At Wonder Book and Video Gaithersburg

At Wonder Book and Video Gaithersburg

Last month, while returning from a weekend trip to Baltimore, I decided to make a detour to the Wonder Book and Video store at 15976 Shady Grove Road in Gaithersburg. I hadn't been there in 15 (?) or so years, so I was overdue for a visit.

This is the smallest Wonder Book and Video store, and not an easy one to find. It's located in the 'Shady Grove Center' plaza on Shady Grove Road. You have to turn off Shady Grove Road into an alley that runs alongside a Sherwin-Williams paint store, and ends up behind Shady Grove Self-Storage (photo below).

Looking up the alley from Wonder Book, towards the plaza entrance at Shady Grove Road

There is a large selection of CDs and vinyl in this store. You can spend a couple of hours (if not longer) poring over the inventory.

The aisles are pretty cramped; if claustrophobia is a problem for you, then preferentially you may want to visit the Hagerstown and Frederick outlets.

There is the usual large selection of paperbacks. On the day I visited, they had just gotten in a sizeable number of Very Good / Like New DAW books, and vintage sci-fi titles, all on display up front.

The older sci-fi paperbacks, back in the shelving, tend to be in Acceptable and Good condition. There also are some hardbound sci-fi and fantasy titles shelved in the back, too. And pinned to the ends of the shelves are vintage magazines and digests.

As is the case for the Hagerstown and Frederick stores, there are sections for westerns, classics, general fiction, and horror.

I came away from my visit with some nice old school DAW books and a Six-Gun Samurai western novel, at prices ranging from $4 to $8 (below).

One caveat about the Gaithersburg Wonder Book and Video: Shady Grove Road, even on a weekday afternoon, is heavily trafficked, and on the weekends, it's a mess. Trying to get into and out of the plaza where the store is located is not going to be for the faint of heart, whether you are coming from the east or the west. Stuff to think about prior to visiting !

Book Review: The Crystal Empire

Book Review: 'The Crystal Empire' by L. Neil Smith

2 / 5 Stars

'The Crystal Empire' first was published in hardback in December, 1986 by Tor Books. This paperback edition (449 pp.) was issued by Tor in February, 1989 and features cover art by Michael Whelan.

cover illustration by David Mattingly for the 1986 hardback edition, courtesy of 'Scifi Art' (tumblr)

'Crystal Empire' arguably is the forerunner of novels and short stories that envisage an alternate Earth where the Aztec empire, with all its devotion to conquest and human sacrifice, reigns supreme, as in Christopher Evans's 1993 novel 'Aztec Century.'

'Crystal Empire' is set in a timeline where the Black Death results in the collapse of Christianity and its replacement by a Muslim-Jewish alliance. By the late 20th century, Europe, and the Near East, are under the control of the Caliphate of Rome, led the enlightened and benevolent Abu Bakr Mohammed VII. East Asia is under the thumb of the Mongol Empire, which seeks to dominate the known world. 

As the novel opens, the low-intensity border wars between the Caliphate and the Mongols have blossomed into full-scale world war, waged with steampunk-level technology. The Caliphate's technological edge is starting to falter in the face of the overwhelming manpower wielded by the Mongols. And more disturbingly, the Mongols are adopting newer technologies in their arsenal - including a primitive submarine.

Desperate to defeat the Mongols and preserve his Caliphate, Abu Bakr decides on a precarious strategy: forming an alliance with the mysterious Crystal Empire of the Sino-Aztecs, whose kingdom, occupying the western coast of the Savage Continent (i.e., North America), is rumored to have advanced technology......and weapons that could turn the tide in the combat against the Mongols.

Abu Bakr dispatches his young, pretty, and brilliant daughter Ayesha on a long and dangerous journey across the Atlantic to the east coast of North America, after which Ayesha and her party travel by 'landship' to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. There, the voyagers encounter the novel's lead character 'Fireclaw', also known as Sedrich Sedrichsohn. 

The descendent of Europeans who migrated to North America in an effort to escape the Black Death, Fireclaw is a formidable warrior, and the de facto ruler of the American Indian tribes who occupy the Great Plains. Driven by curiosity, and a desire to prevent the Mongols from overtaking the Savage Continent, Fireclaw agrees to guide the Caliph's party across the Rockies and into the territory of the Empire. 

The journey to the coast will not be an easy one, and at its end awaits a confrontation with the Sun-God who rules the Crystal Empire. An Empire constructed on great cruelties and strange sciences, an Empire where those whose who enter its boundaries never are granted leave to exit. 

