This was the first collection of Robert Silverberg’s short stories to be published. I bought this ACE Double in 1962 and loved it. The stories were written early in Silverberg’s career, from 1954-1957. “Slaves of the Star Giants” is pure pulp as you can tell from the over-the-top title.  Lloyd Harkins finds himself mysteriously transported to a far future when civilization has collapsed. Mutated, primitive humans live underground in isolation. Ancient robots (check out the EMSH cover above) left over from the Time of Cities still roam the jungles randomly. Can a man from the Past save the Future?

From time to time, ACE would feature a Double devoted to one writer. On one side, the book would include a short novel–in this case it’s The Seed of Earth first published in Galaxy in 1962. “It’s a story of a group of individuals, selected randomly by a government-sponsored lottery, who are forced to leave Earth and establish a colony on a distant world. Once there, four of the colonists are abducted by the planet’s native inhabitants, and must put aside their differences and work together in order to survive.”

ACE Doubles in this format introduced a writer both through short stories and short novels they’d written. I had read several of Silverberg’s novels and stories before this one, but it remains one of my favorites–partly because of the cover artwork. Are you a fan of Robert Silverberg’s work? GRADE: B (for both the short stories and the short novel)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Slaves of the Star Giants • novella — 5
The Songs of Summer • short story — 48
Hopper • novelette — 66
Blaze of Glory • short story — 87
Warm Man • short story — 102

Last week, Netflix released five of the ten episodes of The Lincoln Lawyer, Season 2. The next five episodes will be released on August 3. I enjoyed The Lincoln Lawyer Season 1 (you can read my review here). The first season dealt with Mickey Haller’s (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) return to law after a lengthy absence and addiction to prescription painkillers. Haller is a clever lawyer, but his past continues to complicate his life.

As usual, Haller juggles several law cases at the same time. The big case is a murder trial where Haller is defending a chef, Lisa Trammel (Lana Parrilla), who owns her own restaurant who is accused of murdering a real estate developer. The events in The Lincoln Lawyer, Season 2 are based on Michael Connelly’s fourth Mickey Haller novel, The Fifth Witness (2011). Haller’s first ex-wife, Maggie (Neve Campbell), presents both opportunities and problems. The problems center around their teen-age daughter, Lisa.

And then there’s my favorite character, Lorna (Becki Newton), Mickey’s second ex-wife. Lorna is now running Mickey’s new office and pursuing her own law school degree. Lorna’s relationship with her fiancé Cisco (Angus Sampson), the firm’s investigator and former biker, becomes complicated as their wedding approaches. Cisco’s past now produces more problems.

I’ve watched the first five episodes and can’t wait until Netflix drops the next five episodes. GRADE: A

“On March 10, 1977…Roman Polanski brought Samatha Bailey to his friend Jack Nicholson’s house in the Hollywood Hills. He urged her into the Jacuzzi, encouraged her to strip, gave her a Quaalude, followed her to where she sat on a couch, penetrated her, shifted his position, penetrated her anally, ejaculated. All of these details piled up, but I was left with a simple fact: anal rape of a thirteen-year-old.” (p. 3)

Claire Dederer explores a question that has been raised on this blog occasionally–most incisively by Deb–how can you enjoy a novel, painting, movie, or sculpture when you know the artist is a monster? Dederer starts with Roman Polanski and moves on to Woody Allen, Michael Jackson, the anti-LGBTQ+ stance of J. K. Rowling, and other Big Name artists.

Dederer brings up Doris Lessing–who abandoned two of her children–and Joni Mitchell who sings about her child on Blue. The various mis-deeds of Raymond Carver and Miles Davis concludes Dederer’s study.

Artists are not saints. Dederer wonders if she’s a monster because she loves some of the movies, novels, paintings, and music created by people who have done some Bad Things.

In her brilliant comment on Michael Dirda’s article “predicting” writers who would stay relevant, Deb pretty much nails the crux of this dilemma:

“As for Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, it will be interesting to see how future critical opinion addresses ongoing accusations of misogyny, sexism and racism in their work.
Years ago, I remember posting something to the effect that now humanities majors were so often women rather than men, male authors who had been utter pigs toward women in their personal lives (regardless of their perceived liberal political outlooks) would not fare well in posterity. No one want to read the books of a man who almost stabbed his wife to death (Mailer) or was serially unfaithful (Bellow) or who served his wife with a petty itemized list of reimbursements he expected from her, including the down payment for her car (Roth). Women don’t want to waste their time reading books written by men like that.
I may have been on to something.”

