Author Archives: george

FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOKS #716: THE BEST FROM FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, 22nd SERIES Edited by Edward L. Ferman

17 Replies
Cover artwork by Patrick Woodroffe

Edward L. Ferman changed the format of The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction with the 22nd volume. All the previous volumes consisted of short stories and novelettes. But in The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction, 22nd Series Ferman includes other material that could be found in a typical issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Ferman includes a brilliant Algis Budrys book review/essay on the history of Science Fiction. Ferman also includes “Competition” samples from the many readers who participated (I could do without them). He includes Baird Searles’s movie review column and an essay, “Thinking About Thinking” by Isaac Asimov who wrote dozens of science essays for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction during those years.

My favorite story in this volume is John Varley’s “In the Bowl” where a wayward geologist encounters a brilliant young girl on Venus and the pair embark on a search for valuable blast jewels. I also enjoyed Robert Bloch’s comic “A Case of the Stubborns” where Grandpa refuses to believe he’s dead. Richard Cowper’s “The Hertford Manuscript,” a time-travel tale to the Plague Years proves harrowing.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CLASSICS FROM THE CRYPT

20 Replies

TRACK LIST:

Bach, J S: Toccata & Fugue in D minor, BWV565 Work length 9:19

  • Philadelphia Orchestra
  • Eugene Ormandy

Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre, Op. 40 Work length 7:31

  • Philadelphia Orchestra
  • Eugene Ormandy

Gounod: Funeral March of a Marionette Work length 4:06

  • Boston Pops Orchestra
  • Arthur Fiedler

Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain Work length 11:59

  • Philadelphia Orchestra
  • Eugene Ormandy

Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 – Marche au supplice Work length 4:43

  • Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • Georges Prêtre

Grieg: Peer Gynt: In the Hall of the Mountain King Work length 2:48

  • Philadelphia Orchestra
  • Eugene Ormandy

Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1 Work length 11:19

  • Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  • Fritz Reiner

Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Work length 10:24

  • Philadelphia Orchestra
  • Eugene Ormandy

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: Songe d’un nuit de sabbat Work length 9:32

  • Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • Georges Prêtre

WEDNESDAY’S SHORT STORIES #96: M IS FOR MAGIC By Neil Gaiman

24 Replies

“When I was a boy, Ray Bradbury picked stories from his books of short stories he thought younger readers might like, and he published them as R Is for Rocket and S Is for Space. Now I was doing the same sort of thing, and I asked Ray if he’d mind if I called this book M Is for Magic. (He didn’t.)” (p. xii)

I’m a big fan of Neil Gaiman’s work and for anyone who is looking for a place to sample Gaiman’s work, M Is for Magic (2007) would be a great place to start. The 11 stories in this collection range from science fiction to fantasy to suspense. I love “The Witch’s Headstone, ” a cunning story with a great ending. I’m also fond of “How to Sell the Ponti Bridge” where a group of con artists listen to a stunning variation on the old selling the Brooklyn Bridge scam. The Ponti Bridge is located on another planet and it consists of gems and diamonds and other precious stones held together by Magic.

M Is for Magic showcases stories with humor, wit, and occasional darkness. And, a great book to read around Halloween! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

  • Introduction — ix
  • The case of the four and twenty blackbirds — 3
  • Troll bridge — 24
  • Don’t ask Jack — 44
  • How to sell the Ponti Bridge — 49
  • October in the chair — 75
  • Chivalry — 100
  • The price — 125
  • How to talk to girls at parties — 138
  • Sunbird — 164
  • The witch’s headstone — 205
  • Instructions — 256

TAR

9 Replies

Kyle Smith of the Wall Street Journal concludes his review of Tar with these words: ““Tár” is like listening to a slow, ominous roll on the timpani for two and a half hours.” Cate Blanchett brilliantly portrays a world class celebrity, named Lydia Tar, who currently is the Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Her frenetic life bounces her from continent to continent, from major city to major city. She has a book coming out titled Tar On Tar, projected to be a Best Seller.

Todd Field wrote, produced, and directed Tar. Yes, he captures the sense of the classical music world with its politics and ambitions. Field suggests various complications to Tar’s life: maybe an illicit affair with a student. Maybe an insulting “lesson” with a Juilliard student that goes viral on YouTube (although heavily edited). Various legal entanglements. Various personal entanglements with Tar’s wife, child, and staff.