I finished 'The Crystal Empire' thinking it a more laborious and tedious read than it should have been. This was unexpected, given that the back story is imaginative (think Indians on steam-powered motorcycles loosening pneumatically-launched arrows at a wooden ship that travels across the prairie, via canvas sails and 20 feet-high iron wheels). 

However, the book is badly overwritten, with too many passages that labor to 'tell,' rather than 'show,' the perspectives and attitudes of the characters. The exposition, and dialogue, often comes across as stilted and difficult to follow (for example, Smith insists on using the word 'e're' instead of 'ever'). A running subplot, involving Ayesha's night-time visions of other times and places, pads, rather than enhances, the narrative. And the novel's closing chapters have the frenetic quality of the climax of a storyline in a superhero comic book. There is so much mayhem, and colossal death and destruction, taking place that the narrative struggles to keep up.

The verdict ? 'The Crystal Empire', for all its careful world-building and character development, fails to fulfil its promise of an engaging alternate world tale. I'm comfortable giving it a Two-Star Rating. 

Gene Wolfe and Pringles

Gene Wolfe and Pringles

Gene Wolfe is well-known as a science fiction writer, but also he was responsible for developing the process for cooking 'Pringles' brand potato crisps, as he details in this excerpt from an interview, conducted by Lawrence Person, and published in the Fall / Winter, 1988 issue of the sci-fi zine Nova Express:

LP: Along those lines, is it true you invented the machine that makes Pringles potato chips?

GW: I developed it. I did not invent it. That was done by a German gentleman whose name I've forgotten for years. I developed the machine that cooks them. He had invented the basic idea, how to make the potato dough, pressing it between two forms, more or less as in a wrap-around, immersing them in hot cooking oil, and so forth and so on. And we were then called in. I was in the engineering development division, and asked to develop the mass production equipment to make these chips. And we divided the task into the dough making/dough rolling portion, which was done by Len Hooper, and the cooking portion, which was done by me, and then the pickoff and salting portion, which was done by someone else, and then the can filling / can sealing portion which was done by a man who was almost driven insane by the program because he would develop a machine, and he would have it almost ready to go, and they would say, ‘Oh, instead of 300 cans a minute, make it 500 cans a minute.’ And so he would have to throw out a bunch of stuff, and develop the new machine, and when he got that one about ready, they'd say ‘Make it 700 cans a minute.’ And they almost put him in a mental hospital. He took his job very seriously and he just about flipped out.

Something to think about, the next time you pop open a can of Pringles !

Book Review: The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series I

Book Review: 'The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series I' edited by Richard Davis

4 / 5 Stars

'The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series I' (174 pp.) was published by DAW Books in July, 1975. The cover art is by Hans Arnold.

The lineage of these initial volumes in the 'Year's Best Horror Stories' series is complicated. They are derived from the Sphere Books (U.K.) title 'The Year's Best Horror Stories, No. 1' published in 1971. DAW issued a U.S. version of the Sphere title in July 1972, as 'The Year's Best Horror Stories: No. 1', and then, three years later, published this July, 1975 edition. 

Despite the different titles and the different covers, regardless if you get the 1971 Sphere edition, the 1972 DAW edition, or the 1975 DAW edition, the contents all are the same.

'The Year's Best Horror Stories' series was very successful for DAW, eventually reaching 22 volumes in 1994, the year the series was discontinued.

All of the contents of 'Series I' were first published during 1969 - 1971 in other anthologies, digests, and magazines. My summaries of the entries:

Double Whammy, by Robert Bloch: a carnival worker gets on the wrong side of a gypsy.

The Sister City, by Brian Lumley: a competent, if not particularly memorable, Cthulhu Mythos story.

When Morning Comes, by Elizabeth Fancett: a politician has a deep, dark secret. The premise of this story is interesting, but the story is too melodramatic and overwritten to be effective.

Prey, by Richard Matheson: some toys, aren't really toys. One of the better entries in the anthology. It first appeared in the April, 1969 issue of Playboy.

Winter, by Kit Reed: two spinsters struggle to survive a long, cold winter. Another of the standout entries in the anthology.

Lucifer, by E. C. Tubb: Frank Weston gets his hands on an alien artifact that can change his life. Maybe for the better. 

I Wonder What He Wanted, by Eddy C. Bertin: written in the form of diary entries, this is a tale of a young woman who rents a house. A house with a checkered past........

Problem Child, by Peter Oldale: what happens when an infant starts to display X-Men style powers ? Another of the better entries in the anthology.

The Scar, by Ramsey Campbell: strange goings-on confront a family in fogbound, rundown Liverpool. One of Campbell's earlier, and better, stories: less preoccupied with atmosphere and diction, and with greater attention to plot.

