'Black Tears' - L.Sprague De Camp & Lin Carter

Me: "Hey blog, how's it going?"
Blog: "…"
Me: "Come on, don't be like that. You know how the last couple of weeks have been; the only books I managed to read were for the kids bedtime and I couldn't exactly post about 'Snugglebunny' could I?"

Blog: *Accusing Face*
Me: "No, just no. As brilliant as 'Snugglebunny' is, it has no business being on a genre blog."
Blog: *sniff*
Me: "I know you're upset but I managed to do a little reading on the bus this morning and it was 'Conan'. We both like 'Conan' don't we?"

Blog: *Hopeful Eyes*
Me: "Lets post something about that and see where we go next. I've got some David Gemmell to read and the new Sam Sykes is looking pretty promising as well. It's going to be good, I promise."

Blog: *Slighty Teary Smile*
Me: "Come on, lets do it."

 

Now the slightly awkward reconciliation is out of the way (I'm sorry you had to see that…) lets get on with business. A little while ago, I picked up a load of old 'Conan' paperbacks so I could get other writers takes on the iconic barbarian. Most of what I've had a chance to read so far is by De Camp and Carter, both of whom played a large part in keeping Robert E. Howard's Work in print, be it completed stories or fragments.

From my own limited knowledge (correct me if I'm wrong guys), 'Black Tears' is an original piece by De Camp and Carter that fills in one of the many gaps that appear between Howard's own tales. There's clearly a lot of fertile ground here to really bring Conan to life but it's up in the air as to whether De Camp and Carter actually manage it. 'Black Tears' is a solid enough read but…

'Black Tears' has Conan pursuing a traitor into the desert after foiling an ambush by a Turanian army. What lies at the heart of the desert is so fearsome that Conan's Zuagir tribesmen would rather drug him and flee than face it themselves. Not only a traitor awaits in the city of Akhlat the Accursed, there is also a demon that prophecy says only Conan can kill…

Like I said to the blog just now, 'Black Tears' was a tale that I read over the course of one bus journey with more than enough happening to keep my interest. I'm not sure of the thought process that led Conan to kill the demon at the end (it's not a spoiler, everyone knows how Conan stories have to end…) but there's a lot of power behind these scenes to pull you past those moments of doubt just before you realise that they are there. Sword fights, beautiful women and a monster to be killed; it's a typical Conan story and this realisation casts its own shadow over the tale.

Conan is Howard's own creation and once you read Howard's stories, you realise that all any other writers can do is borrow Conan for a while before putting him back where he belongs. If you follow the formula then you are 'aping' Howard but if you don't follow the formula you have the shadow of a master storyteller hanging over you; a shadow that it's pretty much impossible to emerge from (especially if you have borrowed arguably his greatest creation). Karl Edward Wagner came closest to achieving that impossible goal, with 'The Road of Kings', but he didn't quite make it; De Camp and Carter appear to opt for playing it safe and are quiet happy to sit under that shadow in the meantime. That's fair enough but Conan is a character who's never afraid to take a chance, it would be nice to see a writer/writers who would do the same.

Maybe it's unfair to ask that though. Maybe we should just be happy that there are writers out there who were prepared to try and give us a little more of something amazing, even if they were never quite going to manage it. I don't know what that means for future posts here about Conan stories, I have a few still to read, I think I'll probably just enjoy them for what they are and post 'as and when'.

If you want to read 'Black Tears' you can find it in old copies of 'Conan the Wanderer' or Orbit's (not quite as old but still getting on a bit) 'The Conan Chronicles 2'.

'The Old Scale Game' (From 'The Very Best of Tad Williams' - Tachyon Press)

I'm always a little bit wary of titles like 'The Best of', 'The Very Bestof…', 'Even Better than the Very Best of…' (well, you know what I mean)because it always feels like the book is either setting itself up for a
fall or, perhaps even worse, setting the reader for a fall. It's a nice thing to put in a title but it just feels like asking for trouble. Even with a writer like Tad Williams, I found myself looking at the table of
contents and thinking to myself, 'No 'The Burning Man'? Really?'

It's a good thing then that this particular book is all about work by Tad Williams because even if it's missing a favourite or two you're still pretty certain of coming across some very good storytelling. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm a fan (so take my words as you will) but it's hard not to be when the quality of what I've read is so consistent and
also that Williams is prepared to turn his hand to anything. I came to Tad Williams through his 'Osten Ard' books and, as a result, I've always kept an eye open for anything of his that is fantasy based. Not only was 'The Old Scale Game' the first tale in the collection but it has dragons and all sorts of monsters in its eighteen pages. I was sold right from the start.

'The Old Scale Game' takes a simple premise and shows the reader what could happen if a scheme is a little* too* successful and everyone wants in on it. What originally begins as a 'one man, one dragon' operation leads to any number of mythical beasts wanting to get involved, resulting in depression and spiralling alcoholism for one of the original conspirators. I found myself in the position where I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Guldhogg and Sir Blivet, even though a blatant lack of forethought had led them to this in the first place. Everything works out though (it had to, given the note of gently humour that runs through the piece) and all credit to Williams for taking a thoroughly twentieth century concept and having it sit very comfortably in a tenth century setting (although if the reader is asked to believe in dragons then it's not a huge leap to believe in a dragon that… that would be telling).

I'm still not sold on the title of this collection but I bought 'The Very Best of Tad Williams' with the sole intention of having a lot of fun with the stories inside. 'The Old Scale Game' ended up being a great way to kick
that off (I knew it would).

'The Weapon Shop' - A.E. van Vogt

The great thing about my copy of 'The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (Volume One, 1929-1964)' is that, with some quick short story reading, I can say that I've read at least one story by a golden age sci-fi writer. I still have a lot of reading to do but the gaps are being filled in a little bit at a time…

A.E. van Vogt is one of those authors that I have never read… until now :o) My copy of 'Earth's Last Fortress' is hiding somewhere in the study (despite the bookshelf culling that has been ongoing this week) so I thought I'd give 'The Weapon Shop' a go instead.

