Book Review: If You Believe the Soldiers

Book Review: 'If You Believe the Soldiers' by Alexander Cordell

2 / 5 Stars

'If You Believe the Soldiers' first was published in the UK in 1973; this Coronet paperback version (224 pp.) was published in 1975.

'Alexander Cordell' was the pen name of the UK author George Alexander Graber (1914- 1997). Throughout his career he focused on historical dramas set in Wales, although he also wrote political thrillers that portrayed Communist China in a favorable light, reflecting his sympathies for left-wing causes.

I first encountered 'If You Believe the Soldiers' when Joachim Boaz, at his 'Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations' blog, profiled it in one of his 'recent acquisitions' posts. 

I always am partial to fictional portrayals of a Dystopian Britain, and this book seems to fit into that genre. 

Or does it.......... ?

The novel is set in the UK in the early 1980s. Its protagonist, Mark Seaton, is a middle-aged bureaucrat who oversees contracts for government construction projects. Seaton divides his time between his office in London and Hatherly, the family estate lying beside the banks of the placid Woking river. In a similar manner, Seaton divides his romantic time between his indifferent wife Moira, and his mistress Hallie Fitzgeralt. 

As the novel opens, a right-wing Army officer named Colonel 'Bull' Brander has successfully carried out a coup and converted the UK to fascism. Brander has coerced cooperation from the weak Prime Minster, Paul Whiting-Jones; shut down independent media outlets; and, in a most Providential development, forced the Royal Family into exile in Paris.

The majority of the UK public, drained and apathetic after the strikes and financial chaos of the 1970s, have accepted this change of affairs. However, younger Britons refuse to accept fascist rule and have mounted a violent resistance; the opening pages of 'Soldiers' effectively communicate a near-future London in flames, wracked by destructive battles between the factions of Left and Right. 

As a liberal Jew (the original family name is 'Goldstein'), Mark Seaton is hardly partial to the Brander regime, but he is willing to try and work within the system out of a sense of duty to maintain integrity in the government's business dealings.

But as the fascists consolidate power and demand unquestioning fealty from their minions, Seaton's growing defiance becomes a liability to his welfare, and the welfare of those close to him. And crossing the line can come with the most unpleasant consequences.......

For me, 'Soldiers' was a mixed bag. It is clearly not an action adventure novel, detailing the adventures of some Young Comrades who take up arms in a heroic fight against tyranny. Protagonist Seaton is rather dim-witted and passive, sticking to principle because he knows no other way; consequently, throughout the novel he continually is forced to react to one insult after another, never showing much in the way of initiative.

A subplot involving Seaton's adopted daughter of Chinese ancestry veers into Woody and Soon-Yi territory; while this may have been titillating in 1973, no doubt modern readers will find it......... creepy........

Cordell's prose style is uneven; there are lengthy passages, such as those dealing with an emotional resonance occasioned by the landscape of Wales, that deploy an almost poetic language; and then there are those passages where he promotes his left-wing political leanings through Righteous Discourse:

Your middle class did nothing about Heath's Rent Act, the stopping of school milk and meals, the means tests for men on the dole, the hire purchase rackets: the man in the street is on his blood uppers under the mortgage rates. And don't talk to me of demonstrations until you've lived in the slums, where they toss the rats out of the windows before they eat the meal.

*****

Of abstract mind, I wandered, dolefully considering the era of violence in which I lived; a violence constantly denounced by the unholy liaison of Church and State, which existed on the fringe of violence, ever ready to indulge in an orgy of it, should its precepts, or profit, be threatened; using as its emblem of benevolent dictatorship the public exposure of a man crucified, bleeding from a dozen wounds before the eyes of the adolescents of a hundred generations. And in the shadow of such sadism they protested about violence.

*****

......the British soul could never have expected  such a decent into the abyss: we, who had never been slaves, were at last enslaved by racism, political adventuring and personal avarice.

'Soldiers' somewhat redeems itself in its closing chapters, which combine dark humor with a string of plot twists. But I finished the book thinking that the book's few moments of suspenseful drama came at the cost of forcing the reader to trudge through much ideological posturing. Accordingly, I give 'If You Believe the Soldiers' a two-star rating.

Epic Illustrated October 1985, issue 32

Epic Illustrated
Issue 32, October 1985

Overall, Epic Illustrated was sinking in quality during 1985, but there was still the occasional worthwhile entry. 'Traveller', written and illustrated by Bo Hampton, was one such entry from the October, 1985 issue.

Madness: Night Boat to Cairo

Madness
'Night Boat to Cairo'

1979

'Nightboat to Cairo' was a track on the group's 1979 album One Step Beyond.....

