cooling on ebooks

I was never one to jump on any "ebooks are evil" bandwagon. I was also never one to insist a person choose between one format or the other (print vs. ebook.) I saw both as tools in the arsenal. eBooks had some value. Less expensive. Physical eReaders (not eReader apps on tablets or computers) are easy to carry around and hold. My tired eyes were thankful for font adjustment, or choosing an ebook because the print font was ridiculously small. And lots of out-of-print books coming back in eBook form.

But there was always that little voice that reminded me, "You don't own eBooks. You buy access to the eBook. It can be pulled at any time."  So, really, what it means is you're renting the eBook. If you're lucky, in most cases, it's a one-time fee and an open-ended rental. I never really saw it as much of an issue.

Until last week.

Everyone thought it would be Amazon.

It was Dark Horse.

I had a period--when I first bought an iPad--where I binge purchased digital comics through various sales. I fell off that eventually, and my son bogarted the iPad. Flash-forward a few years, and my son hasn't been using the iPad as much. I had access the other night. Side quest: I was going to watch the new HELLBOY: The Crooked Man movie. I knew the film was based on a comic. I couldn't recall which digital HELLBOY issues I had acquired. I went to check.

And this greeted me;

Dark Horse are done managing their digital library. Hey, I get it if it's too much work and no returns. And, in future, they will offer digital comics through other platforms.

But what does that mean now? It means, the Dark Horse no longer supports their app. Their library is no longer accessible. If you want to read your comics, you needed to download them all already. And just leave it all on your tablet.

They will also keep a website browser live--but that is also end-of-life, probably at the end of summer.

In their write-up, if you clicked over the FAQ (which I did) one of the prominent questions was;

"Don't I own my digital Dark Horse comics?"

"No, you don't. See Terms & Agreements."

So, there you have it. eBook access revoked. Digital Dark Horse personal library gone.

Now, I am far less eager to add anything else to my Kindle library--even $1 sales.

recent read; SGT JANUS RETURNS by Jim Beard

SGT JANUS RETURNS by Jim Beard

I will try to avoid spoilers, but the big one can't be avoided. If you're reading SGT JANUS RETURNS, then you know Jim Beard killed off Roman Janus in the previous volume. (Or, more precisely, made him disappear with near certainty of death.)

Though Beard shifts to a single, Watson-esque, narrator for this book, if you're expecting a straight "Hurrah! He's back!" (a la THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES) in the opening pages, Beard wisely creates further mystery instead.

An amnesiac woman appears in a small village and solves a ghost problem. Thereafter, she whisks young Joshua Hargreaves into a life of adventurous "spirit breaking." As time passes, "Lady Janus" adopts more of Janus's habits and manners. Who is she? Is she possessed by Janus? Is she Janus reincarnated? Will we ever truly learn the nature and details of Roman Janus's disappearance?

These stories are much more tightly linked than the stories in the first volume. Beard builds a great sense of mystery and suspense as the stories stack on top of each other, creating further complications, rushing toward a thrilling conclusion.

With SGT JANUS RETURNS, Jim Beard has created the best kind of sequel. The book is its own story, with a familiar feel, but not falling to routine or re-treading the first volume.

Highly recommended for fans of pulp mystery and occult detectives. Just be sure to read SGT JANUS, SPIRIT-BREAKER first!

recent read; SGT JANUS, SPIRIT-BREAKER by Jim Beard

SGT JANUS, SPIRIT-BREAKER by Jim Beard

Yup! Another entry from Derrick Ferguson's 75 New Pulp Book To Get You Started list. (which, you should keep handy.)

If you enjoy occult detectives, like Carnacki, Sgt. Janus needs to be added to your reading list.

Janus is a mysterious character. His use of rank title and manner of dress suggest a military background. Some people are convinced he is a charlatan. He tangles with ghosts and other occult manifestations.

Beard has a clever twist on the presentation. Rather than sticking with a single chronicler (e.g.; Doctor Watson,) Janus requests that his clients provide written reports of the incidents. This allows different points-of-view and adds variety to the tales.