I always feel like it's somehow my fault if a story by a 'classic sci-fi' writer doesn't work for me; like everyone else has spotted what made the story great and I'm the odd one out. You guessed it, 'The Weapon Shop' didn't work for me, not at all. While I liked the exploration of the cycle of tyranny and democracy (and how we rail against a system of leadership that we are ultimately responsible for) it felt awfully rushed and squeezed into too small a space; like an outline for a much longer work. Funnily enough, 'The Weapon Shops of Isher' novel was born out of the merging of this short story and two others. I find myself with no urge to read it though, not if the characters are as one dimensional as they were here - there to illustrate Vogt's points rather than have any agency of their own.

For me, 'The Weapon Shop' is one of those stories that is very thoughtful but ends up being so thoughtful that the characters get lost in the authors earnest musings and nothing really seems to happen. Fara Clark starts at A and ends at Z but I couldn't tell how the plot got him there. A good read then it that it makes you think a little but one hell of a slog at the same time. I'll still give 'Earths Last Fortress' a read, once I find it, but I can't see myself re-visiting this story (or the novel it became) any time soon. Has anyone here read 'The Weapon Shops of Isher'? What did you think of it?

‘The Great Maw’ – L.J. Goulding (Black Library)

I’ve been reading these stories two at a time and enjoying them, for the most part, so much that I didn’t really give much of a thought to how many were left on my phone. So just the one story today then and it could well be the most interesting one out of the last weeks offerings…

Legends tell of the origins of the ogre race and their mysterious god. Many of these tales centre around the mythical figure of Groth Onefinger. Here is one such saga, recounting the story of the great cataclysm that overtook the ogres and drove them from their lands, of the birth of a great and hungry deity that drives all of that savage race to fits of incredible greed, and of Groth, the saviour of the ogre race and first prophet of the Great Maw.

The Old World is a rich and fertile source of stories to be told although most of them inevitably focus on the battles that make up the game. Fair enough really, that’s the whole point of the setting after all. This ‘same old, same old’ approach works due to the energy and enthusiasm of the writers and it also highlights just how unusual a tale like ‘The Great Maw’ is; a Warhammer tale that doesn’t feature a pitched battle at all, not one.

What we have here is a tale of how the once civilized Ogres became the creatures they are today; feared by sensible folk and about to invade one of the outlying regions of the Empire. Why are they doing this? No-one really knows as whatever it was Baron von Streissen said to the Ogre Gurthodd led to the Baron’s unfortunate demise and the imminent outbreak of war. A meeting is convened where our narrator stresses that an understanding of Ogre culture might (just might) lead to a solution. And so the tale begins in notes passed to the university of Nuln that tell of The Children of the Maw…

I really enjoyed the unique structure of ‘The Great Maw’; well, unique to this setting anyway. A story within a story isn’t something you come across in Warhammer fiction all that often if at all (I can’t think of any other examples) so fair play to Goulding for treading a new path and making it work for the most part. I say ‘for the most part’ as the ending of each story is a little too abrupt and leaves more questions than a short story really needs to. I prefer my short stories a little more complete than ‘The Great Maw’ ended up being. This isn’t a deal breaker though as the preceding oral history offers a fresh look at the Ogres of the Old World (I’d never seen them as being a civilized culture in the past) and feeds, no pun intended, into the whole thing of Warhammer setting being about tragedy and people holding off the darkly inevitable. Even the so called ‘evil’ races can have a little bit of tragedy in their past and there’s something about this even handed approach that I like.

‘The Great Maw’ ultimately falls short on account of being just a little too open ended for its format but the structure of the tale, along with the insights that it offers, make up for this and result in a story that Warhammer fans should enjoy. You can’t say fairer than that really.

Warhammer Week – A Couple More Short Stories

 Because the train was packed this morning and it was all I could do to hold my phone at eye level, let alone a book… I’m looking forward to a slightly less congested commute to my new job (optimism beats realism every time!)

So yeah, more Warhammer short stories are the order of the day. I already said, yesterday, why I think Warhammer short stories are great; just scroll down a little bit if you missed it. The two stories on show today are a move away from tying into established series and are more like snapshots of the war torn Old World. I have to say that in terms of the end result here it was hit and miss.


The whole thing about Warhammer is that it's all about the fighting and warfare; that's the whole point and it doesn't leave the writer a lot of scope to write about other things. That's okay though, if you're clever then you can still tell a decent story, even if you can't vary the subject matter. It's a shame then that Jonathan Green chooses not to do this with 'Sticks and Stones' .
That's not to say that 'Sticks and Stones' isn't a good read; Green writes a mean set piece with scenes of battle that stir the blood (I want to be a pistolier now). The problem though is that's all 'Stick and Stones' is, you get plenty of fighting but you don't get a sense of who the fighters are, what they are fighting for or even why. The end result then is a story that does a job but feels strangely shallow for it.


'Bernheimer's Gun' though... Here's a tale that does exactly the opposite of 'Sticks and Stones' and is all the better for it. Reynolds really takes time to get to know his characters and gives plausible motivation for their actions ('the city is in danger' is a well known trope but at least we know why they are fighting. The chases (which I loved) and the fights that follow just make more sense and that ultimately kept me going with 'Bernheimer's Gun'. I'd love to read more about Marienburg and its denizens.


So, which one would I choose as personal favourite? It's not hard and I'm now really keen to read more by Reynolds now. I'll see what I can find.
In the meantime, that's five stories down and two more to go... Keep an eye out, I'll be back with those two fairly shortly...

Warhammer Week - The Stories So Far...

Black Library are currently running a ‘Warhammer Week’, on their site, where each day sees a new short story to download. I am all for this by the way (especially now I have a new phone with a bigger screen); not only is there is nothing better than a short story that you can download to your phone but the Warhammer setting always takes second billing to its far future counterpart. I’m a big fan of the Warhammer universe and it’s great to see it feature a little more prominently. More of that in the future please!

In the meantime, I’m already four days behind with these stories so this post is more a collection of mini-reviews just so I can get caught up a little bit.  C.L. Werner and Sarah Cawkwell are already well known for their work in the Warhammer universe and their stories here not only do a job in their own right but also serve as little thirty page stepping stones into a  much larger narrative (which is the plan of course).  It’s a good job then that ‘Harbinger’, ‘A Question of Faith’ and ‘The Last Man’ make for good reading that, if I hadn’t read the other books already, would have left me keen to explore the settings further.

