Books read in 2017: No. 51, Books read in 2018: No. 1 -- Conan the Rebel

by Poul Anderson

Started: Dec. 30, 2017
Finished: Jan. 4, 2018

Notes: I've never been a big reader of the non-Howard Conan books, but I'm trying to give more of them a chance, so here goes.

Mini review: This one was a mess for at least the first half of the book. Conan rarely appeared, an important side character then vanished for most of the rest of the book, various enemies worked together behind the scenes in some kind of vague plot against Conan that seemed to have no real force behind it other than some even vaguer prophecy ... just a mess. About halfway through, the story became more clear, but I found the writing rather drab, and there was little sense of urgency as there was never any real threats to Conan, at least none that lasted longer than a few paragraphs, though I suppose some of that could be expected for a serial character. All in all, not a good read, and I can only suggest it for hardcore Conan fans who feel they have to read everything about the barbarian.

Books read in 2017: No. 50 -- The Planet Wizard

by John Jakes

Started: Dec. 26
Finished: Dec. 30

Notes: What some might not know is that before he became known for his sweeping historic novels, Jakes was a science fiction and fantasy writer, even being known for his Sword & Sorcery creation, Brak the barbarian. I've read a handful of Jakes' fantasy short stories over the years, but until now I've never enjoyed a longer novel of his in the speculative genres.

Mini review: More science fiction than fantasy, or maybe space fantasy, with even a touch of Sword & Planet. A few generations after two planets went to war and nearly destroyed one another, one of the planets is mostly a desert wasteland populated by lizard folk while the other has fallen into something akin to the Dark Ages. On the Dark Ages planet, a con-artist passing himself off as a wizard falls into trouble with the local authorities and is tasked with traveling to the other planet to exorcise its "demons" and to search for powerful magics. I'm barely touching what this novel really goes into, but I will say this was a fun one to read, more fun than the dark, moody cover by Jeff Jones would imply (not that that's Jeff's fault).

Books read in 2017: No. 49 -- Kothar and The Demon Queen

by Gardner F. Fox

Started: Dec. 24
Finished: Dec. 26

Notes: He's been deceased several decades now, but this author was instrumental in the comic book industry, especially in his creation of many, many characters for DC Comics, perhaps his most famous creation being the original Flash from the 1940s (the one who wore the silver helmet). I had not known Fox had also been a novelist, so when I ran across this 1970 paperback, I knew I had to give it a try.

Mini review: This was a fun little novel, about as cookie cutter a Sword & Sorcery tale as I've ever seen. Kothar the northern barbarian is summoned by a queen to quest for a magic item stolen from her, and in the process he faces the wrath of multiple wizards, more than one demon, a city's prince, untold numbers of soldiers, and even something that kind of resembled Godzilla! Of course there has to be some beautiful, scantily-clad women as well, and a betrayal or two. Though there's not much original here, the writing was pretty good. To repeat, this was just a fun read, so I can recommend.

Books read in 2017: No. 48 -- Mark Dawson's Learn Amazon Ads

by Mark Dawson and Joseph Alexander

Started: Dec. 21
Finished: Dec 22

Notes: I've been considering doing some book advertising through Amazon, so I thought I should do some research, thus this e-book.

Mini review: As expected, this freebie was really an introduction to a longer e-book and an advertisement itself for other programs offered by the offers. Still, instead of being disappointed, I did find the basics of learning the Amazon advertising system are here as well as a few tips for improving one's results with such ads. This wouldn't be a bad beginning guide for those looking into advertising with Amazon.

Books read in 2017: No. 47 -- Heroic Visions

edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson

Started: Dec. 18
Finished: Dec. 24

Notes: I was reading a lot of fantasy when this anthology was published in 1983, but somehow I missed it. In fact, I don't even remember it, and stumbled upon it recently in a used book store. I guess none of the book stores where I lived in 1983 had this book. Anyway, I recognize a number of the authors here, from Fritz Leiber to Alan Dean Foster to Robert Silverberg, but there are also a number of unfamiliar names. I tended to love fantasy anthologies in the early '80s, and I hope this one proves to bring just as much love.

