Perfect Summer reading! That’s what Fourth Planet from the Sun (2005) turned out to be for me. Gordon Van Gelder collects some of the best Mars stories first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and provides catchy introductions.

What would a Mars anthology be without a Ray Bradbury story? Or an Arthur C. Clarke story? And, who could resist Leigh Brackett’s “Purple Priestess of the Mad Moon”?

Roger Zelazny’s “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1964. John Varley’s “In the Hall of the Martian Kings” was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1977. “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” morphed in the Arnold Schwarzenegger hit, Total Recall.

I also got a kick out of Van Gelder putting Robert F. Young’s “The First Mars Mission” next to Michael Casutt’s “The Last Mars Trip.” All together, Fourth Planet from the Sun delivers a dozen stories that will delight you! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION — xi

The Wilderness	–	Ray Bradbury — 1
Mars Is Ours	–	Alfred Coppel — 13
Crime on Mars	–	Arthur C. Clarke — 27
Purple Priestess of the Mad Moon	–	Leigh Brackett — 35
A Rose for Ecclesiastes	–	Roger Zelazny — 57
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale	–	Philip K. Dick — 101
Hellas is Florida	–	Gordon Eklund & Gregory Benford — 127
In the Hall of the Martian Kings	–	John Varley — 149
The First Mars Mission	–	Robert F. Young — 199
The Last Mars Trip	–	Michael Cassutt — 213
The Great Martian Pyramid Hoax	–	Jerry Oltion — 233
Pictures from an Expedition	–	Alex Irvine –251

Loosely based on Robert Jordon’s best selling Fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, Season 2 continues the storylines set up in Season 1. In this new season, Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) and his friends are separated and under attack by the evil Dark One and his minions. Meanwhile, Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) and her Warder, Lan Mandragoran (Daniel Henney), are trying to protect Rand and company despite losing their special abilities.

I’m most interested any segment of The Wheel of Time with Rosamund Pike in it. As in Season 1, Season 2 has eight episodes full of conflict and magic. A third Season has been approved. Mildly entertaining. GRADE: B

I’ve read the entire Sean Duffy series: The Cold Cold Ground, I Hear the Sirens in the Street, and In the Morning I’ll Be Gone. You can read my reviews here and here. Then The Troubles Trilogy expanded to include Gun Street Girl, my review is here. Then Rain Dogs, review here. And Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly, review here.

The seventh book in the Sean Duffy series just showed up: The Detective Up Late. Throughout the book, Adrian McKinty hints that this might be Duffy’s last case. Duffy is a veteran Detective Inspector in Belfast, Ireland. The previous books in the series were all based in the 1980s, but The Detective Up Late opens with a new decade dawning.

Sean Duffy is an unconventional police officer. He’s educated and smart–which generates resentment from some of his fellow officers. Duffy investigates the possible murder of a teenage girl and the twists and turns of the case unearths a number of surprises. My favorite episode in The Detective Up Late occurs when Duffy and his squad are ambushed by a hit team armed with automatic weapons. McKinty knows how to write edge-of-your-seat action scenes!

In addition to Duffy’s literary references, his love of music pops up at various times in these novels. For example, “But if you’ve got a record player and you’ve got an album by Ella Fitzgerald, you’r going to change you mind about topping yourself.” (p. 248)

If you’re in the mood for an unorthodox police procedural with sparkling wit and intense action, The Detective Up Late will keep those pages turning! GRADE: B+

After the debacle in the Meadowlands on Monday Night football, the 0-1 Buffalo Bills face the 1-0 Raiders with Bills fans fired up for the Home Opener with hopes of redemption. The Bills are inexplicable 9 1/2 point favorites. How will your favorite NFL team perform today?

Diane and I drove over to the North Tonawanda Public Library and joined a dozen other Ann Patchett fans to watch a ZOOM interview of Ann Patchett with Shannon DeVito, Sr. Director, Book Strategy and Customer Experience at B&N and Miwa Messer, Executive Producer of B&N’s POURED OVER podcast.

The hour-long interview covered details of Patchett’s new novel, Tom Lake, which Diane had read (Diane’s read just about every book Ann Patchett has published). I enjoyed Patchett’s stories of how the novel came about (it actually started while she was finishing writing The Dutch House). Patchett also spoke about the impact of the Pandemic on the book and its characters. Patchett also choses the artwork for her novels. She and her husband were vacationing in Paris when she saw the painting that would become the cover of Tom Lake.

I wish I could include a link to this interview, but there’s none on the Barnes & Noble Book Club website. Ann Patchett mentioned how she asked Tom Hanks to do the audio book for The Dutch House and also asked Meryl Streep to narrate Tom Lake. “If you don’t ask, it won’t happen,” she advised. Are you an Ann Patchett fan? GRADE: A

Most readers of this blog are familiar with the collaborations of Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini especially The Running of the Beasts and Night Screams. But Malzberg. also collaborated on short stories with a number of other writers that editor of Collaborative Capers Robert Friedman selected for this new Stark House volume.

My favorite story in Collaborative Capers is “Approaching Sixty” (with Mike Resnick) where a gambler uses a religious text to help him pick winning horses at a race track. I also enjoyed “Beyond Mao” (with Paul Di Filippo) where a spooky resurrection could save or doom a Mars mission.

In the Introduction, Malzberg says collaboration produces a different dynamic in writing mode. This effect shows up in “Tourist Trap: A Companion Piece to Gene Wolfe’s ‘The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton'” (with Mike Resnick) where both writers meet the challenge.