In the UK it was released as a single and topped out at slot 6 in early April, 1980.

A low-budget video for the song is available here. It's pure fun, nothing more, nothing less.

Book Review: Planet Run

Book Review: 'Planet Run' by Keith Laumer and Gordon R. Dickson

2 / 5 Stars

'Planet Run' first was published in 1967 in hardcover by Doubleday; this mass market paperback edition (143 pp.) was published by Berkley Books in July, 1968, and features a great cover illustration by Paul Lehr.

'Run' is set in the far future, when most habitable worlds within Federation space have been colonized and exploited. The one major exception is the planet of Corazon, which has been off-limits for decades. 

Grizzled spacer Captain Henry is 135 years old, and enjoying retirement in his estate on the planet Aldorado. Rumor has it that when he was younger, Captain Henry not only clandestinely explored Corazon, but found deposits of gemstones.........gemstones that have funded his comfortable lifestyle of nearly a century. Unsurprisingly, Captain Henry is tight-lipped about where and when he found the rumored gemstones. 

But when the Federation announces that Corazon is being opened for claim-staking, Senator Bartholomew of Aldorado makes Henry an offer he can't refuse: return to Corazon, stake a claim to the deposit of gemstones, and share the wealth with the Senator.

Captain Henry isn't happy with the situation, but the offer of a rejuvenation treatment sweetens the pot, as does carte blanche to use the Senator's bank account to outfit the expedition. In due course Henry, along with the Senator's jejune son Larry Bartholomew, is piloting the starship Deguello to Corazon. There's a new-model Bolo tank secured in the hold, the perfect vehicle for racing across the landscape of Corazon to stake a claim to the deposit that will make the Senator - and Henry - wealthy men.

There' s just one problem: the scum of the galaxy have gathered on Corazon, and they know that Captain Henry is on to something. When the gun goes off and the Run starts, they are only to happy to use murderous violence to make their own claim to the gemstones of Corazon...........

When I opened 'Planet Run' I did so with a tolerant attitude, because in terms of literary quality, the overwhelming majority of 1960s sf doesn't compare well to that produced in succeeding decades. Indeed, when it comes to 60s sf, I always am willing to give more credit for an engaging and entertaining plot than literary prowess. 

The first half of 'Run', which plainly was composed by Keith Laumer, is tolerable in this regard. The dialogue can be stilted, and plot developments predictable, but the narrative moves along at a good pace, and there is plenty of sarcastic humor.

Unfortunately, the second half of the novel sees the narrative taken over by co-author Dickson, who introduces the theme of Man struggling to overcome a series of physical and psychological traumas (a theme commonly used by Dickson in his fiction, which reflected his own personal struggles with asthma). 

Dickson's deployment of lengthy internal monologues, written in lumbering, figurative prose, introduces turgidity into what was essentially meant to be an action-driven 'Space Western'. 

The final chapters see Laumer resume control over the storyline, but his plot and prose have an awkward, perfunctory quality that demonstrates that he simply was going through the motions at this point in the novel's composition.......... 

The verdict ? Even by forgiving standards, 'Planet Run' is a mediocre example of 1960s action-adventure sci-fi. It didn't have to be so; Roger Zelazny's 1969 novel 'Damnation Alley' showed that it was possible to produce a high-quality entrant in this genre. However, at the time he co-wrote 'Planet Run', Keith Laumer plainly was uninterested in doing anything novel or imaginative with the genre, and was 'writing for revenue'. Accordingly, this book is for Laumer and Dickson completists only.

At the library sale, July 2021

At the Library Sale, July 2021

After being suspended for more than a year due to the covid-19 epidemic, last week the local library resumed its biannual Book Sale, holding it over a three-day interval in a normally vacant storefront in a nearby shopping center. 

It was well attended, with a nice selection of both paperback and hardback books at the sci-fi section. All of these were not much more than a dollar a piece. I came away with a nice collection of paperbacks from the 60s and 70s (above).

I also picked up vintage hardbound volumes of Silverberg's The World Inside, and Chayefsky's Altered States, issued by the Doubleday Science Fiction Book Club (above). 

And then there was a 1992 anthology of Weird Tales stories, all published from 1927 to 1953, that deal with vampires. I was motivated to pick up this 442-page tome mainly due to the favorable reviews of many old Weird Tales stories that have been posted by MPorcius at his blog.