What do you think? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Prologue: The Child Rapist: Roman Polanski — 3
• Roll Call: Woody Allen — 14
• The Stain: Michael Jackson — 40
• The Fan: J. K. Rowling — 51
• The Critic: Clare Dederer — 61
• The Genius: Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway — 81
• The Anti-Semite, the Racist, and the Problem of Time: Richard Wagner, Virginia Woolf, Willa Cather — 112
• The Anti-Monster: Vladimir Nabokov — 134
• The Silencer and the Silenced: Carl Andre, Ana Medieta — 151
• Am I a Monster? — 160
• Abandoning Mothers: Doris Lessing, Joni Mitchell — 175
• Lady Lazarus: Valerie Solana’s, Sylvia Plath – 210
• Drunks: Raymond Carver — 225
• The Beloveds: Miles Davis — 243
• Acknowledgments — 259
• Notes — 261

Matthew Hughes frequently channels Jack Vance and writes stories and novels that capture the style and substance of Vance’s classic Dying Earth series. Hughes’s latest novel, The Ghost-Wrangler, deals with some dark issues that cloud the far, far future.

Galabras Nachecko is a necromancer who controls two spirits who serve to deliver him information that he can sell like “Where did I lose my wallet?” or “Is my husband seeing another woman?” But, it’s Nachecko’s ability to discover secrets that leads him into the orbit of the ruling Duke Simisson whose treacherous seneschal demands Nachecko capture the ghost of an executed land pirate…or else! While Nachecko successfully captures the ghost, the secrets he learns sends him on a dangerous mission as an unlikely secret agent to learn even more secrets.

Nachecko’s adventures are perfect Summer Reading for those who enjoy the exploits of mad wizards, demons, and powerful rulers who complicate the life of a necromancer. GRADE: B

Disney+ series based on STAR WARS and MARVEL have mixed reviews. Of course, The Mandalorian was a big hit. I really liked Loki. And WandaVision. I didn’t get excited about Moon Knight.

Secret Invasion is a six-episode series starring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Fury has been working with the Skrulls–an alien race of shapeshifters–but one of the Skrulls has decided to take over the Earth. Part spy thriller, part conspiracy drama, Secret Invasion spends too much time in dark alleys in Moscow and abandoned nuclear sites in Russia.

It’s hard to believe a bearded and aging Nick Fury can handle this massive threat. Kingsley Ben-Adir plays the scary Skrull, Gravik. Gravik has no problem killing people and blowing stuff up.

Olivia Colman is my favorite character. She plays an high-ranking MI6 agent and a friend of Nick Fury, but has her own agenda in protecting the UK’s national security interests. I would dump Jackson and let Olivia Colman run the whole operation. So far, Secret Invasion is a dud. GRADE: C

Leo P. Kelley (no relation) was a Science Fiction writer who edited three “academic” anthologies (see below) for McGraw-Hill. In the early 1970s, many colleges and universities started offering courses in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Some editor at McGraw-Hill saw the opportunity to create a series of textbooks for students taking those courses.

Kelley delivered an anthology of 32 stories with a “contemporary” feel. Most of the stories were published in the 1960s. There are a few stories from the 1950s and a couple from the 1970s.

Obviously, Kelley decided to skip the “historical” approach to SF–no Heinlein, no Van Vogt–and concentrated on stories students might enjoy. The most “classic” of these stories is Tom Godwin’s “The Cold Equations” from 1954.

Big Name writers like Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Harlan Ellison are included. Newcomers like Gene Wolfe, Carol Carr, Norman Spinrad, Charles Platt, and Dean R. Koontz point toward the Future.

Kelley includes some of my favorite writers: Fritz Leiber, Keith Laumer, Chad Oliver, Fredric Brown, Poul Anderson, Richard Matheson, Fred Saberhagen, C.M.Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl.

