I was a Weird Kid

I was talking to a friend who said he didn’t really picture Spawn as something I’d read.  I countered by asking what he thought a typical book for me was.  He considered the question and eventually admitted that yes, I do read a wide variety of things, even if I am a picky reader.

Let me tell you, this is one of the stranger things today.  And no, it’s not something I randomly turned up at a used bookstore or library sale.  These are books I went out of my way to reacquire years after I gave up my original copies from the Scholastic book fair.  They are collectively known as Garfield’s Pet Force.

Doesn’t sound that weird yet?  Try this on for size.  You take Garfield’s head.  Or Odie’s.  And stick it on your stereotypical nineties musclebound superhero body.  Thrown in Nermal, Arelene, and Pooky gets a computer on his head and a little Professor X floating chair thing.

The premise of these books is that there’s a number of alternate universes out there. In one of these Jon Arbuckle has a group of pets that include a lazy, fat cat only concerned with eating and sleeping, an idiotic dog, a female cat who cuts the first down to size, the world’s cutest eternal kitten, and a teddy bear.  But in an alternate universe, we’ve got Emperor Jon and his Pet Force, the superpowered creatures who protect him and all that’s good from the evil veterinarian Vetvix.

And to make things as confusing as only comics can be, Nermal collects the Pet Force comics in Jon Arbuckle’s world.

Intrigued yet?  I hope so.

Like I said, there are five books.  The Outrageous Origin, Pie-Rat’s Revenge, K-Niner: Dog of Doom, Menace of the Mutanator, and Attack of the Lethal Lizards.  Each is about a hundred pages long, perfectly good for a second or third grade reader.  There are some illustrations, but these are text-based chapter books.  Very short chapters.

The books follow a basic formula wherein we set up what’s going on in both universes for the good guys and the bad.  Eventually Emperor Jon and or Sorceror Binky recognize the bad guys causing a problem and magically transport Garfield & friends to the alternate universe where they become Pet Force and save the day before going home again.  See, the original Pet Force was destroyed and so they needed close genetic matches to take their place.  There is a summary of the Pet Force characters (Garzooka, Odius, Starlena, Abnermal, and Compooky) at the beginning of each book and the actual text contains a fair bit of summarization for previous installments so you can easily start with any of the five.

Let me assure you, the books are kind of dumb.  But in that wonderful, glorious way that makes you glad to have read them.  Where I can read about the creation of the Mutanator, a being made up of parts from Starlena, Odius, Abnermal, and Compooky, and wonder if, because Starlena’s female and the rest are male, that makes it intersex.  I know it’s a dumb question to ask about a dumb book, but there’s a joy in overanalyzing something that was never intended to be viewed in any kind of scientific way.  Hell, Vetvix operates largely by magic, not technology and Jon’s best support is a sorceror.

I love these books.  I don’t remember when or why I got rid of my original copies, but I’m very glad to have new ones, even if the condition is questionable at best.  These things are twenty years old and you know no one’s reprinting them, so it’s not like I can just buy a brand new one.  But I have no regrets and this was a great way to spend the morning.

It seems I’ve run out of time in which to finish more books before I leave to celebrate a new year.  Well, I’ll show you what I’ve spent my time on tomorrow.  Trust me, it’s not been a small undertaking.

All the Small Things

As noted in yesterday’s post, I did indeed start yet another book while on the plane.  But between getting home, unpacking, acquiring expirable groceries, and generally relaxing I was not at all up to finishing it yesterday.  Plus I’m not generally as interested in science fiction as fantasy and I was burning myself out on such a limited selection.  I’ll note that of the books I originally packed, two have been returned to the Pile.  I’m sure I’ll get to them in time, but I haven’t been feeling the urge yet.

And there are few things I dislike more than feeling obligated to read something, even if it’s because I have limited options because of bag space.  Also because this was the twelfth book I started on vacation.  Twelve books is a lot, especially when I was gone or travelling for a mere nine days.  I did plan ahead, especially given the fact that I averaged a book a day on my last holiday-time trip to Florida, but even I didn’t expect to get through quite so many volumes.

Point of fact I still haven’t shelved anything outside of the to-read Pile.  I’m waiting on that for reasons that will become clear.

Anyway, as implied earlier, the last book of vacation was a science fiction anthology. Edited, as usual, by Martin H. Greenberg and this time with Larry Segriff’s assistance.  Titled Silicon Dreams, you can figure pretty easily that it’s a collection about artificial intelligence with a nod to a certain story that was expanded into a cult classic film.

There are only twelve stories here, despite the book being a normal-for-DAW-anthologies roughly three hundred page length.  But I didn’t find that particularly surprising as longer stories seem to be more common when we’re talking about the nature of sentience and where the line is drawn between man and machine.  As expected there’s a number of familiar names, including at least one that I simply haven’t read a short story from before, and there’s also some new names too.  I’ll also say that there’s two bait-and-switch stories, where the author flips our expectations of what’s machine and what isn’t at the end.  This is not a bad thing, but I can’t exactly say it when talking about a specific story else I’ll spoil it.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch starts us off with “A Helping Hand”, a story that’s not really about the robot but rather about Jamal, the boy who finds it, and his family.  It sucks being poor.  I mean, I’m not personally poor, I’m middle income, but there’s a lot of people out there who are struggling just to maintain a “good” life.  Rusch doesn’t offer a lot of commentary about economic inequality, focusing instead on the family relationships.

Moving on to “Keepers of Earth” by Robin Wayne Bailey.  Here…it seems like humanity’s probably virtually destroyed the planet and the only sentience left behind is artificial.  And over centuries and millenia this AI and its assistants restore the planet.  And grow beyond their programming.  Which brings us to what happens next…and a trial.

“Freddy Nearby” is Laura Resnick’s creation.  See, he’s the murder-bot owned (contracted?) by the narrator’s cousin.  And the narrator really should’ve been a good Jewish boy and listened to his mother and not gotten messed up in any of this.

Jane Lindskold’s story “Lies of Omission” talks about the boundaries of programming, of contracts, and where to draw the line.  Also about debt and friendship.  And sacricfice, never forget that one.

“K-232” by Ron Collins is a very sad story.  There was a sad dog story in the dog anthology, now there’s a sad robot dog story in the AI anthology.  Darn you typed words, tugging at my heartstrings with your mere four pages in length!

Then Jody Lynn Nye comes in with “Sacrifices” which is much less about making you cry and much more about how horrible and selfish humans are.  Also, seriously people, listen to the expert.  I don’t care how insular and moronic you are, he is trying to save your lives and your electricity.

“Horsepower” by Paul Dellinger says that people will continue to be fascinated by competitions of skill even when they’ve changed almost beyond recognition due to limitations.  So even though horses are nigh-unheard of anymore, there will still be steeple chases.  With robotic horses.  Why not.

So James Hogan is the author I was referring to earlier, that I’ve never read his short fiction before.  Actually I’m not sure I’ve read his work before.  I do have a book on the shelf that I mean to read at some point, but I haven’t gotten there yet.  Anyway, “Take Two” is, well, what happens when you play G-d?

“Left Foot on a Blind Man” from Julie Czerneda is a tale told by a quirky narrator about unintended consequences and artificial intelligence.  Yes, we should all be concerned about this foot.

Paul Levinson’s “The Protected” is probably one of my favorites from this anthology, though I personally could do without a lot of the macho need to protect the woman.  Still, it’s a good story that really touched a chord by the end.

“Fallen Faces by the Wayside” is by Gary Braunbeck and in some ways is a disappointment for the anthology.  Not because the story is bad, not at all.  But because the robots, the artificial intelligences…the story isn’t about them.  It’s about a comedian with a past he’d rather not talk about who happens to be good at impressions.  Again, this is a very good story, but it doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the collection.

