Sunday, November 9, 2014
Friday, November 7, 2014
Book Review: Orbit 3
Book Review: 'Orbit 3' edited by Damon Knight
1 / 5 Stars
‘Orbit 3’ (224 pp.) was published by Berkley Books in September, 1968. The cover artwork is uncredited, but is almost certainly by Paul Lehr.
The ‘Orbit’ series was the quintessential New Wave anthology in the US, and I approach each volume with a faint hope that two or three stories might possibly be coherent.... and readable. I have learned that such an approach is warranted and justifiable. And so it is with Orbit 3…….
My summaries of the contents:
‘Mother to the World’ by Richard Wilson: in the aftermath of a plague, the only people left alive on Earth are Martin Rolfe and Siss Beamer. Both are fertile and willing to play Adam and Eve. The catch ? Siss is mentally retarded.........
This isn’t a particularly impressive tale, and by the standards of the modern era of the Special Olympics and being disABLED, it is politically incorrect. However, it does address one of the more wrenching aspects of the End of the World: what is to be the fate of all the poor animals left in their cages and fish tanks ?
‘Bramble Bush’ by Richard McKenna: in his preface to this story, editor Damon Knight reveals he first read this story in 1960, when the author presented it at a writer’s conference; Knight found the story incomprehensible.
However, after McKenna died in 1964, his widow provided Knight with her husband’s unpublished manuscripts, and Knight changed his mind and agreed to publish ‘Bramble’ in 'Orbit 3'. Bad move; this is the worst story in the anthology. The plot has something to do with a team of explorers confronting perceptual problems on an alien planet. The dialogue is embarrassingly bad, like something from 1930s – era fanfic. What was Knight thinking ?!
‘The Barbarian’ by Joanna Russ: this story features Russ’s proto-barbarian heroine, Alyx. A magician with evil intentions coerces Alyx into assisting him in his transgressions. This is probably the best entry in the anthology.
‘The Changeling’ by Gene Wolfe: a man returns to his hometown, and discovers a childhood acquaintance is not what he seems. While the ending is vague and unfocused, this is one of Wolfe’s less obtuse, and more readable, stories.
‘Why They Mobbed the White House’ by Doris Pitkin Buck: this short story won a contest hosted by ‘Data Processing’ magazine (!). It’s a humorous treatment of the ‘can computers really do it better ?' theme.
‘The Planners’ by Kate Wilhelm: a scientist ponders the implications of a treatment that enhances the intelligence of chimpanzees. As with several of Wilhelm’s other stories written in the 60s, the narrative shifts in time and place, and interweaves passages of real and imaged events, without any framing devices, leaving it to the reader to try and parse out what is happening when and where. This New Wave affectation hasn’t aged well.
‘Don’t Wash the Carats’ by Philip Jose Farmer: short-short tale about a man with a diamond for a brain; an effort at absurdist sf. It’s not very good.
‘Letter to a Young Poet’ by James Sallis: Sallis was a frequent contributor to New Wave anthologies, mainly because everything he wrote was ‘speculative fiction’, with the most superficial trappings of sf – and thus, irresistable to editors like the hapless Damon Knight. In this tale, the aging narrator, writing in his study on a far-off planet, provides advice to.….a young poet.
‘Here is thy Sting’ by John Jakes: a man discovers that the coffin transporting his late brother’s corpse has disappeared under suspicious circumstances; his investigation of the disappearance leads him to a disturbing scientific endeavor. This novelette starts on a note of satire, but in its latter stages actually veers, to an effective degree, into horror.
Had it been shorter in length and more focused, it could have been one of John Jakes’ best short stories.
Summing up, ‘Orbit 3’ delivers barely digestible New Wave content…. I suspect that only hardcore fans of this sub-genre of sf will find much here to reward them.
‘Orbit 3’ (224 pp.) was published by Berkley Books in September, 1968. The cover artwork is uncredited, but is almost certainly by Paul Lehr.
The ‘Orbit’ series was the quintessential New Wave anthology in the US, and I approach each volume with a faint hope that two or three stories might possibly be coherent.... and readable. I have learned that such an approach is warranted and justifiable. And so it is with Orbit 3…….
