Book Review: The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Book Review: 'The Sword of Shannara' by Terry Brooks

5 / 5 Stars

 

The story goes that after spending 7 years writing 'The Sword of Shannara,' Terry Brooks (b. 1944) submitted the manuscript to Lester Del Rey, who was the head of fantasy publishing at Ballantine Books. In November 1974 Ballantine accepted the novel and in 1977, both hardcover and trade paperback editions were published. 

 

The novel was illustrated by the Brother Hildebrandt, at that time the foremost fantasy illustrators in the world.

I picked up the mass market paperback edition of the book shortly after its release in May, 1978. How does the book hold up after the passage of 47 years ? Quite well. In fact, it's a Five Star novel. 

 

I should state at the outset that 'Sword' is a pastiche of the Lord of the Rings (LOTR). As a pastiche, it was (and is) very successful, being one of the bestselling fantasy novels of the 1970s. 

Brooks is unapologetic about relying on LOTR for inspiration. Lin Carter, who was a prominent editor and author in the fantasy field in the 1970s, was incensed by 'Sword,' devoting a chapter in his 1978 anthology 'The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 4' to criticizing Brooks for writing 'a complete rip-off' of Tolkein. I believe Carter was angry more because Del Rey had not approached him to produce a 700-page pastiche of LOTR, choosing instead to showcase a novice author.........

 

In the 726 pp. comprising 'Sword,' Brooks reprises the storyline of LOTR: 

 

A Dark Lord (designated the 'Warlock Lord') threatens the free world, and elves, dwarves, and men must unite to combat the menace. Under the direction of the mysterious druid Allanon, a multi-racial party is assembled to embark on a quest to recover a mythical talisman, the Sword of Shannara. Playing the role of Frodo Baggins is the Valeman Shea Ohmsford, whose half-human, half-elf heritage makes him the only person in the world capable of wielding the sword, which expressly has been designed to be effective against the Warlock Lord.

 

The initial third of the novel sees the party jointly encountering all manner of dangers, be they gnomes, Skull Bearers, or monsters. Thereafter 'Sword' settles into the narrative of LOTR in which tribulations of one sort or another sunder the party, and the storyline alternates between groups of characters. The closing chapters of 'Sword' focus on the siege of the fortress city of Tyrsis (the counterpart to Minas Tirith) and this account of a desperate struggle to hold off the armies of the Warlock Lord is well done by author Brooks.

 

'Sword' is written for 'all ages' (12 years old and up), and the narrative stays comparatively tame in terms of describing the mayhem between good and evil factions; even the climactic dispatching of one particularly odious character is done 'off-screen.' But it must be said that for a first-time author Brooks displays skill in keeping the plot moving through all 700+ pages, a feat many authors of lengthy fantasy novels (and here Richard Adams's 'Shardik' comes to mind) have problems executing.

I confess that after finishing 'Sword' I was not overly motivated to take up some of the other 40+ novels and short story collections that make up the franchise. However, younger readers may be more motivated to do so than I.

The verdict ? 'The Sword of Shannara' is one of the most successful epic fantasy novels of the 1970s, and thus, a good starting place for anyone who wants to get the sensibility of the genre in that era. 

Plastic bags for paperbacks 2026 update

Plastic Bags for Paperbacks

Update: May 2026

It's nearly been six years since I last posted on plastic bags for storing paperbacks. I thought I would revisit the topic and update on where you can obtain these bags.

Action Bags / Action Packaging of Woodstock, Illinois, continues to sell plastic bags in a variety of sizes and styles. In my experience, their SKU: E6B5.75x8.625 (pictured above) is ideal for almost all mass market paperbacks, including thicker (i.e., 500+ pp) paperbacks. This size can be purchased in lots of 100, 500, 1,000, and even 2,000. 

For thinner (i.e., up to about 225 pp) mass market paperbacks, BCW 5 x 7 3/8 inch bags continue to be available at amazon. With these you have to tape the edge (they aren't self-sealing).