The final story in this volume is by an author who hasn’t come up in quite a while for me, William H. Keith, Jr.  I remember him primarily from the Bolo books and I think he got into some of the stranger stuff there.  Either way, it didn’t surprise me for his name to turn up in a collection like this.  As for the story, it may not be military sci-fi, but it definitely has the same feel and flow to it, where you’re rooting for the tide to turn in our hero’s favor.

Overall, Silicon Dreams is another good DAW anthology.  I may have had to force myself to finish it, but I think that’s because I got a little burned out on my vacation and really wanted more choice as to what I was reading.  Yeah, I know I was offered a trip to the library but then I’d be even more pidgeonholed into finishing whatever I found there.  Assuming they had something that tickled my fancy, which is not actually a guarantee.  Hell, my dad was saying that he started reading Lackey’s Elemental Masters series through the library, but their collection started with the second volume.  (He was able to find the first at Volume One Books.)  My dad being my dad, he went ahead and read the second and third books because they were there.  Me, I try to be a bit more discerning.

What’s next?  Well, when I opened my mail yesterday I discovered some holiday presents (books), and then I skipped off to the comic shop on a whim.  And then this morning I went to another comic shop because they’re having their annual end-of-the-year $1 sale.  Seriously, any individual comic published before December is a dollar.  The big 100 page ones are half off.  Other stuff was on similar sale.  I also heard the clerk tell someone that the biggest purchase of the sale thus far was someone buying 320 comics for a dollar apiece.  Which is insane.

Point being, I have some shorter things to read, so I fully intend to continue adding to this throughout the rest of the day.

First short thing is one of the aforementioned holiday presents a friend mailed to me.  The one I couldn’t wait to read because it sounded utterly ridiculous and wonderful.  This is, of course, The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story by Lemony Snicket.  And full credit to illustrator Lisa Brown who did an excellent job on this little book.  You can call it a children’s book because it is simple enough to be read and enjoyed by children.  But it’s a book for all ages, and especially for those people who feel like Christmas (or other more “popular” holidays) stamps on their own religions observances and refuses to acknowledge them.  So we get a bit of blurbs about what Hannukah is and why we eat latkes, but we also get the understanding and acceptance of finding the right place for ourselves.

I am so glad that my friend found this and thought of me.  I will treasure it and read it always.  And hey, today’s the last day of Hannukah!  No more candles to light, but Jewish holidays start and end at sundown, and it’s not sundown yet.

So since I was at the comic shop yesterday, you can figure I ended up with a coverless comic as well as my purchases.  In this case, another issue of Kick-Ass.  Another issue of parenting problems, gangs, drug money, and revenge.  Again, I don’t really know what’s going on and I don’t really care.  But it was here and I read it.  Now it’s going in the recycling.

Included in my holiday present package along with the latke book were two nice little chapbooks.  The first of these is Fairy Tales for Writers by Lawrence Schimel.  I wasn’t certain what to expect from thirty little pages, but what I got were poems.  Poems retelling thirteen different fairy tales in terms of the publishing industry.  And oy, do some of these cut like knives.  There’s a lot of sorrow, to say the least, but the poems themselves are very well done and I was rather impressed.

I was also surprised to realize that this is not the first time I’ve read Lawrence Schimel’s work, that he’s popped up in several other anthologies on my shelves, including the first Valdemar collection.  Which says a lot to me.  Still, my friend clearly has good taste and knows me well.  Fairy tales indeed.  In fact, I’m adding a new Poetry category to my blog because this really doesn’t qualify as anything else, except maybe Nonfiction?  Which I certainly wouldn’t call it that.  I don’t know if I’ll go back and add Poetry descriptors to all the previous anthologies I’ve discussed (except maybe Now We Are Sick), but it’s something to consider if I get bored.  You never know.

Moving on, I’ve got another freebie comic.  This one with a cover so I know it’s Nomen Omen #1.  It’s a horror comic, or so I’ve concluded from how the first issue ends.  We start off with a lesbian couple moving cross-country.  They find an accident on the highway and a single survivor who seems to be out of her proper mind.  She’s also pregnant and somehow transfers that pregnancy to one of the pair. The rest of the comic follows the daughter, Rebecca Kumar, and is in black and white.  That’s because Becky is colorblind.  It makes for some nice visuals, but frankly, I’m just not interested enough to consider reading more.  Still, the comic’s got a cover and is in good shape so I figure I can find a friend who will find it more appealing than I do.

The last of the holiday gift package was another chapbook, this time The Last Selchie Child by Jane Yolen.  It is another, and much longer, collection of poems.  A few of which I’d actually read before, though I only recognized one by title and one by content as I went through.  As you might guess, they largely talk of fairy tales, of stories, and of telling stories.  One of the most interesting was “Getting Old the Mythic Way” which has a series of subpoems concerning the Green Man, the last Unicorn, the Little Mermaid, Jack & the Giant, the Troll under the Bridge, and fairies. There are also, given the title, a number of poems about selchies (or selkies).  As you may recall, these are the ocean folk who wear seal skins and remove them to walk on land.  I mean, it’s Jane Yolen.  You know it’s got to be good.

I’ve read the first two issues of the miniseries Blackstars and expressed interest in how we got to this point, and how I should probably look into The Green Lantern #12 to figure it out.  Thus when I was at the comic shop selling all back issues for a dollar apiece, I remembered to take a peek.  I managed to find not only that but also issue #11 from Grant Morrison’s run.  To be fair, there’s a fair bit I’m not totally certain on and a lot I have to extrapolate based on dialogue, but I do have more context now.  And a feeling that maybe I should’ve picked up that hardcover collection of the lot.  Oh well.  Yay for additional context, boo for it not quite being enough.  Net gain positive?

I think I mentioned that I finally went and got myself an illustrated copy of The Ice Dragon by George R. R. Martin.  And what’s the point of buying a book if you don’t use that as an excuse to reread what is one of the best short stories out there?  I’m told that this is a part of Westeros, but I honestly don’t care.  You don’t have to read it that way, no Names are mentioned, and it’s the story of a cold little girl who learns she does in fact love her family.  Luis Royo’s illustrations are beautiful throughout, though the story is text-heavy enough to have some spreads with no images at all.  They also made the interior of the jacket a mini poster, but who would denude their book for a small piece of wall art?  Still, it’s a lovely piece and I’m glad to have it.

The only individual comic I bought at my local shop yesterday was a bit of a doozy.  I hadn’t originally intended to pick up more than the Blackest Night from Tales from the Dark Multiverse but as that had been less than satisfying I started considering others.  Which brings me to today’s Tales from the Dark Multiverse: The Death of Superman.  What really sold me was the cover, featuring Lois Lane wearing a black bodysuit, the Superman logo on her chest in blood, and a ragged red cape on her back.  So Superman’s death results in a somewhat insane Lois who takes out her grief and anger at his passing on the world?  I’m in.

That is, essentially what happens.  She determines that the world didn’t deserve Clark and so with her new powers she sets out to fix things.  If he stopped bank robbers, she’ll stop banks.  Etc.  Capitalism is one of her true enemies.  But remember…this is the Dark Multiverse.  There are no happy endings to be found.

Speaking of the Dark Multiverse, you’ll recall that I ended up with a coverless comic not too long ago that turned out to be Flash Forward #1.  Today I had the opportunity to buy a proper copy, along with the second installment, for a dollar.  So I did.  And read them both.  Just like our hero(?), I’m starting to get an idea of where this miniseries is going.  Also black President Superman is kind of awesome.  I still refuse to go into too much detail because of how this builds off of Heroes in Crisis, but I’m definitely intrigued.