Further variety is provided by Beard's plots. Some cases are undertaken in the field. Others take place in Janus's sprawling house in the country, where clients come to him.

The stories have wonderful atmosphere. Each story works alone, though there is a definite arc threaded through the collection. Clearly, this is a set of stories written to be presented together.

I'll be rushing to read the sequel, SGT JANUS RETURNS!

recent read; Hammer of Darkness

Hammer of Darkness by Rowan Casey

Hammer of Darkness is the eighth book in the urban fantasy Veil Knights series. The Veil between worlds is thin, and Knights are sworn to protect our world. Each novel deals with a different knight and a different task they must perform. The titles are released direct to ebook.

The series is a throwback using a house-name author to produce short, quick adventure novels. The house-name angle is not a secret, it's mentioned in the series' summary.

In Hammer of Darkness, Hautdesert, a tough Knight who has battle fatigue stretching back through time, provides a noir first-person narrative. Hautdesert is called upon to recover a mystical hamper of power. (yes, "hamper" - not to be confused with the title. See #2 on this list)

Hautdesert navigates his way through the seedier and supernatural dangerous parts of San Francisco. He must battle natural men and supernatural creatures - from witches enhanced by magic to the point of superpowers to succubi vampires and other dangerous elements of black magick and the dark left-hand path.

Along the way, Hautdesert goes through a series of uncomfortable reunions with ex-girlfriends. (Imagine if James Bond revisited paramours from his past movies.) Many of the femme fatales harbor resentment and/or their own motivations when dealing with the hapless knight.

The action pistons along. There is a level of grit, gore and violence keeping the story away from a comfortable polish found in other contemporary urban fantasy stories.

Hammer of Darkness is a solid, quick read if you want a taste of gritty noir urban fantasy.

recent read; Best New Horror: Volume 25 edited by Stephen Jones

It's hard to go wrong with any of these The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror anthologies from Stephen Jones.

This volume came out in 2014, and contains stories from 2013. It also includes a dense "Introduction: Horror in 2013" which informs about all manner of publications in the horror field for 2013. The only drawback is that titles are embedded in the prose. You'll need to distill your own list, if you are interested in following up on any of the mentioned books.

The stories are all quality, I don't need to review each one. A few weren't to my taste, which is nearly always a given with any anthology. Some of my favorites were "Click-clack the Rattlebag" by Neil Gaiman, "The Middle Park" by Michael Chislett, "Into The Water" by Simon Kurt Unsworth (an Innsmouthian tale,) and "The Sixteenth Step" by Robert Shearman.

The volume also includes the entire novella, "Whitstable" by Stephen Volk, featuring a fictionalized account of Peter Cushing's off-screen life as he deals with a real life monster. Well done and worth the read.

The thick volume ends with "Necrology: 2013," which, sadly, is an "in memoriam" essay. Many people were lost to the horror field in 2013.

As I said at the top, you can't really go wrong with any of these. Worth having. Worth reading.

p.s.; Jones has been republishing earlier volumes through PS Publishing for e-book editions. New ones are e-book and hardcover. (Dropping the The Mammoth Book Of... moniker.) They have new EC Comic style covers, too.

A Lonely And Curious Country (Kindle edition)

Ulthar Press have been busy!

In addition to the newest tome, CARNACKI: THE LOST CASES, last year's Lovecraftian anthology, A LONELY AND CURIOUS COUNTRY has been given the Kindle treatment. If that is your preferred ebook platform $4 gets it on your device. Includes my story, "Down By The Highway Side."

recent read; The Wind Caller

In addition to cramming guest-of-honor reads in time for NECON this July, I'm also trying to read stuff by people attending - not just the headliners.

This one caught my eye for a song at the used book store a few months ago.

There is much conflict in the air of Richland, Arizona — the longstanding conflict between the "white" and the "red," the very modern conflict between landowners and a real estate developer, and even a conflict of trust between Native American schoolteacher Sky Berlander and her lover, Sam. But these all pale in comparison to what brews between Sky and her estranged grandfathers, as a feud which has divided their family will finally come to a head over an ancient and terrifying birthright — the power to control the wind itself.