So, you have some good, affordable options for protecting those precious paperbacks !

Book review: The City Machine by Louis Trimble

Book Review: 'The City Machine' by Louis Trimble

3 / 5 Stars

'The City Machine' (143 pp.) was published by DAW in 1972 and features cover art by Kelly Freas. This is among the very first books in the DAW catalog, standing at No. 24.

Louis Trimble (1917 - 1988) published novels in a variety of genres, including detective / crime, westerns, and science fiction. Along with 'The City Machine,' his sci-fi novels for DAW included 'The Wandering Variables' (1972) and 'The Bodelan Way' (1974).

'City' is set on an un-named Earth-like planet where, some centuries after the arrival of the initial exploration ship, most of the population resides in an arcology known simply as the City. The upper caste of inhabitants, known as the Highs, enjoy lives of leisure and privilege in the apex floors of the arcology, while below them, but still comparatively affluent, reside the Uppers. 

The Lowers, as the name implies, are the unfortunates condemned to life in the arcology's dim and dirty lower floors. To them falls the task of maintaining the City and the comfortable lifestyle of the Highs. Life in the lower levels is bleak and devoid of hope, with the populace kept in check by gangs of malevolent 'Bully Boys.' 

Protagonist Ryne once was a Lower, but through smarts and initiative, he has worked his way into a slot as an Upper. As the novel opens Ryne is recruited by the City's overseer, a man known only as the Coordinator, for a clandestine mission.

It seems that a cabal of Uppers are intent on acquiring a quasi-mythical 'City Machine,' a device brought by the initial colonization ship, used to build the City, and then somehow lost. The Machine is remarkable, capable of erecting an entire city within a day or two. Acquisition of the City Machine could allow for construction of a new City, one with sufficient room and resources for all to thrive. The rebels envision opening this new city to the downtrodden Lowers.

For the Coordinator, acquisition of the City Machine by a rebel action will mean the end of the City, for without the Lowers, the City cannot be maintained. As Ryne is the only City resident who can understand the language used in operating the City Machine, the rebels are sure to try and co-opt him into their scheme.

As Ryne joins the rebel faction as a covert operative, will he stay true to his allegiance to the Coordinator and the class system of the City, or will Ryne side with the cause of freedom and an end to the oppression of the Lowers ? Does the City Machine even exist, or is the rebel cause simply a fantasy ? Ryne will find himself forced to choose sides, and his choice will be be fateful one for every Terran on the planet.....

'The City Machine' is a competent sci-fi adventure novel, written in clear and straightforward prose at a time when the New Wave movement made such things seem passe. Where it falters is in the final chapters, where the double-crosses and shifting alliances get a little too elaborate and make for confusion. This strains the narrative's credulity, and left me comfortable with assigning a Three Star, as opposed to a Four Star, Rating. 

Playboy May 1973

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Ten Novels About a Dystopian UK

 APRIL is MORE 'Dystopian Britain Novels' Month

 

Ten Novels About a Dystopian UK

 

So.....after spending some years reading and reviewing novels about a dystopian UK, I've come up with ten such novels that treat the subject. Of these ten, I'd select 'Pendulum,' 'Albion, Albion !,' 'Noah's Castle,' 'Tracer,' and 'Whole Wide World,' as the best.

Pendulum (1968), by John Christopher: in a late 1960s / early 1970s alternate UK, prosperous, middle-aged businessman Rod Gawfrey finds his comfortable existence turned upside-down when the nation’s youth overthrow the government. Gawfrey and his fellow citizens struggle to survive in a society where confrontations with truculent youngsters can have immediate, and quite violent, consequences.

 

Scotch on the Rocks (1968) by Douglas Hurd and Andrew Osmond: it’s the early 1970s, and the Scotts are greatly displeased to see North Sea oil fueling prosperity in England while their own country struggles. The Scottish Liberation Party (SLP) is willing to use violence in an effort to spark a people’s uprising and a chance for independence. Can an undercover operative working for British Intelligence reveal the SLP’s commander in time to prevent bloodshed ?