The last of my dollar comics (yes really, I’ve been very serious about going through short stuff today) is Far Sector #1, the first of the new Green Lantern series from N.K. Jemisin.  I’ve heard the name, seen the books, and never read any of them before.  As for this…it’s okay.  I’m not keeping it.  Sure there’s the mystery of whodunit, but I don’t care that much.  Nor does this incite me to pick up an actual novel.  But I have a friend who mentioned interest so I’ll offer the comic to him.

I think that’s it for the night.  I do have some more shortish things, but nothing as quick as what I’ve whipped through this evening.  Also I think I’m just done reading for the night.  The rest can wait.  Also shelving is done.  So much shelving.  And a few things purged as well.

Woof?

Well, here I am on an airplane with a finished book in my lap, some ginger cookies on my tray table along with a cup of water. It is what it is and I read as I read. To balance out the fact that I read a cat-themed anthology earlier this vacation, I decided I might as well read a dog-themed anthology too. This is Sirius: The Dog Star, edited by (of course) Martin H. Greenberg and Alexander Potter.

One thing I do want to note right away is that while the feline collection was purely fantasy, this one is marked as DAW science fiction. Which is only partially true. Rather, several of the sixteen stories are sci-fi, but not all of them. There’s definitely fantasy here. Which raises several questions including “could they not find enough sci-fi dog stories?” and “could they have given the book a less deceptive name?” I don’t really have a problem with the mix of fantasy with science fiction, I simply didn’t expect to find any here given the title and branding. (Not as bad as Baen’s branding. Not going there right now.)

As stated, it’s an anthology of dog-themed stories. And, interestingly enough, there are two that I’ve read before. But I’ll get into that additional detail later. Needless to say, there’s a large number of familiar names here, as well as some I don’t necessarily recall. So without further ado, let’s dive in.

It’s actually been a while since I read anything from Tanya Huff, but I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to read anything she’s produced, even if I do recall “Finding Marcus” and what it’s about. I mean, in brief, the story is about a dog’s willingness to follow his owner to the ends of the earth and beyond. Also there’s a crow.

“Brothers Bound” comes from Julie E. Czerneda (there’s a name that’s popped up recently) and is distinctly sci-fi as opposed to the fantasy preceding it. It’s about aliens trying to and largely succeeding in working together. Our protagonist, however, is not thrilled to be the replacement for a human because his species is apparently the most compatible outside humanity with a dog. But dogs can teach valuable lessons to anyone willing to listen.

Fiona Patton brings the book back towards fantasy with “Heartsease”, about a domineering little dog who is reluctant to accept change and absolutely refuses to entertain thoughts of a life without his owner. And maybe, just maybe, there’s a bit of magic around too.

“A Spaniel for the King” by India Edghill is more historical fantasy than anything else, and that last only because we see events through the dog’s eyes. The dog in question is Nell, and her owner is King Charles II of England. Unfortunately, Charles is nearing the end of his span and the succession is in question. What to do, especially if only a dog knows the truth?

Stephen Leigh offers “Among the Pack Alone”, wherein an escaped dog is spoken to, quite casually, by a human woman. It seems he’s more intelligent than even his gene-tinkering creators reckoned on, and has escaped. The story explores why…and what it means to be human or dog.

“After the Fall” from Kristine Kathryn Rusch struck a real chord in me. The narrator reminisces about how he, as a child of three, was absolutely terrified by meeting a Great Dane six times his size. And after that, he never liked dogs. Now, I do prefer the independence of cats myself, but trust me, meeting a Great Dane as a small child is a memorable experience in all the wrong ways. My great aunt and uncle love their dogs and have a farm on which they can run as much as they want, but I would be just has happy to never have to meet one of them again. My great uncle talks of how the dog chased off a would-be thief once and I do not blame that person for never returning. Great Danes are scary. Aside from my personal connection, I think it is a good story about choices, love, and where we draw the lines.

Rosemary Edghill’s “Final Exam” posits that dogs will be front-line soldiers in the most insidious of wars. I have some very real questions about the seeming utopia this would create, but I can see where she’s coming from and admit it’s not the worst idea out there.

“Precious Cargo” comes from Bernie Arntzen and is another one of the pure science fiction stories present. Especially because it takes place on a spaceship, commissioned to transport color-changing perma-puppies to an embargoed world. And wow, is that a mouthful. It’s an odder premise, but it works in the end.

Doranna Durgin offers “Hair of the Dog”, a story that is most definitely a sequel to something else. And this is one of those tales where it’s highly suggested you have read the first installment for best understanding of the second. Without that background knowledge the story isn’t bad…but there’s a lot I feel I was missing and while I can make guesses about how it ended, this was not the most satisfying way for it to go. Yes, I know the book and stories are fifteen years old and sexual harassment in the workplace was less frowned upon then…but it was still frowned upon and I want to see that bastard suffer for it. After all, this was published after the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

“All the Virtues” by Mickey Zucker Reichert is a story I wish I could hate. I wish I could say it was trite, full of tropes, stereotypical, etc. Why? Because it made me tear up. If I hadn’t been sitting in an airport at the time I might have actually indulged in some real tears. Hell, I’m tearing up again just now writing this bit. I am not a dog person but…damn. Just damn. I imagine that any dog-lover would probably turn into a fountain after finishing this one.

John Zakour’s “Dog Gone” is yet another hard-bitten detective hired to do something. In this case, quite obviously, find a dog. As you can tell, I was less than engaged because I really, really am not interested in stereotypical noir stories, regardless of the setting. Still, it’s not a bad story. I just think that the ending I predicted would be better than what they actually went with.

“Life’s a Bichon” comes from Bethlyn Damone, apparently her first published piece. And it’s, well, a first story. Don’t get me wrong, everything you need for a perfectly good short fiction piece is present. And we don’t actually need anything more than what’s there. But reading it…it definitely felt a little rough, as if one more editorial pass-through could have helped refine the last edges.

Remind me to never piss off Jane Lindskold. Her story “Keep the Dog Hence” is a tale of “you get what you give” and there is comeuppance galore here. It kind of makes you feel sorry for the man, even if he’s clearly a piece of shit only concerned with his own pleasure and wealth.

“Snow Spawn” by Nancy Springer is one of the strangest stories here. Or at least, it leaves the strangest taste in my mouth. It definitely reminds me of how isolated people can hallucinate some crazy things and that people can do even weirder things when pushed to the extreme.

Elaine Quon brings in another truly science fiction tale with “Improper Congress”. Which is, um, yep. That’s improper. And raises a lot of questions. Starting with “why is there a need for an itinerant lawyer in the days of star travel?”

The volume ends with the other story I’d previously read, “Huntbrother” by Michelle Sagara West. It’s probably closer to a novella because the woman is not great at short. Not that I truly mind, I just find it highly amusing. Seriously, look at her estimates for the Essalieyan sets that follow the Hunter duology. And speaking of that pair, “Huntbrother” is a sort of coda to them. But also the start of a new tale that, I suspect, is going to figure pretty prominently in the next group of Essalieyan books. She’s been building towards a major conflict and climax for years now, and I can’t wait to read it. I mean, I also can’t wait to finish House Wars, but I do want my mass market paperbacks for that.

So, that’s Sirius: The Dog Star. As usual with the DAW anthologies, it’s perfectly good. There are some gems, a lot of familiar names, and maybe some stories that just aren’t as good as others. But it could always be worse. Next I get to fiddle around with my bag and choose something else to read, though I’m not sure if I’ll manage to finish anything else today. We’re landing in about an hour but even I can’t read three hundred pages in that span of time.

Addendum: I could have finished the other book tonight, but I am very tired and my brain is not at its best. So I will be back tomorrow.

Into Space

For a (somewhat) change of pace, I went with a science fiction anthology next. Partially as something different from the fantasy anthology of yesterday, partially because the vast majority of my remaining books are anthologies, partially because all but one of the anthologies I bought at Volume One Books were science fiction.