Mini review: Like with all such collections, for me some are hits and some are misses. My favorites here were "Vovko" by Gordon Derevanchuk, in which a Slavic warrior must face a demonic son he had not know of, "The Monkey's Bride" by Michael Bishop, in which a maid finds herself forced to marry a man seemingly more ape than man, and "Dancers in the Time-Flux" by Robert Silverberg, in which a 14th Century man finds himself transported to a far future time in which humans are much changed from the humans he knows. There were other good tales here. Honestly, I wouldn't say this collection excited me, but none of the tales were truly awful.

Books read in 2017: No. 46 -- Elminster: The Making of a Mage

by Ed Greenwood

Started: Dec. 11
Finished: Dec. 18

Notes: With the exception of some of the works of R.A. Salvatore, I've not been a big reader of fictional works based upon D&D worlds, here the Forgotten Realms, though I have to admit these books are pretty popular on the fantasy shelves at book stores. Anyway, I've shared a few anthologies with Ed Greenwood, and since I've never read any of his longer works, I thought I'd check out one of his novels.

Mini review: Not bad. This read more like a serialized novel with various sections dealing with different parts of Elminster's early life, how he sought vengeance for the deaths of his parents by facing a realm of evil wizards. The climax I felt was a bit muddled with too much happening at once in too many different place with too many different people, but I could still follow what was happening. Other than that, an interesting tale.

Books read in 2017: No. 45 -- Xanathar's Guide to Everything

published by Wizards of the Coast

Started: Dec. 11
Finished: Dec. 11

Notes: Since it first came out a few years ago, the Fifth Edition of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop rpg hasn't had a lot of rules extensions, unlike earlier versions of the game which often became glutted with tons of books with extra rules. However, this is the first such book for the fifth edition, and I'm looking forward to dipping into it to see what kind of changes have been brought about. Oh, and for those who don't know, Xanathar is the name of a Beholder, an intelligent and powerful monster that is sort of a giant floating eye with a big mouth full of sharp, pointy teeth and teen stalks sticking out of its body, each stalk also containing an eye.

Mini review: Most of the rules here I didn't find necessary, adding more flavor than really anything that would alter the game or characters much. Even the additions for character classes I mostly found a bit underwhelming. Still, there was some interesting material here, though I wouldn't call this a must-buy for D&D gamers, especially as much of the stuff is available online for free as Unearthed Arcana material.

Books read in 2017: No. 44 -- Searching for Jesus

by Robert J. Hutchinson

Started: Dec. 4
Finished: Dec. 10

Notes: Tis the season, so why not? My understanding is this book is sort of a Christian apologist's answer to the secular, skeptical study of the Bible from the last couple of centuries, sometimes popularized today by the writings of such authors as Bart Ehrman. I've had some concerns about these secular studies myself, usually more from a historical than a theological point of view, so I'll be interested to see what is presented here.

Mini review: I admit to some concern at first because the author showed some Christian glee early on, but I have to say he soon settled into a fairly objective viewpoint. This book would be a decent starting point for the layman interested in critical Biblical textual studies as well as pointing the way towards archaeological studies of Judaism and early Christianity. That being said, the author truly does not urge the reader towards any definite conclusions, though he obviously mentions his own Christianity. The footnotes here are quite extensive, drawing upon secular and religious professionals across the last couple of hundreds years as well as many historical figures going back to ancient times. The writing style is pretty good, straightforward without being too friendly but also not being overly pedantic, and without being boring. Whether or not this book will have an influence upon textual studies of the Bible is yet to be seen (as the book itself was just published in 2015), but there seems to be a number of modern scholars who are already critical of the critics, if that makes sense, and no small number of these scholars are not Christian, but sometimes Jewish and often enough secular, sometimes even agnostic or atheistic. And since I mentioned Ehrman above, he is mentioned and quoted fairly often in this book, presenting his various opinions. If one is seeking some sort of final word on Jesus, especially concerning his divinity, it's not to be found here, but as the author himself might say, "It's not to be found anywhere. At least not yet."