 

The ‘F’ Certificate (1970), by David Gurney: in an early 70s UK, ever-growing packs of young people who call themselves ‘Drummers’ are wandering the landscape, riding primordial Segways. Even when stoned on a heroin-like drug, the Drummers have an unnerving propensity for sudden violence. Film producer John Breen is aghast to find the Drummers trespassing on his country estate, but the UK government is too hesitant and befuddled to offer much in the way of assistance. 

 

If You Believe the Soldiers (1973), by Alexander Cordell: this novel is set in the UK in the early 1980s. The economic travails of the 1970s have resulted in a coup, carried out by a right-wing Army officer named Colonel 'Bull' Brander. The UK is under authoritarian rule, but the protagonist, a man named Mark Seaton, mounts a quiet defiance in his role as a contracting agent for the government. However, as the country descends into outright fascism, Seaton finds himself committed to more overt actions, and this can be quite dangerous to one’s health. 

 

Albion ! Albion ! (1974) by Dick Moreland (aka Reginald Hill): it’s the early 1990s and the UK has descended into anarchy. Most of the cities are trash-strewn wastelands where no one ventures out after dark, save those with a penchant for mayhem. The country is divided into four ‘quadrants,’ with each quadrant ruled by ‘football’ (i.e., soccer) clubs, whose commands are enforced by squads of hooligans. Journalist Whitey Singleton finds himself stranded in this dystopian Britain, and obliged to form alliances with people for whom savagery is a way of life. 

 

Noah’s Castle (1975) by John Rowe Townsend:  Norman Mortimer, a former Army quartermaster, foresees the economic collapse of the UK and sets his family up in a sturdy, defensible home with a well-stocked basement. When the collapse comes, it awakens the political consciousness of teenager Barry Mortimer and forces him to decide between the welfare of his family, and the ‘greater good.’ Author Townsend is skilled at depicting the slow infiltration of deprivation, hunger, and political violence into a disbelieving society.

 

Survivors (1975) by Terry Nation: this is a novelization of the 1975 – 1977 BBC TV show. The premise: a global pandemic wipes out most of the planet’s population, and civilization collapses. Brits of various classes converge on The Grange, an estate in the country, there to try and rebuild their lives as best they can. Author Nation focuses on the nuts and bolts of living in a post-apocalyptic society, with Modern Man obliged to tackle - often at a disadvantage - the realities of weeds, mud, vermin, and weather.  

  

Quatermass (1979) by Nigel Kneale: this is a novelization of a 1979 ITV show. It’s set in a 1980s UK, where London is a wasteland ruled by vicious street gangs who vie with South African mercenaries for whatever food and goods remain in the destroyed shops. In the countryside, life has regressed to a subsistence level. A hippie cult called the ‘Planet People’ is channeling an End Times religion, one that may be invoking deadly, and otherworldly, forces. Quatermass, now a man in his 80s, embarks on a dangerous search for his granddaughter Hettie; his journeys across a dystopian UK showcase a civilization in collapse.

 

Tracer (1990), by Stuart Jackson: in 1990, mass sickness and death caused by the AIDS epidemic has led to the imposition of a totalitarian government, which requires all infected individuals to report to ‘Special Care Centres’ for indefinite quarantine. Protagonist Nick Gorman is a ‘Tracer,’ assigned to locate and apprehend anyone trying to evade the mandate. The novel’s opening third does a good job of presenting a near-future UK in the grip of fear and loathing over a deadly communicable disease, and brings (uncomfortably) to mind the real-world government policies operating in the initial years of the covid-19 epidemic. 