Warp, by Ralph Noyes: the first-person narrator decides to visit a long-lost friend at the latter's well-guarded private laboratory. We know that nothing good will come of this. An interesting tale, despite being overwritten.

The Hate, by Terri E. Pinckard: domestic life has its complications. There is a 'shock' ending.

A Quiet Game, by Celia Fremlin: single mom Hilda Meredith is having problems with apartment living.

After Nightfall, by David A. Riley: Eliot Wilderman is doing sociological research in the sad little village of Heron. Strangely, everyone in the village takes care to lock and bar their doors at night.......a neat story that was reprinted in 1985 in the UK zine Fantasy Tales:

Death's Door, by Robert McNear: traveling across a strait to the village of Nicolet Island, Wisconsin, Charley Pope is confronted by a strange apparition out on the frozen water. This story seems like a conventional ghost story but has an unexpected twist at the end, making it a great tale to close out the anthology. The story first appeared in the March, 1969 issue of Playboy. It's been included in another horror story anthology, 'Ghosts of the Heartland' (1990), but otherwise seems to be the only fiction piece ever published by author McNear.

Summing up, this venerable entrant in the 'Year's Best Horror Stories' is a solid 4-Star book, and indeed, one of the better volumes in the series. It's hard to find copies in good condition that have affordable asking prices, but if you should come across one such, it's well worth obtaining.

National Lampoon June 1975

National Lampoon

June, 1975

June, 1975. The number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart is 'Sister Golden Hair' by America. Also on the chart, at position number 4, is "Bad Time' by Grand Funk. Two great songs, from 49 years ago !

The latest issue of the National Lampoon is on the stands, with the theme of 'Rainy Day Funbook.' To be honest, this issue isn't very good. Too many of the major articles are reliant on highbrow humor that even in '75, was too mannered to be appealing. I mean, a satirical treatment of the 'boy's magazines' of the early 20th century ? 

The better entries in the June issue are those featuring the magazine staff doing photo layouts; prominent here is co-editor Doug Kenney. It looks like executive editor P. J. O'Rourke joined in for the 'Madcap Modeleers' piece.

The cartoons come off pretty well, although most of them would not be considered acceptable nowadays.

We'll close with an advertisement for tee shirts for Vaughan Bode's 'Cheech Wizard.' Nowadays, Vaughan's son Mark sells Cheech Wizard tees for $48. Shipping is extra. What can I say ? What cost $5.95 in 1975, has increased over 706% ! Inflation, and all that.

And so we remember those long-ago days of 1975, when the National Lampoon cost one dollar, a comic book 25 cents, a vinyl LP $4 to $5 dollars, a 'nickel bag' of pot, $10, and a six-pack of beer, $2.55. Life was a little more affordable, back then............sigh.

Book Review: Swords Against Darkness IV

Book Review: 'Swords Against Darkness IV', edited by Andrew J. Offutt

4 / 5 Stars

'Swords Against Darkness IV' was published by low-budget paperback publisher Zebra Books in September, 1979. The cover art is by Luis Bermejo.

I have to confess that, after reading 'My Father the Pornographer', Chris Offutt's 2017 memoir about his father, every time I encounter a book authored or edited by Andrew J. Offutt my mind's eye surveys things in the context of Offutt's prodigious output of sleaze books, and his petty resentments against other authors and editors in the fantasy and sci-fi genres, and I wonder what role all of that plays in the composition of the book in my hand......

Anyways, like the other volumes in the 'Swords' series, this one contains both previously published and original stories couched in the world of 'heroic fantasy', or as Offutt refers to it, 'hf.' 

In his Forward, Offut states that the previous volumes in the series were grim in outlook, and thus, with volume IV, he was looking to include some tales that were lighter in tone.

My summary of the contents:

Mai-Kulala, by Charles L. Saunders: Imaro the African warrior ventures into the forbidding Ituri forest, there to experience Jungle Love. A competent story from Saunders.

At the Sign of the Brass Breast, by Jeff P. Swycaffer: in medieval Genoa, two thieves operate out of the eponymous bar. This is a comedic tale, and at times, I found it too cutesy.

The Reaping, by Ardath Mayhar: in the depths of a dank and dripping cave lurks an evil mage who can be defeated by no man.........

The Ballad of Borrell, by Gordon Linzner: an aging hero finds his past catching up with him. More reliant on dry humor, although it does have some rather bloody scenes.

Deux Amours d'une Sorciere ('Two Loves of a Witch'), by Tanith Lee: a precious tale of a lovelorn young woman who won't disclose the identity of the man she worships from afar. There is verse.....in French.......and lots of adjectives, and much descriptive prose.