There always is a good turnout of parents and kids at these sales, which feature a large selection of books for juveniles. I don't know if it's peculiar to the greater Charlottesville area, but it seems that reading remains a popular pastime for many families, even in a era that is increasingly post-literate. Hopefully these younger people will advance, in time, to reading Old School sci-fi........... and help keep this Blog relevant...................... 

Book Review: Cyborg

Book Review: 'Cyborg' by Martin Caidin

3 / 5 Stars

'Cyborg' first was published in April 1972 by Arbor House; this paperback edition (318 pp.) was issued by Warner Paperback Library in December 1972 (the cover artist is uncredited).

Both hardbound and paperback copies of 'Cyborg' have Bookjackers demanding steep prices at amazon and eBay. I was able to find a somewhat battered copy of the book at McKay's in Manassas for 65 cents.

'Cyborg' became the basis for the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man, which initially aired on ABC in 1973 as three episodes. Viewership was sufficiently high for the network to order five full seasons over 1974 - 1978. Capitalizing on the success of the TV show, Caidin wrote two more Steve Austin novels, 'High Crystal' (1974) and 'Cyborg IV' (1975).

A gallery of the various editions of Caidin's 'Cyborg' novels, including some impressive paintings by UK artist Richard Clifton-Dey, is available at the Dead Man's Brain blog.

'Cyborg' is set in the mid-70s and as it opens, 32 year-old Steve Austin, NASA's youngest astronaut and one of its best test pilots, is conducting a trial flight of the M2-F2 lifting body aircraft. Coming in for a landing, the aircraft goes out of control and crashes on the runway (footage of the actual crash of the M2-F2 on May 10, 1967, involving pilot Bruce Peterson, was used in the opening sequence of The Six Million Dollar Man).

Austin survives the crash, albeit with severe injuries. But physicians Rudy Wells and Michael Killian have a plan, one that will be funded - to the tune of 6 million dollars (a large sum by 1970s standards) - by Oscar Goldman, director of the federal government's clandestine Office of Special Operations (OSO).

Steve Austin will be the world's first Bionic Man........a cyborg whose body is a combination of the organic and inorganic. Rebuilding Austin will require the most advanced technologies yet known to man, and the path to recovery and functionality will be a long and arduous one. But if any one man can do it, it will be Steve Austin.

However, as Austin is to discover, when the OSO invests 6 million dollars in your rehabilitation, it's never done out of kindness. Oscar Goldman wants a return on his investment.........a return that involves a dangerous mission to covertly retrieve foreign technology. And what would be a suicide mission for an ordinary spy, may be entirely feasible for a bionic man............

The opening chapters of 'Cyborg' are engaging, as Caidin relates - in crisp prose - the execution of the ill-fated flight, the disastrous accident, and the desperate effort to salvage what's left of astronaut Austin.

The middle chapters see the narrative lose momentum, as Caidin belabors the psychological and emotional traumas that accompany Austin's efforts to adapt to his new existence as a bionic man. Needless to say, melodrama was not author Caidin's strong suit as a writer: the too-plentiful scenes in which Austin acts out in anger against his medical team, and wallows in self-pity, foster a contrived melodrama and (unintentionally, I'm guessing) permit the reader to readily conclude that Austin is a Prick. 

Steve Austin doesn't make the transition from experimental subject to a Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 'superspy' until page 201, well into the novel. Things pick up plot-wise at this point, as Austin undertakes dangerous missions against the infrastructure of the Soviet Bloc, and the final third of the book is rewarding for those who like well-composed action sequences, particularly those featuring aeronautical derring-do, a subject with which Caidin was well acquainted. 

The closing chapters then shift the emphasis to a survival scenario, one of the best such sequences I've ever read.

It's worth noting that in 'Cyborg' Steve Austin has no scruples about using his superhuman powers to kill Commies, rape-hungry Arabs, and other 1970s 'undesirables'. These episodes of violence give the novel a harder edge that The Six Million Dollar Man (which aired in Prime Time) was not permitted.

[ I should alert potential readers under 30 that Caidin's depiction of women in the pages of 'Cyborg' is very un-Woke; however, those over 30 likely will be entertained by the chauvanistic sensibility that permeates the novel. ]

The verdict ? While I can't recommend that you spend considerable money to acquire a copy of 'Cyborg', if you can find it for a reasonable price, it's worth picking up. Overall, its melding of sci-fi and action  works well and retains that distinctive Old School, Macho-Man flavor that nowadays is fast fading into distant memory.