I really enjoyed this one. I think it is my favorite NECON prep read for this year so far. The little blurb really tells it all. Gideon is a nasty, cantankerous old man who controls the wind for his own selfish means - hunting and worse. When his land is encroached, the winds blow harder. Arrayed against him are his granddaughter, and old Joseph - a good man who should have control over the wind but was too afraid of the power and responsibility.

This one delivers. It was a fast read, wind demons and folklore and solid characters pulled me right in. Maybe I'm partial to it because I've been keen on Ithaqua/Wendigo tales. Must have been all that windy weather we had the past half-year.

The Wind Caller is available as a ebook, too.

recent reads; Lansdale binge

Coinciding with the premiere episode of HAP AND LEONARD, two Hap & Leonard ebooks were on sale last week. The first novel, SAVAGE SEASON and the story collection, HAP AND LEONARD RIDE AGAIN.

I bought them both.

I read them both.

I enjoyed the hell outta them. HAP AND LEONARD RIDE AGAIN also contains some great essays on the characters (including an 'interview' of Hap and Leonard by Joe Lansdale,) and about Joe Lansdale's writing.

Yes. I read two books within mere days of purchasing them. Will wonders never cease?

I also watched the premiere episode of the television show. It is a strong adaptation of the book. The characters are spot-on.

You can bet I'll be reading more Hap and Leonard. And Joe has some weird Westerns I want to read, too.

recent read; Caped

Caped, edited by Ian Thomas Healy

Caped is an anthology of superhero stories. They range in tone from serious to humorous. I found every story had something to offer, and as a whole the anthology works very well. There are 18 stories. I won't go through every one (Amazon page has synopses for every story, if you're wondering.) I'll highlight some of my favorites from the bunch.

"Pinning Portugal" by Elliotte Rusty Harold
Sueprvillains learn that you can develop superweapons for fun and profit.

"Damn the Dark, Damn the Light" by K. H. Vaughan
Good story about a league of superheroes who start fraying at the edges. Some interesting supervillains in this one, too.

"Dax and the Red Eyes" by Adrienne Dellwo
This is the darkest tale of the set. A disabled child is the only one who can see the evil of his sibling.

"And Introducing the Scarlet Scrapper" by Leonard Apa
A radio actor must step up and play the real hero off-stage. Nice tribute to Golden Age radio shows.

"Dum Dum" by Leod D. Fitz
This was a delight. A bit of a block-headed, superstrong villain sits down for a prison interview. Wonderful ending.

"Heart of the Matter" by Robert J. Mendenhall
A Superman-like hero has an inoperable heart condition. Is it time to retire or go out fighting?

"Capacity Crowds" by Paul McMahon
What happens when everyone is so enamored of your heroics that no one wants to be your supervillain? Nice twist here that I don't want to give away.

"The Faces of the Wind" by Laura Lamoreaux
After World War II, superheroes are repressed by the government and searching for purpose. Think of it as The Incredibles with a serious twist for the Golden Age heroes.

"Sovereign's Last Hurrah" by David Court
The superheroes and supervillains of the past find a common goal - making their life in the nursing home bearable. Not as humorous as it sounds, it's actually a poignant tale.

Caped is a fun anthology. I enjoyed it.

recent read; Weird Menace, Volume 1

Weird Menace, Volume 1 edited by James Reasoner

Quick post on this one;

Scary houses, mad scientists, insane monstrosities, pummeling fists, stalwart heroes, blazing pistols & spunky dames. This anthology delivers on its premise all the way through. Fun throwback, really feels like you grabbed a pulp off the rack in 1935.

If you like that sort of thing, this is for you.

The Return of Wagner's Kane (for real)

Not a tease, this time.

Chatting on Fb about Karl Edward Wagner, and the question came up about Kane being out-of-print again, and wondering when the Centipede editions might start to appear (if they are still happening,)
I poked my head in at Amazon.

Boy, was I surprised.

