Showing posts sorted by relevance for query bus. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query bus. Sort by date Show all posts
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Monday, February 14, 2022
Book Review: Playboy's Stories for Swinging Readers
It's Valentine's Day 2022 at the PorPor Books Blog !
Book Review: 'Playboy's Stories for Swinging Readers'
3 / 5 Stars
Here at the PorPor Books Blog we celebrate Valentine's Day by reviewing a book, either fiction or nonfiction, that deals with love and romance. For Valentine's Day 2024, our selection is 'Playboy's Stories for Swinging Readers' !
Hubba-hubba !
The authors constitute a 'Who's Who' of postwar writers, a reflection of that fact that in its heyday, Playboy was the among the most influential of those 'slick' magazines that showcased a higher brow of modern fiction.
Among the better entries are 'The Darendinger Build-Up' by William F. Nolan (is that broad's 'rack' too good to be true ?), 'The Secret Formula' by Henry Slesar (there's more than one way to trick a broad into giving it up), 'Thank You, Anna' by Bill Safire (the housekeeper isn't what she seems), and 'This One Is On the House' by Pat Frank (a neat twist at the end).
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Book Review: A Matter for Men
Book Review: 'A Matter for Men', by David Gerrold
Book One of 'The War Against the Chtorr'
0 / 5 Stars
‘A Matter for Men’ first was published in paperback in 1983 under the Timescape imprint; this version (368 pp) was issued by Pocket Books in July 1984. Boris Vallejo provided the cover art.
[The word ‘Chtorr’ is pronounced Kuh-TORR]
‘Matter’ is the first volume in ‘The War Against the Chtorr’ series, which, as of the end of 2019, consisted of ‘A Day for Damnation’ (1984), ‘A Rage for Revenge’ (1989), and ‘A Season for Slaughter’ (1993).
I remember seeing ‘Matter’ on the bookstore shelves in the early 80s and passing on it with the awareness that David Gerrold’s novels could be good……….or bad.
And ‘Matter’ is bad.
The premise is worthy enough: the novel is set in the early 21st century, after a series of plagues has decimated the Earth’s population and left the U.S. with very little of its former status as a world power. Barely has civilization had a chance to restart when a new threat arises: a slow-motion invasion of alien species, one of which is a race of bug-eyed monsters known as the Chtorr.
Jim McCarthy is a young soldier in the United States Armed Services, Special Forces Operation, Exobiologist. As the novel opens he is a member of a team assigned to destroy a Chtorran nest in the wilderness of Colorado. There he learns firsthand of the danger the aliens pose to mankind.
Subsequent events lead McCarthy to the High Command center in Denver, where he finds himself – against his will – drawn into an unfolding series of intrigues and conspiracies, directed by agents unknown. And unless Jim McCarthy can figure out who his real allies are, he’s going to find that he is just another expendable grunt…….. in a war that the U.S. is coming ominously close to losing…………
Why is ‘Matter’ a dud ?
Well, for one thing, actual combat with the Chtorr takes up only about 30 of the book’s 368 pages. The remaining text is laboriously devoted to all manner of exposition, with the life-or-death struggle against the aliens reduced to the backstory.
The reader is going to find himself or herself plodding through successive segments of empty dialogue……….internal monologues designed to reveal lead character McCarthy’s self-doubts and torments……cryptic visits from a cast of operatives who watch from the shadows…flashbacks to role-playing in a Poly Sci class (?!) taught by a grizzled veteran named Whitlaw…….and even, in a particularly turgid chapter, a session of psychoanalysis ?!
To give you a sense of what ‘Matter’ is all about, here’s an excerpt:
Hm.
Did I think like a duck ? Was that it ? Did I keep on doing ducklike things because I didn’t know how to do anything else ? Was it that obvious to the people around me ?
Maybe I should stop being me for a while and start being someone else – someone who didn’t have so much trouble being me.
I wasn’t hungry anymore. I got up, took my tray to the bus window and left the commissary.
