Book Review: 'The Turning' by Justin Scott

3 / 5 Stars

In the dying upstate New York town of Hudson City, word comes that the old asylum on the mountain overlooking the town has been sold. Observers note the presence of blue lights in the windows of the dilapidated building. Soon after, groups of young people clad in blue shirts and blue jean overalls start to take up residence in the asylum, now owned by a vaguely Christian religious sect called the Revelationists. As more and more members of the sect arrive in Hudson City, the local merchants are overjoyed to find a rapidly expanding base of customers. 

Prosperity takes hold in Hudson City, but the town doctor, Alan Springer, finds himself questioning the motives of the Revelationists . When a sect member is badly injured and taken to the town clinic, Springer is forced to look on as the sect members enact a startling ‘faith healing’ of the crippled man in the doctor’s own operating room.

Ensuing encounters with the Revelationists have Springer convinced that the benevolent actions by the sect’s leadership are simply a smokescreen. The sect’s leader, a mysterious, charismatic individual named Michael, has his own plan for the fate of Hudson City….and his plan starts with making converts of the town’s young people.

Alan Springer realizes that something must be done to fight back against the sect’s sinister designs. But the Revelationists have no desire to turn the other cheek. Anyone who seeks to blunt the sect’s plans must be prepared to risk his life…and the odds of Alan Springer’s survival are getting less with each passing day….

‘The Turning’ (March 1978; Dell; cover artist uncredited) is a member of the cohort of other 70s novels dealing with the occult, such as ‘Audrey Rose’, ‘The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane’, ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, and  ‘Harvest Home’. As such, I doubt if many readers under 40 will find it very engrossing.

Author Justin Scott is a capable writer, but the narrative moves at a deliberate pace, seeking to build alarm and suspense in a gradual fashion. Much attention is focused on the emotional conflict between Springer and his teenaged daughter Samanatha, and the ambivalent response by the townspeople to the economic largesse that comes with hosting a wealthy sect. The occult and/or supernatural elements of the tale are very understated, and the novel is really more of a restrained thriller than a horror story. The violent action and gore that a younger generation (raised on zombie films, the ‘Saw’ movies, and Splatterpunk fiction) expects of a horror novel are absent from ‘The Turning’.

The book does reward the reader who manages to stick with it through to the last few of its 268 pages, but the journey is taken in the slow lane.

'The Death of Orlaon' by Enki Bilal
from the July 1978 issue of 'Heavy Metal'

 

Marvel Comics: 'The Essential Luke Cage / Power Man'

Nowadays original copies of the first few issues of 'Luke Cage' (later renamed 'Power Man') comics go for steep prices, so the most economical way to take in the series is through the black and white 'Marvel Essentials' paperback, which collects the first 27 issues, from June 1972 through October 1975.


While I remember seeing the Luke Cage issues on the stands in the early 70s, I was never motivated to purchase any, mainly because the villains were so cheesy. Instead of the 'cosmic' adversaries faced by the Fantastic Four, Thor, or the Avengers, Luke Cage - like Daredevil at this time in his publishing history - was pretty much left to fight third-tier nobodies like 'Mr Death', 'The Steeplejack',  and 'Chemistro', among others:

 Although on rare occasions, a genuine marquee bad guy would make an appearance:

My favorite of these oddball villains was one 'Black Mariah', an obese woman who did not take any jive from her fellow criminals, much less Luke Cage:

While no sellout, occasionally Luke had to put the smackdown on those 'radical' soul brothers who were pushing him to join the fight against 'The Man' :

 George Tuska's artwork on the series was quite good.Tuska always made Luke's battles look like they were genuinely physical, bruising affairs:

For a series that featured one of the first major black comic book heroes, portraying Luke in situations with some degree of social relevance did take place, but more rarely than one might think.

In a two-parter, Luke takes on a drug dealer named Cottonmouth, who is peddling slow death to the impoverished black folk of inner-city New York:

In another episode, Luke and his friend D.W. go West to seek Luke's estranged girlfriend; en route, they come across a prototype 'planned community' where they aren't exactly welcome:

Compared to the violent street culture that features so prominently in contemporary rap culture, these comics will seem restrained, if not tame to modern readers (Luke likes to shout 'Christmas !' when attacked, but this was after all a Code book). 

But if you are age 40 and over, they may evoke some nostalgia for the early 70s and the Blaxploitation era, the funky portrayal of a decaying Times Square, polyester clothes, and afros .

Book Review: Sunsmoke

Book Review: 'Sunsmoke' by James Killus

2 / 5 Stars

‘Sunsmoke’ (Ace, 1985, 182 pp.) features cover art by Don Brautigam.

It’s 1986 and Raymond Macgregor, a brilliant, but socially inept, programmer is exploring the use of the EPAnet  software package to model the development of smog formations over Southern California. This is Old School command-line stuff, done on cathode-ray-tube workstations with phone modems to a central server that does all the real computing. But back in the mid-80s it was considered the Cutting Edge.

