At a certain point in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Roger Zelazny became my favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy writer. Zelazny won six Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards so I wasn’t alone in considering him a wonderful writer.

But, as so often happens, I couldn’t keep up with Zelazny’s output. And, other writers nudged Zelazny from my Top Spot so I still bought his books…but didn’t get around to reading many of them. That’s the case with Changeling (1980) and Madwand (1981). Some critics thought Zelazny was going to launch another series like his famous Amber series with these two novels. But whatever the reason, these two books remain alone.

Changeling begins with a battle. The sorcerer of Rondoval faces defeat and death. His wife, Lady Lydia, flees while leaving her infant son, Pol. When the baby is discovered, some of the soldiers suggest killing the child. But the victorious sorcerer, Mor, decides to exile the baby to an alternate Earth (ours). However, Magic demands a balance so Mor travels to Earth with baby Pol and exchanges the infant with another infant named Mark.

As time passes, Pol grows up in a technological society where his magic powers disrupts the workings of all machinery–much to the frustration of his computer using father. Meanwhile, Mark grows up on a farm in the magic world and begins to invent useful items–which are not appreciated by the villagers. As you might guess, Changeling ends up with a battle between Mark and Pol. GRADE: B

Madwand continues Pol’s story as he attempts to learn about his past and master the magic arts. I found this sequel lacking in the intensity of the original novel. GRADE: C+

Last week I posted about Southern Rock Classics, Volume 2 (you can read my review here). The Allman Brothers Band received accolades for their songs on the compilation CD so I decided to dig out my 20th Century Masters: The Best of the Allman Brothers Band, The Millennium Collection (2000) and listen to it again.

The Allman Brothers Band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson (drums). Subsequently, based in Macon, Georgia, The Allman Brothers Band incorporated elements of blues, jazz, and country music. Their popular live shows featured improvisation and instrumentals.

Group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971.  Bassist Berry Oakley died one year and 13 days later on November 11, 1972 in a similar motorcycle accident. Butch Trucks died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on January 24, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 69. Gregg Allman died from complications arising from liver cancer on May 27, 2017, at his home in Georgia, also at the age of 69.

The Allman Brothers Band has been awarded seven gold and four platinum albums, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004. Great band, great music, tragic history. GRADE: A

TRACKLIST:

		Whipping Post	5:16
		Dreams	7:16
		Revival	4:03
		Midnight Rider	2:57
		Hot ‘Lanta	5:19
		Melissa	3:54
		Stand Back	3:24
		Blue Sky	5:09
		Ramblin’ Man	4:48
		Jessica	7:28
		Crazy Love	3:43

Jack Vance’s Galactic Effectuator (1980) contains the novella “The Dogtown Tourist Agency” and the novelette “Freitzke’s Turn.” Both stories feature an intergalactic sleuth, Miro Hetzel, who uses his keen intelligence to pursue unusual, challenging cases.

Miro Hetzel is hired by the head of Palladian Micronics to investigate a mysterious company, Instagam, who is suspiciously manufacturing goods at a cut-rate price. Hetzel accepts the case and travels to the planet of Maz where he finds treachery and skullduggery.

Hetzel investigates a plan to deliver weapons to the warlike, primitive “Gomaz” race on Maz in return for…something strange. Jack Vance is at the top of his game in “The Dogtown Tourist Agency.” GRADE: A

“Freitzke’s Turn” concerns Miro Hetzel taking on a case for Conwit Clent, who has had his testicles stolen by a rogue doctor. Some critics have suggested “Freitzke’s Turn” was a a loose sketch of what would become The Book of Dreams seven years later. GRADE: B

Weird westerns emerged as a genre mashup with Science Fiction, horror, and westerns thrown into a literary blender. In Outer Range, James Brolin plays Royal Abbott, a Wyoming cattle man trying to keep his struggling ranch afloat. But Royal Abbott harbors two Big Secrets.

Imogen Potts plays Amy, a strange wanderer who camps on Royal Abbott’s land. Amy holds a lot of secrets, too.

And the under-rated Will Patton plays the wealthy ranching neighbor who wants Royal’s West Pasture any way he can finagle it. So far, this seems like a conventional contemporary western.

But Royal discovers something in his West Pasture that upends everything: a circular hole about 100 feet in diameter…that’s a time tunnel.

My major complaint about Outer Range concerns its glacial pacing. I watched all 8 hours and realized the plot–after all the filler (love story, murder, various social and church gatherings)–could have been told in 2 episodes. And, of course, Outer Range ends with several cliffhangers so a Second Season seems likely. I’m not sure I’ll watch it.

Oscar Isaac stars as Marc Spector / Moon Knight and Steven Grant / Mr. Knight, two alternative personalities of a man with dissociative identity disorder (DID). Marc Spector has bound himself in service to the Egyptian Moon God, Khonshu, as his avatar.