You could say my selection is dwindling again. Of the eight books remaining at this point, six are anthologies and four of them are science fiction. I mean, anthologies are great for vacation because they are shorter pieces simply collected into a whole. And as has been noted before, DAW anthologies are usually about three hundred pages long, which is quite short for a book. Some days it seems like I spend more times typing up the subsequent blog post talking about each tale than I do reading the entire book.

That’s not true of course, but it’s an impression I have a hard time shaking.

Anyway, when I was at Volume One Books, I really scored on Martin H. Greenberg anthologies. Seriously, every anthology I bought that day had him as one of the editors. I’m thrilled of course, it’s just a lot. So without further ado, let’s get into today’s book.

This is Space Stations, with coeditor John Helfers, a name I’ve seen a few times as I recall. And this is definitely one of the more self-evident titles I’ve had. So here we have fourteen stories about space stations. Which generally also involves space flight and sometimes aliens. Because this is a science fiction anthology, I wasn’t surprised to not recognize as many names as usual, although that’s no bad thing. But let’s talk about the tales.

Timothy Zahn starts us off with a bang and “The Battle of Space Fort Jefferson”. The space station in question is a military construct, sure, but it never got a chance to be useful when it was state of the art and then time passed it by. Now it’s still technically active, but there are only six people stationed there and they generally operate more as a tourist attraction. Which makes things interesting when a real threat appears. This is a wonderful and hilarious story and a great opening note to the anthology.

Next comes “Redundancy” by Alan Dean Foster and I must say that this is the first time I’ve truly enjoyed one of the man’s stories. This is also the first time I’ve read Foster’s pure science fiction without any licensed characters or part of Pip & Flinx. Which gives me the opinion that the man really should stay in his wheelhouse. I know that authors like to stretch their wings and try new things, but some people just aren’t as adaptable as others. Foster is one of those.

“Dancers of the Gate” by James Cobb features aliens, prominently, although they and humans have never met face-to-face. I see someone is a Trek fan, given that the aliens live at Wolf 359. Seriously, there’s millions of stars out there and you picked that one? Gotta be Trek-related impetus there. Anyway, I see this story as proof that internet friends are friends for real and for life, every bit as meaningful and important as people you meet in person.

Robert Sawyer presents “Mikeys”, named for the man who stayed behind to pilot the ship while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history. The man’s name was Mike Collins. But the story’s present is the first Mars landing, not the Moon landing, and it seems the Mikeys are going to have a chance to be even more famous than the first feet.

“The Franchise” comes from Julie Czerneda, a woman whose work has crossed my path no few times by now. Of all the stories here, this is the one I can most easily envision being expanded into a novel or even a series. We’ve got space stations that were isolated from Earth and each other due to a war with an alien race and now getting them fully operational once more is a priority. Some of the stations have been out of contact entirely and are assumed to be dead. This tale takes us to the first of those to be reopened. It reminds me a great deal of C.J. Cherryh’s Downbelow Station, and in a good way. I may have to start checking Czerneda books on the offchance she did expand this one.

Pamela Sargent brings us “Follow the Sky”, a story that is not so much about space stations or being in space than it is about the human aspects and retaining them. I think this could be brought up to novella length for best effect, allowing more space to explore and expand on some aspects of the story.

“Auriga’s Streetcar” by Jean Rabe has an old woman for a protagonist, reminding me of a discussion I read recently about how certain demographics, including female senior citizens, are underrepresented in science fiction in fantasy, or restricted to certain tropes when they are present. IE they’re not usually the main characters. I added to the conversation pointing out Elizabeth Moon’s Remnant Population, but I should add this story to the list as well.

Brendan DuBois’ story “Falling Star” is a distinct oddity in the book. Yes, the falling star in question is a space station. But the story takes place entirely on Earth, and moreover an Earth that has reverted to a more Medieval level of technology and culture.

“Countdown” by Russell Davis does have another elderly protagonist, but this time the story falls into acceptable tropes for such a character. It’s a shorter tale, but it really doesn’t need to be longer, given that there is a very clear and unsubtle timeline in it.

Michael Stackpole presents what is, according to the blurb, a fifth story set in a particular universe with “Serpent on the Station”. I assume that if I were to read some of the earlier pieces I would have a bit more background on this universe and how Catholicism came to be so very powerful, but the story itself gives enough information for a first time reader to go on. And given what’s present here, I wouldn’t object to turning up some of the other four, or later stories if he continued writing them.

Now, when I browsed through the table of contents before starting the book, I was stunned by one item in particular. After all, I know perfectly well what Irene Radford means by “First Contact Cafe”. It’s a significant location in both Enigma and Mourner, the second and third books in her Harmony series, written as C.F. Bentley. Which makes this short story the one that that launched the series, as it covers events prior to the start of Harmony.

“Orbital Base Fear” by Eric Kotani suffers slightly from being the second story in this volume to specifically talk about landing a craft on a Martian moon in preparation for a landing on the surface of the red planet. Still, it goes in a relatively different direction from the other and creates its own tale that is fairly different. I liken it to anthologies where I complain about having numerous similar takes on the same fairy tale or theme. For best effect, they should be kept separate.

Jack Williamson’s contribution is “Black Hole Station”, which largely focuses on extreme time dilation and love of family versus love of work. There is a point where someone talks about those willing to go as “diving into our own black holes” and I think there’s something very poignant and true about it. After all, if you’re willing to go on a trip knowing you won’t be home until four hundred years have passed there, you must feel pretty damned isolated already.

“Station Spaces” by Gregory Benford closes out the volume and I have to wonder. In science fiction anthologies, is it normal or traditional to reserve those stories that make us most question humanity and its definitions for the end of the book? I feel like every time I find one of these it’s in the latter half of a volume. And I’m not sure how I feel about ending the book this way, as it’s a looser, less solid feeling. I’m still trying to parse what the story is saying so I don’t have a clear final reaction to the collection. Which is unsatisfying.

Overall, I found Space Stations to be a good change of pace and a pretty good science fiction anthology. I do not know at this moment if I will continue on with another in that vein, switch back over to fantasy, or go for one of my remaining novels. At the very least, I’m going to make sure this book gets properly packed. I’ll have a fair bit of time for reading tomorrow in the airport and on the plane, so I do expect to have another day added to my streak of books finished.

Some More Notes

Sword and sorcery anthologies always seem to take longer to read than others. Maybe it’s because they tend to be longer overall. Or maybe it’s because they’re generally not my favorite type of tale. Regardless, yesterday’s anthology gave me a hankering for an actual novel. Sadly, I’m running low on those, having not brought a huge number and having mostly purchased anthologies since landing. But I did pick up a novelization yesterday that appealed to me more than the one I’d brought with me. Although it’s quite likely that the two are equally bad. I’m not going to get into that comparison though.

I have to say though, I think X3: The Last Stand makes a fair bit more sense as a book than it does as a movie. There is a lot of reflection going on, not just from Jean Grey but also Scott Summers and Logan as well. And with Jean there’s a much deeper understanding and awareness of her power and what she knows about the people around her. It’s very difficult to express that kind of near-omnipotence in film and, well, that entire movie is kind of a mess.

But yes, I found The Last Stand as adapted by Chris Claremont, who also did the novelization to X2, at the bookstore yesterday. I think this completes my set. I also saw that they had Transformers, but not only was it not in the best shape (the cover was torn and folded), I remember how obnoxious I found the last novelization of those movies. Best not to spend the money.

So, X3. As with the previous installment, there are some variations between book novelization and screenplay, some of which I prefer. I can’t tell you the book is good because it’s really not. But it’s more average than anything else which isn’t bad. I do enjoy having the inner monologues to expand on the images I recall, but there’s still a number of flaws to the story. I think I’m far more forgiving of these missteps in book form than film, but I think we’ve established that I can set an extremely low bar when it comes to fantasy I’m willing to read and enjoy. I’m not sure if I’d be happier or sadder if I couldn’t remember the images from the movie.