Ray has been messing around with arcane knowledge and when he combines occult incantations and code, the result is the spawning of a creature – the Smog Monster – that feeds on pollution. And since it’s June, and the weather is heating up, the monster is going to find all the pollution it needs to grow, thrive, and make Los Angeles its private stomping ground.

Walter Peters, an atmosphere chemist and Macgregor’s longtime rival, watches his meteorological models with puzzlement and then increasing alarm. What is taking place in the air over the southern part of the state does not obey any natural laws.  As the monster becomes manifest and the body count rises, it’s up to Peters, a group of Southern California beautiful people, an alluring witch named Joella,  and a team of hardcore programmers, to discover the secret behind the smog monster and defeat it before the entire West Coast goes under a choking cloud of toxins and fire……

Author Killus was an actual smog modeler working on a EPA contract at the time he wrote his manuscript, so the science content of the novel is more or less accurate. 

However, I found ‘Sunsmoke’ to be an uneasy amalgamation of SF, horror story, and satire. Killus tends to use a lot of witty prose in describing the goings-on of his very ‘California’ cast of characters (think hot tubs, Sensual Massage, getting stoned, the I Ching, karate class, etc., etc.) but such prose tends to undermine his efforts to portray the smog monster as a genuinely harrowing phenomenon. When Killus labels the third part of his book ‘Godzilla Vs the Smog Monster’,  the layering of ‘Ghost Busters’ – style humor onto the plot becomes too self-evident.

If  ‘Sunsmoke’ had been written as a straightforward SF / horror tale it might have gained considerable traction, but as it stands, it comes across as a hesitantly defined mishmash of genres. I can only recommend it to those determined to read every manifestation of cyberpunk seeing print in the 80s.

'Mr Bunny' (detail) by Marion Peck

from the book 'Animal Love Summer', due from Last Gasp in November 2010.
Marion Peck official web page

'Romance' by Caza
from the July 1980 issue of 'Heavy Metal' 


NOTE: female nudity

Book Review: The Texas-Israeli War: 1999

Book Review: 'The Texas-Israeli War: 1999' by Jake Saunders and Howard Waldrop

3 / 5 Stars

‘The Texas-Israeli War: 1999’ (209 pp) was published by Del Rey in 1974; the cover illustration is by Dean Ellis. 

Portions of the book appeared previously as the short story ‘A Voice and Bitter Weeping’ in Galaxy magazine in its July – August 1973. It also is compiled in the 2003 hardcover, small-press anthology of Waldrop's short fiction, 'Custer's Last Jump and Other Collaborations'.

In the early 70s Howard Waldrop and Jake 'Buddy' Saunders were among a group of sci-fi writers known for their Texas origins, so the insights into the state and its culture that inform 'The Texas-Israeli War' certainly are legitimate. While neither writer has been prolific, Waldrop went on to write the well-received novel ‘Them Bones’ (1984). 

The 1999 of 'The Texas-Israeli War' takes place five years after the outbreak of World War Three, and the USA is not in the best of shape. Nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons have whittled the population down to a fraction of its former size, depleted crops and livestock, and left many urban areas abandoned ghost towns. Conflict continues to smolder with  Chinese forces in Alaska and Canada. 

To make matters worse, Texas has decided to secede from the Union, taking its valuable oil refineries with it. To shield its act of rebellion, the state holds the President captive in Fort Deaf Smith outside of Crystal City.

The federal government, barely able to hold the other states in line, cannot allow Texas to break away. A desperate effort is launched to retrieve the President and crush the rebellion. To spearhead the effort to retake Texas, the government hires a team of Israeli tankers led by Colonel Sol Ingelstein. 

One of the few nations to emerge from WW3 intact, Israeli is now a world power, and its laser-armed tanks are among the most lethal weapons in the field. Its growing population has led many of its citizens to emigrate to other countries, where, in exchange for land and cash, they will fight for the highest bidder.

For all his armored superiority, the mission confronting Sol Ingelstein and his mercenaries isn’t an easy one. First they have to clear the Texas forces from the Dallas – Ft Worth area. Then they have to travel overland down to Crystal City and Ft. Smith without being detected by the state militia. And once they arrive at the Fort, they must free the President and get him to safety before the enemy can mount a counterattack. 

There’s only one chance to get it right…...or the USA ceases to exist...............

‘Texas-Israeli War’ is a straightforward SF adventure novel with an offbeat setting. While nowadays presenting the Israeli military in a favorable light is very politically incorrect, back in 1974 one could do it without incurring too much opprobrium. 

The Israelis are prone to uttering Pslams in Hebrew when under duress, or in more celebratory moods, a religious attitude which distinguishes them from the more cynical tank-driving combatants usually peopling this genre of sci-fi (e.g., David Drake's 'Hammer's Slammers' franchise, or Keith Laumer's 'Bolo' franchise). 