My summaries of the contents:
‘Mother to the World’ by Richard Wilson: in the aftermath of a plague, the only people left alive on Earth are Martin Rolfe and Siss Beamer. Both are fertile and willing to play Adam and Eve. The catch ? Siss is mentally retarded.........
This isn’t a particularly impressive tale, and by the standards of the modern era of the Special Olympics and being disABLED, it is politically incorrect. However, it does address one of the more wrenching aspects of the End of the World: what is to be the fate of all the poor animals left in their cages and fish tanks ?
‘Bramble Bush’ by Richard McKenna: in his preface to this story, editor Damon Knight reveals he first read this story in 1960, when the author presented it at a writer’s conference; Knight found the story incomprehensible.
However, after McKenna died in 1964, his widow provided Knight with her husband’s unpublished manuscripts, and Knight changed his mind and agreed to publish ‘Bramble’ in 'Orbit 3'. Bad move; this is the worst story in the anthology. The plot has something to do with a team of explorers confronting perceptual problems on an alien planet. The dialogue is embarrassingly bad, like something from 1930s – era fanfic. What was Knight thinking ?!
‘The Barbarian’ by Joanna Russ: this story features Russ’s proto-barbarian heroine, Alyx. A magician with evil intentions coerces Alyx into assisting him in his transgressions. This is probably the best entry in the anthology.
‘The Changeling’ by Gene Wolfe: a man returns to his hometown, and discovers a childhood acquaintance is not what he seems. While the ending is vague and unfocused, this is one of Wolfe’s less obtuse, and more readable, stories.
‘Why They Mobbed the White House’ by Doris Pitkin Buck: this short story won a contest hosted by ‘Data Processing’ magazine (!). It’s a humorous treatment of the ‘can computers really do it better ?' theme.
‘The Planners’ by Kate Wilhelm: a scientist ponders the implications of a treatment that enhances the intelligence of chimpanzees. As with several of Wilhelm’s other stories written in the 60s, the narrative shifts in time and place, and interweaves passages of real and imaged events, without any framing devices, leaving it to the reader to try and parse out what is happening when and where. This New Wave affectation hasn’t aged well.
‘Don’t Wash the Carats’ by Philip Jose Farmer: short-short tale about a man with a diamond for a brain; an effort at absurdist sf. It’s not very good.
‘Letter to a Young Poet’ by James Sallis: Sallis was a frequent contributor to New Wave anthologies, mainly because everything he wrote was ‘speculative fiction’, with the most superficial trappings of sf – and thus, irresistable to editors like the hapless Damon Knight. In this tale, the aging narrator, writing in his study on a far-off planet, provides advice to.….a young poet.
‘Here is thy Sting’ by John Jakes: a man discovers that the coffin transporting his late brother’s corpse has disappeared under suspicious circumstances; his investigation of the disappearance leads him to a disturbing scientific endeavor. This novelette starts on a note of satire, but in its latter stages actually veers, to an effective degree, into horror.
Had it been shorter in length and more focused, it could have been one of John Jakes’ best short stories.
Summing up, ‘Orbit 3’ delivers barely digestible New Wave content…. I suspect that only hardcore fans of this sub-genre of sf will find much here to reward them.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Car Warriors issue 3
Car Warriors
issue 3
Epic Comics / Marvel, August, 1991
In issue 3, the big race - The DeLorean Run - finally gets underway......and the Wysockis, my favorite entrants, are doing well......
issue 3
Epic Comics / Marvel, August, 1991
In issue 3, the big race - The DeLorean Run - finally gets underway......and the Wysockis, my favorite entrants, are doing well......
But when all is said and done,there can only be one winner.....here it is, part three of 'Car Warriors' !
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Book Review: The Glass Cage
Book Review: 'The Glass Cage' by Colin Wilson
3 / 5 Stars
You have to admire the calculated, underhanded, deceptive way that Bantam Books went and took a 1966 novel by Colin Wilson, gave it a ‘scary’ cover, and marketed it as an ‘occult’ thriller akin to The Exorcist.