Overall, I’ve definitely read worse books and I do own the movie and am still willing to rewatch it…though nowhere near as frequently as the first two. I had fun with the novelization and that’s what matters at the end of the day. I am starting to be a bit concerned about how much shelf space I may need to make for the books I’ve finished on this trip, but it is what it is. It’ll be interesting to see how much space the Pile takes up once I add the new acquisitions I don’t finish before I get home.

In the meantime, I suppose I should consider an anthology next, as I seem to have eight of those remaining in my vacation pile.

Now, my first day of vacation I bought two books for 50¢ apiece at the massive flea market. One of them, one of my few remaining novels, was bought more because I could and it was there and I didn’t want to buy only a single book and I think I’ve got a couple others in the series. The other…ah the other was bought on the basis of title and editor alone, as Esther Friesner presents Strip Mauled. I mean, this is the woman who created Chicks in Chainmail. It wasn’t that hard to catch my attention with a title like this.

Now, I did read enough of the back to know this would involve supernatural creatures in suburban settings. But I didn’t realize it was an entire book of werewolf stories. Nor that this is the second such volume and as such a number of the stories within would be sequels to tales in the original. Even so, I’m still game. Although this is a longer anthology than most you’ll find in mass market paperbacks, just over four hundred pages instead of three hundred, and twenty stories instead of thirteen to fifteen. (Yes, I’ve often had anthologies as low as eleven in sets like this, or as high as nineteen stories. Thirteen to fifteen is most common.)

Jody Lynn Nye puts us off to a good start with “Howl!” Here we find a customs agent in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Work sucks – the men he confronts always get off. Life sucks – his home life seems to have become a soul-sucking void and even the sex is getting boring. Would becoming a werewolf liven things up? Maybe. If they were real.

Next, we go to a “Special Needs” Boy Scout Troop with K.D. Wentworth. I know, I know, not all troops go for Howl badges, or track a dead raccoon around the backyard. That’s why the den mother is so concerned when a new neighbor absolutely insists that her precious boy join this troop and no other. Of course shenanigans will ensue.

Tracy Morris’ “Fish Story” seems to be the first of the sequel tales. It’s also the first to not be much of a werewolf story. The main character is a witch, her friend is the werewolf. Also her cousin seems to know a lot about the supernatural. And then the story will have you humming the Jaws theme. It’s kind of a mess.

“Blame It on the Moonlight” by Tim Waggoner takes some time to introduce us to our werewolf protagonist and his world, wherein he goes to the bar every full moon and stays inside until after moonset. Oh sure, his buddies know what he is, but he doesn’t go out of his way to advertise it. Not even to the sexy woman who is very interested. Then the author plays with our expectations and has a lot of fun with it, resulting in a lot of fun for me as a reader.

Lucienne Diver’s “Imaginary Fiend” has me asking…why are werewolf cops a trope? Seriously, they turn up periodically. Is it something to do with dogs and loyalty and protecting the innocents? I don’t know, this is another sequel and I’m pretty sure this protagonist was a cop before he was a werewolf. It’s also got elements of those detective noir stories…although some people will just take any excuse to avoid holiday shopping.

“Neighborhood Bark-B-Q” by Daniel Hoyt is silly. You can see where it’s going from a mile away. But it’s good, harmless fun even so. Though it does make me wonder if maybe these people should be a little plainer in their speech…

Laura Underwood presents “That Time of the Month”, another story that follows several predictable paths before trying to play with expectations. And in the end…I have some very pointed questions. It’s most definitely not the sort of story that I can see having a sequel or being expanded upon, but I really do want those questions about the ending answered.

“Pack Intern” comes from Berry Kercheval and it is silly and fun and also has characters who use their brains. Seriously, once you get over the absurdity of the premise, the characters are smart enough to get four from two and two and work with it. I do appreciate that.

Karen Everson would like us all to “Support Your Local Werewolf” with a story that is not about a college student werewolf finally finding an opportunity to run, nor about how many child beauty queens would rather not go to such competitions, but about doing the right thing for someone else, even if you have to lie or keep secrets for the best possible outcome. But it’s also about those things.

“Isn’t That Special” is the editor’s contribution. And I think she does know a few things about such overprivileged suburban mothers as featured here. Ah, comeuppance is sweet.

Props to Linda Donahue and her “Prowling for Love” for featuring a convention and furries. You will never in a million years get me into a fursuit, but I’m not going to knock it for those who relate. It’s a cute story regardless.

“Lighter than Were” by Robert Hoyt is one of those stories where you have to ask just how common werewolves are in this world, or if they just happen to have a high concentration in the community served by this mall. And if they’re so uncommon that the common populace has a right to be that oblivious.

Steven Piziks’ “Enforcement Claws” deals with the dreaded Homeowners’ Association. In this world, a bunch of supernaturals banded together and built a gated community so that they can be themselves within its walls. Which of course means rules to be followed. But none of that is anywhere near as important as the fact that this is a trans story. Not being trans myself, I think it’s a fair representation of it and a supportive message.

“Where-Wolf” by Selina Rosen is a terrible story. Our protagonist is a teenage boy, sitting around to answer a suicide hotline for local teens. He volunteered to impress a girl who still doesn’t even know he exists. And his first call is from a werewolf. Not believing the other, the protagonist talks him back from the edge and arranges to meet him. When he learns the other truly is a werewolf, he resolves to never help anyone again on the suicide hotline. Which is an awful message and everything was handled terribly. Suicide is played for a joke in this story and what even the fuck. Seriously. The premise is sound but anyone who is actually suicidal reading this story is going to be harmed by it. I know the book is from 2009, but I cannot believe this was anything like acceptable even ten years ago. I see no reason to ever reread this story.

David Levine’s “Overnight Moon” is another sequel. We’ve got some day campers doing an overnight and the protagonist witch has to help a werewolf, while both are further aided by a mundane. It’s fine.

“Wolfy Ladies” by Dave Freer is another one of those hardbitten detective noir stories. I really just don’t care for the type and this seems to be subpar even to me. Rather, there are several types of stories that are less than interesting to me and if I am even less engaged than that with one of them, I have to assume that it wasn’t that good to start with.

Kevin Andrew Murphy’s “Frijoles for Fenris” might just be my favorite entry in the entire book. I suspect it’s also a sequel, but you don’t really need to have read the first to understand that everything here is totally absurd and still entertaining. Just knowing that much puts you ahead of Stewie and Stewie, well, I’m not sure he’s been sober and clean in years. Either that or he’s a total moron and how he got into college is an unsolved mystery.

There’s another detective story next, “The Case of the Driving Poodle” by Sarah Hoyt. I appreciate that our hardbitten detective is not the protagonist here, but rather his young assistant. Not that this is what she dreamed of doing. But when you’ve gotten nothing but rejection on your applications, you’ll apply to anything that looks halfway decent. So although she’s got no experience in psychic investigations, she’ll learn reasonably quickly.

Robin Wayne Bailey would like us to “Meet the Harrys”, your average suburban family of werewolves. There’s the husband, the wife, two kids, and a baby. They’re trying to have an ordinary day…and the bank robbers are the least of it.

Finally comes “The Creature in Your Neighborhood” by Jim C. Hines and I have to ask…what the actual fuck. It’s clearly based on Sesame Street and is written like a screenplay but the rest…! Does the man hate the show? Seriously, this is not poking fun at something silly and childish. This is cruel and mean-spirited and not at all enjoyable to read. It’s hateful, and it’s a damned shame that this is how they chose to close out the volume.

Overall, I did enjoy Strip Mauled. There are some definite gems. But there are some very notable problem stories that I sincerely hope are never reprinted, not even in the authors’ collections. I know the book is ten years old, but that is no excuse.