There’s only so much you can do in thirty pages and that’s why short stories can be amazing when done right (and exactly the opposite when done wrong…) Both Werner and Cawkwell are clearly mindful of this and choose to forego the normal hack and slash of Warhammer in favour or more more thoughtful plotting. Cawkwell does this more with ‘Harbinger’, a story that gradually unfolds to act as a kind of metaphor for the implacable march of Chaos. You can see where the story is heading, even after it finishes, and you also get a clear feeling of where it has come from as well with a darker past hinted at.  The character of the Healer holds the plot together very well with a compelling voice that demands that you stay to hear the tale; when you see where the Healer’s choices lead her, you can’t help but feel a little sympathy…

‘A Question of Faith’ and ‘The Last Man’ are being lumped together here as they are both set during Werner’s ‘Black Plague’ storyline; readers who have already read these books will notice a few familiar places (and possibly names, I’m not sure) along the way. The other reason these two books are sharing space is that Werner likes to delve a little more deeply into the horror end of ‘Warhammer’, than other authors, and it’s something he does to good affect here.  Werner is all about painting dark landscapes and then filling them full of humanity despairing while shadows scuttle at the edge of the page. Both stories have that edge of grim foreboding and Werner leaves you in no doubt as to what the people of the Old World will do to protect themselves from the horror of the plague… before smacking you in the face with some nasty surprises (with ‘The Last Man’ in particular, I kind of saw it coming in ‘A Question of Faith’). If I had to pick a favourite, well I do now, it would be ‘The Last Man’ with its visceral depiction of the plague and one man trying to survive in the ruins.

So that’s three stories down and four more to go; I’ll let you know how they turn out over the next few days.

'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains’ – Neil Gaiman & Eddie Campbell (Headline)

With all the talk, just recently, being about ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane’ I had totally forgotten that ‘The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains’ was due to be published in this format (until it came through the door that is, a nice surprise). I say this format as ‘The Truth’ has already seen the light of day as a short story, in ‘The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume 5’, and a multi-media experience where a reading of the story is set to music and it’s all played out against the imagery that you will find in this edition. I knew none of that though (living in a genre bubble as I sometimes do) so my reading was like coming to this story for the first time.

A dwarf and his guide journey to the Misty Isle where it’s said that a cave, in the mountains, holds as much gold as a man can carry. Such gold can prove useful in these troubled times but is that the only reason why the dwarf seeks the cave? The truth lies within…

The story itself looks very simple on the surface (starts off at A and heads straight to C by way of B) but Gaiman hides a lot of things in plain sight and you are not reading the story that you think you are. I mean you are, of course you are, but there’s a lot more to it and I guarantee that you will be reading the last few pages with a sense of wonder and quite a bit of awe that Gaiman not only told an enthralling tale but totally pulled the wool over your eyes at the same time. What our ‘hero’ sees in the cave just blows the story wide open and in all the right ways. If you’re anything like me, you will then go right back to the beginning and read the book all over again. A deceptively simple tale (with just enough of the Fae about it to add to the atmosphere without going into overkill) told against a stunning backdrop of bleakly beautiful Scottish countryside.

And that’s where Eddie Campbell comes in with illustrations so integrated with the plot that ‘Truth’ is as much his book as it is Gaimans. These illustrations don’t just complement the story, they are the story in places and it’s amazing to see that story jump in and out of the illustrations as things progress. Half the reason it took me so long to read ‘The Truth’ was that I found myself wanting to get as much as a I could out of the illustrations before I turned each page. The other reason? Some experiences are not meant to be rushed and ‘The Truth’ is one of those, definitely.

‘The Holiness of Azedarac’ – Clark Ashton Smith

I’m having far too much fun with ‘The Incorruptibles’ to polish it off quickly and it has been a while since I dipped into the worlds of Clark Ashton Smith so… The end result is another brief journey into the dark woods of medieval Averoigne and a young monk’s journey to expose an evil prelate…

'By the Ram with a Thousand Ewes! By the Tail of Dagon and the Horns of Derceto!' said Azédarac, as he fingered the tiny, pot-bellied vial of vermilion liquid on the table before him. 'Something will have to be done with this pestilential Brother Ambrose. I have now learned that he was sent to Ximes by the Archbishop of Averoigne for no other purpose than to gather proof of my subterraneous connection with Azazel and the Old Ones. He has spied upon my evocations in the vaults, he has heard the hidden formulae, and beheld the veritable manifestation of Lilit, and even of Iog-Sotôt and Sodagui, those demons who are more ancient than the world; and this very morning, an hour agone, he has mounted his white ass for the return journey to Vyones. There are two ways — or, in a sense, there is one way — in which I can avoid the bother and inconvenience of a trial for sorcery: the contents of this vial must be administered to Ambrose before he has reached his journey's end — or, failing this, I myself shall be compelled to make use of a similar medicament.'

Beautiful writing (I wish I could curse like that, the world would be a much better place if everyone cursed like that) but, as an opening paragraph, it feels a little clumsier than what I’m used to from Ashton Smith. We’re being told what’s going on here, instead of being shown, and it feels forced. This issue crops up here and there, over the rest of the tale, but the language gets the reader through these tough patches and then we’re away.

‘In the oblique rays, the elongated webs of shadow wrought by the dying afternoon, the forest seemed to attend with bated breath the noisome and furtive passing of innominable things. Nevertheless, Ambrose had met no-one for miles…’

Brother Ambrose is making his way through the forest of Averoigne with as much haste as he can (if I was a Bishop entrusting someone with an important mission, the last thing I’d do is make them ride a donkey…) and I loved the way that Ashton Smith crowds the forest with phantasms brought on by what Ambrose had witnessed previously. We’ve seen in previous Averoigne stories that the forest holds dangers but Ashton Smith shows us that nothing is so dangerous as the fear we make for ourselves. This move builds things up nicely until the moment when Ambrose is finally caught by the agent of Azedarac and finds himself…

And here’s the thing, I don’t want to give anything away as Ashton Smith takes a story that was clearly going to end either one way or another and gives it an ending that comes straight out of left field. An ending that resolves absolutely nothing important in the plot but gives us a good insight into the universe Ashton Smith writes in. Good or evil, whatever you strive for can be taken from your grasp just like that and for no reason other than a passing fancy of either the gods or cosmic fate. Ambrose isn’t complaining too much by the end and you can’t blame him given what he has had to endure; at least Ashton Smith gives him that.

