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Book Reviews

Book Review: No Doors, No Windows by Harlan Ellison

There are quite a few excellent entries in this collection of what Harlan considers his suspense and mystery tales. I would argue that some of these are crime dramas with a twist. One entertaining story in particular, Eddie, You’re My Friend, seems to be the odd one out as it does not fit the theme of this anthology.

I found it hilarious—and typical of Harlan—that the introduction is 40 pages, about four times longer than the average story in the book!

My favorites include:

Status Quo at Troyden’s – When Mr. Huggerson’s monthly check from his son is $20 less than usual, he worries that he will not be able to afford rent and food. After working up the temerity to ask his landlord for a reduction in rent, Huggerson ends up in a position he never expected.

Nedra at f:5.6 – Veteran photographer Paul Shores has photographed countless women in his career. Nowadays, the most gorgeous models—nude or otherwise—no longer arouse him. Then along comes Nedra, and everything changes. She agrees to pose for him—and much more. Yet, there is something odd about her pictures…

Toe the Line – Professional car thief Eddie Cappen is finally getting out on parole and thanks to the warden’s favorite catchphrase, Eddie conjures a nearly foolproof method for jacking cars—until he makes a fatal mistake.

Pride in the Profession – Ever since he witnessed his first hanging at the tender age of eight, Matthew Carty became fascinated by the art and science of the gallows. Years later, Matthew builds a reputation as a master executioner—until his final job shows him that even the best make mistakes.

The Children’s Hour – With the Earth on the brink of destruction, the United Nations meet to discuss matters of peace. Somehow, a horde of children manages to enter the hall and disrupt the meeting with a simple warning: stop fighting or we’re leaving the planet.

Thicker Than Blood – After a poor business decision, Roger Singer finds himself $12,000 in debt. After his pleas for help are rejected by his wealthy in-laws, Roger hatches a dangerous scheme against them.

Ormond Always Pays His Bills – After his secretary learns of his corrupt business practices, corrupt construction company owner Hervey Ormond murders her and attempts to dispose of the body—using his company’s concrete. However, Ormond soon learns how much of an utter bitch karma can be.

Tired Old Man – While attending a party of has-been writers, successful author and screenwriter Billy Landress encounters veteran suspense writer Marki Strasser. After an intense and deeply personal conversation, Billy steps away to get a glass of water for Strasser, only to find him gone—or was he ever there to begin with?

No Doors, No Windows Cover Art by Barclay Shaw
No Doors, No Windows Cover Art by Barclay Shaw

 

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Book Review: Lester Del Rey’s NERVES

Old Doc Ferrell can’t even spend a day off with his wife and son. The National Atomics nuclear facility in Kimberly, Missouri is scheduled to undergo a government inspection and the plant manager, Allan Palmer, needs his chief physician present to handle the suits.

Worse, inspections make the men nervous and nervous men make mistakes.

There was already a bill under review in Congress to move the entire facility to a remote location, away from the dense civilian population that is currently enjoying the inexpensive power generated as a by-product of the plant’s operations. Palmer wants nothing more than to prove the safety of nuclear power. As such, he wants his best people present.

Giving up his day off, Ferrell enters the plant to find minor injuries already in progress, adroitly handled by the nursing staff. However, during the inspection, an accident occurs that leaves one man badly burned.

To make matters worse, a routine testing of one of the converter chambers by chief scientist Mal Jorgenson uncovers the presence of highly volatile and deadly “Isotope R”, otherwise known as Mahler’s Isotope. Jorgenson sounds the alarm, but not before becoming trapped inside the converter chamber, his armored Tomlin suit his only protection against the fatal radiation.

Palmer orders a rescue mission to retrieve Jorgenson, the only man in the plant who knows the best method to stop Mahler’s Isotope from destroying not only everything in a fifty-mile radius, but perhaps the entire eastern United States!

After a massive and dangerous effort by several of the plant’s crew (aka “atomjacks”), Jorgenson is pulled from the wreckage of the converter chamber and brought to the Infirmary where a heart massage is the only way to keep him from certain death, but when his heart fails to respond, Doc Ferrell and his team must turn to an unorthodox—and untested—solution.

Stories from the golden and transitional ages of speculative and science fiction have always been my absolute favorites. Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Ellison, Heinlein, Niven, the list goes on. Over the past two years or more, I’ve made a deliberate effort to expand my knowledge by including such writers as Philip José Farmer, Joe Haldeman, and Lester Del Rey, founder of Del Rey Publishing.

While I enjoyed The Best of Lester Del Rey anthology, I think it’s fair to say that NERVES is not one of his best works. Fortunately, it’s a short novel at only 153 pages. Sentence structure was occasionally awkward, character development non-existent, and I’m not entirely confident that Del Rey had a full grasp of the true nature of radiation exposure and its effects on the human body, although I will give him credit for an engaging description of the rescue and cleanup work after the accidents. I was a bit perplexed that there was only one expert on Mahler’s Isotope in the entire facility. I suppose having another would have invalidated the entire plot.

Overall, I’d recommend skipping this one, but I will absolutely read more from Lester Del Rey.

Lester Del Rey Nerves Book Cover

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Book Review: Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke

Secretary General Stormgren of the United Nations finds himself in a unique position as ambassador to the Overlords, a group of enigmatic–and seemingly omniscient–alien beings whose ships have hovered over Earth’s major cities since their sudden arrival five years before.

Stormgren is regularly flown to one of the vessels to meet with Karellan, the apparent leader of the Overlords. However, Karellan conducts each encounter from behind a one-way mirror and thwarts  Stormgren’s attempts to catch a glimpse of him.

It is not for another fifty years before Karellan reveals himself to the human race. During that time and shortly after, the Overlords bring peace and prosperity to the planet, ushering in a golden age for mankind, but also a stagnation in science, art, and general cultural development.

Over time, most of the Earth’s population becomes complacent and docile, as there is no longer a need to work for a living or struggle to make ends meet. However,  a small colony forms on a remote island called New Athens with the purpose of maintaining independence from the Overlords and continuing the pursuit of art and culture.

It is around this time when the children of man begin to manifest extraordinary and frightening mental abilities. What does this development mean for the future of Earth, if indeed there is one?

What is the ultimate objective of the Overlords and are they, in fact, serving an even more powerful master?

Childhood’s End has become one of my all-time favorite science fiction novels. One of the golden age masters, Clarke adroitly covers a century of humanity’s relationship with the Overlords without losing momentum.

As with most films that find their genesis in a novel, the contrast between Clarke’s vision and SyFy’s lackluster mini-series are evident.  SPOILER ALERT, but some examples include:

Stormgren (Mike Vogel) remains through far more of the series than he did the novel and dies of a slow, debilitating illness caused by his repeated flights from Earth’s surface to Karellan’s ship. This did not occur in the book.

The scientist character of Milo Rodricks (Osy Ikhile), who stows away aboard an Overlord ship to become the only human to see their world, was named Jan Rodricks in the novel and did not actually step foot on the Overlord’s home planet, but rather, one of their moons.

In the book, Jan had no girlfriend. Thus, the scene in the mini-series where the Overlords return Milo/Jan to Earth after his 80-year expedition and present him with the levitating, preserved corpse of his girlfriend was new for the film and utterly pointless to the story.

The ultra-religious character of Peretta (Yael Stone) did not exist in the novel, nor did anyone fire a gun at Karellan (brilliantly portrayed by Charles Dance). The fact that the SyFy film decided to focus rather heavily on the destruction of religion was a departure from Clarke’s novel, which devoted hardly a page to this.

The mini-series attempted to condense a century into six hours, all the while adding unnecessary characters and subplots and failing to clarify the main plot.  Still, kudos to the SyFy channel for attempting to return to its roots. Childhood’s End was a refreshing and intelligent change from such tripe as Sharknado, various reality shows, and WWE wrestling (which has been thankfully moved to USA).

Childhood's End Book Covers

 

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Book Review: Tales of the Crimson Keep by Crazy 8 Press

The Crimson Keep…an ensorcelled castle, ever-expanding and growing as a result of an ancient spell. Within its walls lives a sagacious and puissant old wizard known only as the Master who alone bestows his knowledge onto a gifted coterie of pupils.

In each story of this enchanting anthology, you can’t help but fall into step with these intrepid wizards-to-be as they attempt to steal forbidden spells, outwit bloodthirsty demons, suffer the consequences of cutting class, find dangers lurking in the eternally shifting halls of the Keep, and even travel through time!

Crazy 8 Press is comprised of an august body of veteran storytellers, including Russ Colchamiro, Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger, Glenn Hauman, Paul Kupperberg, and Aaron Rosenberg. Each  of them contributed a smart and delightful tale to this collection  introduced by SF writer, Kevin Dilmore.

Even the book itself boasts a fascinating genesis. It was at the 33rd annual Shore Leave science fiction convention in Maryland where–prompted by an opening line provided by Dilmore–Peter, Michael, Bob, Glenn, Aaron, and Howard Weinstein took turns writing a story all the while tucked in a small alcove in the lower hallway of the hotel. In full view of the public, these talented craftsmen created the engaging novella Demon Circle as a fundraiser for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. That story is also included in Tales of the Crimson Keep.

Crimson Keep

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Book Review: The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells

Finding himself nearly bankrupt after a failed business venture, Mr. Bedford retreats to a cottage in the English coastal town of Lympne. There, he intends to write a play that he hopes to sell and thus, restore his financial position.

However, Bedford’s writing sessions are frequently interrupted by a peculiar and apparently self-absorbed little man whose daily perambulations bring him past Bedford’s window. This would not be a problem except that he utters a loud and vexing buzzing sound as he passes.

After a few incidents of this, Bedford decides to confront the man, who introduces himself as a scientist named Cavor. He is surprised to hear that he actually makes this bizarre buzzing noise as he walks and apologizes to Bedford. During their conversation, Cavor reveals that he is working on an experiment to create a gravity-defying material.

A few days later, during one of Cavor’s daily excursions, his home laboratory explodes, nearly leveling his house and damaging neighboring properties. Yet, rather than lamenting it as a disaster, Cavor realizes that he has found accidental success in the creation of Cavorite.

The two men then construct a massive glass sphere lined with Cavorite—leaving several openings for windows—and decide to literally float from the Earth’s surface to the moon. An airtight manhole cover becomes their airlock. Maneuvering is handled by the use of blinds covering the windows. Once in space, opening the blinds over a window facing Earth or the moon causes the sphere to succumb to the gravitational pull of one or the other body.

Their journey to Earth’s satellite proceeds without incident and eventually, Cavor and Bedford venture out onto the moon’s surface to find that while thin, the air is breathable. They encounter snow and a stunning variety of flora, some of which is edible, but with amusing side effects. During the day, the sun’s heat is nearly unbearable; even worse is the night’s insufferable cold.

Eventually, the two men encounter enormous animals they decide to call mooncalves, which are tended to by herdsmen that resemble bipedal insects with massive craniums. Cavor and Bedford refer to them as Selenites. Eventually, the two men from Earth reveal themselves to the Selenites. As a result, they are introduced to a diverse society thriving beneath the moon’s surface…

…but will the first contact between humans and Selenites end in amity or utter disaster?

The First Men in the Moon (notice it’s “in” not “on” the moon) was published in 1901. By then, scientific knowledge about space and the moon was fairly advanced—the fact that space is a vacuum, the fact that the moon and the Earth are comprised of the same elements, and the fact that the moon’s gravity is a fraction of Earth’s—but obviously there were many unknowns.

Thus, if you can ignore the fact that two chaps are bounding across the lunar surface clad only in tweed jackets and golf knickers, then you’ll probably enjoy this preposterous but fantastic adventure by the legendary H.G. Wells.

The First Men on the Moon

 

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Book Review: Robert A. Heinlein’s Orphans of the Sky

Traveling aboard a generational ship and with no memory of Earth, the human race has devolved into a class system, pitting the privileged Crew against the abhorrent “Muties” who live on the upper decks where few crewmembers dare venture under fear of death. The Muties are cannibals, infamous for taking prisoners who are never heard from again.

As far as the crew is concerned, the Ship is the entire universe. There is nothing beyond. Their god is Jordan, creator of the Ship. The Regulations, written by Jordan, are law. Engineering manuals written by Jordan are considered sacred texts.

Enter young Hugh Hoyland, an imaginative and curious student of the sciences who occasionally joins his friends for escapades into Mutie country—until he, too, is taken prisoner. However, while in their company, Hugh learns the true purpose of the Ship and the destination of the human race. He is led to the Control Room on the highest deck and begins to learn the instruments for operating the vessel he comes to know as the Vanguard.

Returning to the lower decks, Hugh reveals what he’s learned to those he considers allies, only to be arrested for heresy. After a daring rescue by the Muties, Hugh forms a new strategy for convincing the Crew of the truth, but will his mission result in a bloody civil war?

At 128 pages, Orphans of the Sky is a fast and easy read that maintains a steady pace. Hoyland and his comrades are likable and the lead Mutie with whom they ally, the bicephalic Joe-Jim, displays a remarkable mélange of savagery, sympathy, and intellectualism.

My only complaint is the treatment of women as less than second-class citizens. The few that are mentioned are portrayed as mere burdens or distractions. This struck me as a lazy way of reminding the reader that “yes, we have women around here somewhere”, while making it clear that they contribute very little to this society.

orphans_of_the_sky