I should distract myself by selecting my next read, though it’s getting late and I should be off to bed soon. A notion was briefly discussed about sending my completed books home via media mail, so I don’t have to lug them on the plane. The idea has merit and if I choose that path I might look at reading the last oversized volume next, to create as much space as possible in my bags. But nothing’s set in stone yet. I will note, however, that with my new acquisitions, that local to-read Pile is the exact same number of books I originally pulled off the shelf for this trip. I had a good time shopping for books.

Swords, Magic, Books

Another day of vacation, another book finished. Today it’s another anthology, which is hardly surprising given that I brought a few with me. And then I bought another within four hours of landing. And then another six today.

I should mention today I managed to find an excellent used bookstore in the Miami area. It’s called Volume One Books and is technically in Pembroke Pines. There’s a decent-sized storefront with a number of books in a variety of genres including, of course, sci-fi. The owner is a nice woman who’s been in the location twenty-three years and makes an effort to ensure only books in decent shape make it onto her shelves. She also has rubberbanded book sets on top of the shelves, so it’s easier for customers to purchase, say, all six of Michelle West’s Sun Sword books in one go. I definitely recommend checking it out if you happen to be in the region.

Today was a return to a kind of form, in some ways. It’s yet another sword & sorcery anthology, this one titled Swords & Dark Magic edited by two people I’ve never heard of: Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders. It’s a book of stories published for the first time, which makes it all the more interesting that I’ve read three of the seventeen stories before. From three different anthologies. Weird.

Steve Erickson starts us off with “Goats of Glory”, which I first read in Swords Against Darkness, that anthology that made me appreciate Paula Guran as an editor. Here we see five soldiers riding away from the war and finding a small, ancient village to stop at for the night. They also observe five fresh graves being dug, so what’s going on her? It’ll take all their experience to find out without dying.

Then comes “Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company” from Glen Cook of course. I have to say, it makes more sense than the last Black Company short I read, since I’ve now finished The Black Company itself. I think I liked it better than the novel if only because this was much shorter. It definitely wouldn’t have made nearly as much sense if I hadn’t learned who the Lady and Limper are.

Gene Wolfe’s “Bloodsport” is a weird one. It’s got this Game that’s like chess but on the scale of a life. I don’t fully get it.

“The Singing Spear” by James Enge is a pretty good story. We’ve got our sorcerer who seems to be drinking himself into an early grave and we’ve got the titular spear that is wreaking a path of destruction. But the sorcerer really doesn’t want to get involved. He’d rather drink.

C.J. Cherryh offers “A Wizard in Wiscezan”, which is the only coming-of-age story in the entire lot. It’s a tale that I think could stand to be fleshed out. Really, aside from Sunfall I’ve never really been impressed by Cherryh’s short fiction, so it’s no surprise I think this would make a better book.

“A Rich Full Week” comes from K.J. Parker and I think it’s about a zombie. Also magic that is not magic but is totally magic. And tests and papers. People are weird.

Garth Nix shows up with “A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet”. The story feels like it’s from a series starring the two main characters, but I don’t know if that’s the case. I feel like Garth Nix’s work doesn’t usually show up in these kind of anthologies, that sword & sorcery is associated with an older crowd simply because of how long ago the genre was formed, and Nix seems to write for a younger group.

“Red Pearls: An Elric Story” is Michael Moorcock’s contribution and I do think this is one of my favorite Elric tales to date. Obviously I’ve not read all of them – probably not even most. So I know there’s a fair bit I’ve missed including his lover’s tale. Or if I have read it, I don’t remember it because Elric stories have never made huge impressions on me. Eh, whatever.

Tim Lebbon comes next with “The Deification of Dal Bamore: A Tale from Echo City”. I have no idea if there are other Echo City stories out there, nor do I particularly care. It wasn’t a bad story overall.

“Dark Times at the Midnight Market” by Robert Silverberg is a story of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. I think it’s also somewhat predictable because of this.

Greg Keyes contributes “The Undefiled”, another story of a cursed protagonist. This one has the name of “Fool Wolf” and shows a world that I wouldn’t be opposed to reading more of. Not as a book, but as a set of short stories.

“Hew the Tintmaster” is from Michael Shea, whose work I don’t recall reading in a while. It’s a very weird tale that involves paint, weird designer colors, death, life, and time travel. Very weird.

Scott Lynch’s “In the Stacks” is the story I recognized right off the bat by title alone. I first found it in Ex Libris, also edited by Paula Guran. It is, very simply, about returning books to the most ridiculous and dangerous magical library in existence. It is also the final exam for fifth year magic students. This way they better appreciate what the Librarians endure for the sake of the books they are able to study and research. I’m glad to be able to reread it unexpectedly.

I don’t usually think of “humor” in the same sentence as Tanith Lee, but that’s all that came to mind when I saw the title of her story: “Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-Robe”. It is a very odd story of things you wouldn’t expect to find. I liked it.

“The Sea Troll’s Daughter” by Caitlin Kiernan is the third of the stories I’d read before. This one comes from The Sword & Sorcery Anthology I bought at the same time as Swords Against Darkness. Which makes it fitting that I had a story featured in each of them here. Because sure. Why not.

Bill Willingham’s “Thieves of Daring” is probably the shortest story here. That’s not a bad thing.

Lastly is Joe Abercrombie’s “The Fool Jobs”. It, like several other tales in this anthology, features a group of mercenaries who are not at their peak and have taken on a job they don’t necessarily care for and does not contain anywhere near enough detail. It’s not very notable because it’s definitely a trope in sword & sorcery and I’ve seen it multiple times before.

Overall the anthology is decent. I’ve definitely read better and I’ve certainly read worse. The stories I’ve seen reprinted are some of the best here, which is unsurprising. Lesser quality tales aren’t as likely to turn up repeatedly. But I’m getting tired and it was all I could do to stay up late enough to do the post. I have no idea what I’m reading next, but that’s a tomorrow problem, especially now that my choices have gone from four to eleven books. At the moment, I’m leaning towards a novel, which would significantly reduce my choices. But, as I said, I’m far too tired to worry about that right now.

A Different Take on a War

So here’s the other book I was considering as a follow-up to the WWI and vampire books. And maybe I should have gone for this instead of the Holocaust. Although, to be fair, this is much lighter and more fun, so regardless, there was going to be that dark spot in my reading unless if I decided not to read it entirely while on vacation. I’ll note I observed us driving past a used bookstore this morning and perhaps I can persuade a trip there tomorrow. We’ll see. It’s wholly possible a small business may not be open, it’s hard to say. Small businesses can keep strange hours (witness my local comic shop) that aren’t necessarily convenient for the causal shopper.

Which brings me to Wonder Woman, the official movie novelization. Because yes, they are still producing novelizations for some big blockbuster movies. I have no idea how decisions are made, but if I turn up a novelization that interests me, I’ll buy it. And I did enjoy the movie, so I figured I’d probably have about as much fun with the book. Which is definitely the case.

Now, if you haven’t seen the movie, here’s the basics. Diana is Princess of Themyscira, daughter of Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons. Themyscira is a magical, Paradise of an island where the Amazons live, magically hidden from the world of Man. The Amazons are immortal women, warriors of renown, who have isolated themselves from Men for thousands of years. Diana is the only child, for the rest of the women came into existence as adults. She is Hippolyta’s daughter, told that she was sculpted from clay and a prayer to Zeus brought life to her body. It’s a nice story.

During World War I, a stray plane crashes just off the island and Diana dives into the ocean to rescue the pilot. It turns out he’s male (which she’s never seen in person before) and an American spy behind German lines. He was making his escape back with a notebook of Dr. Maru’s notes, the woman known as Dr. Poison. However, he was discovered and German planes are in pursuit. They land on Themyscira and a bloody battle ensues.