If you want to read ‘The Holiness of Azedarac’ yourself (and why not, it’s free) then you should be clicking right Here.

‘A Year and a Day in Old Theradane’ – Scott Lynch

Another story that can be found in the GRRM/Dozois ‘Rogues’ collection which I am loving so far (based on the stories I’ve dipped into).

I miss being able to sit down with a big, fat epic fantasy novel and get lost in it for hours at a time. Actually, no I don’t, not really. Reading a big fat epic fantasy novel usually means that I’m doing something horribly tedious, like a long commute, that I want to escape from and my life seems to be refreshingly free of things like that at the moment; that’s always a good thing and never to be sniffed at.

Having said all that though, I do miss the feeling of being able to get lost in that world, within the pages of a book, and have no idea where the time went when I surface. It’s a good job then that are short stories out there like ‘A Year and a Day in Old Theradane’. While it’s by no means a story that will grip you for hours (it’s only forty pages long…) there is more than enough depth to the background to have the reader enthralled by life in Old Theradane. I read this story on the way to work, this morning, and there were stations that I literally didn’t notice the train stop at as I was too busy scoping out Prosperity Street with Amarelle Parathis, and her gang of rogues, or drinking in ‘The Sign of the Fallen Fire’. What an amazing pub by the way (made from the skeleton of a fallen dragon), just the description of a ‘Rise and Fall of Empires’ makes me wish that I drank in establishments like this rather than… well, the ones that I drink in (my living room, in front of the TV) This kind of detail, more than ably supplied by Lynch, is only a part of what makes ‘A Year and a Day in Old Theradane’ such an enjoyable read but it’s an incredibly important part. Lynch eases you into the story so smoothly that before you know, you’re caught up in the plot itself.

I’m not going to lie, if I was Amarelle I’d have gone for the last option first. If I was Amarelle however, ‘A Year and a Day in Old Theradane’ would have been about five pages long and incredibly dull so… It’s a good job that things worked out the way they did really :o) Amarelle and her gang are complete and utter rogues (definitely a good fit for this collection) and there’s enough humour here (in both the gang and the story itself) to get you behind the characters and rooting for a successful conclusion. It’s a foregone conclusion but that’s beside the point. The fun lies in getting there and there is a lot of fun to be had, take my word for it.

If you hadn’t guessed already, I came away from ‘A Year and a Day in Old Theradane’ with a real urge to tell everyone just how good it is and that you should all read it. I was also really glad that I chose to read it instead of  

Neil Gaiman’s ‘How the Marquis Got His Coat Back’ (one for another time perhaps). I noticed that Lynch has (or is developing) a habit of leaving his short stories open-ended so he can write more if they prove popular. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Amarelle and her friends. GRRM and Gardner Dozois – Any chance of a ‘Rogues 2’?

‘Restless Waters’ – Robert E. Howard

I have a feeling that you will find ‘Restless Waters’ in ‘The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard’ (don’t quote me on that, can’t find my copy anymore…) but I found it in ‘The Gods of Bal-Sagoth’ collection; a great little book for people like me who want a ten minute chunk of story between meatier slices. More often than not, I’m absolutely in awe of what Robert E. Howard wrote (and how much of a back catalogue there is), especially his short fiction which packs one hell of a lot of story into a very small space. Howard was a master of the art, no doubt about that, and at only eight pages long, ‘Restless Waters’ looked like a nice little read to ease me into the day after a half four in the morning start with Elana. Things don’t often work out the way you want though and ‘Restless Waters’ ended up more than a little disappointing…

At only eight pages long, you’re looking for a simple premise and that’s what we get here with two sea captains talking about the death of one of the captain’s crewmembers and, as the tale progresses, it becomes clear that one of the captains is due a visit from beyond the grave as a result of his wicked ways (and he’s a bad’un, no doubt about it). A great basis for a tale of terror then but it’s signposted so clearly that you’re waiting for the inevitable payoff instead of being ready to be surprised by it. There’s no surprise here (given all the exposition, how can there be?), just a dull sense of the inevitable and that’s a real shame coming from the writer of classic stories such as ‘The Dream Snake’ (where the build-up just flows into the finale which is awesome) , which is as scary as hell. The finale here wants to be dramatic but arrives only to find that its surprise has been spoiled and it doesn't really know what to do with itself.

I've read enough of Howard’s tales now to be pretty sure that this is just a one off and that I still have a lot of great reading in front of me. Just can’t help feeling a little disappointed here. What is it about me and horror/supernatural fiction this week? I can’t pick a good story if my life depended on it. Any recommendations from you guys?

‘The Last Enchantment (Jesting with Chaos)’ – Michael Moorcock

I’m taking my own sweet time with ‘A Promise of Blood’, for the simple reason that is proving to be an awesome read and therefore to be savoured on the morning and evening commutes. Take it from me, if you haven’t read ‘A Promise of Blood’ then you need to do something about that sharpish. As far as the blog goes then, expect to see a few more short stories covered here in the meantime. Stories like Michael Moorcock’s ‘The Last Enchantment’ for instance.

Anyone looking to read ‘The Last Enchantment’ can find it in those old battered ‘Elric at the end of Time’ paperbacks, that can be found wherever there is an old second hand bookshop, or you can pick it up as part of the ‘To Rescue Tanelorn’ collection that Del Rey released a few years ago (2008, has it really been that long?) Either book will guarantee some good reading with the other stories sitting alongside ‘The Last Enchantment’.

