I’m wrapping up MARS WEEK with this science fiction scary story, The Last Days on Mars. Liev Schreiber is part of a Mars expedition that’s about to rotate back to Earth. One of the team ignores orders and goes out of the dome to check samples before a massive Mars sandstorm hits. Of course, things go terribly wrong. The astronaut gets inflected by Mars bacteria that turns him into a murderous monster. Other members of the team make boneheaded decisions and–oops, they’re infected, too! More monsters than astronauts is the scary result. Liev Schreiber and his girl friend take one of the Mars vehicles and head for the rendezvous point with the replacement team that’s about to land. You can guess how that turned out. The Last Days on Mars holds few surprises, but I enjoyed Live Schreiber’s performance and the scenes of the Red Planet alive with ghouls. Hope you enjoyed MARS WEEK! Things come back to Earth tomorrow. GRADE: B

Alex Lomax is the only private eye on Mars. And, he gets some very odd cases. A wife hires Lomax to find her husband. You would think that would be easy given that the Mars colony is small. Lomax finds the husband, but that opens an entire Pandora’s Box of trouble. There’s also the case of the missing Martian fossils. Two Terrans found a mother-lode of valuable Martian fossils, but refused to tell anyone where the treasures were located. And, then, the two prospectors died. If you’re in the mood for a blend of private eye fiction set in a Mars colony, Robert J. Sawyer’s Red Planet Blues will keep you entertained for a few hours. GRADE: B+

Michael Moorcock, in his fine introduction to Martian Quest, calls Leigh Brackett the “Queen of Martian Mysteries.” I agree completely with Moorcock’s assessment. Leigh Brackett wrote some great Martian novels like Shadow Over Mars (aka, Nemesis From Terra) and The Ark of Mars (aka, Alpha Centauri or Die!). Brackett’s Eric John Stark adventures, The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman, make up one of my favorite ACE Doubles. The other stories in Martian Quest take the reader all over the Solar System, but the best stories deal with Mars. If you’re looking for intelligent High Adventure, I highly recommend Leigh Brackett’s Mars stories!
Table of Contents
“Queen of the Martian Mysteries” by Michael Moorcock
“Martian Quest” (Astounding Stories, Feb ’40)
“The Treasure of Ptakuth” (Astounding Stories, Apr ’40)
“The Tapestry Gate” (Strange Stories, Aug ’40)
“The Stellar Legion” (Planet Stories, Win ’40)
“The Demons of Darkside” (Startling Stories, Jan ’41)
“Water Pirate” (Super Science Stories, Jan ’41)
“Interplanetary Reporter” (Startling Stories, May ’41)
“The Dragon-Queen of Venus” (Planet Stories, Sum ’41)
“Lord of the Earthquake” (Science Fiction, Jun ’41)
“No Man’s Land in Space” (Amazing Stories, Jul ’41)
“A World is Born” (Comet, Jul ’41)
“Retreat to the Stars” (Planet Stories, Nov ’41)
“Child of the Green Light” (Super Science Stories, Feb ’42)
“The Sorcerer of Rhiannon” (Astounding Stories, Feb ’42)
“Child of the Sun” (Astonishing Stories, Spr ’42)
“Out of the Sea” (Astonishing Stories, Jun ’42)
“Cube from Space” (Super Science Stories, Aug ’42)
“Outpost on Io” (Planet Stories, Win ’42)
“The Halfling” (Astonishing Stories, Feb ’43)
“The Citadel of Lost Ships” (Planet Stories, Mar ’43)
Meet the Author­­ by Leigh Brackett (Amazing Stories, Jul ’41)

Back in 1972, The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars hit the music scene with the force of a neutron bomb. Ziggy Stardust was David Bowie’s 5th album. It is a concept album where Bowie plays a bisexual rock star who is a messenger for extraterrestrial aliens. Many critics consider Ziggy Stardust as the album that launched the “Glam Rock” era of the Seventies. Rolling Stone ranked Ziggy Stardust as the 35th best album ever released. The 40th Anniversary CD includes extra tracks. I think this album has one of the best titles ever! What’s your favorite David Bowie song? For me, it’s a tie between “China Girl” and “Under Pressure” (with Queen).
TRACK LIST:
1 Five Years (4:43)
2 Soul Love (3:33)
3 Moonage Daydream (4:39)
4 Starman (4:13)
5 It Ain’t Easy (2:57)
6 Lady Stardust (3:21)
7 Star (2:46)
8 Hang on to Yourself (2:38)
9 Ziggy Stardust (3:13)
10 Suffragette City (3:25)
11 Rock & Roll Suicide (2:58)