Of PIGS and Men, by Poul Anderson: not a heroic fantasy fiction, indeed, not a fantasy tale at all, but an essay in which Anderson satirically casts Nordics as the victims of racial oppression. That Offutt decided to include this slight piece in the anthology tells me he was a bit uneven in attending to his editorial duties.....

Cryptically Yours, by Brain Lumley: written in the unusual style of an epistolary exchange, this tale is about elderly wizards confronting a conspiracy that seeks to have them all eliminated. Clever, inventive, and one of the best entries in the anthology. It was selected by Lin Carter for the DAW volume 'The Year's Best Fantasy Stories 6.'

The Dark Mother, by Diana L. Paxson: a Shanna the Swordswoman tale, and an effective one, at that. Our heroine must deal with some girls who have Bad Intentions.

Dedication, by Andrew J. Offutt: a 26 year-old would-be contributor to the 'Swords Against Darkness' franchise, named David Madison, killed himself before Offutt could make one of Madison's manuscripts sufficiently coherent to be publishable. Volume IV thus is dedicated to Madison (but doesn't include one of his stories).

Wooden Crate of Violent Death, by Joey Froehlich: a six-page, blank verse poem about some 'oystermen' who recruit a swordsman to do some killing. Editor Offutt claims he subjected this submission to 'eighty million' drafts. For all that, one of the verses in the poem is:

Along the river, the forests wept, their leaves falling like tears of autumn sadness

The Fane of the Grey Rose, by Charles de Lint: a 'Cerin Songweaver' entry. Our hero seeks to save a fair maiden. This story later was expanded into the 1985 novel 'The Harp of the Grey Rose'. It is sugary and insipid (de Lint uses the term 'aelf', a conversant is a 'speaker-friend') but strangely readable. 

After I finished 'Fane', I had to read David J. Schow's 'Bad Guy Hats', to reset the glucose balance of my brain. This is not something one should do lightly.........

Sandmagic, by Orson Scott Card: Cer wants revenge, and he'll go to any lengths to get it. This story's bleak setting, and quasi-splatterpunk violence, make it impactful.

The Edge of the World, by Manly Wade Wellman: a 'Kardios' tale that mixes sly (but never irreverent) humor with the sword-and-sorcery trope. Enjoyable. 

Summing up, there are enough good stories in 'Sword Against Darkness IV' to give it a Four-Star Score. Given that 'good' quality copies of the books in this franchise are fetching very high prices nowadays ($10 and up), if you can find the book for an affordable price, it's worth getting.

Judge Anderson: Satan

Judge Anderson: Satan

2000 AD / Hamlyn, 1996

'Judge Anderson: Satan' is a trade paperback published in the U.K. by Hamlyn in 1996. It compiles two stories from issues 22-24 of volume 2 (1993), and issues 1-7 of volume 3 (1995), of the Judge Dredd Megazine. 

The first story.' Driven to tears', deals with a Mega-City One evangelist whose actions threaten the rule of the Judges; Anderson sympathises with the evangelist, even though so doing brings her into conflict with her superiors. Writer Alan Grant presents a more tempered portrayal of Christianity than was customary in comics in Anglophone countries during the 1990s, and for that, 'Driven' is noteworthy.

The second story, 'Satan', also is written by Grant, and it's a loony tale. An asteroid crashes into Earth, causing death, destruction, and End Times existential crises.

It turns out the asteroid carried none other than Satan himself ! Liberated from imprisonment inside the asteroid, the Lord of Darkness displays immunity to even the most powerful of Mega City's strongest weapons. Adding insult to injury, it turns out that Satan is a gay man with red eyes and red lips and a simpering manner - !

[ Interestingly, Marvel Comics' big, 60-issue crossover series for the summer of 2024, 'Blood Hunt', features a villain called 'Bloodstorm', whose appearance seems to be modeled on the 1995 Satan............?! ]

In the face of such colossal Evil, only Judge Anderson, and her telepathic abilities, can stop Satan from laying waste to the entire world......

What makes 'Judge Anderson: Satan' a standout comic / graphic novel is the amazing artwork by Arthur Ranson, one of the most skilled artists to work for 2000 A.D. My overview of another of his Judge Anderson series, Shamballa, is here.

Whether its closeups of characters faces, or intricately rendered scenes of crowds, Ranson excels in ways that are rarely are observed in contemporary, 21st-century graphic art.

I want to point out that at 9 x 12 inches, this Hamlyn trade paperback is sufficiently sized to display Ranson's artwork to good effect, something of a rarity in contemporary graphic novels, which tend to be sized to 'American' dimensions (i.e., 7 x 10 inches).

