This Berkley Books paperback from 1957 reprints 10 of the 32 stories appearing in the original 1950 Crown Books hardcover.

Several of the stories in The Big Book of Science Fiction fall into the “classic” category. The first story in the book is Clifford Simak’s “Desertion,” a key story in his City series. “Nobody Saw the Ship” is one of my favorite Murray Leinster stories about an alien invasion.

Probably the most famous story in this book is Fredric Brown’s “Arena” which became a fan favorite Star Trek episode where a human and an alien are forced to fight for survival. War is also at the heart of C. M. Kornbluth’s “The Only Thing We Learn.” The story that most surprised me was Fletcher Pratt’s “The Roger Bacon Formula” which resembles a LSD trip. The Big Book of Science Fiction is another Groff Conklin winner! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Desertion [City] (1944) by Clifford D. Simak — 7

Mewhu’s Jet (1946) by Theodore Sturgeon– 18

Nobody Saw the Ship (1950) by Murray Leinster — 52

The Wings of Night (1942) by Lester del Rey — 69

Arena (1944) by Fredric Brown — 86

The Roger Bacon Formula (1929) by Fletcher Pratt — 111

Forever and the Earth (1950) by Ray Bradbury — 126

The Miniature (1949) by John D. MacDonald — 141

Sanity (1944) by Fritz Leiber — 152

The Only Thing We Learn (1949) by C. M. Kornbluth — 167

This  post-apocalyptic drama is set in the twenty-first century after a virus has wiped out most of Earth’s population. Fewer than two million people had survived, and their descendants have all lost their sense of sight because of the disease. See takes place several centuries after the Pandemic where the survivors has found new ways to socially interact, build, hunt, and survive without vision. The concept of vision has become a myth and any mention of it is considered heresy.

Season Three of See will conclude the series. Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard try to defend their tribe from Queen Sibeth Kane (Sylvia Hooks), the ruler of the Payan Kingdom, a ruthless leader who murders anyone who stands in her way.

Apple TV+ has released two of the eight episodes. New episodes will be released each week. GRADE: Incomplete

John Mauceri is a conductor and served on the Yale University faculty for 15 years. Mauceri believes the dearth of classical music in the 20th Century was the result of war. The Nazis banned plenty of music and only authorized certain approved conductors and certain approved music be performed.

Stalin insisted that music must have a purpose in supporting the State. Both Stalin and Hitler’s actions sent many talented conductors, classical musicians, and composers to other countries. In the United States, many of the refugee composers found their way to Hollywood.

For much of the 20th Century, Mauceri shows film music was considered inferior to “Real Classical Music.” But, as time has passed, the film music of Korngold, Steiner, Tiomkin, and Rozsa grow in fame and popularity. Mauceri maps out the classical influences that contemporary film composers work with:

“However, it can be argued that, if there is indeed a ‘line’ of influence, one that accounts for the most heard symphonic music in history, that like would look something like: Wagner–Strauss/Mahler–Korngold/Steiner (Waxman, Tiomkin, Rozsa)–John Williams (Elmer Bernstein, Alex North, Bernard Herman, Jerry Goldsmith)–Howard Shore, Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, Alexandre Desalt, Nobuo Uematsu, Ramin Djawadi, and so on.” (p. 153-154)

If you’re a fan of film music, you’ll appreciate Mauceri’s survey of Hollywood music of the 20th Century. What’s your favorite Hollywood music composer? GRADE: A

Table of Contents:

Introduction 1

1 A View from 30,000 Feet 14

2 Brahms and Wagner: The Twilight of Two Gods 25

3 Stravinsky and Schoenberg: Overtures to the Great War 37

4 The Lure of Chaos 62

5 Hitler, Wagner, and the Poison from Within 73

6 Stalin and Mussolini Make Music 81

7 The Miracle of a Second Exodus 95

8 A New War, an Old Avant-Garde 114

9 A Cold War Defines Contemporary Music 128

10 Creating History and Erasing History 149

11 Of War and Loss 173

12 A Century Ends 180

Appendix: A Personal Diary 195

Notes 207

Acknowledgments 217

Index 219

Illustrations follow page 36

You might remember Chris Offutt’s father, Andy Offutt, a prolific Science Fiction and fantasy writer. Chris Offutt might not be as prolific as his father, but he’s a terrific writer. The Killing Hills (2021) introduces an Army CID agent stationed in Germany, Mick Hardin.

Hardin receives a message from his sister, a sheriff in a small Kentucky town called Rocksalt, asking for his help. Hardin takes a leave and flies home to help his sister investigate a murder of a local woman.

The social structure of rural Kentucky communities looms large in The Killing Hills. Hardin knows the various clans involved in the murder and uses his knowledge of generations of family secrets to uncover the motive behind the killing.

Rural life figuring in crime can be a compelling motif. I’m a huge fan of  Daniel Woodrell‘s Winter’s Bone. The Killing Hills captures the bleak life and violent nature of a hard-scrabble community. If you’re in a mood for mystery with roots in the Past, give The Killing Hills a try. GRADE: A-

Mick Hardin returns to Rocksalt, Kentucky on a medical rehab from injuries from an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). Mick’s sister is running for Sheriff and Mick helps a bit with her campaign. But when the body of a drug dealer is found, Mick is asked to investigate the murder by the dealer’s mother, Shifty.