The premise of ‘The Last Enchantment’ is simple; Elric is sent into a realm of Chaos (he really should have helped Slorg out instead of sending him to a horrible death) and must solve a seemingly impossible task if he is to escape the fate of being ‘forever conscious’. It’s no surprise that he does, we all know that a worse fate awaits Elric, but there is a clever twist to it that completely eluded me on first reading (it was my first couple of weeks at high school, I was more concerned with trying to find where my next class was) but really struck me with its elegance and simplicity this time round. What I really liked about ‘The Last Enchantment’ though wasn’t just the cruel atmosphere of Elric’s world, and the creatures that lurk within it (the Hungry Whisperers still make me shiver even now) but the fact that Elric immediately comes across as a bit of a bastard and unlike any other hero that you’re likely to meet. He’ll stand up to the Lords of Chaos but only if it suits him; Elric’s reaction to Slorg’s plight is to basically say, “sorry mate, this is nothing to do with me” and then ride on. A hero when the stakes are high but not someone to place your faith in concerning more mundane matters such as being chased by creatures that are going to eat you… Slightly uncomfortable reading then, if you like your heroes to be a bit more heroic, but I like characters that are open about who they are and the honesty here appealed to me.

‘The Last Enchantment’ isn’t an action filled piece (and the horror is only hinted at); what the reader has instead is a more thoughtful piece on the nature of Chaos and its limitations. Elric’s slightly mournful final words here hint at what humanity might just be capable of if it only realised. All of this is set against one of Moorcock’s surreal landscapes that are easy to get lost in yet has a cruel undertone to it, reminding the reader that perhaps the characters behave the way they do for a very good reason. A very slight read (only about eleven pages long) and very much to the point but as good a place as any other to start finding out what Elric is all about and why fate is so cruel to him…

‘The Hedge Knight’ – George R.R. Martin

While I’m catching up with the HBO series (two and a bit more seasons and I’ll be with you guys) and pondering whether to go for a ‘big ol’ re-read’ of ‘ASOIAF’ (will more than likely happen when I next have a long train journey to make) I’m mooching around my bookshelves, trying to get a little caught up some of the shorter pieces of Westeros fiction that GRRM has written. My thoughts on ‘The Rogue Prince’ went up at the end of April and at some point that will be followed by what I thought ‘The Princess and the Queen’ (still to be read). Today then is all about what lies in the middle and that is ‘The Hedge Knight’, first of the tales of Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg.

I’m pretty sure the plan is that, eventually, you will be able to find all of Dunk and Egg’s adventures in one collection but that day is a way off yet (seeing that there’s at one novella, that I know of, still to be written). I found ‘The Hedge Knight’ in the Robert Silverberg edited ‘Legends’ collection, I don’t think it’s anywhere else.

Anyway… What is a lowly squire to do when his hedge knight master falls ill in the middle of nowhere, knights him and then promptly dies? If you’re Dunk, The first thing you do (after burying your master of course) is to head for the tourney you were going to originally. This time though, instead of supplying his master with fresh lances, Dunk plans to tilt a few lances himself and make enough prize money to find his own way (as a hedge knight) in the world. Simple, right? Not if you’re Dunk and have a habit of accidentally involving yourself in the affairs of the high and mighty…

It’s really interesting to read ‘The Hedge Knight’, after having read the ‘ASOIAF’ books, as you can’t help but ask yourself if Dunk’s actions indirectly lead to Robert Baratheon’s rebellion, a hundred years later, and everything that followed afterwards. I don’t want to give any spoilers away but that was all I could think of once I’d read the last page. Great foreshadowing by GRRM if that is the case, erm… a case of my reading too much into things if it isn’t!

Something to chew on then but what I really enjoyed about ‘The Hedge Knight’ was seeing Dunk (I’ll call him ‘Ser Duncan’ from hereon in) find his way in the world and how his efforts to stay true to an ideal of knighthood is not only tested but impacts on the lives of all around him. While politics, and plain old fashioned violence (as skilfully and brutally drawn as ever), play out during the course of the tourney, GRRM shows us that actually there is nothing more deadly than a naïve and virtuous man trying to do the right thing. It’s like ‘A Game of Thrones’ played out on a much smaller scale and by the end, Ser Duncan is faced with the choice of either continuing to forge his own path or to essentially become another piece in the game. Those of you who have read ‘The Hedge Knight’ already will know the decision that Ser Duncan takes and I think he made the right one, for him anyway.

I really enjoyed ‘The Hedge Knight’ (despite trying to get my head round what felt like a conveyor belt constantly churning out new knights, and where were the Starks?), a tale that initially felt like  a great way to dip my toes into the world of Westeros but then grew into something more; a very promising opening tale in the life of a man whom I hear has great things ahead of him.  

A Couple of Tales from the Weird West…

I can’t remember the last time I read an anthology from cover to cover, quite possibly in the days when I had a slightly longer commute and no children. These days, anthologies are very much a way for me to chew over a short tale when I don’t have the appetite for something longer. If I didn’t read short stories, I suspect I would never finish anything but that’s another story (and not a short one either)…

Anyway… I’ve said before that John Joseph Adams has great form for editing anthologies (in terms of both concept and the writers that he brings to the table) and, as such, my ears always prick up at the mention of a new collection, even though I still need to get round to reading a few of them. I’ve only read a couple of the stories here, so far, but expect to go back and read the rest over time. In the meantime though, here are some quick thoughts  on a couple of the tales.

‘The Red-Headed Dead’ – Joe R. Lansdale

Lansdale is one of those authors where I start off thinking that I’ve never read his work, only to check and find out that I’ve read a number of his short stories and comics, enjoying all of them. So, good stories then that do their job but don’t hang around too long afterwards. Has anyone read anything by Lansdale that just blew them away? I’d be interested in reading it if you have.

‘The Red-Headed Dead’ is an instalment in what are the ongoing adventures of Reverend Mercer who does God’s work, in the shadowy corners of the West, by unloading blessed bullets into all manner of devilish creatures. This time round, it’s a vampire who has Mercer trapped in a ramshackle old hut… ‘The Red Headed Dead’ is a fast paced tale that owes a lot to Robert E. Howard’s ‘Solomon Kane’ stories (acknowledged by Lansdale at the end) and has all the ingredients for a compelling read; I’d certainly read more stories with the good Reverend in them. A gloomy backdrop, a monstrous vampire and a ‘hero’ who does God’s work even though he really doesn’t want to (and might just be more than a little insane himself). I loved the constant questioning and self-doubt that is channelled into controlled violence when the chips are down. The Old West has always struck me as an ideal horror setting and Lansdale really hits the mark here too, the darkness of the storm hiding something even darker at its core. Like I said, if I come across any more Reverend Mercer tales I will be reading them, no question about it.