 

Whole Wide World (2001), by Paul McAuley: this novel is set in a UK of the mid-2010s, several years after the 'InfoWar', a mass riot perpetrated by antifas, nearly eliminated the nation's telecommunications grid. An authoritarian government now uses cyber-police agencies to monitor content on the Web and suppress dissent. Protagonist John is a middle-aged policeman whose investigation into the murder of a young woman leads to unpleasant revelations about the bureaucrats who are intent on turning the country into a surveillance state.

***

 

And there you have it. I'm aware that there are other novels out there that could qualify for this list (such as Wilfred Greatorex's '1990'), but getting ahold of some of those is not easy. If anyone wants to nominate some additional entries for this category, drop a Comment ! 

Book Review: Survivors by Terry Nation

 APRIL is MORE 'Dystopian Britain Novels' Month

 

Book Review: 'Survivors' by Terry Nation

5 / 5 Stars

'Survivors' first appeared as a BBC TV series, airing for 38 episodes from April 1975 to June 1977. I first learned of it from the pages of Stephen Brotherstone's 'Scarred for Life,' as the series didn't make it to U.S. television.

(A reboot, airing in 2008, suffered from Wokeness and was not well received.) 

Terry Nation (1930 - 1997) was a UK screenwriter and producer who, during the 1960s and 1970s, worked on a number of science fiction TV series, including Dr. Who and Blake's 7. In 1980 he moved to Los Angeles and wrote scripts for American series such as MacGyver.

In 1976 Futura released Nation's novelization of the series as a paperback. In 2008, to coincide with the reboot, UK publisher Orion released a trade paperback version and this is the one I read and am reviewing.

'Survivors' starts off with a plague depleting the population of the entire world, including the UK. In short order, civilization breaks down, and the few survivors wander the empty landscape scavenging for supplies.

 

Lead character Abby Grant is obliged to abandon her life of upper-class comfort and privilege, but she holds on to the hope that her son Peter may have survived the plague and is alive and well somewhere in the countryside. Jenny Richards, a younger woman from a working-class background, and Greg, an engineer, eventually meet up with Abby and decide to set up camp in a rural household called The Grange. Other survivors join up and assist with establishing a farm, and a foraging system to secure supplies in the wider area.

 

There is tension in this post-apocalyptic UK in the form of a classic 'survivalist' encampment, the 'National Unity Force,' formed by a trade union president named Arthur Wormley (it's very British to have the villain arise from unionism, as opposed to the American practice of having these characters derive from 'survivalist' / right wing origins). 

 

The NUF have a habit of seizing things by force from those unwilling to defend themselves. Other, less organized bands of marauders also pose a threat to the welfare of the Grange colony.  

 

In relating the adventures of Abby, Jenny, and Greg, Nation takes pains to portray how poorly equipped modern society and its denizens are for a collapse. Early on in the novel, Abby has a conversation with the headmaster of her son's boarding school: 

 

He moved quickly to a workbench and picked up a glass test tube. "Look at that. We've been making things of glass for thousands of years. But could you make it ? It's silica, potash, high temperature and a great deal of skill. Don't you see, our civilization has the benefit of knowledge that has been accumulated since the beginning of time, and yet most of us are less practical than Iron Age man." 

 

The struggle to grow enough food to support the Grange, and the battle with the elements and the native flora and fauna who quickly assert themselves in the absence of civilization, is a major theme in 'Survivors.'

 

With only 254 pages to work with in his paperback, Nation obviously could not present all of the storyline from the 38-episode television run. But his narrative is crisp and declarative, and devoid of much in the way of psychological angst; the people in 'Survivors' are too consumed with simply staying warm, and having enough to eat, to indulge much in PTSD.

 

As I indicate above, 'Survivors' adopts a 'British' tone to its post-apocalyptic story. There is limited gunplay and assistant casualties, thus, readers hoping for the gleeful violence of American 'Radioactive Rambo' novels will be disappointed. 'Survivors' also is devoid of the facetious humor that marks the American franchise Fallout. In Nation's novel, the post-plague world is marked by unrelenting bleakness. And it's done well enough for me to grant the novel a Five Star Rating.