Tar baths in darkness from the music, the nightscapes in various cities, to Tar’s machinations with various characters. Field only lightens the mood in the final scene that had the sold-out audience at Coolidge Corners Theater in Boston laughing out loud.

For me, Tar gave me a sense of deja vu as Cate Blanchett spirals downward just as she did in Blue Jasmine, a film she made 10 years ago. Blanchett played a woman who had everything, and then lost it all. But that movie, although it covers the same ground as Fields’s film, was funny despite the tragic circumstances. GRADE: C

DARK MUSIC By David Lagercrantz

10 Replies

I’ve read David Lagercrantz’s “sequels” to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series. You can read my reviews of The Girl in the Spider Web here, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye here, and The Girl Who Lived Twice here. Although Lagercrantz is no Steig Larsson, I found his thrillers entertaining enough to keep reading them.

Dark Music is the first in a new series featuring a genius Professor Hans Rekke (aka, updated Sherlock Holmes) who uses incredible logic and dazzling observation like you-know-who to solve crimes. Rekke has a smarter, politically connected brother named Magnus. Instead of Watson, we get Micaela Vargas, a Chilean political refugee, who has become a streetwise cop in Stockholm. You get the idea.

The Stockholm police invite Rekke to assist them in solving the murder of an asylum seeker from Afghanistan murdered after a soccer match. But Rekke’s investigation leads to some CIA Black Sites and potential explosive revelations that put Rekke and Vargas at risk.

While Sherlock Holmes had his “seven percent solution,” Rekke goes way beyond that. Here’s Vargas, early in her relationship with Rekke, quizzing him on the drugs he’s ingested:

“What have you taken?”

“Two or three opiates, benzodiazepines, a dash of antipyschotics, and my pointless antidepressants.” (p. 85)

Rekke’s depression and drug abuse can be a source of annoyance when Lagercrantz overdoes them. But, hopefully, Lagercrantz will tamp down Rekke’s bipolar behaviors in the next book. GRADE: B

NFL WEEK SEVEN

8 Replies

The 5-1 Buffalo Bills are enjoying their Bye (and hopefully healing up!). Josh Allen has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week two straight weeks: first for the 38-3 beatdown of the Steelers and secondly for the 24-20 gem of a game in Arrowhead Stadium where the Chiefs played a close game but came out on the losing side. How will your favorite NFL do today?

MISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE, SEASON TWO PREMIER (PBS)

10 Replies

Diane and I enjoyed Season One of Miss Scarlet and The Duke, you can read my review here. This PBS series stars Kate Phillips and Stuart Martin as a pair of Victorian investigators. Phillips plays Eliza Scarlett whose father was a private investigator in 1882 London. After her father’s death leaves Eliza nearly penniless, she decides to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a private investigator.

Of course, a woman working in Victorian England was frowned upon. Eliza constantly deals with male chauvinism and sexual harassment as she tries to investigate her cases. Because of the social conditions at that time, Eliza frequently calls on her old friend William Wellington (Duke), a gruff, womanising Detective Inspector of Scotland Yard, to aid her investigations. But, the relationship borders on hostility as Eliza bends the social conventions to solve her mysteries…to The Duke’s annoyance. Eliza uses an underworld contact named Moses to assist her in her pursuits.

We’ve only seen the first episode of Season Two, a missing persons case, but the format of the series and the interaction between the stars is unchanged. If you haven’t tried Miss Scarlet and The Duke you might give it a try. Entertaining and occasionally humorous. GRADE: B+

FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOKS #715: THE MEXICO RUN and JAILBREAK By Lionel White

2 Replies

Lionel White specialized in writing caper novels. In this latest omnibus edition from Stark House, White varies his subject matter. In The Mexico Run (1974), Mark Johns returns from his tour in Vietnam with a plan to go to Mexico and smuggle a load of Acapulco Gold back into the United States. In the early 1970s, the Border was porous and drug smuggling was relatively easy.

But Mark Johns runs into complications. A young girl on the run named Sharon attaches herself to Johns despite his reluctance to get involved in her messy Life. Then, Johns has to deal with Captain Hernando Morales, who controls the police but is interested in Johns’s drug smuggling plan…as a partner.