‘Strong Medicine’ – Tad Williams

Weird happenings in Medicine Dance are common, they happen every year, but the strangest events of all happen every thirty nine years and it’s then that Custos comes to town to protect the townsfolk any way that he can…

A little bit of Steampunk (clockwork punk?)and time travel combine to give us a tale full of surprises, not even Custos knows what the morning will bring and that uncertainty keeps the pages turning  although Williams takes his own time getting to the good stuff, not necessarily a good thing in a short story (although maybe I’d been spoiled by the far punchier ‘The Red Headed Dead’). When ‘Strong Medicine’ gets going though, it’s worth the wait with scenes that make me wish that Ray Harryhausen was still doing his thing and an ending that hints at a wider tale as well as offering hope for the poor people of ‘Medicine Dance’. The concept is entirely suited to this short format as a ‘one time only’ tale (wouldn’t work as anything longer) but I enjoyed that hint of a wider setting and would read more ‘Custos’ tales if they were written. There’s something about Tad Williams’ work that always makes me think this.

More stories from ‘Dead Man’s Hand’ to follow as and when…

'Immersion' - Aliette de Bodard

I’ve never been too big on the whole genre awards thing (except when people I know get nominated, congratulations all you blogging Hugo nominees!); preferring instead just to read books for the sheer hell of it and not get caught up in some of the more tangential discussion. Life is far too short to let some obnoxious troll ruin your day, seriously ;o)

I will make exceptions though. Pyr have just published the ‘Nebula Awards Showcase 2014’ which, for some reason, is all about the stuff that won awards in 2012… I guess it makes sense to someone. The thing is though, the 2012 winners are all genre history now and I can read the book in my own good time. A book full of award winners should be savoured like a fine wine, not gulped down so you can say that you drank it before everyone else.

On a slightly more (okay, a lot more) shallow note. The ‘Nebula Awards Showcase’ has an awesome cover with a dragon on it and that will always encourage me to pick a book up. Go on, check it out…

See what I mean?

Anyway, I've recently got back into reading on the train (apparently there’s only so much ‘Subway Surfers’ you can play before you find yourself deliberately running the little guy under a train) and Aliette de Bodard’s ‘Immersion’ (2012 winner for ‘Short Story’) seemed like just the right length for the journey between Lewisham and Waterloo. Yep, the ‘Nebula Awards Showcase 2014’ is another one of those books that I will be dipping in and out of.

At a first glance, I wasn't sure what the big deal about ‘Immersion’ was. I mean, a science fiction tale about humanity becoming dependent on technology (and it’s very easy to come to rely on the act of immersing to function in this future)? Who would have thought it? It’s not exactly an original premise is it? De Bodard is playing with overly familiar tropes here then but does enough to turn ‘Immersion’ into a little bit more than just the same old thing.

The stark contrast between Agnes, overly immersed, and Quy, only immerses when she has to (and always adjusts the default setting) really lends welcome emphasis to Agnes’ situation and the fact that you can’t see Agnes at all, behind her avatar is amazing use of imagery to show the reader how serious things are. Technology will rule you if you let it and it is easy to forget what makes you human when a machine can do your living for you. Like I said, old tropes but de Bodard really makes them her own.

What I also really got behind was the subtle note of hope injected into the closing stages of the piece. De Bodard clearly places great importance in her message and strikes a wonderful balance between the danger it represents and the ingenuity of humanity to find a way round it. If it had been too easy then the whole story would have fallen flat on a punctured concept but de Bodard gracefully sidesteps that issue and leaves us with a little hope for Agnes.

Nothing original then but ‘Immersion’ rises above the rest of the field with its exploration of humanity, how it can be consumed by technology but never for long. I like optimistic sci-fi like this.

‘Tough Times All Over’ – Joe Abercrombie

Another day, another short story having its moment here on the blog. Joe Abercrombie is an author that I really need to be reading more of (well, start/finish ‘The Heroes’ anyway) and ‘Tough Times All Over’ seemed like as a good a place as any to find my way back in. In case you’re wondering; this is another story taken from the ‘Rogues’ anthology, a book that is already proving to be a handy book to dip in and out of on the daily commute. Seriously, if I didn't already have a copy I would buy ‘Rogues’ when it is published but any way…

‘Tough Times All Over’ tells the tale of the courier Carcolf and the somewhat circuitous route that one of her packages takes through the city of Sipani. I got into this story right away as, unlike GRRM’s contribution (reviewed further down the page), Abercrombie stuffs ‘Tough Times All Over’ chock full of rogues; you literally cannot read a single paragraph without tripping over a rogue up to something nefarious. It was because of this approach that I became well and truly absorbed in a tale full of thievery, daring escapades, well known characters making a return and at least one character that I would really love to see appear again. ‘Tough Times All Over’ is a glorious romp (with loads of surprises and twists, the story ends just before the flow of these becomes overly repetitious) and Abercrombie adds a human touch to the proceedings which means that the tale isn’t just a Technicolor piece of fluff. Rogues are roguish but there is always a very good reason, whether it’s because they’re in debt up to their eyeballs or they just like the thrill of being the best. A little bit of motive can go a long way and here it certainly does a fine job of fleshing characters and providing a hard edge to a fun tale.

On a day when London commuters are going through hell again (thanks for nothing RMT and TFL…) a story like ‘Tough Times All Over’ is a bit of a godsend. Thanks for that Mr Abercrombie!

‘The Shapechanger’ – Robert Holdstock

I’m trying to ‘de-clutter’ my bookshelves at the moment. Don’t get me wrong; there is absolutely nothing wrong with bookshelves jammed full of books waiting to be discovered but my shelves feel a little bit daunting at the moment and I’m not down with that. I want my shelves to be welcoming places, with the promise of a good read to be had, and that’s not the case – hence the de-clutter. This means another trip to the micro-library up the road, tonight, but a happier consequence (in the meantime) is that I’ve started to find books that I had totally forgotten about; books like ‘The Bone Forest’, a collection of short stories by Robert Holdstock. By the way, isn't that a lovely cover? Grafton Books really used to put the effort in as far as that went, shame there isn't more like it these days...

