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Title: Carnivores of Light and Darkness Top
Author: Alan Dean Foster
Fantasy. Book reviewed is the Warner Books, Inc June 1998 hardcover edition. The first of the trilogy "Journeys of the Catechist".
First, I guess I need to tell you that ADF generally is right up there in the list of my favorite authors. The reason being the Flinx stories, With Friends Like These, and numerous other novels, short stories, "letters to the editor" [his first sale which was to Arkham House], and almost anything else he has written. This story is among those I'm glad I've read. Although I tend to like action stories in the first person, this is a little different. It has plenty of action, but sometimes changes from the first to the third person and back again. And not always the same first person. It is a little disconcerning to be "living the book" [which is sort of the way I read fiction] and all of a sudden run across: "This is a story that is told to every member of the colony on the day when they slough off the last vestiges of pupahood and graduate to the status of worker, attendant, or soldier." The story then continues with a description of the events involving Ehomba (our "hero"). Oh well - it was still a good book and I'll probably re-read the whole set again one day. And that makes it a good book, IMO.
For a little more detail about the book, we have Ehomba: "Being a herdsman, he is used to hardship. Being humble, he asks many questions. Being simple, he is not surprised to be answered by beasts, trees, or forces of nature." (from the inside DJ). We also find that his philosophy is "We are all fallen leaves drifting on the river of life, and we go where the current takes us." His morality is such that a task laid on him by the request of a dying man he has never seen before must be done if at all possible. He leaves his home to "save the Visioness ...". He is supplied for his journey with the usual provisions and the unusual items which he uses to advantage. He eventually picks up two traveling companions. First, Simma, who he rescues from Corruption and who becomes convinced that Ehomba seeks a great treasure and travels with him to share in it. And next, Ahlitah, who Ehomba rescues from a toranado who is chasing Ahlitah because he bragged he could run faster than the wind. Ahlitah, a cross between a lion and a cheeta, must now accompany the one who has saved his life. These rescues and other adventures are possible because Ejomba uses those unusal items to a great advantage, so great in fact that most people are convinced that he is much more than just a simple humble herdsman.
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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Title: Dilvish, The Damned Top
Author: Roger Zelazny
Date: June 3, 2005
The edition reviewed is the Del Rey paperback of Nov. 1982 which collectes all seven of the Dilvish short stories: Passage to Dilfar (c 1964), Thelinde's Song (c 1965), The Bells of Shoredan (c 1966), A Knight for Merytha (c 1967), The Places of Aache (c 1979), A City Divided, The White Beast (c 1979), Tower of Ice (c 1981), Devil and the Dancer, Garden of Blood (c 1979), and Dilvish, the Damned.
Dilvish is the last of his house which had been stricken from the peerage because of several generations of inter-marriage with Elf-kind. Bereft of his lands,he turns his hand to many occupations. At a time when he was soldiering and had just finished participating in a great battle, he comes across a situation he must must try to correct. Being of the High Blood, he is not killed when he breaks Jelerak's circle trying to rescue the girl being used in a sorcerous rite. But he is sufficiently weakened that Jelerak is able to turn his body is turned to stone and imprison his spirit in Hell for over two centuries.
The first story picks up Dilvish at his defeat at Portaroy where he had returned from Hell and also introduces us to his companion Black, a demonic metal horse. The last story ends with a young woman rushing from the woods, imploring Dilvish for help. Black is warning Dilvish "the woman will stab you in the back" and Dilvish is replying "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" as he goes to help her. In between, there is plenty of action as Dilvish leads an army in defense of the city of Difar, encounters Cal-den, his old tormenter in Hell, stays a while with a vampire, tries to win the game forced on him by two sorcerers, and other adventures on his quest for vengeance against Jelerak.
This is one of Zelazny's sword and sorcery series of stories. The remaining story in the series is a novel called The Changing Land. If you enjoy sword and sorcery, I think you will enjoy this book and The Changing Land. The style of writing reminds me more of the writing in EC Tubb's Dumerest or Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series or that of John Brunner in The Traveler in Black than it does of the tales of swashbuckling exploits of violent, amoral swordsmen like that of Robert E Howard, Lin Carter, et. al. As I've mentioned before, I re-read and this is one of the books I'll keep around to read again just because it is, IMO, one of the better examples of this style of writing.
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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Title: Diplomatic Immunity Top
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Date:June 16, 2005
The copy reviewed is the second printing (in the same month, year as the first printing) of May, 2002 by Simon & Schuster / A Baen Books Original. BTW: We may even have a copy for sale - but not mine.
This is another of Ms Bujolds "life and times of Miles Vorkosigan series". Miles and Ekaterin are just returning home from a belated honeymoon in time for the birth (via replicator) of their first two children, Aral Alexander and Helen Natalia when an Imperial courier catches up with their ship. The message from Emperor Gregor starts out "I'm sorry to interrupt you honeymoon, Miles" As one of Gregor's Imperial Auditors, Miles must get himself to Graf Station and sort out the situation "Without starting a war, if you please, or breaking my Imperial Budget". When Miles gets to Graf station, the Barrayaran propensity for reacting adversley to mutants has caused trouble between Barrayaran fleet personal and the Quaddies who run Graf Station ["one officer referred to them as horrible spider mutants ]. Because of this, the Komarran merchant fleet they were escorting has been impounded. Also, a mess of blood has been left on station docks which was identified as the blood of a security officer of the Barrayaran escort. Miles seems a little slow in getting started (he is a little distracted since Ekaterin has gone with him), but after he meets his old friend Bel things start picking up. Although Ekaterin is more interested in the station itself (from Ekaterin: "An Auditor's wife, however, is not an assistant Auditor."), she even gets involved by giving Miles some help with repeated conversations of pertinate matters. The romantical asides come a little more often in this book than they generally have in the past - after all Miles is still on his honeymoon even if it has been delayed a year - but it seems as natural as it has been in the past books for Admiral Naismith.
As usual, Ms Bujold developes her other characters so that one just naturally accepts them as real people in the story. She doesn't neglegt adding to the new Miles since his marriage. Not that he has changed all that much, but he does sometimes seem a little less intense and one isn't likely to say something like, as in an eariler story, "My God, you mean he's like this all the time". Instead you now sometimes find him looking at images in a vid plate of sperm wriggling in the grip of the medical micro-tractor and being interupped by his wife with a "Miles, are you looking at those baby pictures again ".
Of course, as in any good novel of this sort, the good guys win in the end but it is a lot of fun getting there.
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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Title: DISCARDED BOOKS the facelift for ex-library books Top
Author: j. godsey
Illustrator: j. godsey
Reviewed by: Joan White
If you love books, you collect books or sell books this is a very handy reference book. The simple, clearly explained ways to prolonging the life of a book is fascinating. Ms. Godsey makes it clear these repairs should not be attempted on rare or valuable books - but you can certainly use these handy tips on enhancing your own collection or books you are trying to sell. The tips are not just for ex-library books. It gives you several options for each repair job. So you can choose according to which solution you are comfortable with in accomplishing. I have used many of these helpful tricks with some of my books. They certainly take a ?Good? book to ?Very Good? or higher easily. The testimonies on her web-site show many others are also using these helpful solutions. Ms. Godsey has an fresh approach to writing. She is both easy to read and down to earth in her directions and instructions. From the ?Stuff You May Need? to the detailed, illustrated directions to repair shaken hinges, loose signatures, missing free endpapers, etc. The 28 page booklet is chocked full of good advise. Ms. Godsey is also the author of Sic, the Book Humor magazine. Full of literary humor and a favorite of many booksellers.
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Title: Enquiry Top
Author: Dick Francis
Date: April 26, 2005
Mystery. The review copy is the First Printing of the Jove paperback of July 2000 [It had been published previously by Ballantine].
What can you say about a Dick Francis except you will very likely enjoy reading it? Jockey Kelly Hughes and trainer Cranfield has been found guilty of throwing a race for money. As usual, the protagonist is one of those people who won't quit when they know they are right. When Cranfield falls apart and his daughter asks for Kelly's help, this crystallizes Kelly and he sets about proving to the world that he and Cranfield aren't guilty. As usual, the action follows swiftly with time out for some personal life and we get to know the characters fairly well. I found out again that I enjoyed meeting the characters, was sorry for their troubles, and applauding Kelly's actions as he continues his investigation. If you haven't read a Dick Francis book yet, you should and this one would be a good one to start with. If you have read any, you very likely know what I'm talking about and have already read the book.
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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Title: The Everlasting Exiles Top
Author: Wallace West
Date: February 10, 2006
The copy reviewed is the first US printing by Avalon Books, NY in 1967
(the book was published simultaneously in Canada).
After America and Russia land on the moon at about the same time, they take
their arguement before the World Court to settle who really has legal possesion
of the moon. In the meantime, William Hamilton Bentham III dozed at his favorite
window in the University Club and dreamed about a civilization long gone. But that
civilization had impressed humans before they disappeared and the results now could
be devastating for our world. One of the "awakened Fledges", Mura, was in the man left
behind on the moon. But Mura was insane and determined to drop a cobalt bomb
on Moscow under the mistaker idea that Earth was the Fledges ancient enemy.
Bentham, Glath (the awakened Fledge in Bentham), the thirteen year old slum girl, and
Tina (the awakened Fledge in her) must stop Mura before she starts what would be the
final war on Earth.
As with most of West's novels, this is an expansion of one of his earlier
stories published in the magazines (in this case the Jan, 1951 issue of Future).
The story does suffer slightly from the expansion. It has all the faults
and fun of the earlier "space operas" when it is best not to look too
closly at the possibility of the action but rather just suspend your
disbelief and enjoy a good read.
From
Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia:
Wallace West (1900-1980) was an American science fiction writer. He
began publishing in 1927 with the story "Loup-Garou" in Weird Tales.
The majority of West's work, which appeared prior to the 1960s, was
short fiction, although he occasionally did turn his hand to
writing novels. His novels, mostly published after World War II,
were mostly re-workings of his pre-war short fiction.
Other Novels by Wallace West:
-
Alice in Wonderland
(1934)
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Betty Boop in Snow-White
(1934)
-
The Bird of Time
(1959)
-
The Memory Bank
(1962)
-
River of Time
(1963)
-
The Time-Lockers
(1964)
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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Title: Papa, My Father (A Celebration of Dads) Top
Author: Leo Buscaglia
Date: October 18, 2005
Bibliography, Fathers and Sons. Review copy: SLACK Inc., Thorofare, NJ
Distributed to the trade by Morrow, c1989. 125 p., [1] leaf of plates : ill. ; 20 cm.
This is the first Buscaglia book I've read. The writing is a nice relaxing style, almost
like you're sitting around the fire place hearing the stories being told.
The book consists of 11 sections; an Introduction, and ten vignettes about his father
and his affect on the life of the writer. You can pick any one of the pieces and read it by
itself. I started in about the middle of the book, on Papa, the Oenophile. This starts
out "Like all Italians, Papa loved his wine, ...". It
continues with a story about the yearly wine making and then an experience Leo had in college
where what his Papa taught him about wines stood him in very good stead. But the "real story"
is the love that shows through and the demonstration of the statement of the first piece in the
book: "... When I wrote my first book Love, I dedicated it to my parents who, I wrote,
never taught me about love - they showed me.'" The rest of the book is like that too. Leo talks
about his father as Papa, the Husband; the Educator; the Philanthropist and seven other roles he
played in Leo's life.
When you finish a section you can put book down and go on about your business or, more likely,
first lean back and bask in the warm feeling you got from reading it. You'll enjoy each little story
individually and the book as a whole. The book ends "Thanks Papa, I'll always love you." It shows.
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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Title: A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions Top
Author: Compiled by Bill McBride
Books about Books. The sixth edition; McBride/Publisher.
The sixth edition lists over 3700 publishers from 1850 to the present and the methods that these past and present English language publishers use to identify first editions of their hardbound and paperbound books. Using statements from the publishers as the sole basis for the first edition identification, this sixth edition of the guide obtains information not only from those statements but also from examination of thousands of copies of known first editions and discovery of publishers for whom no statement of method exists or can be obtained, as they are no linger in business. The purpose here is to help the collector, dealer, librarian and auctioneer to determine if a specific book is most likely a first edition.
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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Title: Points of Issue Top
Author: Compiled by Bill McBride
Date: May 02, 2005
Books about Books. The review copy is the Third Edition, 5th Printing by McBride/Publisher.
Points of Issue (along with A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions) should be in the pocket of every book collector. This 93 page small book (it's only 3.5 by 6 inches) fits nicely in the pocket or purse when one is booking. It isn't easy to carry along all of the reference works you would like to carry when you are out and around. But this and the companion pocket guide provide a tremendous amount of information in just a small space.
What is a point of issue? In the simplest sense, it is something that futher identifies almost identical books. For example, there is a list of books by Tolkien in the edition of his Silmarillion. In the true first of the American edition, the title Farmer Giles of Ham is listed as Father Giles of Ham. This mistake is a point of issue.
Once you have "identified a first edition" with the use of the pocket guide, this book comes into play so that you can be sure it is a first edition. Not only does it have points of issue for very many 19th and 20th century authors, it also gives you a list of those Authors without points and some good information about book clubs. How many books are listed? Well certainly not every one, but it tries to cover all of the collectable authors/books. I estimate that there are somewhat over 1700 books listed in the 93 pages. You shouldn't leave home without one.
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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Title: Starburst Top
Author: Alfred Bester
Date: March 30, 2005
Science Fiction. The review copy is the Second Printing of the Signet D-2672 copy of about 1958 or so. The book contains Disappearing Act, Adam and No Eve, Star Light, Star Bright, The Roller Coaster, Oddy and Id ("The Devil's Invention"), The Starcomber ("5,271,009"), Travel Diary, Fondly Fahrenheit, Hobson's Choice, The Die-Hard, and Of Time and Third Avenue. Travel Diary and The Die-Hard appear to be new for the book. Adam and No Eve is from 1941 and the remaining stories come from the 1950 to 1954.
It was fun to read these again. I can't really remember when I first read the stories but I know I read some of them in the original magazine publication. For the most part they were as much fun this time as they were then. Take Disappearing Act for example - it takes place in an army ward during "the war for the American Dream". Patients in Ward T are disappearing and finding their own solution to the American Dream. I didn't remember the ending and it came as something between a surprise and a "oh yeah! What else could you expect". I did remember the endings of several of the other stories, but it was still fun to see Mr. Bester's choice of dialogue associated with the ideas in the stories. Each story is its own vignette of an idea. Some are interesting ideas - I particularly like Disappearing Act, Fondly Fahrenheit (who is really crazy, the android or the human who "owns him"), the simple little travelogue of Travel Diary, and the quid pro quo for giving up a 1990's Almanac in the year 1950 in Of Time and Third Avenue. And some are so-so - There were really none I disliked but Adam and No Eve (a last man on earth story) drug a little before reaching the conclusion and Oddy and ID (the super monster who doesn't know he is a monster) isn't really my kind of story. In general a pretty good collection of short stories but nothing really outstanding. If you like short stories and especially if you liked any of Bester's other work, these are all worth reading (some even several times).
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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Title: Sixty Years of Arkham House Top
Compiler: S.T. Joshi
Date: 1999
Fantasy, Publishing, Arkham House, Bibliography. The review copy is the First (and only, at this time,) Printing of the First Edition. It had been thirty years since August Derleth put out his Thirty Years of Arkham House which brought together a bibliography all of the publications of the Arkham House Publishers Houses [Arkham House, Stanton & Lee, and Mycroft & Moran]. Finally those of us who collect, sell, study, or just enjoy these books have the definative book which adds the second 30 years of Arkham House to the first 30 years. Mr. Joshi says "I have striven to make this volume much more of a reference work than a catalog ..." and I think he has succeeded admirably. Although August Derleth's introductory essay on the history of Arkham House remains, the bibliography material has been added to and is more like that of Sheldon Jaffrey's Arkham House Companion (1990) than the original Thirty Years. For example, Thirty Years typically only gave the basic bibliographic information (title, publisher, year, pagination, copies printed, contents and jacket artist) but Sixty Years adds notes on most of the books such as the one for Arkham's second book Someone In The Dark
Derleth's first collection of weird fiction, the stories having appeared chiefly in Weird Tales between 1932 and 1941. In the preface Derleth announces with excessive huumility: 'These sixteen stories are all, out of those two hundred and more I have written, which can possibly be read twice ...' An additional 300 copies were printed by Hunter Publishing Co.. (Winston-Salem, NC) in 1965.
Reprints: New York: Jove/HBJ, 1978.
This a welcome book for those of us who have an interest in Arkham House Publishers and I don't think any of us should be without one.
Sixty Years Of Arkham Houst - Contents
Preface
Arkham House: 1939 - 1969, by August Derleth
Arkham House: 1970 - 1999, by S. T. Joshi
Bibliography
Arkham House
Mycroft & Moran
Stanton & Lee
Appendix: The "Lost" Arkhams
Reference Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Titles
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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Title: The Man Top
Author: Irving Wallace
iction - Political
Date Reviewed: September 29, 1997
A thought provoking book, extremely well written.
So a book about the first black president. Well yes, but did you read Advice & Consent,
a book about "the confirmation of a presidental appointment". The Man is very well written and gives
us not only a story about the first black president, but an engaging look at what a "person on the outside"
is like - his hopes (he is proud to be "An American"), his fears (don't shut the door if you are alone with
a white woman), and how he copes (very well, but he doesn't know it). If you like "political stories",
"intrigue stories", "Oh God, are there really people like this stories", or almost any other kind of story,
READ IT. Of course I'm biased, I really liked it (the first six times I read it)! PS: The reason for the review
is I finally found another copy [I'd given away all I had], and I'm reading it for the seventh time.
The above review was written for Amazon back in 1997 well before we had the online book store.
It's gratifying that 10 out of 12 people found it of use. But I though I would add a few more words for those two
who didn't:
Publishers Comments
The time is 1964. The place is the Cabinet Room of the White House. An unexpected
accident and the law of succession have just made Douglass Dilman the first black
President of the United States.
This is the theme of what was surely one of the most provocative novels of
the 1960s. It takes the reader into the storm center of the presidency, where Dilman,
until now an almost unknown senator, must bear the weight of three burdens: his
office, his race, and his private life.
>> 'til next time - DW <<
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