The reality behind this 249 pp. book, released in July, 1973, is that it has essentially no ‘occult’ or supernatural content, and even further, its crime novel / murder mystery aspects are quite muted.
‘The Glass Cage’ is set in England, in the mid-60s. As the novel opens, Damon Reade,the country’s foremost scholar of William Blake, the 18th century poet, is visited at his Lake District cottage by a London police detective. It seems that a serial killer is loose in London, having butchered nine people to date. Some of the so-called 'Thames Murders' were marked by the mutilation and dismemberment of the hapless victims. And where some of the bodies (or parts of bodies) were discovered, the authorities have found quotations from Blake’s poetry written in chalk on nearby walls.
Reade has been visited by the London police in order to learn if he is aware of any Blake scholars who might be of a murderous or fanatical bent. But Reade cannot come up with any real suspects. Intrigued, and finding himself bored by his self-isolated lifestyle, Reade decides to make for London. There he contacts his friends among the city's artsy set, and recruits them to assist with his own investigation of the murders.
While the term ‘psychological profiling’ of serial killers is an unknown concept in mid-60s London, as the novel unfolds, Reade comes to display an innate ability to divine the motives, and personality, underlying the gruesome actions of the ‘Thames Murderer’.
But when Damon Reade personally meets his prime suspect, he is beset with doubts: for the suspect seems a harmless, disaffected dilettante…..or is he ? In order to arrive at the truth, Reade will have to place his own life in danger…….
‘The Glass Cage’, as I said at the beginning of this review, is devoid of supernatural content, and it’s not really a detective novel, either (no new murder takes place in the entirety of the narrative, for example). It’s mainly a literary platform on which author Wilson promotes his philosophy of ‘new existentialism’, through the vehicle of the dialogue passages that make up the bulk of the narrative. These are well-written and make for an easy read, but at the same time, readers looking for a genuine thriller will be very disappointed.
For me, the main value of ‘Cage’ was its setting; Wilson perfectly captures the cultural and social aspects of the swinging London of the mid-60s, where attractive young women in short skirts are plentiful and willing, and it doesn’t matter if you are a bohemian artist, or an affluent businessmen. Wilson adopts a point of view in which the reader sees the London scene, and its carefree and youthful energy, through the eyes of the somewhat sheltered Reade.
Summing up, ‘The Glass Cage’ is really a novel about the insights Wilson’s new existentialism could bring to understanding human nature, including its more aberrant aspects. Fans of Wilson’s work will probably find the book interesting, but those looking for an occult thriller are better off avoiding this novel.
You have to admire the calculated, underhanded, deceptive way that Bantam Books went and took a 1966 novel by Colin Wilson, gave it a ‘scary’ cover, and marketed it as an ‘occult’ thriller akin to The Exorcist.
The reality behind this 249 pp. book, released in July, 1973, is that it has essentially no ‘occult’ or supernatural content, and even further, its crime novel / murder mystery aspects are quite muted.
‘The Glass Cage’ is set in England, in the mid-60s. As the novel opens, Damon Reade,the country’s foremost scholar of William Blake, the 18th century poet, is visited at his Lake District cottage by a London police detective. It seems that a serial killer is loose in London, having butchered nine people to date. Some of the so-called 'Thames Murders' were marked by the mutilation and dismemberment of the hapless victims. And where some of the bodies (or parts of bodies) were discovered, the authorities have found quotations from Blake’s poetry written in chalk on nearby walls.
Reade has been visited by the London police in order to learn if he is aware of any Blake scholars who might be of a murderous or fanatical bent. But Reade cannot come up with any real suspects. Intrigued, and finding himself bored by his self-isolated lifestyle, Reade decides to make for London. There he contacts his friends among the city's artsy set, and recruits them to assist with his own investigation of the murders.
While the term ‘psychological profiling’ of serial killers is an unknown concept in mid-60s London, as the novel unfolds, Reade comes to display an innate ability to divine the motives, and personality, underlying the gruesome actions of the ‘Thames Murderer’.