I’d found this book in Plymouth a few years ago, just  after I’d read ‘Mythago Wood’ and was on a mission to read more of Holdstock’s stuff. As is the way with my reading intentions, this morning was the first time I’d actually opened the book… Better late than never and all that :o) I'll be revisiting this book every now and then; for today I thought I'd kick things off with 'The Shapechanger'...

On the surface, ‘The Shapechanger’ is about a case of demonic possession in 8^th century England, one that has transformed an entire village and trapped the sons of the village chief. The Wolfhead (some kind of Druid I’m thinking, maybe a little bit more as he claims to have been around for a few centuries) and his apprentice must do what they can to free the trapped men. As you read on though, ‘The Shapechanger’ becomes a whole lot more as it ties in to Holdstock’s wider ‘Mythago Wood’ cycle in a very interesting way. Without giving too much away, the whole concept behind ‘Mythago Wood’ is given a twist and we see how it might work in a different time entirely. I’d say it’s very well handled here; it’s not given away all at once (little clues are dropped here and there for the reader to reach their own conclusion) and it leaves you not only with a fresh look at the world of ‘Mythago Wood’ but you can’t help but wonder if the setting here was real at all. It’s thought provoking stuff in that respect. I couldn’t help but wish though that I’d re-read ‘Mythago World’ a little more recently as revisiting it would have helped me understand why certain characters were able to do what they did. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to have a re-read (maybe in time for when the new Fantasy Masterworks edition is published?), that’s not exactly a huge chore is it?

The other thing I liked was how much of a sense of history (going back into pre-history I think) Holdstock has managed to cram into just under thirty pages, mostly through the Wolfhead and his recounting of events that he has lived through. It really fleshes out the world and gives the reader a sense of having chanced upon something much bigger than a short story.

‘The Shapechanger’ has a sense of depth then that drew me in almost effortlessly. Not only that though, it has left me really thinking about what happened and what it might all mean. I wish more short stories could be like that. 

‘The King’, in: Yellow’ Brian Keene

A short story today as I find myself in the middle of a couple of books (both good, I really should have picked up ‘Heroes Die’ years ago…) and I also realised that I haven’t been paying much attention the books on my Kindle App just recently. I think there’s part of me that will never see books as being anywhere other than bookshelves; even my Dad is more technologically with it than I am and that’s kind of sad…

Anyway, I first read ‘The King’, in: Yellow’ way back in July 2012 but figured it was due a revisit as the vague memory of the read prompted me to finally pick up a copy of the original ‘The King in Yellow’ (Robert W. Chambers) this morning. It’s a nice slim commuter read so you can expect to see a review sooner than later I reckon.
I’ve a limited knowledge of the original work but I have enough (thanks for that Wikipedia) to know that Keene takes the ‘King in Yellow’ play out of the background of the original (where you never actually see it performed) and gives it centre stage in a story where a couple’s plan for a night out take a terrifying turn at the Chambers Theatre (see what Keene did there?)
Last time I read ‘The King’, in: Yellow’ I said,

Keene really taps into the effect this play will have on you (you can feel the fear and Keene pulls the curtain right back on the insanity that follows) but there was nothing to the play itself that would suggest such a reaction. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not but it felt like the two elements of the plot just weren't gelling for me.

Having re-read ‘The King’, in: Yellow’, having also read a little more weird horror since then, the play has more of an affect this time round. It’s not just random names being spouted, you come away with a real idea of the mythos behind it so maybe this is one to read once you have a little more horror under your belt. The other thing I noted this time round was Keene’s ability to switch almost seamlessly from ‘body horror’ to good old fashioned tension (reminiscent of Lovecraft in taking Fin and Kathryn into unknown dark parts of the city), both of which he does very well. It’s very bloody when it needs to be but also has a nasty habit of making the hairs on your arm stand up at the same time. I still don’t get all the dead rock stars being included (I suspect they had to be there so Keene could word play on the title) but ‘The King’, in: Yellow’ works a lot better on a second read, no doubt about it. If you want to read it yourself, you can find ‘The King’, in: Yellow’ in ‘Jack’s Magic Beans’ (Deadite Press).

‘Home’ – Poul Anderson

Is home where the hearth is or where government spending allocates it?

Yep, it’s time for another short story from Poul Anderson’s ‘The Queen of Air and Darkness’ collection. I’m not one for ‘full on’ reading resolutions this year but I do want to read older fiction as well as stuff that I wouldn’t normally pick up. ‘Home’ fulfils both of these criteria being a science fiction tale first published in 1966 (‘Orbit’ magazine, originally called ‘The Disinherited’) so here we go…

What happens when it becomes economically unfeasible to explore and colonise space? When there’s no money left, you really need to focus on what you have and make that work instead; that’s the concept underpinning ‘Home’ where Earth authorities have decided that the age of exploration is done (there’s nothing much out there anyway) and it’s time to bring everyone home. And that was the first thing that got me about this story; if resources are that stretched then why bring people home at all? More mouths to feed and all that, why not leave them out there? Especially if they’re actually happy where they are in the first place.

And that’s the real focus of this tale, what does ‘home’ mean when you’re making it on another planet entirely? Does anyone have that right? Obvious parallels are drawn with what happened to the American Indians; a little too obvious for me and a line that detracted from further exploration into the character of Yazkov Khan, the man sent to bring the scientific expedition (more like colonists now) home. Here’s a man whose job has essentially made him homeless and obeys the orders of the Earth Directorate even though he violently disagrees with their new mandate. There’s real conflict here but it’s only really hinted at in the final paragraph and that’s a bit of a shame. Khan is a really interesting character and deeper exploration of this could have lent ‘Home’ a lot more impact than it had (although, in fairness, I wasn’t expecting ‘Home’ to end the way it did, not at all).