What you're seeing are the ebooks covers I pulled from Barnes & Noble, actually.  Amazon has the books listed, but they have incorrect covers. (and I mean incorrect - wrong book, wrong author.)

Not every Kane tale, of course, but it's great to see something available (or will be available tomorrow!)

Priced at $3.99 each, it's finally a chance for those who haven't experienced Kane to get in the door cheap!

Lumley on the cheap

Subterranean Press' The Compleat Crow by Brian Lumley has been on my wishlist since I made this post last year.

 It finally came out today - and at Amazon, it has already gone out of stock.

However, there was no delay for the Kindle edition, it is available for a mere $3!

Also, I missed this one at the end of last year.

No Sharks in the Meds and Other Stories, which completes a trio of collections - The Taint and Other Novellas being one and Haggopian and Other Stories being the other. (also only $3 each)

There are other Lumley ebooks on the cheap, too, but I am focusing on the Mythos stuff, not the Necroscope series.

Now, if the Primal Lands ebooks would go on sale, I'd be sitting pretty!

Kindling a thought

Throwing this out there;

So, here's a thought I had today.

Sometimes I notice an Amazon listed Kindle edition goes missing (sometimes, it just changes and I re-search for it.) But, in this case let's say the e'book is no longer carried by Amazon.

Now, I own a copy from before.

If I "remove from device" can I still expect to be able to pull that title back from my Amazon archive, or are they totally reliant on their current stock and contracts?

I know of one such e'book, at least. I have it on my Kindle, but they don't list it now.

In my account, I still see the option to deliver from my library to my device of choice, but I wonder if that would get an error?

(Just to be safe, I'm still copying my Kindle content manually to my own backup!)

Wondering...

The Return of Brak

Well, they might not be the best stories in the sword-&-sorcery canon, but John Jakes' Brak the Barbarian saga is back as ebooks. Jason Waltz, of (unfortunately defunct) Rogue Blades Entertainment somehow found this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqA_ydQhWSs&feature=share

Jakes gives a thumbnail description of how Brak came about, and also mentions that the final Brak tale is outlined and in his office safe.

It took a little link hunting from the video, but I found the two e'collections links on the third page of thumbnails.

Brak the Barbarian/Mark of the Demons

Witch of the Four Winds/When the Idols Walked

Follow the "buy the ebook" links.  $3.99 each.  Not bad at all.

Seems that Witch of the Four Winds is Brak vs. The Sorceress renamed.

Both descriptions mention the collections include additional stories.  I don't know which ones and if they cover The Fortunes of Brak or not.  And I don't know whether these complete all the published Brak tales or not.

Also, there is a link to a free Brak estory,

"The Girl in the Gem"

All good stuff.  I'll be taking a look at other authors and ebooks from Open Road Media.

Lost Swords no longer lost

A few times per year, I look over my bookcase and if there are titles I am interested in replacing with eBooks, I start poking around Amazon (I have a Kindle.)

Sometimes, I am reminded of books I am searching for, or authors I want more of - and if they have out-of-print titles, I'll take a stab.

I've posted before about my tardy discovery and enjoyment of Fred Saberhagen's work.  Over the past few years I have been collecting his Berserker tales, Empire of the East, The First Swords trilogy and The Lost Swords series.  I have two books in the Lost Swords series to find.  Sometime during the year (summer, maybe) I happened upon Kindle editions of the first four.  As luck and timing would have it, the Swords books have been (re-)released in eFormat over the course of this year.  The covers are primitive, even for eBooks, so I was mildly suspicious.  But, they have all been released now (except, I believe, An Armory of Swords, which was an anthology.)  The eBooks are being created and published by Saberhagen's literary estate, JSS Literary Productions (which, I think is essentially his wife.)

Too bad there is a disconnect as JSS L. P. also run the Berserker website - the official Saberhagen site, and I see no news announcements about the eBooks.  So, I'm spreading the word for the curious, or fans, or fans who have lost their original print Saberhagen books.

I will still find hard copies of my missing two novels, but it's nice to know I can at least fall back to the eBooks if I really am desperate.