I wondered if I walked funny. I mean, I was short and a little pudgy around the bottom. Did I look like a duck ? Maybe I could learn to walk differently – if I stood a little taller and carried my weight in my chest instead of in my gut – “Oof ! I’m sorry.” I had been so busy walking, I hadn’t been looking and had plowed straight into a young woman. Quack. Old synapses never die, they just fire away. “I’m really sorry - oh!”
Yep, Earth is in deadly danger, and our hero is preoccupied with the psychological impact of a past taunt that he is a duck………?!
I finished ‘Matter’ confident that I am not going to spend any time with the remaining volumes in the series. Take my advice and avoid ‘The War Against the Chtorr’.
Book One of 'The War Against the Chtorr'
‘A Matter for Men’ first was published in paperback in 1983 under the Timescape imprint; this version (368 pp) was issued by Pocket Books in July 1984. Boris Vallejo provided the cover art.
[The word ‘Chtorr’ is pronounced Kuh-TORR]
‘Matter’ is the first volume in ‘The War Against the Chtorr’ series, which, as of the end of 2019, consisted of ‘A Day for Damnation’ (1984), ‘A Rage for Revenge’ (1989), and ‘A Season for Slaughter’ (1993).
I remember seeing ‘Matter’ on the bookstore shelves in the early 80s and passing on it with the awareness that David Gerrold’s novels could be good……….or bad.
And ‘Matter’ is bad.
The premise is worthy enough: the novel is set in the early 21st century, after a series of plagues has decimated the Earth’s population and left the U.S. with very little of its former status as a world power. Barely has civilization had a chance to restart when a new threat arises: a slow-motion invasion of alien species, one of which is a race of bug-eyed monsters known as the Chtorr.
Jim McCarthy is a young soldier in the United States Armed Services, Special Forces Operation, Exobiologist. As the novel opens he is a member of a team assigned to destroy a Chtorran nest in the wilderness of Colorado. There he learns firsthand of the danger the aliens pose to mankind.
Subsequent events lead McCarthy to the High Command center in Denver, where he finds himself – against his will – drawn into an unfolding series of intrigues and conspiracies, directed by agents unknown. And unless Jim McCarthy can figure out who his real allies are, he’s going to find that he is just another expendable grunt…….. in a war that the U.S. is coming ominously close to losing…………
Why is ‘Matter’ a dud ?
Well, for one thing, actual combat with the Chtorr takes up only about 30 of the book’s 368 pages. The remaining text is laboriously devoted to all manner of exposition, with the life-or-death struggle against the aliens reduced to the backstory.
The reader is going to find himself or herself plodding through successive segments of empty dialogue……….internal monologues designed to reveal lead character McCarthy’s self-doubts and torments……cryptic visits from a cast of operatives who watch from the shadows…flashbacks to role-playing in a Poly Sci class (?!) taught by a grizzled veteran named Whitlaw…….and even, in a particularly turgid chapter, a session of psychoanalysis ?!
To give you a sense of what ‘Matter’ is all about, here’s an excerpt:
Hm.
Did I think like a duck ? Was that it ? Did I keep on doing ducklike things because I didn’t know how to do anything else ? Was it that obvious to the people around me ?
Maybe I should stop being me for a while and start being someone else – someone who didn’t have so much trouble being me.
I wasn’t hungry anymore. I got up, took my tray to the bus window and left the commissary.
I wondered if I walked funny. I mean, I was short and a little pudgy around the bottom. Did I look like a duck ? Maybe I could learn to walk differently – if I stood a little taller and carried my weight in my chest instead of in my gut – “Oof ! I’m sorry.” I had been so busy walking, I hadn’t been looking and had plowed straight into a young woman. Quack. Old synapses never die, they just fire away. “I’m really sorry - oh!”
Yep, Earth is in deadly danger, and our hero is preoccupied with the psychological impact of a past taunt that he is a duck………?!