Readers interested in military SF will want to give 'The Texas-Israeli War: 1999' a try, but be warned: being long out of print, copies of the book in very good condition are acquiring ever-higher asking prices (i.e., $30 on up).

Killraven: 'Amazing Adventures' No. 30

(May 1975)

The May 1975 issue of ‘Amazing Adventures’ No. 30 features one of the more iconic representations of Killraven and the Marvel ‘War of the Worlds’ storyline. 

The cover of the British edition was  used by author David Kyle in his section on H. G. Wells’ novel in 'A Pictorial History of Science Fiction' (1977, Hamlyn, London).

It’s also featured on the back cover of the 'Marvel Essentials' black & white collection of the Killraven saga.

 

Unfortunately, however striking the cover, the contents of this issue leave a lot to be desired. By Spring 1975 Marvel’s publication schedule was so over-ambitious that it wasn’t unusual for Stan Lee to recycle previously published material in order to fill the necessary page count and meet  deadlines. For Amazing Adventures No. 30, pages from issue No. 23 (‘The Legend Assassins’) and issue No. 24 (‘For He’s A Jolly Dead Rebel’) are inserted under the ruse of a ‘flashback’ storyline featuring the High Overlord.

[In fairness to Lee, he wasn’t alone in shamelessly recycling comics during the 70s. Over at Warren publishing, James Warren was regularly reprinting previous strips into new issues of Erie and Creepy. Maybe, like Warren, Lee was reluctant to expand his payroll when he could wrest sheckels from the unwary buyer for the old stuff in new packaging…..]

The last page of the book tells us that, far from dying in the assault that killed their mother when they were boys, Killraven’s brother Deathraven is alive and well… and awaiting our hero at Yellowstone National Park. It’s the only really rewarding tidbit present in one of the more forgettable issues of the Killraven saga........

Gallery of 70s SF paperbacks 

from David Kyle's 'A Pictorial History of Science Fiction', Hamlyn, London,1977

Book Review: Through Darkest America

Book Review: 'Through Darkest America' by Neal Barrett, Jr.

4 / 5 Stars

This paperback edition of Barrett’s novel 'Through Darkest America’ (1986) was published in 1988 (256 pp.) by Worldwide Library as part of its ‘Isaac Asimov Presents’ imprint. The cover art is by Vincent DiFate. The sequel is ‘Dawn’s Uncertain Light’ (1989).

The novel takes place in the US several centuries after World War Three has converted society to an agrarian level equivalent to that of the mid- 19th century.

Howie Ryder is a young boy growing up on a prosperous farm in the southeastern region of the country; he shares a home with his little sister Carolee, his mother Ev, and his father Milo. For Howie and his family life is good, despite the burdens of the weather and an economy beset by the existence of a war in the West, between the government and a force of rebels led by a man named Lathan. To fund the war, the government is increasing taxes on its farmers, something Howie’s father accepts only grudgingly.

The book’s major contrivance is that beeves have been replaced as a food animal by a race of simpleton humans, who are referred to as ‘livestock’. Cannibalism is seen as something perfectly ordinary and commonplace, as most of the continent’s animal population was eliminated by nuclear war. The shock value – if there is any – to this feature of the narrative wore off for me rather quickly, and I felt the book would not have suffered if Barrett had simply retained beeves as his livestock of choice.

In any event, Howie’s pastoral life comes to an abrupt halt when the government decides to rely on harsh measures to exact tribute from its citizens. Howie finds himself the subject of a manhunt, and flees west to seek safety among the wastelands. But he soon finds that the West is no safer a place than any other part of the country, and sometimes a young man must do morally objectionable acts if he is to survive. Through various adventures Howie lands in the middle of the conflict between the rebels and the government, and his life will be in danger no matter which side he chooses.….

I found ‘Darkest America’ to be reminiscent in some ways of Leigh Brackett’s classic SF novel ‘The Long Tomorrow’ (1955) which also deals with a boy’s abrupt transition into adulthood when circumstances converge to force him to survive on his own in a hostile world where violence lurks just under the surface of society. Like Len Colter, Howie must learn the hard way as to how to negotiate a post-apocalyptic civilization, where those best able to scrounge for the artifacts of the dead can achieve the greatest power.

‘Darkest’ is of course much more violent, even gruesome, in its depiction of lawlessness and cruelty and is definitely not a novel for Young Adults. The novel is also much more cynical and downbeat than other examples of 80's post-apocalyptic fiction, such as Brin's 'The Postman' (1985), Graham's 'Down to a Sunless Sea' (1986), or Strieber and Kunetka's 'Warday' (1984).

The narrative consistently moves at a quick pace, sending Howie into one dire situation after another, culminating in a final 40 pages that are truly suspenseful and worthy of the term ‘page turner’.

Fans of post-apocalyptic fiction with a unique Western flavor to it- think of a depraved Louis L'Amour novel- will want to have this book on their bookshelves.