In the end, Diana determines that the Great War is Ares’ doing, as he is the last of the Old Gods around, having slain the others long ago, so sayeth Hippolyta’s bedtime stories. Anyway, Diana believes it is her responsibility to save mankind by destroying Ares with the Godkiller sword. So she leaves the island with Captain Steve Trevor.

Some shenanigans ensue in London, but in the end Diana and Steve head for the front with a trusty group of misfit soldiers. They have some bonding moments, do some awesome stuff, infiltrate the Germans and head for the climax. You know, it’s a period movie and a superhero movie and all of that jazz.

I won’t say that there aren’t issues with the movie. I won’t say there aren’t issues with the book, not including the two typos I specifically noticed. (One was a missing “a”, as in the word, and the other was “things” instead of “thighs” because trust me, there’s one you’re going to tighten on a horse more than the other.) But I am generally forgiving of things (regardless of how annoying I can find typos) as long as I am having fun. And I most definitely had fun. I could see the movie actors in my head, playing out the scenes as I read, although for Diana’s voice I usually heard the voice actor from the Justice League animated series instead of the Israeli actress. (Being a Jew I do like that she’s Israeli but I am not going to get into Israeli politics and positions because that is a can of worms and I am far less informed about it than I am concerning U.S. politics.)

So, there’s another perfectly acceptable movie novelization that I find to be about the same quality as the film it’s adapting. Which is, at the end of the day, all that I hope for from a novelization. And thus I think it’s time to move on to my next book, which I did pick out before leaving this morning for a day filled with far too much family.

Is it cowardly to hope we go back to the hotel soon and I can hang out at the pool or in the hot tub there? Because I think that would be the best way to spend the evening.

Two Very Different Books

Well that was depressing.

Given that I’d been reading about some of the dark aspects of World War I, with vampires thrown in as a reminder that even more horrific aspects of life and death exist, I figured it was a logical choice to take the growing anti-Semitism depicted and follow it up with an actual Holocaust book.

I was not prepared. Oh sure, I’ve read Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose in recent months and loved it, but that’s more removed than Mapping the Bones. Briar Rose was a Holocaust story told through the lens of the main character trying to recreate what happened through a bedtime story and scraps of real information that she managed to scrape together from disparate places and people. Mapping the Bones is an actual Holocaust story and while every third chapter or so is Gittel thinking back from decades in the future, the bulk of the story is 1942. It’s been an intense read.

Where Briar Rose was a Holocaust story using Sleeping Beauty as a framework, Mapping the Bones is a Holocaust story built on the bones of Hansel and Gretel. Here, Chaim and Gittel are twins. He the older and rather silent poet, she the younger verbose sister, always knowing what he means and able to translate for those around them.

We open in the Lodz ghetto, where the Abromowitz family has adjusted from their nice and large house to a relatively large apartment…and they receive a knock at the door. Not the imperious, demanding knock of Nazi soldiers, but a softer, more cautious knock from the rabbi. With him is a group of four people, the Norenberg family. They’ve just arrived in the ghetto and need a place to stay. Given that the apartment has five rooms, I’m certain that by the end there would be a family staying in each of those five rooms, regardless of what their function was meant to be. However, that never comes as the Abromowitz name turns up on a list of people to be resettled, after Dr. Norenberg vanishes without a trace. Fearing the worst, the remaining seven people escape.

Then there’s the part in the forest (this is Hansel and Gretel after all) followed by the “witch’s house” which is, of course, a work camp. And it’s just…so hard to read. I thought I was prepared but gods above I was not. It was a struggle to finish the book and it’s not much more than four hundred pages of story. I don’t even see myself bothering to take the book back with me because I just had such a hard time of it. I do love and appreciate Jane Yolen’s work, but this was more than I had bargained for. I would like to read her most famous Holocaust book at some point, The Devil’s Arithmetic, but certainly not right now.

The poetry here is quite good though and evocative enough on its own without the overarching story.

I definitely want something far more lighthearted next. And maybe not something related to either World War as I’d been thinking previously. I do have a few options that will hopefully fit the bill but…gods. That was just…so intense. It’s another one of those books that people should read, but I cannot imagine anyone choosing to revisit it, least of all me.

I’m starting to wonder if I should create a new category for historical fiction. Or one for Jane Yolen. But since I do like to go back and add older posts to new categories, specifically for authors, that’s not something to do on vacation. I’d rather have a computer with a mouse for that, not my tablet.

With that out of the way, it’s time to dig into my bag and figure out what I’m starting next, and whether or not it’ll be finished today. After all, there is A Movie to be seen and the whole family’s going.

I went into the next book with hopes of fluffy, positive tales about cats. Because this was Denise Little’s anthology A Constellation of Cats. I’ve been toying with reading it several times over the past several weeks, but new books kept turning up that I was more interested in reading. So, I’ve thirteen stories with nine names I recognized. Not being at a computer makes it much harder to see how many stories I’ve previously acquired and read by a particular author simply because how apps are differently organized as compared to websites.

First up is unfamiliar name Mary Jo Putney with “The Stargazer’s Familiar”. It’s a pretty standard tale type. You’ve got the absent-minded professor stereotype with the cat (and wife) to take care of him. The villain shows up and threatens not only the professor, but his wife (and his cat’s mate) and their unborn child(ren). It is up to the courageous cat to save the day!

“Three-Inch Trouble” is a story I know for a fact that I’ve read before, although I have absolutely no memory of it. It’s from Andre Norton, which makes this book my second copy of the tale. It’s the only true science fiction story of the lot and maybe I do remember it or maybe it’s because it has a lot in common with Mercedes Lackey’s SKitty stories, which are almost certainly inspired by older works and authors.

Jody Lynn Nye is up next with “Purr Power”, the only story actually set in ancient Egypt although some of the other tales do have Egyptian influences. In this case, an arrogant prince learns that it’s best not to doubt the power of any god, much less Bast Herself.

I feel like I’ve read “Star” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch before. It’s a story of a battered, broken woman finally being able to heal based on the love of her cat, Star. It’s a tale of hope after abuse, and I can only wish such healing to anyone and everyone suffering.

Karen Haber offers a somewhat odd and seemingly naive tale in “Under the Sign of the Fish” wherein we have a protagonist who dearly loves her pets. She has a cat and a goldfish and, the cat being a cat, constantly tries to eat the goldfish. So she goes to some extremes to try and teach the cat this is wrong.

“Every Life Should Have Nine Cats” by Mickey Zucker Reichert is a story of a world that seeks to suppress magic. Our true and honest young hero of a guard is on his first M-Check, to see if this old woman is truly a sorceress or not. If so, he’ll be forced to execute her. Of all the stories, I feel this is the one with the most potential for expansion, although I seriously doubt that would ever happen.

Diane A. S. Stuckart’s story has cats recalling that “Once, We Were Worshipped”. They have a vague understanding of the Egyptians’ reverence of cats, and so delve into ancient magics in order to restore such a state. But, of course, it’s not always a good idea.

“Praxis” by Janet Pack is named for the cat companion of the astrologer protagonist. She’s his partner who catches any errors he makes in his work as well as helping to guide him into new and interesting paths of study. What more could a person ask for in a cat?

Bill McCay’s “Death Song” speaks to two basic archetypes of stories. First, the belief that cats can see things and beings humans are blind to and they will protect their two-legged companions from such threats. Secondly, the idea of the grizzled old veteran prepared to lay down his life that others may live, because he’s reached the end of his years.