I finished ‘Matter’ confident that I am not going to spend any time with the remaining volumes in the series. Take my advice and avoid ‘The War Against the Chtorr’.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Book Review: The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series XII
Book Review: 'The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series XII'
edited by Karl Edward Wagner
3 / 5 Stars
'The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series XII' (239 pp) was published in November 1984 and features cover artwork by Segrelles. It's DAW Book No. 503.
All of the stories in this collection were previously published in 1982 - 1983 in various magazines and anthologies.
In his Introduction, editor Wagner does a bit of pontificating, announcing to his satisfaction that the 'horror fad' is receding, and
......people are no longer standing in line to see films like Rototiller Dentist or assaulting the paperback racks to buy novels about giant maggots gobbling up Los Angeles or possessed teenagers turning other teenagers inside out. Readers have been affronted by enough garbage served up as horror; now they demand something better.
And what is, indeed, 'better' ? Why, the entries in 'The Year's Best Horror Stories', edited by Karl Edward Wagner, of course !
(Devotees of Paperbacks from Hell and splatterpunk novels undoubtedly will grasp my sarcasm).
So here are my capsule reviews of the gems awaiting you in this DAW anthology:
Uncle Otto's Truck, by Stephen King: in the 80s, having an entry by King in your anthology was marketing magic. This story is about an abandoned truck that menaces the first-person narrator's Uncle Otto. It's a successful enough horror tale from King, one that takes advantage of being set in his familiar territory of rural Maine.
3:47 am, by David Langford: psychological horror tale of a man beset with increasingly disturbing nightmares.
Mistral, by Jon Wynne-Tyson: on the French Riviera, a middle-aged man enjoys the company of a beautiful mistress whose attitude is a bit........feral.
Out of Africa, by David Drake: big-game hunting in Africa, for an unusual animal. A competent tale, if not all that imaginative.
The Wall Painting, by Roger Johnson: an English ghost story in the M. R. James tradition.
Keepsake, by Vincent McHardy: children in an elementary school use witchcraft against their teacher. The premise is interesting, but the story is so over-plotted that it misfires.
Echoes, by Lawrence C. Connolly: a short-short story about a grieving family. One of the better entries in the anthology.
After-Images, by Malcolm Edwards: World War Three strikes an English town and the results are unexpected. Effectively mixing horror and sci-fi along with a unique depiction of growing dread, this is not only one of the better entries in this anthology, but one of the best horror stories of the 1980s.
The Ventriloquist's Daughter, by Juleen Brantingham: a woman confronts her father and her past. Unremarkable.
Come to the Party, by Frances Garfield: Garfield was Manly Wade Wellman's wife. This haunted-house tale adheres to a pulp writing style and would have been at home in Weird Tales.
The Chair, by Dennis Etchison: ahhh, yes, the inevitable Etchison 'quiet horror' entry. So superior to those novels about 'giant maggots' !
Here, Etchison gives us a high school reunion that goes awry.
Etchison wasn't shy about vying with Ramsey Campbell for the use of purplish metaphors:
A rusty tricycle like a twisted spider littered a shadowy yard.
Like too many Etchison stories, the over-effort to depict mood, atmosphere, and setting fails to offset weak plotting.
Names, by Jane Yolen: Yolen was an established writer of children's books, and this apparently was her first attempt at something for the adult market. 'Names' is about Rachel, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor; Rachel is psychologically distressed. The premise is contrived, and the story unimpressive.
The Attic, by Billy Wolfenbarger: editor Wagner was really scraping the barrel by including this entry, which is a chapter from some poet's unpublished novel, rather than a short story per se. 'The Attic' is a prose poem about a man's reveries, triggered when he rummages around his attic. Yeah, it's that lame................
Just Waiting, by Ramsey Campbell: the opening pages of this story about a man who returns to a forest, and the scene of childhood trauma, were written in an unusually clear and unadorned manner........ and my hopes rose that here, finally, Campbell might deliver something worthwhile ! Sadly, however, the story's final pages are so overloaded with descriptions of phantasmagorical happenings that the plot simply collapses under their weight.