Barry N. Malzberg displays his dazzling talents with these brilliant stories that blend the JFK assassination, race tracks, cryptic aliens, dormant Artificial Intelligence, war, and troubled peace. Don’t miss this mind-expanding collection! GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION by Robert Friedman and Barry N. Malzberg — 9

Pater Familias (with Kris Neville) — 14

Human Error (with Kris Neville) — 18

Getting Back (with Jeffrey W. Carpenter) — 21

Calling Collect (with Arthur L. Samuels) — 26

Bringing It Home (with Jack Dann) — 32

Blues and the Abstract Truth (with Jack Dann) — 37

Getting Up (with Jack Dann) — 43

Art Appreciation (with Jack Dann) — 52

Ghosts (with Mike Resnick) — 60

Thus, to the Stars (with Carter Schotz) — 66

1967: Letter stop the Wall (with Batya Swift Yasgur) — 71

Blessing the Last Family (with Batya Swift Yasgur) — 78

Things Primordial (with Batya Swift Yasgur) — 87

Job’s Partner (with Batya Swift Yasgur) — 96

Beyond Mao (with Paul Di Filippo) — 105

Aortic Insubordination (with Batya Swift Yasgur) — 119

The Starry Night (with Jack Dann) — 128

Faulkner’s Seesaw (with Jack Dann) — 138

Approaching Sixty (with Mike Resnick) — 143

The Art of Memory (with Jack Dann) — 148

The Man Who Murdered Mozart (with Robert Walton) –157

The Rapture (with Jack Dann) — 174

Tourist Trap (with Mike Resnick) — 188

Let the Games Begin (with Robert Friedman) — 192

BIBLIOGRAPHY — 204

A couple months ago Jeff Meyerson mentioned the Lucinda Williams series of cover albums. I immediately ordered them and as they arrived, I’ve been listening to them. The first CD I listened to was Bob’s Back Pages: a Night of Bob Dylan Songs: Lu’s Jukebox–The Studio Concert Series, Volume 3.

If you check out the Track List, you’ll see some familiar and some not so familiar Dylan songs. My favorite song on this album is “Not Dark Yet” (from Dylan’s 1997 Time Out of Mind CD). Lucinda Williams does a nice job singing “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry” and “Queen Jane Approximately.” I’m less enthralled by the more obscure Dylan songs like “Meet Me in the Morning” and “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven.”

I’ll be listening and reviewing the rest of Lucinda’s cover CDs in the months ahead. Are you a Dylan fan? Do you know these songs? GRADE: B

TRACKLIST:

A1		It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry Written-By – Bob Dylan	5:48
A2		Everything Is Broken Written-By – Bob Dylan	3:32
A3		Political World Written-By – Bob Dylan	8:21
B1		Man Of Peace Written-By – Bob Dylan	6:39
B2		Not Dark Yet Written-By – Bob Dylan	4:44
B3		Meet Me In The Morning Written-By – Bob Dylan	5:18
B4		Blind Willie McTell Written-By – Bob Dylan	5:23
C1		Tryin’ To Get To Heaven Written-By – Bob Dylan	5:07
C2		Queen Jane Approximately Written-By – Bob Dylan	5:09
C3		Idiot Wind Written-By – Bob Dylan	7:44
C4		Make You Feel My Love Written-By – Bob Dylan	4:26

I was in the mood for some faux-Sherlock Holmes stories and picked up the first Solar Pons volume published in 1974 by Pinnacle Books. The original volume was published in 1945.

I enjoyed “The Adventure of the lat Mr.Faversham” who disappears in his house and cannot be found. This is a clever variation of a Locked Room mystery.

“The Adventure of the Retired Novelist” concerns a novelist who is lured from his house by a bogus group. When the novelist returns home, he immediately contacts Solar Pons to investigate the purpose of the charade.

Unless you’re a hard-core Sherlock Holmes fan who loathes pastiches, these Solar Pons stories will delight you! GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

In Re: Solar Pons By Vincent Scarrlett — v

A Word From Dr. Lyndon Parker — x

The adventure of the frightened Baronet — 1

The adventure of the late Mr. Faversham — 28

The adventure of the black narcissus — 45

The adventure of the Norcross riddle — 60

The adventure of the retired novelist — 76

The adventure of the three red dwarfs — 90

The adventure of the Sotheby Salesman — 108

The adventure of the Purloined Peraipt — 137

The adventure of the limping man — 148

The adventure of the seven passengers — 174

The adventure of the lost holiday — 193

The adventure of the man with the broken face — 215

“Guys and Dolls is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” (1933) and “Blood Pressure”, which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, such as “Pick the Winner”. The show premiered on Broadway in 1950, where it ran for 1,200 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical has had several Broadway and London revivals, as well as a 1955 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, and Vivian Blaine. “

Diane and I saw a matinee performance of Guys and Dolls at the MusicalFare Theater. The local musical group put on an energetic show for the sold-out audience. The plot is silly: a floating crap game in New York City is threatened by a determined police officer. As the gamblers try to find a site for their game, a pretty missionary for the Salvation Army becomes a key factor in the game between the gamblers and the police.

“Bushel and a Peck” is the song I remember from my youth. And, “Luck Be a Lady.” The local actors belted out the songs and the audience responded with much applause. I would estimate the average age of the audience to be 80 years old.

Are you a fan of Broadway musicals? GRADE: B

The Buffalo Bills are 2 1/2 point favorites over the NY Jets in this game. The addition of Aaron Rodgers in the off-season fired up Jets fans to a frenzy level. Talk of going to the Super Bowl and winning it dominates many Sports Talk radio shows. Aaron Rodgers in 9-0 on Monday Night Football. This could be the toughest game the Bills will face this season. I’m picking the Bills…but I’ll be nervous this whole game!