Heroes of the Fallen

I finished reading David J. West's Heroes of the Fallen and I enjoyed it. I've heard of plenty of Biblical fiction, but personally I am not familiar with LDS circles, so I'm not sure how much fiction has been spun from the Book of Mormon - but I can probably safely say no one has sprung a pulp, sword-&-sorcery styling spin on things like David has. The originality of this work is refreshing.

I will admit the first half feels a little over burdened. There are many characters and a lot of literal wanderings. But, safe to say by the end I was interested in everyone, and invested in the growing action and tension. David not only gives us heroes and anti-heroes of reflection (Amaron, Aaron & Zelph) but we also get some well-drawn stoic strongmen in Samson & Mormon, either of who could hold their own in a tavern brawl with, well, let's just say ... a barbarian from the north. ;)

The main villain, Akish-Antum and his red-capped Gadiantons are drawn with enough pulp tone that I thought of Fu Manchu and insidious plots where his agents could be anywhere, and they are.

There are a lot of characters, as I said, but they all have some level of dimension. They have reasons and desires, and like any people, some make the right choices because of those needs and some choose the wrong path.

There are lessons in this prose about honor, duty, and defiance; both in the face of villainy and in the face of weakness and apathy of the masses.

This novel, the first half of a much longer work, ends on a cliffhanger. That doesn't mean "this is the start of a series" cliffhanger. Oh no. This means "Sam alone, Frodo taken by the Enemy and things are getting bleak in 'The Two Towers'" cliffhanger.

The good thing is, the cliffhanger works. I want to know what happens. I want to witness some showdowns and battles.

I want more.

(if you want more, then click on the book cover to head over to Amazon and get a copy for yourself)

Bloating up the Kindle!

If you didn't see my tweet or Facebook status, Amazon are having a big sale ('The Big Deal', they call it) on Kindle eBooks for the next week. They even have a handful of PYR books, which normally run $15 trade paperback or $10 ebook for $1.99 each.

I just scored;

The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeld Jack (Burton & Swinburne) by Mark Hodder
Dawnthief (Chronicles of the Raven, 1) by James Barclay
Elfsorrow (Legends of the Raven, 1) by James Barclay
Blood of Ambrose by James Enge

Each for $1.99.

Also, another PYR book, Empire in Black & Gold has been on sale for $1.99, too, and that ends July 25, I think.

Granted, these are all series first entries to entice you to buy & read more at full price, but for these prices, I'm fine with that.

Also acquired two history books;

Voices of the Foreign Legion by Adrian D. Gilbert (also, $1.99)

Daily Life in the Middle Ages by Paul B. Newman ($3.99, but that's a huge discount over even the paperback, which is listed at $36!)

The 'Great Deal' sale goes through July 27.

Back from vacation

I'm back. Spent some days at the beach. Having a toddler, I didn't get much reading done, though I did have Kindle in hand. It was great family time though, beach bumming, strolling, walking, eating out. I even squeezed in an acoustic jam with an old friend & others one evening.

Aside from the family and friends fun on the beach, I did a little book hunting. There is a "book warehouse" shop - you know, the ones with the discount books. I wasn't even going to stop in, but I saw The Religion by Tim Willocks displayed near the front of the store. It's a historical fiction novel about the siege of Malta. I've heard good things about this novel, and it was very tempting. In the end, I passed. They had the hardcover, and I am really trying to make space at home. The ebook cost couple of dollars more, but I guess I'm paying for shelf space at this point.

I did, however, find a decent used book store and grabbed three of the eight Lost Swords novels by Fred Saberhagen. They all have spine warping, but for the price, I can deal with it. I know these books aren't currently available in e-format, so I felt justified.

I really need to map out my writing for the next few months. I have about four stories that really need to get written/re-written.

Back to work tomorrow. I would "sigh", but you know - it's what pays for everything, so I won't complain.

Forging ahead with reading tech

I wanted to try some small press e-zines/e-books, but they were in PDF format - which meant reading on the computer screen. I read, however, that the Kindle (Kindle 2) has native PDF support.