One for the Horrors, by David J. Schow: less a horror story than a treatment of classic movies, old movie theatres, and nostalgia.
Elle Est Trois, (La Mort), by Tanith Lee: in 18th century Paris, three Starving Artists are confronted by Death ('La Mort') in its feminine incarnations. This being a Tanith Lee story from the early 80s, I anticipated a thin plot burdened with ornate prose, and that's what I got. But the denouement holds up well enough.
Spring-Fingered Jack, by Susan Casper: short-short story about a particularly disturbing video game.
The Flash! Kid, by Scott Bradfield: Rudy stumbles across an Alien Artifact concealed in a termite nest; there are Big Consequences. This story is a humorous sci-fi tale (it was originally published in Interzone) with no horror content. Its presence in this anthology suggests that editor Wagner wasn't trying as hard as he could have to collect worthy material for this volume.
The Man with Legs, by Al Sarrantonio: Willie, and big sis Nellie, decide to take the bus on a cold Winter's day to a house where their father - assumed to be dead - may in fact be alive and well. Or so it seems.............
This story is not only another of the best entries in the anthology, but a gem of 80s horror, period. I actually devoted an entire post to a comic based on 'Legs'.
The verdict ? I finished 'The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series XII' thinking that editor Wagner could have done a better job of seeking out genuine horror short stories, written with genuine skill, rather than settling for too many duds as part of his effort to promote material of the 'highest quality'.
That said, the inclusion of the stories by Connolly, Edwards, and Sarrantonio is enough to give this particular incarnation of 'The Year's Best Horror Stories' a three-star rating, and it is these stories that make this volume worth searching out.
edited by Karl Edward Wagner
'The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series XII' (239 pp) was published in November 1984 and features cover artwork by Segrelles. It's DAW Book No. 503.
All of the stories in this collection were previously published in 1982 - 1983 in various magazines and anthologies.
In his Introduction, editor Wagner does a bit of pontificating, announcing to his satisfaction that the 'horror fad' is receding, and
......people are no longer standing in line to see films like Rototiller Dentist or assaulting the paperback racks to buy novels about giant maggots gobbling up Los Angeles or possessed teenagers turning other teenagers inside out. Readers have been affronted by enough garbage served up as horror; now they demand something better.
And what is, indeed, 'better' ? Why, the entries in 'The Year's Best Horror Stories', edited by Karl Edward Wagner, of course !
(Devotees of Paperbacks from Hell and splatterpunk novels undoubtedly will grasp my sarcasm).
So here are my capsule reviews of the gems awaiting you in this DAW anthology:
Uncle Otto's Truck, by Stephen King: in the 80s, having an entry by King in your anthology was marketing magic. This story is about an abandoned truck that menaces the first-person narrator's Uncle Otto. It's a successful enough horror tale from King, one that takes advantage of being set in his familiar territory of rural Maine.
3:47 am, by David Langford: psychological horror tale of a man beset with increasingly disturbing nightmares.
Mistral, by Jon Wynne-Tyson: on the French Riviera, a middle-aged man enjoys the company of a beautiful mistress whose attitude is a bit........feral.
Out of Africa, by David Drake: big-game hunting in Africa, for an unusual animal. A competent tale, if not all that imaginative.
The Wall Painting, by Roger Johnson: an English ghost story in the M. R. James tradition.
Keepsake, by Vincent McHardy: children in an elementary school use witchcraft against their teacher. The premise is interesting, but the story is so over-plotted that it misfires.
Echoes, by Lawrence C. Connolly: a short-short story about a grieving family. One of the better entries in the anthology.
After-Images, by Malcolm Edwards: World War Three strikes an English town and the results are unexpected. Effectively mixing horror and sci-fi along with a unique depiction of growing dread, this is not only one of the better entries in this anthology, but one of the best horror stories of the 1980s.
The Ventriloquist's Daughter, by Juleen Brantingham: a woman confronts her father and her past. Unremarkable.