Other publishers got into the SF textbook market with more traditional chronological anthologies. Themes in Science Fiction provides short stories that are still fun to read today! Do you recognize some of these stories? Any favorites? Did you ever take a SF course in College? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• 3 • The Last of the Romany • (1963) • short story by Norman Spinrad
• 14 • The Total Experience Kick • (1966) • short story by Charles Platt
• 28 • Shortstack • [Willy Shorts] • (1964) • novelette by Leigh Richmond and Walt Richmond
• 47 • Far from This Earth • (1970) • short story by Chad Oliver
• 63 • Maelstrom II • (1965) • short story by Arthur C. Clarke
• 76 • Founding Father • (1965) • short story by Isaac Asimov
• 82 • Holdout • (1957) • short story by Robert Sheckley
• 93 • The Cold Equations • [Cold Equations (Godwin)] • (1954) • novelette by Tom Godwin
• 119 • The Father-Thing • (1954) • short story by Philip K. Dick
• 131 • The Silk and the Song • (1956) • novelette by Charles L. Fontenay
• 155 • Eyebem • (1970) • short story by Gene Wolfe
• 165 • Puppet Show • (1962) • short story by Fredric Brown
• 174 • Look, You Think You’ve Got Troubles • (1969) • short story by Carol Carr
• 187 • Young Girl at an Open Half-Door • (1968) • short story by Fred Saberhagen
• 196 • The Man Who Came Early • (1956) • novelette by Poul Anderson
• 219 • Soldier • (1967) • short fiction by Harlan Ellison
• 239 • The Good Provider • (1952) • short story by Marion Gross
• 247 • A Message from Charity • (1967) • short story by William M. Lee
• 266 • Witch War • (1951) • short story by Richard Matheson
• 271 • Gomez • (1954) • novelette by C. M. Kornbluth
• 294 • Muse • (1969) • short story by Dean R. Koontz
• 307 • The World of Myrion Flowers • (1961) • short story by C. M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl
• 313 • X Marks the Pedwalk • (1963) • short story by Fritz Leiber
• 318 • EPICAC • (1950) • short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
• 325 • The Last Command • [Bolo] • (1967) • short story by Keith Laumer
• 343 • Lost Memory • (1952) • short story by Peter Phillips
• 357 • The Survivor • (1965) • novelette by Walter F. Moudy
• 383 • The Post-Mortem People • (1966) • short story by Peter Tate
• 398 • The Travelin’ Man • (1970) • short story by Leo P. Kelley
• 409 • One Love Have I • (1955) • short story by Robert F. Young
• 424 • Who Shall Dwell • (1962) • short story by H. C. Neal

MCGRAW-HILL ANTHOLOGIES EDITED BY LEO P. KELLEY:

• The Supernatural in Fiction (1973)
• Fantasy: The Literature of the Marvelous (1974)
• Themes in Science Fiction (1972)

I’ve been listening to a couple of Greatest Hits CDs from the 1990s. Heart toured extensively in the 1980s when their videos were popular on MTV. Bob Seger and his band showed up in Western NY just a few years ago, Pre-Pandemic. Their show was sold-out.

The glaring omission on Heart–Greatest HIts/Live is the absence of “These Dreams,” one of Heart’s biggest hits. Otherwise, this CD has most of their hits: “Barracuda,” “Crazy On You,” “Dreamboat Annie,” “Dog & Butterfly,” and “Magic Man.” Plus some filler.

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band/Greatest Hits (1994) has “Like a Rock,” best known for being featured in Chevrolet truck commercials throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. I love “Night Moves” and “We’ve Got Tonight.”

Are you a fan of Heart or Bob Seger? Do you remember these songs? Any favorites? GRADE: B (for both)

TRACK LIST:

TRACK LIST:

AA

Lawrence Block’s latest theme anthology from Subterranean Press just arrived. All the stories involve games. Patti Abbott’s “Seek and You will Find” concerns a menacing twist on that classic game. “Paladin” by Tod Goldberg takes Dungeons and Dragons to a murderous level.

My favorite story in Playing Games is “Red Billie” by Joe R. Lansdale. An unusual girl moves into town and challenges the boys to a game of marbles. Needless to say, she beats them all. But, more than marbles are at stake as Lansdale slowly reveals who the girl really is.