Ethan Hawke plays Arthur Harrow: a religious zealot and cult leader associated with the Egyptian goddess Ammit looking to exact justice and judgement based on future crimes. Harrow was Khonshu’s previous avatar before Spector.  

So basically it’s a fight between Marc Spector and Arthur Harrow with wimpy Steven Grant thrown in for comic relief. Once again, there’s a lot of filler in these episodes. I’m not sure I would watch a Second Season of Moon Knight if there is one. So, here are two misses. Are you disappointed in the quality of programming on some of the streaming services? GRADE: C (for both)

I’ve enjoyed Salman Rushdie’s work from Midnight’s Children to The Satanic Verses. Languages of Truth collects Rushdie’s essays written in the 21st Century so far. In Part 1, Rushdie writes about his development as a writer, which writers influenced him, and how his writing career changed over the decades.

My favorite section of Languages of Truth is Part 2. Rushdie’s essay on Philip Roth is brilliant. He praises Michael’s favorite Roth novel, Sabbath’s Theater, and discusses Roth’s oeuvre in detail. “Kurt Vonnegut and Slaughterhouse-Five” puts that great novel into context. Writing about his friend, Harold Pinter, Rushdie’s insights into the 2005 Nobel Prize winner’s work illuminated them for me. Pinter had some harsh comments on today’s language:

“…language becomes a permanent masquerade, a tapestry of lies. The ruthless and cynical mutilation and degradation of human beings, both in spirit and body…these actions are justified by rhetorical gambits, sterile terminology and concepts of power which stink.” (p. 137)

The rest of Rushdie’s essays include reviews, interviews, and the assorted writing he did for various magazines. The quality varies. If you’re looking for thoughtful and well written essays, I recommend Languages of Truth. GRADE: B+

Table of Contents:

Part 1

Wonder Tales 3

Proteus 30

Heraclitus 47

Another Writer’s Beginnings 62

Part 2

Philip Roth 85

Kurt Vonnegut and Slaughterhouse-Five 101

Samuel Beckett’s Novels 111

Cervantes and Shakespeare 117

Gabo and I 120

Harold Pinter (1930-2008) 133

Introduction to the Paris Review Interviews, Vol. IV 143

Autobiography and the Novel 148

Adaptation 166

Notes on Sloth: From Saligia to oblomov 183

Hans Christian Andersen 195

King of the World by David Remnick 199

Very Well Then I Contradict Myself 205

Part 3

Truth 211

Courage 215

Texts for Pen 220

1 The Pen and the Sword 220

2 The Birth of Pen World Voices 224

3 The Arthur Miller Lecture, 2012 226

4 Pen World Voices Opening Night 2014 230

5 Pen World Voices Opening Night 2017 234

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) 237

The Liberty Instinct 243

Osama Bin Laden 257

AI Weiwei and Others 261

The Half-Woman God 265

Nova Southeastern University Commencement Address, 2006 274

Emory University Commencement Address, 2015 279

Part 4

The Composite Artist: The Emperor Akbar and the Making of the Hamzanama 285

Amrita sher-Gil: Letters 302

Bhupen Khakhar (1934-2003) 309

Being Francesco Clemente: Self-Portraits, Gagosian Gallery, London, 2005 312

Taryn Simon: An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, Whitney Museum, New York, 2007 319

Kara Walker at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2009 325

Sebastião Salgado 328

The Unbeliever’s Christmas 331

Carrie Fisher 335

Pandemic: A Personal Engagement with the Coronavirus 339

The Proust Questionnaire: Vanity Fair 351

About These Texts 353

It’s been six years since the first Doctor Strange movie showed up at theaters (you can read my review here) so the packed AMC theater audience who watched Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness might have felt–like I did–that this movie didn’t feel like a sequel to the first Doctor Strange movie.

Of course, a lot happened in those six years: Infinity War, Endgame, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. In addition, for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to make any sense, you need to know about the happenings of Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff (aka, The Scarlet Witch) in WandaVision (you can read my review here), the nine-episode Disney+ series.

Director Sam Raimi has a lot of balls to juggle in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which is filled with cameos. So Raimi can be forgiven for not developing the character of America Chavez (Xochiti Gomez) who is the object of the chases across the Multiverse because of her powers to access those worlds. Screenwriter Michael Waldron tries to makes sense of the mishmash of alternative worlds and dimensions but at times it’s a losing battle. How do you deal with Infinity?

I love Rachel McAdams (and so does Doctor Strange in all the Multiverse worlds) but she doesn’t get much to do in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has a crowded stage.

What saves Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness from interdimensional chaos is Benedict Cumberbatch’s skill in the role of the Master of Mystic Arts. Much of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness dwells on serious questions, but Benedict Cumberbatch manages to inject levity at key moments in this movie to bring the audience back from the ledge. I’m looking forward to the next Doctor Strange movie that shouldn’t be so encumbered by so much Marvel baggage. GRADE: B

Although I’m not familiar with Victor Contoski, I loved his chess story, “Von Goom’s Gambit.” Very clever and very memorable! I am familiar with Ron Goulart (who died on January 14, 2022 at the age of 89) and I had read his Max Kearny story, “Fill in the Blank” (my review is here). I’d also read several Russell Kirk stories, but not “Balgrummo’s Hell.” This excellent story made me want to drop everything and read more Russell Kirk stories! It’s a tale of a theft gone wrong…terribly wrong!