Come to the Party, by Frances Garfield: Garfield was Manly Wade Wellman's wife. This haunted-house tale adheres to a pulp writing style and would have been at home in Weird Tales.
The Chair, by Dennis Etchison: ahhh, yes, the inevitable Etchison 'quiet horror' entry. So superior to those novels about 'giant maggots' !
Here, Etchison gives us a high school reunion that goes awry.
Etchison wasn't shy about vying with Ramsey Campbell for the use of purplish metaphors:
A rusty tricycle like a twisted spider littered a shadowy yard.
Like too many Etchison stories, the over-effort to depict mood, atmosphere, and setting fails to offset weak plotting.
Names, by Jane Yolen: Yolen was an established writer of children's books, and this apparently was her first attempt at something for the adult market. 'Names' is about Rachel, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor; Rachel is psychologically distressed. The premise is contrived, and the story unimpressive.
The Attic, by Billy Wolfenbarger: editor Wagner was really scraping the barrel by including this entry, which is a chapter from some poet's unpublished novel, rather than a short story per se. 'The Attic' is a prose poem about a man's reveries, triggered when he rummages around his attic. Yeah, it's that lame................
Just Waiting, by Ramsey Campbell: the opening pages of this story about a man who returns to a forest, and the scene of childhood trauma, were written in an unusually clear and unadorned manner........ and my hopes rose that here, finally, Campbell might deliver something worthwhile ! Sadly, however, the story's final pages are so overloaded with descriptions of phantasmagorical happenings that the plot simply collapses under their weight.
One for the Horrors, by David J. Schow: less a horror story than a treatment of classic movies, old movie theatres, and nostalgia.
Elle Est Trois, (La Mort), by Tanith Lee: in 18th century Paris, three Starving Artists are confronted by Death ('La Mort') in its feminine incarnations. This being a Tanith Lee story from the early 80s, I anticipated a thin plot burdened with ornate prose, and that's what I got. But the denouement holds up well enough.
Spring-Fingered Jack, by Susan Casper: short-short story about a particularly disturbing video game.
The Flash! Kid, by Scott Bradfield: Rudy stumbles across an Alien Artifact concealed in a termite nest; there are Big Consequences. This story is a humorous sci-fi tale (it was originally published in Interzone) with no horror content. Its presence in this anthology suggests that editor Wagner wasn't trying as hard as he could have to collect worthy material for this volume.
The Man with Legs, by Al Sarrantonio: Willie, and big sis Nellie, decide to take the bus on a cold Winter's day to a house where their father - assumed to be dead - may in fact be alive and well. Or so it seems.............
This story is not only another of the best entries in the anthology, but a gem of 80s horror, period. I actually devoted an entire post to a comic based on 'Legs'.
The verdict ? I finished 'The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series XII' thinking that editor Wagner could have done a better job of seeking out genuine horror short stories, written with genuine skill, rather than settling for too many duds as part of his effort to promote material of the 'highest quality'.
That said, the inclusion of the stories by Connolly, Edwards, and Sarrantonio is enough to give this particular incarnation of 'The Year's Best Horror Stories' a three-star rating, and it is these stories that make this volume worth searching out.
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Book Review: Fears
October 2023 is Spooky StORIES MOnth
at the PORPOR BOOKS BLOG !
at the PORPOR BOOKS BLOG !
Book Review: 'Fears' edited by Charles L. Grant
Well, from 40 years ago, here we have a quintessential Paperbacks from Hell anthology: 'Fears' (280 pp.), published by Berkley Books in May, 1983.
This was one of four horror anthologies edited by Grant for Playboy Press and Berkley Books, the others being 'Nightmares' (1979), 'Horrors' (1981), and 'Terrors' (1982).
I previously have read 'Nightmares' and found it a decent collection of tales, less influenced in their selection by Grant for their 'quiet horror' qualities, than I would have expected. So I had expectations that 'Fears' would be a good anthology, too.
The stories in 'Fears' saw publication during the interval from 1972 to 1983 (presumably those written in 1983 were done exclusively for this anthology).
My capsule summaries of the contents:
Surrogate, by Janet Fox: Steve Winston and his wife Diane have hired a young woman to gestate their child. This may not be a good idea. A subtle, but effective, tale of suburban horror.
Coasting, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro: strange doings at sea. There is much build-up in terms of atmosphere and setting, but the denouement is so contrived it reads as something from fanfic.
Spring-fingered Jack, by Susan Casper: nepotism is in effect, as Casper was Gardner Dozois's wife. This is a short-short story about a particularly disturbing video game.
Flash Point, by Gardner Dozois: this story first appeared in Damon Knight's 'Orbit 13' (1974). It's set in a near-future USA where, alarmingly, violent behavior is on the rise.
A Cold Day in the Mesozoic, by Jack Dann: Jody misses the school bus and on his long walk home, sees something perhaps he shouldn't have seen. A short-short tale, that fails to impress.
The Train, by William F. Nolan: practiced short-story hand Nolan gives us a well-plotted tale of a cold and wintry Montana night, and a train that you are better off not taking. Nolan later expanded this story into his 1991 novel 'Helltracks'.
The Dripping, by David Morrell: strange things are going on in a remote farmhouse. I suspect that most readers will guess the denouement quite early on in the story.
The Ragman, by Leslie Alan Horvitz: an affluent couple travel from their home in the Connecticut suburbs into New York City. Getting lost in the ghetto will have consequences.
Deathtracks, by Dennis Etchison: the obligatory Etchison entry. A young man is assigned to monitor the TV viewership of an elderly couple named Bob and Jenny Morrison. The television in the Morrison's living room makes strange noises and displays unusual lighting effects. This story is badly overwritten, and the horror / dark fantasy content unconvincing.
Father Dear, by Al Sarrantonio: the un-named, first-person narrator seeks revenge on his father for the infliction of all manner of cruelties during childhood. This story requires patience from the reader, as it take some time to unfold (and somehow the Greek goddess Artemis / Diana figures into the ending).
As Old As Sin, by Peter D. Pautz: some punk kids learn, the hard way, that tomenting little old lady Mother Corbin is a bad idea. Another of the better stories in the anthology.
Fish Night, by Joe R. Lansdale: in 1983, Lansdale was a little less notorious, and a little less transgressive, than he would be later in the decade. Perhaps that's why editor Grant, a staunch advocate for Quiet Horror (and a firm opponent of splatterpunk) published this tale, which is more fantasy that horror. It's about some can opener salesmen stranded in the Arizona desert.
Remembering Melody, by George R. R. Martin: Melody is one of those dissipated hippie chicks that comes into your life.............and doesn't leave.
The Pond, by Pat Cadigan: little kids should stay away from the pond at grandma's house. This story takes its time developing, but has a satisfying conclusion.
The Beasts That Perish, by R. Bretnor: you'll never look at roadkill the same way after reading this imaginative story, one of the better ones in the anthology.
Cassie, Waiting, by Julie Stevens: maybe the bag lady who mumbles to herself as she stands at the corner of Eighty-third and Lexington knows something you don't.
High Tide, by Leanne Frahm: this novelette, by Australian Frahm, is the best story in 'Fears'. It's about a camping / fishing trip to Newry Islands in the Seaforth Bay area of Queensland. Peter Cleaver, his son Mike, and Mike's friend Drip discover something alarming in the mangrove swamps. 'High Tide' presents its eco-horror theme with skill and suspense.
Summing up, I am comfortable with giving 'Fear' a 4-Star Rating. The inclusion of the stories from Fox, Nolan, Pautz, Martin, Bretnor, and Frahm gives it an impact that tended to be lacking in more than a few anthologies released in the early days of the Paperbacks from Hell.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Monday, September 12, 2011
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Book Review: 'Protostars' edited by David Gerrold
2 / 5 Stars
‘Protostars’ (271 pp.) was published by Ballantine in 1971; the cover artwork is by Gene Szafran.
David Gerrold came on the SF scene in the early 70s and since that time has enjoyed considerable success as a writer and editor of both his own work, and work for licensed properties. [His 1973 book ‘The World of Star Trek’ was really the first 'Bible' for Trekkies.]
‘Protostars’ is unapologetic New Wave sci fi, and about as representative an example of the genre as any other anthology of the era.
Each of the stories – which are new and never previously published - gets a rather pretentious introduction by editor Gerrold, who imparts various anecdotes and bits of wisdom about Being A Writer.
My review of the contents:
‘What Makes A Cage, Jamie Knows’ by Scott Bradfield: a short-short by teenager Bradfield; calls to mind a ‘Twilight Zone’ episode.
‘I’ll Be Waiting for You When the Swimming Pool is Empty’ by James Tiptree: in his intro to this story, editor Gerrold remarks that he can’t find any information about the mysterious James Tiptree, who communicates solely through a P.O. Box in MacLean, Virginia. Not until 1977 would the SF world know that ‘Tiptree’ was the pseudonym of Alice Bradley Sheldon. ‘Swimming Pool’ is a satirical tale of a well-meaning hippie who arrives on a backwater planet with the most earnest of intentions.
‘In A Sky of Daemons’ by Larry Yep: a textbook example of the stylistic excesses of so many New Wave authors: characters identified by all caps (‘SHIVA’), italicized passages denoting Inner Musings, awkward switches in the narrative POV from first to third person, philosophical conversations with a sardonic AI that rules the world, etc., etc.
‘The Last Ghost’ by Stephen Goldin: in a formless Void, the spiritual essence of a recently deceased woman encounters that of a man in the grip of Angst and Anomie. Goldin also contributes the short-short story ‘The World Where Wishes Worked’, a fable with a trick ending.
‘Afternoon With A Dead Bus’ by David Gerrold: nature red in tooth and claw on the streets of the city.
‘Eyes of Onyx’ by Edward Bryant: one of the better entries in the collection, a downbeat reworking of a Bible story set in a bleak, near-future LA.
‘Cold, the Fire of the Phoenix’ by Leo P. Kelley: things could get really embarrassing when a ‘mainstream’ SF author decided to embrace the New Wave movement, and did so via a story or novel that slavishly incorporated every artifice the Movement epitomized. This story is a great example. It’s the worst in the anthology.
‘Oasis’ by Pamela Sargent: a man with a unique ability – or curse - strives for solitude in the Sinai desert. While the underlying theme is not all that original to SF, author Sargent handles it well, and this is another of the better entries in the anthology.
‘Holdholtzer’s Box’ by David R. Bunch: a fable about human self-discovery; unremarkable.
‘The Five-Dimensional Sugar Cube’ by Roger Deeley: with the help of metaphysics, Boy Meets Girl. Lightweight, but not unrewarding, due to the presence of a red-haired swingin’ 70s chick.
‘And Watch the Smog Roll In’ by Barry Weissman: dark satire of a near-future California in the grip of toxic pollution, and a bureaucracy gone amok (rather uncomfortably close to the current reality).
‘Chances Are’ by Alice Laurence: editor Gerrold gives this slight tale (about a woman in a coma) five pages of introductory discussion. In the New Wave era, self-important, bloviating intros were part and parcel of many anthologies…..
‘The Naked and the Unashamed’ by Robert E. Margroff: satirical tale of near-future campus protests; very early 70s in tenor.
‘My Country, Right or Wrong’ by andrew j. offutt: (no typos, spelling one’s name in lowercase was a ‘hip’ affectation for New Wave authors). This is a competent tale of a time traveler who goes from 1978 to 2078, and doesn’t like what he sees.
In ‘Side Effect’ author Wyal does what so many New Wave writers did so frequently and so successfully: he blatantly copies William Burroughs’s prose style, an action calculated to turn New Wave editors like Gerrold into helpless, servile putty in one's hands……..
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
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