Books read in 2017: No. 43 -- Cosmos

by Carl Sagan

Started: Nov. 23
Finished: Dec. 4

Notes: I'm not much of a science reader, though for some time I've been thinking it would be worth my while to read this most famous of science books, perhaps only surpassed by Darwin for popularity among the general reading public, and possibly not even that. I fully expect some of the information here to be dated, as this book is nearing 40 years of age, but with a foreward by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, my guess would be there might be some updating, if not within the actual text at least within the foreward and perhaps other notes.

Mini review: I'm glad I read this one, and wished I had decades ago. I needn't have worried about the science being out of date, for this isn't that kind of book for the most part but is almost more of a philosophy book, giving the general state of scientific thought towards the latter part of the 20th Century, much of which still stands up today. What few things were outdated are rare, though I'm no expert so there might have been more that I missed. This strikes me as a very '80s book, steeped in the political and scientific thought of that time, and in a way that was refreshing without all the modern hoopla that goes along with so much of our current ways of thinking and communicating. I also liked the fact that Sagan wasn't trying to convince anyone of anything here, but was more or less merely stating "this is how things are."

Books read in 2017: No. 42 -- The Diary of a U-Boat Commander

by Sir Stephen King-Hall

Started: Nov. 21
Finished: Nov. 23

Notes: Having just read a couple of pirate novels, I thought I'd continue my maritime readings with this book of the First World War as written or edited by a British naval officer. Presented as the discovered diary of a German u-boat commander, there is to this day some question as to whether or not this is fact or fiction since Sir King-Hall was not only an active naval officer on duty during the war but was also a known writer of fiction.

Mini review: Upon reading this, my guess would be this is a work of fiction somewhat akin to the likes of Moby Dick, including factual and perhaps historical information but mostly consisting of a contrived tale. This book is split about evenly between the officer's time aboard a U-boat fighting a war and his time on leave, mostly with a lover named Zoe. In the end, it is his connection with Zoe that is the culmination of this tale, more so than his actual commanding of a submarine. However, it is interesting seeing the officer's change of attitudes towards the war over time.

Books read in 2017: No. 41 -- The Sea-Hawk

by Rafael Sabatini

Started: Nov. 3
Finished: Nov. 20

Notes: Since I just read Steve Goble's new pirate novel, I only thought it fitting I pull this one out of my TBR pile where it's been languishing for some while. I've read a couple of Sabatini novels before and always enjoyed them, so I expect good things here.

Mini review: This one didn't thrill as much as the other works of this author I've read. The writing wasn't bad, but it was hit and miss with some chapters being interesting while others dragged. In all fairness, it's my understanding this was one of Sabatini's earlier works, so perhaps he wasn't fully up to snuff just yet. Anyway, an English lord is kidnapped and sent off to slavery but through fortune becomes a Muslim pirate. That's the bare bones of this tale, and actually that's not a bad plot, though I'm leaving out a lot. Though this wasn't a favorite, it wasn't so bad as to ruin Sabatini for me, so I'll likely read more of his work at some point.

Books read in 2017: No. 40 -- The Bloody Black Flag

by Steve Goble

Started: Nov. 1
Finished: Nov. 3

Notes: I'm quite excited to read this debut novel from my friend Steve Goble. It's far beyond time this man had his first novel published. And a murder mystery aboard a pirate ship? What's not to like?

Mini review: This was one hell of a yarn. Not an action tale, though there is a fair amount of action, this is a true mystery novel. Reluctant pirate Spider John Rush finds is best friend murdered aboard a ship full of murderers, and it's up to Spider to figure out who killed his friend and to gain revenge. All while a mysterious bauble has gone missing aboard the ship, other pirate vessels pose dangers on the sea, and an English frigate sails not far behind in pursuit. The story keeps flowing well right until the very end.

Books ready in 2017: No. 39 -- Annihilation: Book I of The Southern Reach Trilogy

by Jeff Vandermeer

Started: Oct. 30
Finished: Oct. 31

Notes: I've been reading so much older fiction lately, I thought I'd switch things up and go for something modern. I'm familiar with Vandermeer's work as an editor, but I've not read any of his writing, at least not in the long form. This novel has proven rather popular, and it is my understanding a movie is soon to be released, so now I'll discover what all the hubbub is about.

