Here's to health!

I've been rather quiet in 'netLand the past few weeks because I have been fighting one tenacious bug (upper respiratory virus that went into infection.) Finally reached fevers and antibiotics, and had to use official sick days for work (very rare for me.)

Just starting to get normal now, still have some rest and recovery ahead.

That, however, compared to very serious health crisis being faced by friends and colleagues just pales in comparison.  Charles's wife Lana, of course.  Tom's blood issue (hemochromatosis.)  Also, someone at my workplace has undergone brain surgery.

I haven't finished reading anything, but I have started on the History of the Runestaff omnibus.  Illness ate into my reading time.  I hate it when fevers bug my eyes so I can't even read while I'm sitting around doing nothing.  I *hate* that.

My kids, of course, caught various versions of coughs themselves, so I was on constant fever watch with them.  They got through this round okay.  (which is good, because my son had a rotten tonsil infection himself a few weeks ago with a scary fever.)

Mild winter is apparently more compromising on your health than a normal, cold one.

So, here's to your good health and to the good health of all those around you!

Recent read! The Spider!

This was my first foray into the manic styling of The Spider!  You would not believe the sheer number of exclamation points in the first story!  It must be exciting, right?  Right!

Um, actually, no.

This book was painful to slug through.  Frankly, this is the kind of shlock that give pulp a bad name.

This Baen collection features two Spider stories, "Satan's Murder Machines" and "Death Reign of the Vampire King."  The third tale, "The Octopus," isn't even a Spider story.

Book cover pr0n!

These popped up on Amazon finally!

And, cover not on Amazon yet, but it is on display at Subterranean Press;

recent read; The Automatic Detective

The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez

From the blurb; Even in Empire City, a town where weird science is the hope for tomorrow, it’s hard for a robot to make his way. It’s even harder for a robot named Mack Megaton, a hulking machine designed to bring mankind to its knees. But Mack’s not interested in world domination. He’s just a bot trying to get by....and to earn his citizenship in the process....but some bots just can’t catch a break.

When Mack’s neighbors are kidnapped, Mack sets off on a journey through the dark alleys and gleaming skyscrapers of Empire City...What started out as one missing family becomes a battle for the future of Empire and every citizen that calls her home.

I have a friend whose lists this as one of his favorite novels.  I finally got around to reading it, and I'm glad I did.  This was a fun romp and a quirky story.

You might say it's Blade Runner meets The Iron Giant, or any other number of mash-up descriptions, but The Automatic Detective is very much its own style and story.

The blurb describes what you get.  Along the way Mack gains some humanity, makes friends, and earns the wrath of enemies.  Empire City is a quirky place of golden age scifi stories gone wrong, while its citizens try to do right (most of them, anyway.)  There is some light philosophizing on what makes a sentient machine a man, as it were.  Nothing heavy, it's just nicely sprinkled over a ripping yarn.

This one is worth the read, and I will be reading more of Martinez in the near future.

recent read; Robots Have No Tails

Robots Have No Tails by Henry Kuttner

These stories were fun.  A breezy blend of whimsy and The Twilight Zone.  (I have to believe Rod Serling read one or two of these.)  This book collects the five tales of Gallegher, the drunken inventor whose brilliant work is created when he is blotto.  The sober, hungover Gallegher is formulaically stuck with problems, a hangover, creditors and mysteries left by his alcoholic alter ego.

The book opens with a foreword from F. Paul Wilson reminding us to leave our political correctness at the door.  Not that there is anything racist or sexist, but the character of Gallegher is a drunk and his drinking problem is played for laughs. These stories were possibly influenced by the Nick & Nora Charles Thin Man movies, where the main characters - while not outright drunks - were hardly ever seen without a drink in hand.

recent read: Empire State

Empire State by Adam Christopher

Oddly enough, the first quote I thought of when pondering a review of this novel was from Ralph Nader's running mate a few elections past, Winona LaDuke.  There was some commentary between her and a reporter, and the reporter said, "But isn't this America?  The Melting Pot?" to which she replied, "Yes, but do you want a bland puree of everything, or a nice chunky stew with all the individual elements clearly defined and contributing to the whole?"  (I am paraphrasing, but that was the gist of what she said.)

Empire State is definitely a pulp stew.  From noir-ish tinges of Chandler & Hammett, to wild contraptions of stories of The Spider, with rocketeering super-heroes and racketeers along for the ride.  Although even the author refers to the work as science fiction - the scifi only plays into the setting and background of the creation of the Empire State.  All else feels, smells and tastes like pulp - and that is fine with me.

There is nothing bland or pureed about it.

A little book shopping

I spent the week waiting on an Amazon book order to finish its tour of the East Coast.  No biggie, really, but the package passed by the town next door and went on the Maine on a shipping error, and came back through NJ before finally reaching me.  I received Glen Cook's final novel of the Dread Empire - recently rewritten after being lost/stolen - now out in hardback, A Path to Coldness of Heart.

I also threw in To The Stars - and Beyond (The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories), mainly because Charles Gramlich has a tale in it, and I loved the cover.

Today the wife gave me a hall pass and I went shopping.  In addition to shoes, music and comics, I picked up some books, too.  Arturo Perez-Reverte's latest (perhaps last) tale of Captain Alatriste, Pirates of the Levant.  The Ramsey Campbell novelization of the Solomon Kane movie (which I still haven't seen!)  Finally, I bought the Baen anthology, Mountain Magic.  I have Drake's Old Nathan collection (included,) but the book includes a set of Henry Kuttner tales, too.  I would have gone the e'route on that one, sometime, but for this little tidbit on the Baen E'books site;

AN APOLOGY

Unfortunately the Kuttner estate does not allow publication of electronic versions of his works. So we had to remove all of the Kuttner stories from the WebScriptions version. In their place we've added Manly Wade Wellman's John the Balladeer stories. Certainly they fit the books theme of Mountain Magic.

I guess that isn't a total surprise.  I noted Saberhagen's estate seem to be handling his e'books, outside of any given publisher.  Also, not surprising some Silver John tales were substituted, as I think Drake is in charge of the Wellman publishing estate, so it wouldn't be a tough sell.

(I've run into something similar with some of my vinyl blues LPs having different content on CD - not just augmented, but different...)