Lies, double-dealing, and death follow Mark Johns as he tries to pull his drug caper off. The Mexico Run can’t escape violence, betrayals, and suspense no matter how fast it moves! GRADE: B

Jailbreak (1976) features many of the elements of White’s caper novels, but instead of trying to steal something, White’s characters in Jailbreak try to escape from a prison.

Sally Modesto, serving a Life Sentence, has the financial means to fund an elaborate escape plan. But, Sally can’t do it alone. The funds come from his lawyer. The plan requires distraction so Sally recruits Captain of the Guards McVey. But, that’s not enough so Sally brings Jed, Cotton, and Mordecai into the escape plan.

But the most brilliant plan is always vulnerable to the Weakest Link. Palmer, a prison snitch, grabs his opportunity to disrupt the escape and all hell breaks out! Like the best of Lionel White’s capers, the brilliant planning, the careful setup, and then surprises during the execution of the escape take the reader on a white-knuckle thrill ride into panic, fear, and intrigue! GRADE: B+

THE EDGAR ALLAN POE AUDIO COLLECTION Performed by Vincent Price & Basil Rathbone

20 Replies

Around this time of year I pull out my copy of The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection (2000) and enjoy some classic Poe stories. This set provides 6 hours of spooky stories narrated by two of the best chilling voices ever. Here are my favorites:

Vincent Price performs “The Gold Bug,” “The Imp of the Perverse,” and “Ligeia.”

Basil Rathbone performs “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and “The Raven.”

If you want to get into the Halloween mood, these stories will take you there! Are you an Edgar Allan Poe fan? GRADE: A

TRACK LIST:

1-1To-Narrator – Basil Rathbone1:48
1-2Alone Narrator – Basil Rathbone1:01
1-3The City In The Sea Narrator – Basil Rathbone3:01
1-4The Fall Of The House Of Usher Narrator – Basil Rathbone22:57
1-5The Haunted Palace Narrator – Basil Rathbone2:15
1-6The Pit And The Pendulum Narrator – Basil Rathbone30:27
2-1The Masque Of The Red Death Narrator – Basil Rathbone16:25
2-2The Tell-Tale Heart Narrator – Basil Rathbone13:40
2-3The Black Cat Narrator – Basil Rathbone25:57
3-1The Raven Narrator – Basil Rathbone8:15
3-2The Facts Of The Case Of M. Valdemar Narrator – Basil Rathbone16:15
3-3The Cask Of Amontillado Narrator – Basil Rathbone15:45
3-4The Bells Narrator – Basil Rathbone4:02
3-5Annabel Lee Narrator – Basil Rathbone2:03
3-6Eldorado Narrator – Basil Rathbone0:39
4-1Ligeia Narrator – Vincent Price 47:03
4-2The Imp Of The Perverse Narrator – Vincent Price 14:06
4-3Morella Narrator – Vincent Price (2)14:45
5-1Berenice Narrator – Vincent Price (2)23:50
5-2The Gold Bug Narrator – Vincent Price (2)53:50

WEDNESDAY’S SHORT STORIES #95: SUCH STUFF AS SCREAMS ARE MADE OF By Robert Bloch

23 Replies

In his “Author’s Afterword” Robert Bloch mentions his 69 stories published by Weird Tales. Bloch’s also asserts that he’s not just a “weird fiction” writer, he’s a specialist in “psychological suspense.” Actually, Bloch’s work blends the two elements. Take “The Weird Tailor” where a talented but cruel tailor takes on the task of making a custom suit made of unique material. Tension builds as the special suit displays strange characteristics. The startling conclusion reminds me of Bloch’s final scenes of Psycho.

My favorite story in Such Stuff as Scream Are Made Of is “Talent” which celebrates Bloch’s love of fantasy films. “I Do Not Love Thee, Dr. Fell” defines Bloch’s approach to psychological suspense.

In his “Introduction,” Gahan Wilson places Robert Bloch in the league of other Weird Tales writers like H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith. High praise, indeed…and deserving of it based on the quality of the stories in Such Stuff as Scream Are Made Of . Are you a Robert Bloch fan? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS: