Over at Locus Online. Howard and I agree that it was better than Wicker Man.
Taking a look at the current movie top ten, the only thing I would say Jonah Hex looks clearly superior to is…Marmaduke.
I can see the poster now: BETTER THAN MARMADUKE AND WICKER MAN! That should pull the crowds in…
Eric Frank Russell
Wasp
Despite being very obviously dated (the “aliens” in the book talk and act exactly like New Yorkers in the 1940s, and the agents of the evil alien government act exactly like Nazis), the book itself is still quite a bit of fun. It depicts the efforts of a single disguised human agent to destabilize an entire alien planet in preparation for an invasion. Anachronisms aside, this is a swift-moving novel that holds your attention, and if you’re looking for something short, old-fashioned and engrossing, this admirably fits the bill.
Locus is reporting that Everett F. Bleiler has died. For those unfamiliar with his work, he was perhaps the preeminent science fiction bibliographer and historian. His Checklist of Fantastic Literature was the first truly important SF bibliography, and his books Science-Fiction: The Early Years and Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years are probably the most extensive and exhaustive coverage of pre-Campbellian SF ever published. His bibliographic knowledge of the field was so extensive that, among the living, only George Locke and Lloyd Currey even come close. (Though Texas’ own Jess Nevins is getting there.) I’ve reached for one of his works many a time, as have every serious SF bibliographer, historian, book seller or book collector. He will be missed, but people will still be consulting his books a century from now.
If I were in Houston Monday, June 21, I would totally buy a cupcake from Shane Battier.
Ummm, cupcakes…
Ben H. Winters and Leo Tolstoy’s Android Karenina
My powers of prophecy are unparalleled, even when I’m joking…
Here are some pretty interesting pictures from a bust at a Mexican drug lord’s house. The giant piles of cash and the tacky gold-plated guns are pretty much par for the course, but the rest of the house is, believe it or not, more tasteful and restrained than the average drug lord lair. But the non-gold plated arsenal starts out at interesting, moves on to impressive, and ends up at “oh my God, he really could have equipped his own army.” (Though the pictures at the bottom are evidently from another bust.)
(Hat tip: Mike.)
Naomi Novik
Temeraire: Throne of Jade
This is a solid follow-up to the first Temeraire book. In this one Lawrence and his Celestial dragon are forced to take a slow boat to China to see the Emperor, who is evidently most upset that his dragon (a gift to Napoleon) is now enrolled in the English aerial corps. Some have said they found their attention flagging through the long sea voyage (which takes up a bit more than half the book); actually, I didn’t find my attention flagging until right after they first make landfall in China. So I think the book could be trimmed a little (maybe 10%), but it still engaged me.
Chances are, you’ve never totaled your dad’s $180,000 loaner Porsche by driving it through the garage door.
Given TimeWarner’s continued incompetence, I’m slowly pulling all of my website from rr.com over to here. I now have the main Lame Excuse Books page at:
https://www.lawrenceperson.com/lame.html
If you’ve never bought anything from me before, Lame Excuse Books specializes in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and Slipstream first editions, with an emphasis on small press and signed editions. I have lots of books available by the like of Joe R. Lansdale, Howard Waldrop, Neil Gaiman, Charles Stross, John Scalzi, etc.
So update your book marks! And it wouldn’t hurt for you to buy a book or ten…