First, I dragged some test PDFs over, and they didn't show up on my index. OK. I needed to update the software on my Kindle. The update came out just after Xmas, just after I received mine. Updated smoothly, no problem. PDF files showed on the list.

However, as some Google hits told me beforehand, the native support isn't anything to write home about. You can't adjust font size, the document is very static. It was like reading microfiche without the machine. You could change the orientation to landscape, but it didn't help much.

Off to Google again. There are many methods of converting PDF to Kindle readable formats. Or, for a fee, you can email the doc to Amazon, through a converter, and sent back to the Kindle.

I went with the free option of MobiPocket.com. I downloaded and installed the free publisher, imported the PDFs, rebuilt them into .prc files and dragged them to the Kindle directly through USB. It works great, files (with embedded illustrations, even) came through without any noticeable issue.

Article on using conversion tools

After that success, I went to Lulu.com and bought three items - two issues of Dark Worlds magazine and the new anthology, Swords of Fire.

Rage Machine Books


I've converted those, and sometime in future I'll pull them over to the Kindle and start reading! (only, I wish the PDFs included those great covers, they appear not to - but it's the stories that count.)

Honestly, it might have taken a while to type and to read this, but it was simple and quick thing to do once I was setup!

---

Quick followup note on an earlier reply to David J. West - yes, the iPad already has a comic reader app. Marvel has created one. (also works on iPhone/iTouch, though with devices that small I guess you'd be looking at one panel at a time - if that!)


I don't have an IPad nor a strong interest in one just now. But in future, depending on what apps it has that can be useful or recreational, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it.

Rambling on eReaders/eBooks

I am currently reading, Slaine: The Exile, which is a novel tie-in with a comic. (The comic comes from Britain’s 2000AD line.) The novel came out in 2006, and a sequel followed in 2007. The novel was published by Black Flame, who were a division of BL Publishing. (Their main arm is Black Library, who publish the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 novels.) Black Flame published media tie-in novels. In addition to 2000AD titles, they also novelized some movies into novel series.



I thought about buying the second Slaine novel, but then decided to wait until I read the first novel. Black Flame folded in 2007. As a result, the second Slaine novel, Slaine: The Defiler, is already rare. Now, the first novel isn’t sending me into the stratosphere (more on that in a review post later,) but I’d be curious to go on to the second novel, but not at the prices out there.

"What do you mean I'm out-of-print?!"

Another title they novelized was Fiends of the Eastern Front, a series about vampyrs in the Russian-German front of World War II. There was a trilogy, which in true BL Publishing fashion, wound up in an omnibus. I never did grab a copy, and those are gone too.



Foiled again by “out-of-print”!

Or am I?

I was poking around Wikipedia yesterday, and learned that BL Publishing sold off the 2000AD novels of Black Flame to another company, Rebellion Developments, in 2009. Rebellion have made the titles available as eBooks.

I hopped over to Amazon, and checked the Kindle Store.

Sure enough, the titles are there. They seem reasonably priced - $5.59 per novel.

This perfectly illustrates one of the aspects of eReaders/eBooks that I am most excited about. They can make out-of-print books available. I love hunting used book stores, and if I really want something, I’ll try eBay or ABE Books. But, what if it’s just something I want to try, I’m not sure of the quality? What if the book is so rare, I just can’t get a hold of it?

Imagine all those yellow spine DAW books, Karl E. Wagner’s Kane stories, Robert Adams Horseclans, Sadler’s Casca or the Falcon series by “Mark Ramsay” (house author started by John Maddox Roberts) being available with a mere download.

I grant that Rebellion had an advantage with Black Flame. The Black Flame books, being so new, probably were already on a computer and just needed a formatting pass to make them eReader ready. Older books will require some upfront time and money to be transcribed to computer. I have no idea what it costs a publisher to bring an older book online, but I would hope it would be recovered with a minor amount of sales. (Need to keep the cost attractive.) But it doesn’t cost them printing or warehouse space, certainly.

Will more out-of-print (but not public domain) titles become more and more available via eReaders?

Time will tell. I, for one, certainly hope so!