Mini review: While not extremely short, this is a fast, easy, breezy read perfect for a modern audience. There are a lot of secrets in this novel, so many that most are not explained, or if explained, then the explanation itself is somewhat vague. An expedition of four women is sent into a mysterious Area X where other expeditions have been sent in the past, most of which have not returned due to homicide, suicide or just plain old disappearance. Of the former expedition members who have returned, they have been shades of their former selves with little to no memory of what happened to them in Area X. This tale is told by a biologist, her account of what she witnessed in Area X. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I see why it's popular. I have two minor problems, the first being that despite the ease of the text's flow, I did feel the story slowed too much in a few places, and secondly, I found the ending far too ambiguous, though I suppose the other novels in this trilogy will explain more. There are potentially shades of Lovecraft here, though not quite the darkness of such stories. This story reminded me a bit of the TV show "LOST" from a few years back, and somewhat of Scott Smith's horror novel, The Ruins.

Books read in 2017: No. 38 -- Slan

by A. E. Van Vogt

Started: Oct. 25
Finished: Oct. 29

Notes: Here's another classic sci-fi author whom I have never read, this particular novel perhaps being his most famous, or at least the one I have run across the most often. Published originally in 1940, I'm hoping to enjoy it and maybe learn a few things about writing (as is always the case for me). While these older speculative writers might not be popular today, often even forgotten altogether, they do speak to me usually more than modern writers at least as far as the kind of fiction I myself want to write. Admittedly, modern readers might not care for my own writings that draw upon the styles and subjects of authors of the past, but I write for myself first. Plus, since I'm mainly a fantasy writer, if I wrote yet another long pseudo-political piece set in a pseudo-medieval world, or a lengthy novel of nothing but war and war and more war, which seem to be popular currently, I would probably bore myself and maybe give up writing altogether. It's not that there's anything wrong with those types of tales, but I've read enough of them and don't feel a need to read more on any regular basis. And it's not that earlier authors didn't include such themes, but they did also stretch themselves into other subject matters. I'm rambling. I'll go read now.

Mini review: The writing here was actually quite solid, and quite modern. A boy who is a slan, a race with mind-reading powers and some few other abilities, must raise himself secretly among humanity, which seeks to wipe out his race. There's a lot more to it than that, but read it for yourself for some enjoyment. I will say I'd gladly read more from Van Vogt. My only issue here was I felt the ending was a little too rushed.

Books read in 2017: No. 37 -- The Metal Monster

by A. Merritt

Started: Oct. 11
Finished: Oct. 25

Notes: Being a former newspaper journalist, I'm well aware of Merritt's accomplishments in that field, but he was also known to be a popular speculative writer in the early 20th Century, influencing such figures as Lovecraft. I've never read any of Merritt's fiction, and though I have some apprehension considering his prose is often criticized as being overly flowery (something I usually can't stand), I thought I'd give him a go. In this novel originally serialized in 1920, four Americans apparently stumble upon a secret army of robots hidden away in Asia and must save the world from the metal beasts.

Mini review: I learned something new from this book. I knew too much description could be a bad thing because it is often boring, which was not necessarily the case here, but I learned that too much description can actually be counter productive, that it can actually obscure instead of describe. I would have not thought that possible before reading this novel. Yes, Merritt's descriptions were lengthy, but they weren't necessarily dull. The problem is that there is so much description, it's difficult to actually see the scenery in one's mind. I suppose it didn't help that the description often referred to structures and creatures which would be quite alien to the human mind. Here the "robots" were actually anything but. They were living creatures with sort of a hive mind, and they were made of metal. Their origin is never fully explained, but it is hinted that they are an alien race from the darkness of space. I'll go no further in case anyone wants to read this. For me, I'm not likely to pick up any more of Merritt's work any time soon, but that's not to say I won't do so at some point, if nothing else to give him another shot at me. Besides, anyone interested in the history of speculative fiction could do worse.

