David A. Riley's Blog, page 23

Romero's Children reprinted in the latest issue of Phantasmagoria

 

My science fiction zombie tale Romero's Children has been reprinted in the latest issue of Phantasmagoria magazine.

Book review: Leviathan Wakes: Book 1 of The Expanse

LEVIATHAN WAKES: BOOK 1 OF THE EXPANSE

James S. A. Corey

One of the best science fiction series ever shown on TV, The Expanse is based on a sequence of eight novels by James S. A. Corey, pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the first of which is Leviathan Wakes.

Having enjoyed watching The Expanse, I was curious how closely it followed the books. So far as Leviathan Wakes is concerned I am not disappointed. Covering the events portrayed in the first series of The Expanse, anyone who has watched it will be familiar with the main characters and events. For me, though, the most interesting aspect was how the book helped to fill in all those extra details about the characters and their lives which it was impossible to portray on TV without slowing it down. And also, of course, and perhaps even more importantly, the additional insights into the social, economic and political situations that human civilisation has to grapple with after it has expanded into the rest of the Solar System, with the successful colonisation of Mars and human habitations strung across the Asteroid Belt and on many of the moons of the outer planets.

It is a complex and frighteningly fragile civilisation. And, for all the technological advances humanity has made during its colonisation of the Solar System, it takes little to steer it towards a self-destructive war between the various factions: Earth, Mars and the Belt all have reasons to distrust each other, especially those millions who live in the Belt and have grown to resent what they perceive as exploitation by those who they disparagingly call the Inners (those who live on the inner planets of the Solar System, i.e.  Earth and Mars).

Throw into this already volatile mix an alien “protomolecule” with the terrifying ability to take over and alter biological tissue into something either hideously monstrous or, maybe even more terrifying still, into the next, almost godlike state which an alien civilisation many millions of lightyears from Earth achieved umpteen years ago. It was this unknown race that sent the protomolecule on a collision course with Earth with the intention of altering life there into something similar to their own, only for it to be accidentally drawn aside by the gravitational pull of Saturn onto one of its moons, where it has only recently been discovered. This is the catalyst that brings about death, destruction, deceit and war to the Solar System. James Holden and his small crew aboard the Rocinante and alcoholic Belter cop Detective Miller find themselves embroiled in a tug of war over the fate of wayward heiress Julie Mao, who is the key to the protomolecule and what it can do.

Leviathan Wakes is a fast-moving novel and every bit as good as the television series, and I am glad I decided to read it, even though the storyline was familiar to me. The added details and depth of character it provides to the leading protagonists was well worth it, not to mention an added clarity about the issues dominating life in this distant future, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series soon. As well, of course, of future series of The Expanse.

Leviathan Wakes is available as a paperback and ebook (Kindle).

Reviewed by David A. Riley

Review: The Last Closet: The Dark Side of Avalon by Moira Greyland

THE LAST CLOSET: THE DARK SIDE OF AVALON by Moira Greyland

Castalia House 2018, 528 pages

I am sure everyone who is into fantasy and science fiction will know the name of Marion Zimmer Bradley, winner of the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement and author of The Mists of Avalon and numerous Darkovernovels and stories, as well as editing the Swords and Sorceress anthologies. During her lifetime she was one of the biggest names in the genre, and even had a long-established magazine named after her: Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine.

Rumours of a darker aspect of the author’s life arose even during her lifetime, though, especially in regard to the activities of her second husband, world class coin expert Walter H. Breen who was banned from some science fiction conventions in the States from as early as the 1960s for his unwelcome interest in some of the young boys who attended them. He was first charged for these kind of offences in 1954, though back then he only received a probationary sentence. Later, his continual pursuance of vulnerable young boys who came within his sphere of influence resulted in his imprisonment.  

Not only was Moira Greyland’s father guilty of openly indulging in sexual activity with minors, so did her mother, who molested her from when she was three to twelve.

The narrative contains a fascinating if horrifying insight into the lives of people who saw themselves as living alternate lifestyle from the hippy heydays of the 1960s in west coast America, with drugs, alcohol and sexual “freedom”. Just as Charles Manson exposed one dark side of this, so the Bradley/Breen lesbian/homosexual household revealed another. And despite Bradley’s success as a best-selling fantasy writer, the children of that family were exposed to activities and people that left them broken. Herself a fervent feminist and lesbian, Marion Zimmer Bradley was openly disappointed that her daughter, Moira, did not follow suit. In the end Moira freed herself from the narrow vision of life which her “free-thinking” parents tried to imprison her in and carved a life and career of her own as a harpist, actor and writer. As much as The Last Closet is an expose of the warped worldview of her parents, this is the saga of a girl who managed to keep her mind intact and broke free from the indoctrination her parents tried to impose on her. It’s the story of how Moira Greyland managed to survive her warped upbringing and rise above it.

“In my family the slightest dissent amounted to complete, unequivocal betrayal.”

The true horror of her family was the freedom of expression and tolerance for beliefs which her mother and father demanded for themselves was denied, derided and suppressed for anyone holding views contrary to theirs. In the end, the long-lasting damage her father’s activities were having on the young boys he seduced was too much for Moira Greyland and it was she who finally went to the police, and by doing so saved others from him in the future.

The final two hundred pages of this 528-page book are appendixes of court transcripts that substantiate the accusations against Moira Greyland’s parents and the complicity of Marion Zimmer Bradley in ignoring and, indeed, in condoning her husband’s paedophiliac activities.

Most biographies of writers tend not to be particularly fascinating but the revelations in this book are quite the opposite and well worth reading, if at the same time it’s disappointing to find that one of the “greats” of fantasy and science fiction could at the same time be such a horrific mother.