Robert Silverberg’s “A Tip on a Turtle” features a man who wins every bet. “Chance” by Wallace Stroby involves Russian Roulette. And Lawrence Block closes the anthology with a cunning variation on a classic story with “Strangers on a Handball Court.” I’ve enjoyed all of Lawrence Block’s anthologies. Playing Games is one of his best. GRADE: B+

Table of Contents:

• Shut Up and Deal (an introduction) — Lawrence Block — 9
• Seek and You Will Find — Patricia Abbott — 13
• Game Over — Charles Ardai — 31
• King’s Row — S. A. Cosby — 49
• The Babysitter — Jeffery Deaver — 59
• Paladin — Tod Goldberg — 91
• Psychiatrist — Jane Hamilton — 117
• Knock — James D. F. Hannah — 133
• With the Right Bait — Gar Anthony Haywood — 147
• Two Norths, Two Souths, Two East, Two West, Two Reds, Two Whites, and Two Greens — Elaine Kagan — 163
• A Crokinole Tale — Avri Klemer — 189
• Red Billie — Joe R. Lansdale — 203
• Lightning Round — Warren Moore — 225
• The Puzzle Master — David Morrell — 237
• Challenge Cube — Kevin Quigley — 249
• A Tip on a Turtle — Robert Silverberg — 267
• Chance — Wallace Stroby — 295
• Strangers on a Handball Court — Lawrence Block — 307
• ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS — 321

Randall Kennedy, the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School, presents 29 essays on race in the United States in Say It Loud! My favorite essay is “Why Clarence Thomas Ought to Be Ostracized.” Kennedy criticizes Clarence Thomas and his performance on the Supreme Court over 30 years. The recent revelations of Clarence Thomas and his wife getting millions of dollars of free trips from a conservative billionaire doesn’t help matters. The same with Justice Samuel  Alito. This week’s Supreme Court rulings striking down Affirmative Action and debt relief for students just shows how out-of-touch the six conservative Justices are.

The strength of Say It Loud! focuses on various civil rights leaders who moved the nation and motivated change. I learned more about Frederick Douglass and Thurgood Marshall. But Kennedy doesn’t stop there; he writes about other, less famous, figures in the civil rights struggle like Anthony Burns, Eric Foner, Charles Hamilton Houston, Isaac Woodard, J. Waties Waring, and J. Skelly Wright.

I found Say It Loud! informative and compelling. Racial issues need to be addressed. Trump exacerbated the tensions among races in the United States. We need to work together to change the precipitous course our country is on. What do you think? GRADE: A

Table of Contents:

Preface xi

1. Shall We Overcome? Optimism and Pessimism in African American Racial Thought 3
2. Derrick Bell and Me 31
3. The George Floyd Moment: Promise and Peril 77
4. Isabel Wilkerson, the Election of 2020, and Racial Caste 84
5. The Princeton Ultimatum: Antiracism Gone Awry 93
6. How Black Students Brought the Constitution to Campus 103
7. Race and the Politics of Memorialization 112
8. The Politics of Black Respectability 123
9. Policing Racial Solidarity 138
10. Why Clarence Thomas Ought to Be Ostracized 147
11. Say It Loud! On Racial Shame, Pride, Kinship, and Other Problems 155
12. The Struggle for Collective Naming 172
13. The Struggle for Personal Naming 196
14. “Nigger”: The Strange Career Continues 210
15. Should We Admire Nat Turner? 217
16. Frederick Douglass: Everyone’s Hero 233
17. Anthony Burns and the Terrible Relevancy of the Fugitive Slave Act 240
18. Eric Foner and the Unfinished Mission of Reconstruction 255
19. Charles Hamilton Houston: The Lawyer as Social Engineer 272
20. Remembering Thurgood Marshall 284
21. Isaac Woodard and the Education of J. Waties Waring 321
22. J. Skelly Wright: Up from Racism 331
23. On Cussing Out White Liberals: The Case of Philip Elman 342
24. The Civil Rights Act Did Make a Difference! 352
25. Black Power Hagiography 368
26. The Constitutional Roots of “Birtherism” 390
27. Inequality and the Supreme Court 395
28. Brown as Senior Citizen 410
29. Racial Promised Lands? 425

Acknowledgments 449
Notes 451
Index 490