“A Light in the Darkness” by Pamela Luzier shows a mother desperate to get her daughter. Said girl has been taken by the protagonist’s soon-to-be-ex-husband and his affair – who’s likely to be his new wife, and the poor woman can’t even read the map to find them. Which is much harder when a cat turns up out of nowhere and steals the map out of her hands. But perhaps this theft is merely the beginning of something more…

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough offers “Mu Mao and the Court Oracle”, a glimpse into cat society. Mu Mao is an enlightened soul who has lived thousands of lives. Seeing as he has no instructions this time around, he’ll just do what seems right. And for starters, he’d like to find out what the grumpy old cat in the next cage over knows…

“Star Song” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman shows part of a family that has just moved to a downtown home from a covenant. To move from an open marriage in a community that has been collectively raising children to being a single parent home…it’s a big change and no one is happy. But perhaps all they need is a pet and a song.

Von Jocks writes the final story in the volume, “Ecliptic”. It is by far the most epic story here. We open on Magdeleine, a woman who is pulling herself through the dark woods out of sheer determination, despite the fact that she is clearly dying. We get the tale of how she came to be in this state by way of flashbacks, but there’s more going on than a woman being accused of witchcraft.

I got exactly what I wanted out of A Constellation of Cats. It’s a fairly light-hearted, easy read of a book. Which is why I was able to finish it in its entirety so quickly. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s exactly what I wanted after being fairly depressed by the first book I read today.

I have no idea what I’m reading next for two main reasons. Firstly, because I have no idea how The Movie will influence what I want to read next. Secondly, because my bag with all the books has been brought into a hotel while I was finishing the anthology and so I don’t have access to the pile at this moment.

I guess that means I should wrap this up and be *shudder* sociable. With family.

Dark Waters

As you may have known, if you follow Barbara Hambly and her James Asher series, Pale Guardian is not the newest book. That distinction is currently retained by Prisoner of Midnight, which is much more of a Lydia book than a James one.

Ever since Traveling With the Dead, the second book in the sequence, Lydia has enjoyed a special relationship with Don Simon Ysidro the Spanish vampire who dragged the Asher family into his world. She and Simon travelled across Europe to help James, who had been taken unwillingly by a different vampire. But that’s several books and numerous years ago.

Prisoner of Midnight takes us to 1917. The Great War is still ongoing and James is running around doing spy things. Lydia is back in England with five year old Miranda. And then she has a dream of Simon calling for her help. With the help of Simon’s dupe and servant, Captain John Palfrey, they determine that he’s been taken prisoner and is going to be transported across the Atlantic on the American ocean liner City of Gold. Coincidentally, Lydia’s noxious Aunt Louise is going to be sailing over as well, having become fed up with the difficulties of living in war-time England. America is thought to be a safe place for two main reasons. Firstly (and most importantly), there’s an ocean between them and the conflict. Secondly, because the U.S. has yet to enter the War. If I remember correctly, that would mean the Lusitania hadn’t been sunk yet.

Which is why Louise does the one thing that has truly made me despise her as a woman and a character. She kidnapped Miranda and brought her aboard, exactly where Lydia didn’t want her. At this point in the war, the Germans now have u-boats capable of reaching out into the middle of the ocean, and Lydia is getting on the steamer with the intention of finding and freeing a vampire. She patently does not want her daughter involved with the Undead. The fact that Miranda had previously been kidnapped by vampires as a way to get leverage over the adult Ashers is something her parents have never forgotten.

In several ways, Prisoner of Midnight reminded me of Agatha Christie novels. You’ve got a group of strangers aboard a ship for several days…and a body is discovered. Actually several bodies, one a night, drained of blood and with a pair of puncture wounds at the neck. Lydia knows it can’t be Simon because he’s imprisoned and restrained, so not it seems they’ve got two vampires aboard ship. And she cannot, in good conscience, allow either of them to become loose in America.

We’ve got our red herrings, our unexpected clues, and a lot of superstitions to work with. Back in Europe, James traces the history behind Simon’s kidnapping, as it’s all he can do to help. Of course he finds the information that will help Lydia help their vampiric friend in the end, but it does kind of feel like an unnecessary addition to the plot so that James has a reason to be in the book.

For the most part, it does, as I said, read more like a standard mystery. Sure, only Lydia knows most of what’s going on, being a friend of Simon’s and working on helping him while protecting the rest of the ship, but the limited environment and the isolation later enforced by a broken wireless receiver helps draw a lot of parallels I could have done without.

Obviously the book is as engaging as the rest of the series. There’s also a revelation or two that I found particularly intriguing. And I can definitely feel the series poised to go one of two ways at this point. Either it can expand into a new environment or, as is implied by Hambly’s own words, it can wrap up and give us a conclusion for the characters. Certainly the author has been toying with our expectations of an ending for several books and will continue to do so until the bitter end, but that’s no bad thing and it’s exactly what you’d expect.

The question then becomes…what to read next? I’m down to seven books to choose from and I think there are two that could logically follow this one. I suppose that means I have to decide what sort of mood I’m looking for…lighter or darker. It really could go either way. Prisoner of Midnight is a story of a war-torn world and does show how public opinion is helping to demonize minorities like Jews and Gypsies. But it’s still a relatively positive story overall, especially with such a forward-thinking protagonist like Lydia.

I’m really not certain which of the two choices I’m feeling next. So I suppose I should go stare at the two and make a decision.

A Dark Mystery

For some reason, I felt like bringing some darker volumes with me to the sunny beaches of Florida. Well, okay, I’m currently nowhere near a beach and it’s been raining all day, so horror is no bad thing. And yes, this is most definitely horror. Pale Guardian is the seventh installment of Barbara Hambly’s series starring James Asher. He’s an Oxford don in the early twentieth century…but he’s also a former spy for the British government. Eight years ago he was recruited by the vampire Don Simon Ysidro to find a daylight killer of the Undead, and his life’s been rather strange since then.

It’s now World War One. Lydia Asher, James’ wife, is working as a nurse at the Front. James himself is back home in the suburbs, recovering from pneumonia. And it seems they’ve got Others to worry about. Not vampires, but related. Revenants, draugr, you get the idea. Mindless creatures that live off blood and control rats. They have the same vulnerabilities as vampires, but can stand more daylight and such. As mentioned, they’re more beasts than thinking creatures, and far more deadly than any mere animal.

The World Wars were some of the cruelest instances of human ingenuity on a large scale. So it’s no surprise that, should some people discover the existence of vampires or revenants, they’d seek to use such creatures as weapons in the Great War.

As with several previous installments of the series, James and Lydia must work both sides of the mystery and hopefully unravel it before too many people are killed or worse, put at risk of becoming revenants. And, of course, they must ask themselves how they can even consider working with vampires, with creatures who feed off mortal humans such as themselves.

I don’t really read mysteries anymore. I burnt myself out on them years ago. But there’s something about the Ashers and their acquaintances that simply grips me and keeps me invested through the length of the book. Maybe it’s because there are vampires and Hambly’s books are far more on science fiction than fantasy. Which is odd to say. You don’t really think of science fiction being period except in the context of when it was written. But that’s really what’s going on here. Lydia in particular considers vampirism from a medical standpoint and finds scientific explanations for much of a vampire’s powers and weaknesses. Which is really just fascinating. The amount of research Hambly has done to understand where science and its understanding was a hundred years ago is amazing. Especially given how much has changed in that same frame of time.

I’ve heard Hambly say that she’s looking at ending this series soon, in part because she has no interest in writing World War II. Which is perfectly fair, as I would much rather the author stop when they want instead of drawing things out so far that it’s obvious to everyone it’s just for the money.

The James Asher books are somewhat intense. There’s a reason why I never seriously considered rereading the entire series to date before embarking on Pale Guardian. But while I’m reading any particular book, I’m fully drawn in and engaged. Which says a lot for the quality of Hambly’s writing.

I’m still not much of a mystery fan, but I can suffer through a mystery when it’s got characters, lore, and science as interesting as these books.