But when Damon Reade personally meets his prime suspect, he is beset with doubts: for the suspect seems a harmless, disaffected dilettante…..or is he ? In order to arrive at the truth, Reade will have to place his own life in danger…….
‘The Glass Cage’, as I said at the beginning of this review, is devoid of supernatural content, and it’s not really a detective novel, either (no new murder takes place in the entirety of the narrative, for example). It’s mainly a literary platform on which author Wilson promotes his philosophy of ‘new existentialism’, through the vehicle of the dialogue passages that make up the bulk of the narrative. These are well-written and make for an easy read, but at the same time, readers looking for a genuine thriller will be very disappointed.
For me, the main value of ‘Cage’ was its setting; Wilson perfectly captures the cultural and social aspects of the swinging London of the mid-60s, where attractive young women in short skirts are plentiful and willing, and it doesn’t matter if you are a bohemian artist, or an affluent businessmen. Wilson adopts a point of view in which the reader sees the London scene, and its carefree and youthful energy, through the eyes of the somewhat sheltered Reade.
Summing up, ‘The Glass Cage’ is really a novel about the insights Wilson’s new existentialism could bring to understanding human nature, including its more aberrant aspects. Fans of Wilson’s work will probably find the book interesting, but those looking for an occult thriller are better off avoiding this novel.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Witches by Colin Wilson and Una Woodruff
'Witches' by Colin Wilson and Una Woodruff
Crescent Books, 1981
This offbeat art book first was released in the UK in 1981 by Dragon’s World; this edition, from the ‘budget’ publisher Crescent Books, also was published in 1981.
‘Witches’ (158 pp) is an overview of the myth and legend of Witches, and in a broader sense, the Occult, in Western culture. It appears to have been aimed at an audience of New Age adherents, neo-pagans, Wiccans, Goddess worshipers (although many of these categories didn’t really exist as such in 1981), and those with an interest in the occult.
The book’s text was contributed by Colin Wilson, who, of course, was very well-read on the Occult, having authored a number of books on the topic. In ‘Witches’, he suffuses his writings with his own philosophy (what he eventually called ‘New Existentialism’) regarding occult phenomena. In short, Wilson believes that witches and witchcraft were and are, in some instances, ‘real’, and this involves tapping psychic forces as yet-undiscovered by science.
The chapters are usually two or three pages in length, and cover such diverse topics as The Earliest Witches, The Destruction of the Templars, Werewolves, Mother Shipton, The Witches of Salem, and The Golden Dawn, among others. It goes without saying that Wilson's desire to use anecdotes of 'supernatural' events as evidence supporting the idea of 'man's latent powers' (a touchstone facet of his New Existentialism) makes him quite gullible.
The primary appeal of ‘Witches’ comes from the illustrations, provided by UK artist Una Woodruff (b. 1951), an artist who I had never heard of prior to seeing this book. Amazon.com lists her as the illustrator for four books, all from the late 70s / early 80s, dealing with New Age / fantasy topics. [She has a Facebook page.]
Woodruff’s art - which uses both graytone and color - showcases delicate linework, skillful composition, and careful coloring. It is reminiscent of New Age-inspired art, folk art, and, in some instances, the meticulous style of natural history illustration. Overall, her art has the sort of highly attuned approach to its subject matter that is characteristic of British children's book illustration.
While most of the book's illustrations have a fantastical, eccentric quality to them, perhaps the best piece in the book is the outstanding entry for 'The Witches of Salem', p. 119. This illustration adopts a 'realistic' style, and its dull umbers, blacks, and browns, contrasting with the blue and white of the sky, lend it an appropriately grim atmosphere.
Anyone with an interest in fantasy art, or New Age art, will want to have a copy of 'Witches', which is available at reasonable prices from your usual online retailers.
This offbeat art book first was released in the UK in 1981 by Dragon’s World; this edition, from the ‘budget’ publisher Crescent Books, also was published in 1981.
‘Witches’ (158 pp) is an overview of the myth and legend of Witches, and in a broader sense, the Occult, in Western culture. It appears to have been aimed at an audience of New Age adherents, neo-pagans, Wiccans, Goddess worshipers (although many of these categories didn’t really exist as such in 1981), and those with an interest in the occult.