The plot of Shifty’s Boys (2022) is pretty shifty, too. Offutt throws in some red herrings to lead you think the motive is one thing…but then it isn’t. For fans of Jack Reacher novels, Offutt provides an explosive conclusion worthy of the best of Lee Child. GRADE: A

Pulp Power, a 352-page coffee table book, displays over a 100 gorgeous pulp magazine covers in breath-taking color. In his Foreword, Frank Miller expounds on the impact pulp fiction characters like The Shadow, Doc Savage, Nick Carter, and others had on our contemporary writers and artists.

Neil McGinness provides insightful histories of The Shadow and Doc Savage. He also explores the illustrators like Jim Steranko and James Bana. Bana says, “I read all 62 Doc novels that I did the covers for. And the editors let me do whatever I wanted for the cover paintings. That’s why they were so good.” (p. 274)

I’ve looked at plenty of books about pulp magazines and their artwork, but Pulp Power is stunning! If you’re a fan of this genre, you need to check this out! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 Foreword — 8

Chapter 1. The Shadow — 12

Chapter 2. Doc Savage — 142

Chapter 3. The super crew — 224

Chapter 4. Paperback revolution — 268

Chapter 5. Comics evolution — 304

Chapter 6. A new future — 336

Acknowledgments — 350

Credits — 352

Some years stand out as Special. Looking back, 1967–the year I graduated from High School in June and started my college education at Marquette University in September–qualifies as a Special Year. I was also writing passionate letters to my girl friend each week. She would send me perfumed letters in return that became the envy of the guys on my dorm floor. Life just seemed sharp, intense, and vivid that year. Everything felt amped up…I never felt more Alive!

The carry-over of all that emotion extended to and influenced my music listening experience. I listened to a lot of music in 1967 and continued to buy vinyl albums. You’ll notice the absence of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and other British Invasion groups on this CD. They may not be represented on this TIME-LIFE CD but I was listening intently to all that music at the time, too.

Was 1967 a Special Year for you? Do you remember these songs? Any favorites? GRADE: A

TRACK LIST:

The subtitle of Gordon Van Gelder’s In Lands That Never Were is Tales of Swords and Sorcery From the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Van Gelder provides a mix of stories from the Very Famous, like Fritz Leiber’s iconic “Ill Met in Lankhmar” and Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp’s Conan tale, “The Hall of the Dead,” to more obscure stories like Yoon Ha Lee’s “Counting the Shapes.”

I enjoyed the Alaric story, “The Island in the Lake” by Phyllis Eisenstein, as the minstrel with the power to teleport becomes entangled in a Royal plot. Also fun is Jeffrey Ford’s “The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant” where a prolific Fantasy writer needs the help of his young assistant to regain touch with his invented World and its in habitants.

If you’re in the mood for some well-written fantasy stories full of adventure and thrills, give In the Lands That Never Were a try. GRADE: B+

Table of Contents:

Introduction — ix

Three weeks ago I started watching The Sandman on Netflix. I got through the first couple episodes (of 10 episodes) where The Sandman (aka, Dream) finally frees himself from over a century of confinement in the Waking World. Dream (Thomas Sturridge) returns to The Dreaming World and finds it in shambles because of his 106 year absence. With the help of Lucienne the Librarian (Vivienne Acheampong) and a raven (voiced by Patton Oswalt), Dream first seeks to recover his instruments of Power: his bag of Sand, his helm, and his ruby.

This seems like the beginning of a Quest, but the plot changes as new characters show up. The most menacing is The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), a Nightmare who has escaped the Dream World to spread death in the Waking World.

Then there’s Dream’s descent into Lucifer’s (Gwendoline Christie) realm of Hell. We learn about the other powerful entities: Desire, Death, Despair, and Delirium.

Several other plot lines pop up. The most compelling is the vortex that can destroy the Waking World and the Dream World. A young woman named Rose Walker seeks to find her brother, Jed, who is being abused by a foster family. But, The Corinthian seeks Rose Walker, too, to use her vortex power to free himself.

Like a dream, sometimes The Sandman doesn’t make sense, is confusing, and lacks coherence. Although the production values are very good, the rambling plots and shifty characters make this series a chore to watch. I wish Neil Gaiman wrote the script . GRADE: C

I enjoyed the first volume in this series, Booze & Vinyl (you can read my review here), so I was excited to see another volume celebrating 70 great albums and 140 new mixed drink recipes.

Booze & Vinyl 2 presents an album and then suggests a couple of mixed drink recipes to make the enjoyment of the music an even more exciting experience. For example, on pages 24-25, The Pretenders first album–cunningly titled The Pretenders–has a Chrissie Hynde song called “Brass in Pocket.” Here’s the recipe for the mixed-drink “Brass in Pocket”:

1 1/2 ounces light rum

1 ounce dry vermouth

3/4 ounce creme de cacao

Cherry, for garnish

Stir rum, vermouth, and creme de cacao with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

I also liked the choice for Janis Joplin’s album (p 8-9), Pearl: a
“SoCo Sangria”:

1 (750 ml) bottle dry white wine, chilled

4 ounces Southern Comfort

8 ounces ginger ale, chilled

Combine all ingredients in a pitcher. Serve in glasses over ice.

If you want to explore 70 wonderful albums and 140 delicious mixed drinks, check out Booze & Vinyl 2. Do you have a favorite drink? GRADE: A