Fritz Leiber’s “The Inner Circles” should be better known along with Samuel R. Delany’s “Corona.” Loved the Gahan Wilson cartoons, too! Another solid anthology from Edward L. Ferman! GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• 9 • Introduction (The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 17) • (1968) • essay by Edward L. Ferman
• 13 • Cyprian’s Room • (1967) • novelette by Frances Oliver [as by Monica Sterba]
• 37 • Out of Time, Out of Place • (1967) • short story by George Collyn
• 53 • Von Goom’s Gambit • (1966) • short story by Victor Contoski
• 59 • Bumberboom • (1966) • novelette by Avram Davidson
• 97 • Fill in the Blank • [Max Kearny] • (1967) • short story by Ron Goulart
• 113 • Balgrummo’s Hell • (1967) • short story by Russell Kirk
• 133 • Corona • (1967) • short story by Samuel R. Delany
• 153 • The Inner Circles • (1967) • short story by Fritz Leiber (variant of The Winter Flies)
• 169 • Problems of Creativeness • (1967) • novelette by Thomas M. Disch
• 193 • Encounter in the Past • (1967) • short story by Robert Nathan
• 201 • The Sea Change • (1967) • short story by Arthur Jean Cox [as by Jean Cox]
• 219 • The Devil and Democracy • [Devil & Belphagor • 1] • (1966) • short story by Brian Cleeve
• 235 • Randy’s Syndrome • (1967) • novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
• [257] •  Cartoon: “You can tell she’s thinking it over!” • (1967) • interior artwork by Gahan Wilson
• [258] •  Cartoon: “Ding dong the witch is dead!” • (1967) • interior artwork by Gahan Wilson
• [259] •  Cartoon: “It’s the one attack the country wasn’t prepared for, Mr. President!” • (1967) • interior artwork by Gahan Wilson

I’ve had this music CD since 2001 when it was first released but it only took me 21 years to get around to playing it. I’ve always been fond of The Allman Brothers Band’s “Angeline” and “Straight From the Heart.” 38 Special has always been underrated so I was glad that the compilers of this collection included two of their songs, “Caught Up In You” and “If I’d Been The One.” Lynyrd Skynyrd had two of their songs included, too: “Free Bird” and “You Got That Right.”

Of all the songs on this CD, the one song that Sirius/XM Radio plays frequently is Altanta Rhythm Section’s “So Into You.” Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+

TRACKLIST:

1	The Allman Brothers Band–	Angeline
2	Lynyrd Skynyrd–	You Got That Right
3	Atlanta Rhythm Section–	So Into You
4	The Outlaws*–	Hurry Sundown
5	38 Special (2)–	Caught Up In You
6	The Allman Brothers Band–	Straight From The Heart
7	Atlanta Rhythm Section–	Imaginary Lover
8	38 Special (2)–	If I’d Been The One
9	The Outlaws*–	Green Grass and High Tides
10	Lynyrd Skynyrd–	Free Bird

Matthew Hughes is one of my favorite writers. But the vagaries of publishing today has forced Hughes to self-publish his work. Hughes’s latest book is Passengers & Perils (2022) available through AMAZON which is a fix-up novel made up of eight short stories.

Conn Labro, his lover Jenore Mordene, and Captain of the Peregrinator, Yalum Erkstachian, lease their space yacht to various clients who prefer to travel in a small starship instead of a large transport. In the first story in Passengers & Perils Conn, Jenore, and Yalum deal with a sinister death aboard their craft.

The second story concerns a kidnapping and the payment of ransom. But, things go astray.

The third story involves attempts by the criminal group Green Circle to acquire Conn’s hidden planet.

The fourth story starts with the disappearance of a woman and leads to the drug overdose of a Person of Interest.

The fifth story features Conn dealing with a spoiled son of a wealthy family who owes money in gambling debts.

With story six, the action moves to Old Earth where an enigmatic organization initiated legal proceedings to seize the space yacht Peregrinator. Conn and Jenore engage another of Matthew Hughes’s characters, the foremost freelance discriminator–Henghis Hapthorn–to help resolve the issue.

The events of story six continue in story seven as another of Matthew Hughes’s characters, the criminal Luff Imbry, joins the plot and assists–in an unlikely way–in the investigation of the problem of the Peregrinator.

The eighth and final story in Passengers & Perils send Conn and Jenore in a search for a religious idol.

Passengers & Perils provides thrilling episodic journeys from exotic planets to Old Earth filled with mystery and secrets. These marvelous adventures will delight and amuse you! GRADE: B+