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and the Mysterious Visitor

'The Fabulous Furry Freak Bothers and the Mysterious Visitor '
by Gilbert Shelton and Dave Sheridan
from Thoroughly Ripped with the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers (Rip Off Press, 1978) 

Junk food from Ollie's

Junk Food from Ollie's

Ollie's Bargain Outlet is a chain of discount stores that started in central Pennsylvania in the 1980s, and now has stores in 25 states. They usually lease their stores in formerly prosperous shopping centers........what may have been a thriving PetCo, or Kmart, or Joann Fabrics in 2003, is now an Ollie's. 

Some of the parking lots where Ollie's are located require concentration and care to negotiate......I recently was at the Frederick, Maryland store (second from top, above) and while inside, a severe thunderstorm swept into the area. The rain was pounding on the store roof so hard I couldn't hear the music playing on the speaker system. When I had waited out the worst of the rain by standing under the storefront, I discovered that the parking lot had flooded, and I had to wade through ankle-deep water to my car.........

I periodically visit Ollie's for sundries. The chain advertises itself as 'Good stuff - cheap !' and that's true. Ollie's buys truckloads of surplus inventory and sells it at discounted prices, exclusively in its brick-and-mortar stores (the chain has no online sales portal). According to a 2019 article in Forbes, Ollie's is thriving at a time when many brick-and-mortar stores are not doing well. 

According to Forbes, Ollies customers '.....tend to be lower-middle class or poorer.......' Whether I qualify for this designation is open to contemplation, but I do find Ollie's a source for cheap junk food. Some brands that aren't available in other stores can be found at Ollie's; for example, while Mallow Cups from Boyer were plentiful in my youth during the 70s, I haven't seen them anywhere in the past 20 (30 ?!) years, but I found big packs of them at Ollies.

Some of the items available at Ollie's represent flavors that didn't survive the brutal competition on the shelves of major grocery stores. In that regard, perhaps it's for the best that 'S'mores' flavored snack balls, 'Orange Cream Pop' snack balls, and 'Dippin' Dots' snack balls have been expunged from the retail environment.

Entering Ollie's filled with the spirit of adventure, the Fair-mindedness of the Forager, can have value. Some snacks that seem of a questionable nature can turn out to be quite delectable. 'Frosted Chocolatey Churro' Pop Tarts are an example. I did not try the 'Pretzel Cinnamon Sugar' flavor Pop Tarts.

 And let's be fair. If a bag of chips is priced at $1.89, or a box of 16 exotically flavored Pop Tarts is only $2.59, you're not spending a whole lot of money to investigate, are you ?

So, if scoring discounted holiday candy, obscure flavors and sizings of snack foods (such as 2 lb bags of Herr's 'Jalapeno Poppers Flavor Cheese Curls'), $3 Gold Toe tee shirts, disinfecting wipes, or solar lamps for lawns is your thing, then visiting Ollie's can be a good idea.

 

Book Review: Thieves' World

Book Review: 'Thieves' World' edited by Robert Lynn Asprin

4 / 5 Stars

'Thieves' World' (308 pp.) was published by Ace Books in October, 1979. The cover art is by Walter Velez.

'Thieves' World' is one of the earliest and most successful Shared World series in sci-fi / fantasy publishing. As of 2012, there were 14 anthologies in the series, with at least 15 or more spinoff novels and short story collections. 

During the 1980s a rather mediocre line of black-and-white comics was issued by indie publisher Starblaze, along with several Thieves' World-branded board games and role-playing games from Chaosium and Mayfair Games.

I was aware of the franchise during the 1980s, as its volumes were ever-present on the shelves of the sci-fi section of Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, Coles, Borders, etc. But I never picked up and read any title until just recently, when I sat down with the very first entrant in the series, 'Thieves' World'. 

Copies of the original paperback can be hard to find. An omnibus edition, published by the Science Fiction Book Club in 1982, and titled Sanctuary, contains 'Thieves' World', 'Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn' (1980) and 'Shadows of Sanctuary' (1981), and may be a more accessible way to gather the initial entries in the series.

In his Afterword to 'Thieves' World', titled 'The Making of Thieves' World', editor Asprin provides insight into how, in the Fall of 1978, he conceived of the idea of a shared world devoted to a fantasy theme, and set about recruiting sci-fi authors in his circle for contributions. The response to his pitch was so fulfilling that before the first volume in the series was printed, Asprin had sufficient tales for a second volume already assembled.

As for the stories in 'Thieves' World', they all are set in the decrepit city of Sanctuary, the most isolated metropolis in the Rankan Empire. Sanctuary's isolation has allowed it to become the Empire's preferred abode for would-be fortune-seekers, criminals, reprobates, and ne'er-do-wells. 