Reviewed by David A. Riley

 

Casting the Runes: The Letters of M. R. James

CASTING THE RUNES: The Letters of M. R. James

Edited by Jane Mainley-Piddock

Foreword by Mark Gatiss

Unbound, 2023; Hardcover £25; kindle £15.99

Anyone expecting these letters to be in any way similar to those of H. P. Lovecraft or the recent Hippocampus collection of Clark Ashton Smith’s correspondence with August Derleth, in which, besides discussing subjects of particular interest to the writers, they write about their stories, may be disappointed that there is no mention within any of James’s letters about his ghost stories.

But, I hasten to add, don’t let this put you off, as they are an illuminating glimpse into the everyday life of the author, particularly helped by the notes added after every letter by Jane Mainley-Piddock, which, if anything, are even more interesting than the letters themselves, adding many much-needed background details and facts.

The letters are an easy read, usually written in a chatty, laid-back style. They start with his earliest letters in 1873 and go on to 1927, when he is Provost of Eton.

One of the longest notes goes on to discuss James’s fascination with Charles Dickens’s final, uncompleted novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood and his attempts to find a solution to it, as well as his fondness for detective stories, in particular Conan Doyle’s, which had an influence on the structure of his own ghost stories. Jane Mainley-Piddock’s notes, in fact, are worth the price of the book in themselves, with great insights into James and his stories.

Contrary to what I expected I read the entire volume of over 200 pages within just a few days and was never bored. Definitely something for anyone who loves the ghost stories of M. R. James and would like to read more by and about him.

It comes with a Foreword by James enthusiast Mark Gatis, and an Introduction by the editor.

Reviewed by David A. Riley

This review was read out by Trevor Kennedy on his weekly broadcast on Big Hits Radio UK on Sunday the 26th February 2023, and is also included in Phantasmagoria magazine, Spring 2023.

My review of Casting the Runes: The Letters of M. R. James to be read on Trevor Kennedy's Broadcast this Sunday

My review of Casting the Runes: The Letters of M. R. James, edited by Jane Mainley-Piddock will be broadcast on Trevor Kennedy's radio show this Sunday on Big Hits Radio UK between 12 noon and 2 p.m. 

It will also be included in the next issue of Phantasmagoria, which will be available towards the end of next week.

Latest issue of Phantasmagoria magazine includes a Tribute to the late Charles Black

I am pleased to announce that the latest issue of Phantasmagoria magazine, due at the end of February, includes a tribute to Charles Black close to the 4th anniversary of his death, with contributions collected by me from Stephen Bacon, Mike Chinn, Kevin Demant, Kate Farrell, Paul Finch, Craig Herbertson, Paul Mudie, Thana Niveau, Reggie Oliver, Marion Pitman, John Probert, David A. Sutton, Anna Taborska and David Williamson. 

It was while I was at Charles's funeral I was told by Kevin Demant that Charles had told him he had intended to start a regular anthology of swords and sorcery stories like the Black Books of Horror. Unfortunately ill health and his death prevented him from ever doing this - which is why I created Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy and why each volume is dedicated to him.

New story finished: Ossani's Slaves

After having just had two stories accepted for publication, last night I finished another: Ossani's Slaves, which is yet another involving my secretive sorcerer, Ossani the Healer, who first appeared at the end of The Storyteller of Koss, before going on to become one of the two main characters in Ossani the Healer and the Beautiful Homunculus, alongside Welgar the Northerner. 

Two more stories accepted for publication in 2023

Yesterday I found out two of my stories will see print later this year, one a reprint and the other new.    The reprint is a story called Swan Song, which originally appeared in The Ninth Black Book of Horror. This will be reprinted in August in Schlock Webzine.     The new story is a sword and sorcery tale called The Dark Priestdom, which will appear in the next issue of Savage Realms Monthly. This will mark my second story in that great magazine. It's also a prequel to Welgar the Cursed, which will be in Lyndon Perry's Swords & Heroes anthology in May.

 

New Monochrome Ad for Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy

A new monochrome ad for the Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy anthology series has been produced and will appear for the first time in the next issue of Phantasmagoria magazine, due soon. 

 

Free E-Book Promotion 1st - 5th February 2023: A Handful of Zombies: Tales of the Restless Dead

From the 1st till the 5th February the kindle version of A Handful of Zombies: Tales of the Restless Dead will be free to download. The paperback will remain available for £5.00.

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

All four stories in this collection cover a wide range of tropes within the zombie genre. 

Dead Ronnie and I is a tale of high adventure by plane and sea, with an abortive escape by our protagonist to the as yet untainted Isles of Scotland. This was originally published in Sanitarium Magazine No 44 in 2016.

His Pale Blue Eyes is probably the most traditional take of zombie stories today, featuring a young girl’s determined search for her parents during a zombie apocalypse. It’s a story, though, about conditioning and how what someone is taught can radically affect their behaviour. Is the horror in this the shambling undead or the girl herself? See what you think. This first appeared in Bite-Sized Horror edited by Johnny Mains for Obverse Books in 2011.

By contrast Right For You Now, originally published in Weirdbook Zombie Annual No 3 in 2021, harks back to the original concept of the zombie in Voodoo-haunted Haiti, though this tale is set in present-day Britain. It’s a combination of a crime story, revenge, and a man’s obsessive fascination with age-old practices.

Our final tale, Romero’s Children, is more in the way of a science fiction story. The zombies here are certainly the most different. For a start off they are not dead but have been granted near immortality by a drug that swept the world with its promise to stop aging. Alas for those caught up in the frenzied demand to use it, though, its side effects were such that they would have been better off dead. This story appeared in 2010 in The Seventh Black Book of Horror edited by the late Charles Black and was subsequently picked up by American editor Paula Guran for her 2012 anthology Extreme Zombies.