 

For another, rather frenetic, take on 'Survivors,' readers are directed to 'The Diesel-Electric Elephant Company blog.  

Centerfold: The Secret Archives of Bob Guccione

Centerfold: The Secret Archives of Bob Guccione

Studio 96 Publishing

2024

Here at the PorPor Books Blog, as part of my dedication to showcasing pop culture artifacts from the interval from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, I occasionally post excerpts from various issues of Penthouse magazine.

 

Startling as it may seem, these Penthouse posts are among the most-frequently Viewed pages of my blog..... 

 

It was in that spirit of documentation, for both aging Boomers and a younger generation unfamiliar with the 'men's magazine' landscape of those long-ago decades, that I purchased a copy of 'Centerfold: The Secret Archives of Bob Guccione,' issued by Studio 96 publishing in June, 2024. The text is by Martha Ball, and the editing is by Erica Wagner.

It's a little surprising to realize that a 'coffee table' book on the founder of Penthouse and Omni  magazines has not previously appeared. But then again, the last days of Penthouse circa 2003-2004 were chaotic, and in the last 20+ years, one owner of the franchise after another has wound up declaring bankruptcy. 

 

The current owners of Penthouse are the siblings and French porn magnates Stéphane and Malorie Pacaud, from their base of operations- WebGroup Czech Republic, aka WGCZ Ltd. - in Czechia. In their hands, the magazine solely is digital.

'Centerfold' is a well-made hardcover book of 248 pages, measuring 12 x 9 1/4 inches.

Studio 96 publishing was founded by entrepreneur Aya Abitbul and is owned by New York City firm Creatd, Inc. 'Centerfold' features an 'interactive' component marketed by Studio 96: Similar to how one would scan a QR code, readers use the S96 app to scan images throughout our books. Unfortunately, my innate software paranoia prevents me from downloading and using the S96 app, so I can't say anything constructive about the whole 'image interaction' component of the book. 

It's unclear to what (if any) extent the Pacauds and WebGroup Czech Republic extended permission to include scans of past issues of Penthouse. Indeed, in all of 'Centerfold' there are only scans / reproductions of three or four magazine covers, and few scans of any of the interior contents (editorial masthead, the Forum, interviews, portfolios, illustrations, cartoons, etc.). 

According to Creatd co-founder Jeremy Frommer, most (if not all) of the content in 'Centerfold' was the result of a Storage Wars-type, serendipitous 2012 purchase of a storage unit, within which Frommer found "...magazines, Kodachrome slides, and gold chain necklaces. Together these items represented the forgotten life of Bob Guccione, the publishing magnate and cultural changemaker, and a new opportunity to shine a light on history." Talk about a find ! 

 

This discovery led Frommer to seek out other depositions of Guccione ephemera, and ultimately a consultation with Jane Homlish, Guccione's secretary of over 30 years.

The chapters in 'Centerfold' are arranged chronologically and cover the Guccione publishing empire from its early days in the UK in the mid-1960s, to the launch of the magazine in the US with the September, 1969 issue, and after. Reflecting the nature of the content in the storage locker(s), the emphasis is on material from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

'Centerfold' takes a somewhat reverential view in its reporting on Guccione, which perhaps is not unexpected for a book of this type. It also provides a more flattering portrait of Kathy Keeton than was given in the 2023 A & E channel documentary, Secrets of Penthouse.

About a third of 'Centerfold' is taken up with Omni magazine, but as is the case with Penthouse, excerpts of actual pages from the magazine are limited (Omni also is owned by WebGroup Czech Republic). 

Who will want a copy of 'Centerfold' ? Well, at $99 from Studio 96, it is pricey, and aimed at  Baby Boomers and vintage adult content aficionados with the disposable income to indulge in coffee table books. If you have good memories of Penthouse and Omni then you may want to take a look at 'Centerfold.' But I suspect that younger people unaccustomed to the print media of long long ago, may not be overly interested in the the story of Guccione and his magazines.