Books read in 2017: No. 36 -- Logan's Run

by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson

Started: Oct. 9
Finished: Oct. 10

Notes: This is an example of why I love used book stores so much. If you take the time to peruse the shelves, you can find books you didn't know existed, or had forgotten they existed. This is the case for me. The original "Logan's Run" movie and television show were big when I was a kid, but all things science fiction were suddenly cool in the late '70s after the success of Star Wars, and I had forgotten that it had actually been a novel. A novel which I'd never read. I'm correcting that now. I hope it's good.

Mini review: This was just a fun adventure tale, but one with something to say. The novel and the movie (for those who remember it) are pretty similar until about the halfway point, then each verges off into different territory, with the novel having the more surprising and interesting ending. The novel also is much more gritty than the movie, reminding me somewhat of the worlds of Blade Runner and even The Running Man to some extent. All in all, I prefer the book over the movie.

Books read in 2017: No. 35 -- Ancient, My Enemy

by Gordon R. Dickson

Started: Oct. 5
Finished: Oct. 9

Notes: Having just enjoyed a novella of Dickson's, I thought it high time I read more from the man, so I turn to this 1974 collection of his short stories.

Mini review: There were some fine tales here, dated for sure but still enjoyable reads and not as dated as some of the author's contemporaries. Of these stories, the first one, which bears the same name as this collection, was one of my favorites, but favorite had to be the last story, "The Bleak and Barren Land," a story of what happens when a group of colonists find themselves confronting miners and aliens on a semi-populated planet.

Books read in 2017: No. 34 -- The Day the Sun Stood Still

by Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson, and Robert Silverberg

Started: Sept. 27
Finished: Oct. 5

Notes: This is a collection of three science fiction novellas from the authors mentioned above, originally published in 1972.

Mini review: It turns out this collection is a themed one, based quite literally upon the title, The Day the Sun Stood Still. Editor Lester Del Rey gave these authors the task of writing stories based upon the notion of the sun standing still in the sky for one whole day, much as was purported to have happened a time or two in ancient times according to the Bible. All three stories have religious thought at their heart, but generally come to rather dark opinions concerning mankind, though not God. Of the three tales here, the longest, "Things Which Are Caesar's" by Gordon R. Dickson, proved to be my favorite, also being the tale that was most down-to-earth, in my opinion, focusing more upon how such events affect individuals rather than society (or the world) as a whole. I'd like to add that since I've been reading pre-1980 (or thereabouts) science fiction of late, I'm surprised how much of it has been related to religion; perhaps that has merely been a fluke, but it seems to me modern science fiction rarely touches the subject, though maybe that is understandable considering the vast political and social gulf that has arisen between science and religion during the last few decades. Also, it was somewhat eerie and frightening how much these forward-looking stories from 1972 mirrored the world we live in today.

Books read in 2017: No. 33 -- Omnilingual

by H. Beam Piper

Started: Sept. 26
Finished: Sept. 27

Notes: My Kindle was looking pretty lonely, so I thought I'd pick it up for a short read. And since I've been reading some classic sci-fi of late, I thought I'd stick with it.

Mini review: This was a fun and interesting read. In the near future (1996 or thereabouts for this story's purposes), a group of archaeologists have taken on the job of excavating an ancient civilization found on the planet Mars. What follows is quite an interesting take on not only archaeology and how it could be applied to another planet and an intelligent alien species, but also how linguistics could be applied. This was definitely worth the read.

Books read in 2017: No. 32 -- A Canticle For Leibowitz

by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

Started: Sept. 19
Finished: Sept. 26

Notes: Here's another classic work I've been meaning to read for years, this time science fiction.

Mini review: This covers particular points in the history of a monastery during an 1,800-year period following a nuclear war. That description pales to the reality, and even sounds trite to my ears, but it's basic enough without giving anything away. There is much in this book to digest, and it is a good book. A very good book. Easy to read but with hidden depths, I'm not convinced it's good enough to have earned the near-mythic reputation it holds in some circles, nor the extent of study that has been heaped upon it, but to quote the late John Gardner, I'm a believer of "criticism makes art sound more intellectual than it is ..." Still, definitely worth reading, even for folks who aren't fans of sci-fi.