But as 'Thieves' World'  opens, the city's residents, long accustomed to (mis)governing themselves, learn that Prince Kadakithis has been appointed to govern Sanctuary. With Kadakathis comes change, for the Prince, a man of rectitude, has ambitions to turn Sanctuary into a respectable city.............one that generates considerable taxable income for the Rankan Empire...........

My capsule summaries of the contents:

Sentences of Death, by John Brunner: Jarveena the scribe comes into possession of a magic scroll, one that may offer leverage over the Guardsmen of the Governor's Mansion. But blackmail can be a dangerous enterprise in Sanctuary.......Brunner's prose is straightforward, but the story suffers from an underwhelming denouement.  

The Face of Chaos, by Lynn Abbey: Illyra the fortune-teller agrees to help a young woman who is destined to be sacrificed to one of the more odious of the Gods of Sanctuary. A competent tale.

The Gate of the Flying Knives, by Poul Anderson: Cappen Varra the bard learns that his love, Danlis, has - along with Lady Rosande - disappeared from the most secure tower in Sanctuary. Investigating the disappearance will mean crossing paths with entities best avoided. 

Anderson's use of straightforward prose and a well-composed plot makes this a rewarding entry.  

Shadowspawn, by Andrew Offutt: Shadowspawn the thief finds himself entangled in a plot to steal an valuable artifact from Prince Kadakithis......but trusting fellow thieves is never a good idea in Sanctuary..........

Offutt clearly wrote this lengthy story with an eye towards impressing his fellow contributors with his authorial elegance. Readers will encounter the words 'horripilation' (goose-pimples), 'falcate' (curved or hooked), and the phrase 'cupiditous concubine' (which sounds like a title for one of Offutt's sleaze novels). He lards the narrative with wordsmithings and turns of phrase designed to display his cleverness. 

Over-written and over-plotted, 'Shadowspawn' is not one of Offutt's better stories.

The Price of Doing Business, by Robert Lynn Asprin: Jubal, an ex-pit fighter and Sanctuary's most powerful crime lord, gets word that someone has information that would be of considerable value to him. But in Thieves' World, information always comes with a high price.......featuring a well-written segment of violent combat, this is another of the better tales in the anthology.

Blood Brothers, by Joe Haldeman: One-Thumb the tavern-owner seeks the culprit behind the theft of a brick of hashish. One-Thumb is never shy about using murderous violence to achieve his aims, but this time, has he met adversaries as ruthless as he is ?

Haldeman starts his story with three pages of conversational exchanges rendered in interposed italic and regular font text. There are no speakers identified, leaving it to the reader to gradually parse out who is saying what. This is a New Wave - era literary affectation that was trendy in the 1970s, but seems awkward and contrived nowadays. 

Anyways, once Haldeman adopts a more traditional diction, the story becomes more engaging and ends on an imaginative note. 

Myrtis, by Christine DeWees: Myrtis is the proprietress of Sanctuary's premiere brothel, Aphrodesia House. When Captain Zalbar, commander of the Royal Guard, demands a steep tax payment from Myrtis, she must use all her cunning and guile to find a resolution that lets the House stay in business. One of the better-plotted stories in the anthology. 

The Secret of the Blue Star, by Marion Zimmer Bradley: Lythande the mage, one of the more enigmatic and mysterious personages of Sanctuary, comes to the aid of a maltreated urchin. This story has a surprise ending that I at first found contrived, but when I went back and examined the story in detail, it was clear that Bradley had carefully crafted the ending's rationale. So informed, I then concluded that 'Blue Star' is the best entrant in the anthology.

Finishing 'Thieves' World', I thought it clear that Asprin had met his goal of freeing contributors from the need to labor on world-building in composing their entries, thus allowing them to focus solely on storytelling. As a result, all of the contributors successfully leveraged the grittier, even sordid atmosphere inherent in the 'Thieves' World' concept. Those who like late 70s - early 80s fantasy literature packaged into shorter, more digestible stories will find this anthology worth reading.

My Sweet Summer Suite

'My Sweet Summer Suite'
by Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra

November, 1976

A track from the 1976 album of the same name, 'My Sweet Summer Suite' was released as a single in the Fall of 1976. On the Billboard R & B chart it reached a high of slot 43 in November. 

'Sweet Summer Suite' entered the Hot 100 pop chart in October, and maxed at position 81 on November 13.

Here is a link to the 12" version of the song. The song takes its time getting underway - the melody proper doesn't kick in till the 2:25 mark - but it's pure, undiluted 70s goodness. You can't ignore the 'burping Tupperware' notes, and the Fourth of July weekend looms. What more needs to be said ?