If you are a fan of quality illustration and comic art, then these installments in the Judge Dredd franchise are well worth acquiring. One of the best ways to do this is the recently issued book, Essential Judge Anderson: Satan, available at your online retailers for a reasonable price.

The New Visions

'The New Visions' 

Introduction by Frederik Pohl

Doubleday, 1982

'The New Visions' was published by Nelson Doubleday / Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC) in 1982.

This rather obscure little book, of only 87 pages, provides 46 paintings made by various artists for SFBC titles in the 1970s and early 1980s. Accompanying each artist's contributions is a self-penned bio sketch and portrait. Each painting is labeled with the title of the book for which it was commissioned.

The Introduction, by Frederik Pohl, is readable (there is an amusing anecdote involving artist Boris Vallejo), and provides an author's perspective on the value of cover art as a component in publishing.

As science fiction art books of the New Wave era go, 'The New Visions' is quite forgettable. Its 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 dimensions make it too small to really display the artwork very effectively.

Some of the contributors represent 'big names' in field of sci-fi art as it was in the late 70s and early 80s, such as Vallejo, Frank Frazetta, and Michael Whelan. 

However, many other contributors are lesser known, and their pieces aren't particularly memorable. 

Quite a few of the outstanding artists who were active at this time, such as Tim White, Chris Foss, Chris Moore, Peter Jones, Darrell Sweet, Angus McKie, and David Schleinkofer , aren't profiled, for the simple reason that they weren't commissioned by the SFBC to provide art. That means that most of what's pictured in 'The New Visions' is rather perfunctory stuff. Lots of emphasis on figurative styles, which, as of 1982, were still dominant in sci-fi illustration (although tastes were changing).

Had it been more conscientious in its execution and design, there's a possibility that 'The New Visions' could have been a good representation of the sci-fi art of its times, but it instead comes across as something hastily churned out by the Doubleday staff.

Those with an interest in sci-fi and fantasy art from the New Wave era are directed away from 'The New Visions', and instead towards Ian Summers's 1978 title 'Tomorrow and Beyond', which is markedly superior (and has copies in good condition available for under $20). 

Book Review: Critical Threshold

Book Review: 'Critical Threshold' by Brian M. Stableford

1 / 5 Stars

'Critical Threshold' (160 pp.) was published by DAW Books, as book No. UY1282, in February 1977. The cover illustration is by Douglas Beekman.

In the U.K., the novel was published by Hamlyn in 1979, with some amazing cover art by Tim White.

This is the second installment in the six-book 'Daedalus' series, which centers on the adventures of the eponymous starship and its crew, who are dispatched on various troubleshooting missions around the galaxy. It's not necessary to read the books in order, as they each are more or less standalone.

In 'Threshold' the Daedalus is sent to the forest world of Dendra, from which, for the past 150 years, no word has been received. What has happened to the descendents of the 1400 people who colonized the planet ?

When the Daedalus touches down on what appears to be the main settlement on Daedra, they make a troubling discovery: the handful of colonists are mentally unstable, wandering in a kind of catatonia. Their homes are dilapidated, their fields barely tended, their clothes and household goods crumbling and askew. Clearly, some disaster has overtaken the colonists.

The Daedalus's ecologist, Alex, decides to go on a mission to explore the immense forest surrounding the colony, in hopes of finding more colonists, and the reason for the disintegration of the colony. He is accompanied by the no-nonsense Karen, and an empath named Mariel. The team is lightly equipped, as the hostile fauna on Dendra are not particularly formidable. 

As the team wends their way through the strange and intimidating forest, their psychological and survival skills will come to be tested.......

'Threshold' is only 160 pages long but it seemed like a much longer read, mainly because the narrative consists of one long, interminable camping trip. Stableford uses the trip as a vehicle for lengthy internal monologues by Alex (the first-person narrator), as well as for didactic passages on topics such as ecology, sociology, and humanism. There is much digression on the subtle but growing impact of the sights and sounds of the alien landscape on the subliminal thought processes of our unprepared Terrans.

All of this exposition gives the novel a banal flavor, and indeed, the only real action sequence doesn't arrive until page 143, and it has a contrived note, as if Stableford had come to the belated realization that the novel badly lacked momentum and needed something to propel it over the finish line. 

While the Big Revelation for the distressed state of the colonists does get disclosed, and has some congruency with the book's theme of human arrogance as a bad thing, it also seems small reward for plowing through the narrative in the first place.

I finished 'Critical Threshold' content with giving it a One-Star Rating. For a novel written during the height of the New Wave movement it seems tame and unimaginative, a workmanlike effort, but not much more than that.