The chapters are usually two or three pages in length, and cover such diverse topics as The Earliest Witches, The Destruction of the Templars, Werewolves, Mother Shipton, The Witches of Salem, and The Golden Dawn, among others. It goes without saying that Wilson's desire to use anecdotes of 'supernatural' events as evidence supporting the idea of 'man's latent powers' (a touchstone facet of his New Existentialism) makes him quite gullible.
The primary appeal of ‘Witches’ comes from the illustrations, provided by UK artist Una Woodruff (b. 1951), an artist who I had never heard of prior to seeing this book. Amazon.com lists her as the illustrator for four books, all from the late 70s / early 80s, dealing with New Age / fantasy topics. [She has a Facebook page.]
While most of the book's illustrations have a fantastical, eccentric quality to them, perhaps the best piece in the book is the outstanding entry for 'The Witches of Salem', p. 119. This illustration adopts a 'realistic' style, and its dull umbers, blacks, and browns, contrasting with the blue and white of the sky, lend it an appropriately grim atmosphere.
Anyone with an interest in fantasy art, or New Age art, will want to have a copy of 'Witches', which is available at reasonable prices from your usual online retailers.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Book Review: Fiends
Book Review: 'Fiends' by John Farris
2 / 5 Stars
Fiends’ (438 pp) was published by Tor Books in September, 1990, and features cover art by Joe De Vito.
The story certainly has an interesting opening: in rural Caskey County, Tennessee, in August, 1906, a terrible calamity befalls the small town of Dante’s Mill. Only Arne Horsfall, and his father Enoch, survive. But his father has been seriously injured in a confrontation with a creature known as Theron, the Dark Man…...the leader of a clan of malevolent, Icelandic elves called the ‘Huldufolk’. Regarded in Icelandic mythology as the unwanted children of the biblical Eve, the Huldufolk are relentless in their hatred of mankind.
By crafting artificial wings from moth silk and human skin, the Huldufolk are able to fly at night. And the Huldufolk like to skin their victims…..while the victim is still alive and screaming !
Despite his terror of the Huldufolk who have ravaged Dante’s Mill, Arne must summon all his courage if he is to subdue the invaders and prevent them from extending their depredations beyond the borders of the doomed village….
The narrative then shifts to August, 1970. Following the death of their parents in a car accident, teenager Majory Waller, and her older sister Enid, are making a modest, but comfortable, living in rural Caskey County.
Enid decides to invite one of the members of her therapeutic art class at Cumberland State Hospital, the nearby asylum, to dinner. Marjory is less than thrilled with having an asylum inmate over for dinner, but she relents in the face of Enid’s unswerving devotion to Christian charity. And so Arne Horsfall, now a semi-catatonic man in his 70s, comes to the Waller house for dinner.
That night, everyone at the Waller house is astounded to see large numbers of Luna moths descend on the house. These are no ordinary moths; not only are they twice as large as a normal Luna moth, but when alight on the skin, they cause a painful freezing sensation.
When Arne Horsfall sees the advent of the Luna months, he screams in fear and runs off into the night. And as Marjory and Enid Waller, and the people of Caskey County, are about to discover, the Huldufolk have returned…….flaying knives in hand……….
Despite its interesting approach to mingling Icelandic myth with the modern American, 'Stephen King-style' horror story, ‘Fiends’ is one of the more mediocre novels I have read.
It’s at least 100 pages too long, and suffers from being badly overwritten, probably because its written in the style of a screenplay, rather than a novel.
The narrative regularly interposes long sequences of exposition on topics that are tangential to the main storyline. For example, at one point in the story, as our heroes are sinking even deeper in danger and the suspense (presumably) building, the narrative shifts to devote more than an entire page to the conversational exchange between a deputy and an elderly widder woman, who rambles about her experience with seeing a UFO in her backyard (?!).
Author Farris also insists on using a labored, screenplay-friendly style of dialogue: characters don’t just speak, t-t-t-t-they stutter and s-s-s-s-stammer because they’re cold..... or terrified...... or both. And the exchanges between human and Huldufolk are telepathic, which calls for extended sections of italicized text. And every minor supporting character is dutifully given their own extensive interior monologues, further clogging the narrative.