The Emperess in The Empress of Mars is a bar. In fact, the Empress is the only bar on Mars. It’s run by Mary Griffin and her two beautiful daughters. Corporate interests try to manipulate the outcasts and eccentrics who make up most of the Mars colonists. Kage Baker creates an ensemble cast of quirky characters who out-fox the bureaucratic powers and stamp their independent ways on the Mars colony. I lift my glass of sweet red wine (doctor’s orders) to Kage Baker and her engaging, rag-tag group at the Empress of Mars. I have a feeling we would all fit right in. GRADE: B+

Total Recall 2070 pursues the same themes that the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie had: the manipulation of memory, the creation of false memories, and the impact of intelligent androids on humans. Like the movie version, this TV series is based on Philip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” and by Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. This 1999 series first appeared on Canadian TV and then on SHOWTIME. Detective David Hume (played by Keanu Reeves clone Michael Easton) and his android partner, Ian Farve (Karl Pruner) investigate murders and conspiracies involving androids and memory manipulation. All 22 episodes are included in this box set of DVDs. If you’re a fan of the original movie, Mars, and Philip K. Dick you’ll enjoy this quirky series.
Episode/ First airdate/ Plot
1. “Machine Dreams” (part 1) January 5, 1999 David Hume and his new partner Ian Farve must track down a gang of androids. To be continued…
2. “Machine Dreams” (part 2) January 12, 1999 The detectives’ hunt for the androids takes them to Mars.
3. “Self-Inflicted” February 2, 1999 CPB investigates a potential biohazard situation.
4. “Infiltration” February 16, 1999 Hume and Farve investigate the murder of an Uber-Braun employee.
5. “Allure” February 9, 1999 Hume investigates a puzzling suicide.
6. “Nothing Like the Real Thing” January 19, 1999 A motiveless murder leads Hume to investigate black-market memory implants.
7. “Rough Whimper of Insanity” February 23, 1999 Farve starts behaving erratically.
8. “First Wave” March 2, 1999 The CPB computer network goes haywire.
9. “Baby Lottery” March 9, 1999 A baby is taken from his parents because of a genetic disposition towards crime.
10. “Brain Fever” March 16, 1999 The head of the Mars Miners Union is shot by a member who then attempts to kill himself.
11. “Begotten Not Made” March 23, 1999 Dr. Latham is starting to cooperate, when a lawyer from Rekall shows up demands his release.
12. “Brightness Falls” March 30, 1999 Farve and Moralez investigate the death of a cult leader.
13. “Burning Desire” April 6, 1999 CPB investigates the death of a man who was fried in his sublimator.
14. “Astral Projections” April 13, 1999 Hume and Farve investigate a cargo transport that went down in the freezing “New Territories”.
15. “Paranoid” April 20, 1999 Farve and Hume investigate the murder of the head of the Nexus dating service.
16. “Restitution” April 27, 1999 Brant is kidnapped on his way to a Mars safe house.
17. “Bones Beneath My Skin” May 4, 1999 Farve and Hume investigate the destruction of an android at a chemical company.
18. “Assessment” May 11, 1999 Farve and Hume are ambushed and captured by a rogue section of the assessor’s office.
19. “Eye Witness” May 18, 1999 Olivia finds a friend’s rich husband standing over a bloody corpse.
20. “Personal Effects” May 25, 1999 Olan decides to keep a vial found on a corpse in a crashed shuttle out of her report.
21. “Virtual Justice” June 1, 1999 After witnessing a fellow cop kill a cornered prison escapee, Hume looks into the dead man’s case.
22. “Meet My Maker” June 8, 1999 Farve takes Hume to meet the alpha-android’s creator.

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