Philip Harbottle captures the Sense of Wonder of early science fiction in Britain in this marvelous volume. After World War II, prolific British writers like John Russell Fearn and E.C. Tubb burst on the scene. Other British SF writers like Arthur C. Clarke and Eric Frank Russell became international writers. Harbottle explores some of the pre-WWII writers, too. Vultures of the Void includes hundreds of covers from British SF paperbacks and magazines, most of which I’d never seen before. That, alone is worth the price of this book. But Harbottle’s enthusiasm and scope in documenting the history of British science fiction writing makes the stories he tells all the more entertaining and enlightening. I highly recommend this wonderful book!

Homicide, the best cop series on TV, is now available at the bargain price of $59.99 (AMAZON wants $102.89). This package include 35 DVDs (all 122 episodes) for 97 hours and 34 minutes of classic police procedural wonderfulness. Homicide won two Emmy Awards, three Peabody Awards, three Television Critics Awards, two Writers Guild Awards, and was named to TV Guide’s “Greatest Episodes in TV History” and “TV’s Greatest Characters” lists. Also included in this package are hours of commentary and interviews. If you’re a fan of this genre, this package is screaming your name! To check it out, click here.

Magic Hours collects Tom Bissell’s explorations of the creative process. Bissell shows what happens on the set of The Big Bang Theory. He analyzes Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Bissell interviews director Werner Herzog and surveys his films. Other essays investigate Iraq War documentaries and video-game character voices. In “Unflowered Aloes” and “Grief and the Outsider,” Bissell considers the longevity of literary fame. Using the works Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Herman Melville, Bissell shows how initial neglect led to eventual fame. The book ends with an essay on the novels and poetry of Jim Harrison, best known for his novella Legends of the Fall (which later turned out to be a pretty good movie). After I read this essay, I wanted to drop everything and read some Jim Harrison! GRADE: A-

This recently released Blu-ray collection of Marilyn Monroe’s movies should give those of you who haven’t upgraded to Blu-ray the excuse you’ve been looking for to buy one. Here are some of Marilyn’s most iconic movies in hi-def sharpness and color. It’s like watching these films again for the first time. If you don’t want to stimulate the economy like I did, get your local public library to buy this wonderful set!
Book 1:

Disc 1: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Disc 2: How to Marry a Millionaire
Disc 3: River of No Return
Disc 4: There’s No Business Like Show Business

Book 2:

Disc 5: The Seven Year Itch
Disc 6: Some Like it Hot
Disc 7: The Misfits

For the past seven seasons, The Closer has been the highest rated drama on cable. The series stars Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief of Police who specializes in interrogations of crime suspects that conclude with a confession. The first four seasons focused on solving murders. In Season Five, Brenda Leigh Johnson’s team became a unit called “Major Crimes.” This gave the writers more freedom to explore other crime plots. One of the aspects of this series that I enjoyed the most was the occasional humorous episodes usually featuring G. W. Bailey as crusty Louie Provenza and his partner, Andy Flynn (Tony Denison). Many of the cast are going to be part of the program’s morphing into a new series, Major Crimes, which will premier directly after the concluding episode of The Closer. I’ll miss The Closer and I’ll give Major Crimes a try for a few weeks.

Longmire on A&E wraps up its first season tonight. For my money, Longmire was the best cable program this summer. Great cast! Robert Taylor plays Walt Longmire, the sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. He’s a wily veteran detective who solves some baffling cases. The scripts are above average. If you missed this fine series, you can watch Longmire online at the A&E website. It may be available to you on-demand with your cable system. And, I’m sure the DVD set will show up in stores within the month. I’ll be looking forward to Season Two of Longmire.

You don’t have to know much about the Bourne trilogy of movies to enjoy the latest installment: The Bourne Legacy. Without giving much away, all of these movies are chase movies. The Government wants to shut down a secret spy operation and instead of giving everyone a severance check, the Government decided to kill everyone associated with the secret program. Only, they didn’t quite kill Jason Bourne and in The Bourne Legacy they didn’t kill Jeremy Renner’s character (although they tried really, really hard!). Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton lead an impressive cast on this summer action thriller joy-ride. You will love the incredible motorcycle chase in Manila! GRADE: B+

Evan Lewis occasionally blogs about Race Williams, classic Private Eye, and I’ve finally gotten around to reading one of his classic adventures: The Hidden Hand. The Hidden Hand is a secretive crime lord who has put a $50,000 bounty on Race Williams’ head. The adventures in The Hidden Hand were originally published in a different form in Black Mask back in the June, July, August, September, and October issues in 1928. Obviously, this is a fix-up novel, but for those of you who like your noir straight, then this Race Williams novel will take you directly to the Dark Side. Race Williams is tough as nails, gets gassed, manages to survive a sniper attack, and eliminates gangsters with ruthless efficiency. If you’re looking for action and violence, The Hidden Hand has plenty!

Kim Stanley Robinson’s new SF novel, 2312, starts around page 70. Robinson develops a solar society of space colonies on Mercury, Venus (being terraformed), Mars, the asteroid belt, and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. On top of all this, Robinson introduces possible murders committed by (or with the assistance of) quantum computers (early artificial intelligence). At 561 pages, 2312 is one of those big Summer Books people take to the beach. There’s plenty here to ponder. GRADE: B

Most readers recognize Nick Hornby as the author of High Fidelity, About a Boy, and Juliet, Naked. Hornby also wrote two good screenplays: Fever Pitch and An Education. But I’m not only a fan of those works, I love Nick Hornby’s “Stuff I’ve Been Reading” column in The Believer magazine. Hornby boldly lists the books he’s bought that month…and the books he’s actually read. And Hornby’s reviews not only concern the books he’s reading, but his life, frustrations, addiction to soccer, etc. It all gets blended into entertaining, humorous riffs about books and life. More Baths Less Talking is the fourth collection of Hornby’s book reviews. I’ve read the three previous collections: The Polysyllabic Spree (2004), Housekeeping vs. the Dirt (2006), and Shakespeare Wrote for Money (2008). I recommend all of them. GRADE: A