The verdict ? ‘Fiends’ has an imaginative theme, but in the end, it’s poorly served by a clunky, labored prose style. This isn’t one of Farris’s more entertaining efforts.
2 / 5 Stars
Fiends’ (438 pp) was published by Tor Books in September, 1990, and features cover art by Joe De Vito.
The story certainly has an interesting opening: in rural Caskey County, Tennessee, in August, 1906, a terrible calamity befalls the small town of Dante’s Mill. Only Arne Horsfall, and his father Enoch, survive. But his father has been seriously injured in a confrontation with a creature known as Theron, the Dark Man…...the leader of a clan of malevolent, Icelandic elves called the ‘Huldufolk’. Regarded in Icelandic mythology as the unwanted children of the biblical Eve, the Huldufolk are relentless in their hatred of mankind.
By crafting artificial wings from moth silk and human skin, the Huldufolk are able to fly at night. And the Huldufolk like to skin their victims…..while the victim is still alive and screaming !
Despite his terror of the Huldufolk who have ravaged Dante’s Mill, Arne must summon all his courage if he is to subdue the invaders and prevent them from extending their depredations beyond the borders of the doomed village….
The narrative then shifts to August, 1970. Following the death of their parents in a car accident, teenager Majory Waller, and her older sister Enid, are making a modest, but comfortable, living in rural Caskey County.
Enid decides to invite one of the members of her therapeutic art class at Cumberland State Hospital, the nearby asylum, to dinner. Marjory is less than thrilled with having an asylum inmate over for dinner, but she relents in the face of Enid’s unswerving devotion to Christian charity. And so Arne Horsfall, now a semi-catatonic man in his 70s, comes to the Waller house for dinner.
That night, everyone at the Waller house is astounded to see large numbers of Luna moths descend on the house. These are no ordinary moths; not only are they twice as large as a normal Luna moth, but when alight on the skin, they cause a painful freezing sensation.
When Arne Horsfall sees the advent of the Luna months, he screams in fear and runs off into the night. And as Marjory and Enid Waller, and the people of Caskey County, are about to discover, the Huldufolk have returned…….flaying knives in hand……….
Despite its interesting approach to mingling Icelandic myth with the modern American, 'Stephen King-style' horror story, ‘Fiends’ is one of the more mediocre novels I have read.
It’s at least 100 pages too long, and suffers from being badly overwritten, probably because its written in the style of a screenplay, rather than a novel.
The narrative regularly interposes long sequences of exposition on topics that are tangential to the main storyline. For example, at one point in the story, as our heroes are sinking even deeper in danger and the suspense (presumably) building, the narrative shifts to devote more than an entire page to the conversational exchange between a deputy and an elderly widder woman, who rambles about her experience with seeing a UFO in her backyard (?!).
Author Farris also insists on using a labored, screenplay-friendly style of dialogue: characters don’t just speak, t-t-t-t-they stutter and s-s-s-s-stammer because they’re cold..... or terrified...... or both. And the exchanges between human and Huldufolk are telepathic, which calls for extended sections of italicized text. And every minor supporting character is dutifully given their own extensive interior monologues, further clogging the narrative.
The verdict ? ‘Fiends’ has an imaginative theme, but in the end, it’s poorly served by a clunky, labored prose style. This isn’t one of Farris’s more entertaining efforts.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Growing Pains by Bob Toomey and Mike Zeck
'Growing Pains' by Bob Toomey (writer) and Mike Zeck (artist)
from Eerie #108, January, 1980
One of my favorite horror tropes involves homicidal little kids.....
from Eerie #108, January, 1980
One of my favorite horror tropes involves homicidal little kids.....
This neat comic from Bob Toomey and Mike Zeck provides a clever take on the theme....and while the strip pulls its punches in terms of depicting gory mayhem, well, it was late 1979 when this issue of Eerie was published, a more innocent era, and one some decades before the advent of the 'Chucky' movies made little-kid-related grue more socially acceptable......
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