendix II: Further Reading
Selected Webliography
About the Editors
Index to the Books, Authors, and Contributors
Acknowledgements

Rhino Records has done it again with this fabulous 3 CD and DVD box set of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’s 1974 concert tour. The 40 songs on these CDs–some never released before–will certainly transport you back to the Seventies. Yes, this is a great nostalgia indulgence, but well worth it. There’s also a single CD available at Wal-Mart in case you don’t want to shell out $54.98 for this deluxe box set. What’s your favorite CSNY song?
TRACK LIST:
Disc: 1
1. Love The One You’re With
2. Wooden Ships
3. Immigration Man
4. Helpless
5. Carry Me
6. Johnny’s Garden
7. Traces
8. Grave Concern
9. On The Beach
10. Black Queen
11. Almost Cut My Hair
Disc: 2
1. Change Partners
2. The Lee Shore
3. Only Love Can Break Your Heart
4. Our House
5. Fieldworker
6. Guinevere
7. Time After Time
8. Prison Song
9. Long May You Run
10. Goodbye Dick
11. Mellow My Mind
12. Old Man
13. Word Game
14. Myth Of Sisyphus
15. Blackbird
16. Love Art Blues
17. Hawaiian Sunrise
18. Teach Your Children
19. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Disc: 3
1. Déjà Vu
2. My Angel
3. Pre – Road Downs
4. Don’t Be Denied
5. Revolution Blues
6. Military Madness
7. Long Time Gone
8. Pushed It Over The End
9. Chicago
10. Ohio
Disc: 4
1. DVD: Only Love Can Break Your Heart
2. DVD: Almost Cut My HaiR
3. DVD: Grave Concern
4. DVD: Old Man
5. DVD: Johnny’s Garden
6. DVD: Our House
7. DVD: Déjà Vu
8. DVD: Pushed It Over The End

I’m not fond of live albums. Usually, the sound is bad and many musicians outside the recording studio sound worse. There are exceptions. I love Sarah McLachlan’s Mirrorball. And I’m a fan of Loreena McKennitt’s live albums. Jackson Brown’s Running On Empty is a classic. But, they are the exceptions. So factor that in to this review of John Mellencamp’s Trouble No More, a collection of mostly blues and folk songs. The first 10 songs on this CD are songs I will never listen to again. They are just not music I like. Song #11 is “Small Town” which was a hit for Mellencamp. #13 “Teardrops Will Fall” is the best song on the CD. #15 “Pink Houses” is another of Mellencamp’s hits. I might listen to those three songs sometime in the future. But, for me, this CD was a disappointment. GRADE: C-
TRACK LIST:
1 Stones in My Passway (3:17)
2 Death Letter (6:16)
3 To Washington (3:17)
4 Highway 61 Revisited (4:40)
5 Baltimore Oriole (4:03)
6 Joliet Bound (3:30)
7 Down in the Bottom (3:28)
8 Johnny Hart (4:45)
9 Diamond Joe (4:28)
10 John the Revelator (3:28)
11 Small Town (4:16)
12 Lafayette (3:44)
13 Teardrops Will Fall (4:22)
14 Paper in Fire (4:06)
15 Pink Houses (5:42)

Scarlet Johansson plays a partying student who inadvertently falls into the clutches of a Taiwan drug gang. They sew a bag of a new synthetic drug into Scarlet’s abdomen so she can smuggle the drugs into Europe. But, the bag leaks. The drug enters Scarlet’s bloodstream and suddenly her brainpower increases by the hour. Scarlet contacts Morgan Freeman (who plays a brain scientist) and arranges a meeting in Paris. But the Taiwan drug gang wants their drugs and they want to kill Scarlet. They head for Paris, too. As you might expect in a movie like Lucy there’s plenty of action and gunplay. But as Scarlet’s brainpower increases her powers, the philosophical questions of what would happen if we could use more than 10% of our brains start to become answered. Lucy is more than an Summer Movie, it will make you think. GRADE: B+

MARS WEEK starts next Monday. This review is just a friendly reminder that a week of books and movies about the Red Planet awaits you on this blog starting seven days from today. When I was a kid, I read The Martian Way. It was published in 1955, but the four stories in this collection were published in science fiction magazines in the early 1950s. The title story, “The Martian Way,” revolves around a political situation where politicians on Earth threaten to cut off water to the Mars colonists. The colonists have to resort to “the Martian Way” to solve the problem. “Youth” has two space explorers whose spaceship has crashed becoming “pets” to the youths who find them. “The Deep” concerns a distant planet whose sun is dimming. The aliens find a way to migrate to Earth, but Asimov provides a twist at the end. “Sucker Bait” is one of Asimov’s best puzzle stories. A planet where a first expedition died shortly after trying to set up a colony is visited by a second expedition. This time, scientists are supposed to determine what caused the catastrophe. One of the members of the crew is a member of the Mnemonic Service. He is able to remember EVERYTHING. And although the other scientists dismiss him, the Mnemonic savant discovers the planet’s deadly secret. Isaac Asimov is best known for his Robot novels and the Foundation trilogy, but Asimov was also a gifted short story writer. GRADE: B+

David Suchet is ending his 25+ year stint as Hercule Poirot. PBS MASTERPIECE THEATER is broadcasting The Big Four tonight and Dead Man’s Folly next week. The final three Poirots–Elephants Can Remember beginning August 11,
Labours of Hercules beginning August 18, and Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case on August 25–will be available on Acorn TV. Thereafter all 70 episodes will be available to watch anytime ONLY on Acorn TV. Of course, the entire series can be had on DVD, too. I enjoyed the early Poirots better than the newer ones, but I’ll watch them all. Do you have a favorite Poirot?

Mark Ruffalo (from Buffalo) plays a washed up record executive. Keira Knightley plays a talented songwriter who has just broken up with her boyfriend (Adam Levine). Ruffalo and Knightley find each other and start their creative journey together. Ruffalo has to repair his marriage to Catherine Keener and his relationship with his troubled teenage daughter played by Hailee Steinfeld. Knightley has to find her voice and make an album of her songs. Ruffalo comes up with the idea of making the album around New York City. There are plenty of great scenes of Knightley and her band playing their songs in classic NYC locales. Director John Carney, who had a hit with Once, strikes gold again with Begin Again. In a summer of disappointing movies, Begin Again is the Real Deal. GRADE: A-