What Anderson does do well is paint a picture of an idyllic existence that no-one would want to leave; a planet where the natives only real aspiration is to enjoy life, an aspiration that the human colonists are only just starting to understand and aspire to themselves. In that context then, the reader has to wonder whether the colonists are being brought home because of financial constraints or so that this Directorate doesn’t have to stretch quite so far in order to consolidate its power… Sinister undertones to a downbeat ending then.
‘Home’ gives its readers much to consider then and I certainly don’t regret the time spent reading it. I just couldn’t help but wonder if a little extra time spent fleshing out Khan, as a character, would have made this story even more thought provoking than it already is. Writing for magazines inevitably means word count but still, just a thought…

‘The Nights of Dreadful Silence’ – Glen Cook

I think I have all the Nightshade Books ‘Dread Empire’ series now (although I’ve been thinking that for a while now and new ones keep popping up…); I just need to work out the order that they go in. I’ll get back to you on that one…
While I steel myself for what looks like an absolutely massive series (seriously, have a look at these books on the shelf) I like to dip in and out of ‘An Empire Unacquainted With Defeat’; a collection of ‘Dread Empire’ tales that give you a pretty good idea of what the setting is all about. I’m growing to love short stories more and more by the way; a great way to get my reading ‘fix’ when my head isn’t up to something longer.

‘Nights of Dreadful Silence’ was the first ‘Dread Empire’ story published (way back in 1973, in the September issue of ‘Fantastic Science Fiction & Fantasy Stories’; you can read it Here if you like) and naturally seemed like the best place to start reading in this setting. The fact that it’s only eight pages long was also appealing. Like I said, my head isn’t quite up to longer books.

When Glen Cook writes fantasy he doesn’t mess around, preferring to just tell it how it is, and that’s ‘Nights of Dreadful Silence’ in a nutshell. A wizard is cheated out of his dues and enlists the help of an adventurer to get what is owed. That’s it and Cook clearly sees no need to embroider his tale at all, hence the brevity. It ends pretty much the way you would expect as well although there are hints that Bragi and Arisitithorn are not done yet. I’ll have to read more to find out as they bounced off each pretty well and I reckon they could easily do the same again.

What I found though is that this straightforward approach brings out a lot of humour that I don’t think you would notice otherwise. It’s not like Cook is cracking jokes either; it’s more the offhand remarks that a man on the battlefield might make to someone else. There is more than one kind of battlefield and Cook uses this to good effect with laconic observations that both Bragi and Arisitithorn come out with.
Not only that though, Cook’s observations of how people deal with the silence, cast on the city, are cause for a few wry chuckles at the very least.

‘From there, he watched amazedly as refugees dismally came out Itaskia’s gates and marched toward the boundaries of silence. He saw many a stout wife dragging her man toward where she could catch up on her backlog of nagging. Compulsive talkers shouted with glee when they were free of the curse and could once more bore their neighbors with tales of themselves.’

‘The Nights of Dreadful Silence’ is a little too short, and to the point, to be really engrossing but those little chuckles you find yourself having while reading make up for that to an extent. I for one wouldn’t mind more of that in Cook’s longer work…

‘The Frost Giant’s Daughter’ – Robert E. Howard

Every so often, nothing else will do apart from a Conan story. After a morning spent juggling two small children (not literally, although that would have been easier in some respects…) and my usual fight with the morning commute (I lost, again…) the need to sit down and watch the iconic barbarian hit some stuff with his sword was stronger than ever. It’s not just the swordplay though is it? Howard is a master of fight scenes but his tales also prove, time and again, that he was a man who just instinctively grasped the art of storytelling; both in terms of the worlds that he created and the plots he set loose in them. I haven’t come across a story of Howards yet that I haven’t wanted to pursue to its conclusion and, even though I’ve read it before, this was definitely the case with ‘The Frost Giant’s Daughter’.

Conan is the last man standing in a fight between rival Vanir and Aesir warbands but is not without injury and his immediate future, amidst the icy peaks of the battlefield, is uncertain. A strange lady appears on the battlefield and Conan’s thoughts turn, somewhat predictably, to more carnal ends but is this mysterious lady running away from Conan… or towards something else entirely? Whatever Conan discovers, will he be in any shape to deal with it?

So, this is the story where Conan basically spends a lot of the pages chasing a woman, Atali, because he wants to have sex with her. Atali’s running is drawing Conan into a trap but it’s clear that sex isn’t on her agenda anyway. It is for Conan though and that makes for some uncomfortable reading; if he catches Atali then he will be raping her, there’s no two ways about it (and Howard makes it clear that, even in his weakened state, Conan could still do exactly that).

As you keep reading though, it becomes clear that Howard has no intention of Conan doing anything like that to Atali; there are more important things to be done here than satiating barbarian urges and Conan’s base desires swiftly become redundant in the face of what is to come. We still have to deal with the thought of Conan being like that but then a whole load of other stuff comes along and, all of a sudden, we’re not talking about dark deeds on a battlefield any longer… All of sudden, Howard widens the focus of the tale and Conan is forced to confront a whole new world beyond the one he is comfortable with. It’s all done very subtly, we know it’s coming but Conan has got his mind on other things and misses it entirely…

And then, BANG! Conan gets a rude awakening and is forced to fight for his life against two frost giants. It kind of serves him right (and hopefully serves as a lesson that he can’t have every girl he sets his eyes on… oh hang on, it’s Conan we’re talking about here) but the reader has to admire the way Conan just throws himself into battle against two giants twice the size of him (even if we know how it will turn out).

There are some forces though that even Conan can’t stop and one of those is the intervention of an angry God. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson that he can’t have every girl he sets his eye on… (Hang on, I’ve said this already haven’t I…) This is the moment where Howard brings two worlds clashing together and I loved the way it then segues into Conan regaining consciousness and doubting whether any of it had even happened. The best time then for Howard to pull out a killer final couple of sentences and make everything crystal clear after all that messing with our expectations. There is a lot going on in ‘The Frost Giant’s Daughter’ then. Not only are two worlds built and displayed for the readers pleasure but we get to see Conan make sense of them in the only way that he can, with the point of his sword and an eye for the ladies. It might get him in a lot more trouble than he would want but it all made for just the right kind of diversion that I needed on the trip in this morning.