Todd Klein's Blog, page 13

Rereading: DOMNEI by James Branch Cabell

Cover art by Brian Froud

I don’t have a hardcover of this book, so I reread the 1972 Ballantine paperback. (Also in this book is the shorter work “The Music From Behind the Moon” which I will read and review separately.)

Domnei is a word I was not familiar with, but Wikipedia helped. It’s part of the code of medieval chivalry, the relationship between a knight and his lady, generally a non-physical bond of devotion between them. Another way of putting it would be lady worship. The ideas of chivalry developed in medieval France, and Cabell’s book takes place there in his mythical province of Poictesme. In the story, the knight (more of an outlaw really) is Perion of the forest, who wins the love of Melicent, daughter of Manuel, the source and beginning of his “Biography of Manuel,” and Domnei is considered the fourth book of that series.

Perion and Melicent meet at the court of her brother Emmerick, current ruler of Poictesme, where Perion has been taken in under a false name to heal from an illness. Despite that, Perion is struck by Melicent’s beauty, which is renowned, and the two become devoted to each other almost despite themselves. Melicent helps Perion escape from France, and he goes into battle against the Saracen king Demetrios, but is captured and made a slave. When Melicent learns of this, she takes some valuable jewels and travels in secret to the court of Demetrios to bargain for Perion’s freedom. Demetrios is equally struck by her beauty and bravery, and agrees to release Perion, but does not want the jewels. He wants Melicent herself as a wife, to add to his harem. She agrees.

The rest of the book details the trials of Melicent in the court of Demetrios, who she does not like, and the adventures of Perion as he repeatedly tries to defeat Demetrios in battle to free his lady. It’s a struggle with many twists and turns that goes on for years. Demetrios makes a third to this triangle, he’s a brave warrior himself, and he admires the bond between Perion and Melicent, even while he hates the fact that he can never have what they share.

The story is well told and the characters and plot are interesting. There’s less of the humor and modern outlook of some of Cabell’s later work, it was originally published in 1913, but this is a revised version. It almost has the feel of a true medieval tale, a good one. Recommended.

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Incoming: PUNK ROCK JESUS New Printing

Images © Sean Murphy

A new edition of this trade paperback reprinting the 2012 six-issue mini-series by Sean Murphy has arrived. The back cover states there are ten new story pages. I lettered the book, and was not asked to do any new lettering, and looking through I think the new pages are all silent except for sound effects. I thought the story and art were great, and I enjoyed working on it. Retail price is $19.99, release date is April 1, 2025. If interested, check with your comics retailer or Amazon.

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Rereading: THE HOUSE THAT GREW by L. M. Boston

This 1969 picture book for young readers must be Boston’s shortest book at 28 pages, half of them full page woodcut illustrations by Caroline Hemming, but as usual her creative skill and magical imagination makes it seem longer. Twin sisters, young Mickey and Mouse (those names are the one misstep in the book I think) find a tiny house growing in a pasture near their home. It appears to be coming from the ground like a mushroom, but it’s shaped like a human house with doors, windows, a roof and chimney. A ladybug seems to be living in it. Each day, when the girls return to the house, it’s larger, making room for ever larger inhabitants: first a honeybee, then a lizard, then two puppies, and so on. Eventually it’s large enough to hold people, and discovered by the head of the local planning board. What will happen to the magical house then?

Recommended.

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My Music: CIVILIZED SOLUTION

Todd Klein, January 1976

After Franceen and I split, though I was working hard at two jobs, my peace of mind gradually returned, and I began enjoying life more again. One thing I did was spend time working on art for comics and science fiction/fantasy fanzines, and I was able to get published in quite a few. Another fun activity was helping a friend buy and sell comics in his used book store just a few blocks from my apartment. I spent a lot of time there. I think this song, written Feb 9, 1976 and probably recorded around 1978, reflects my rising spirits as well as adding one final comment on my legal situation. Civilized Solution.

Civilized Solution is © Todd Klein, all rights reserved.

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Rereading: THE LAST UNICORN by Peter S. Beagle

Cover art by Gervasio Gallardo

This is the edition that I read first, after buying it in 1969. What I actually read recently was the reprint below:

Illustration by Darrell K. Sweet

A 1978 hardcover reprinting two Beagle novels and two short stories. I already reread and reviewed the other novel, A Fine And Private Place. I will cover the two short stories at the end of this review.

“The Last Unicorn,” first published in hardcover in 1968, and then in the above Ballantine paperback edition in 1969, is Beagle’s best-known work, and it essentially made his career as a writer possible. You can read more about that career HERE.

It’s been more than 50 years since I read “The Last Unicorn,” and I only remembered the broadest outline, if that. The unicorn lives in a wood, as it has for countless years, watching over the plants and animals also there, and one day hears two hunters talking about unicorns, and how they have all vanished from the world. The unicorn thinks about this, and eventually decides to go on a quest for her people.

On the way she is captured by a woman running a sideshow of mythical creatures, including some fakes disguised by her spells, and a real harpy. There she also meets Schmendrick, a would-be magician who can barely succeed at the kind of stage tricks that will fool patrons of the show. But Schmendrick wants to aid the unicorn, and helps engineer her escape, joining her quest. Later they are also joined by a female outlaw, Molly, and eventually they come to the castle of King Haggard, and his mighty magical beast, The Red Bull, who has somehow removed all the other unicorns from the world. Schmendrick, in an occasional gift of real magic, turns the unicorn to a young woman they name Lady Amalthea, in order to protect her from the Red Bull. They take up residence in Haggard’s castle, where his son, Prince Lír, falls in love with Lady Amalthea. The rest of the story explores these characters and the mystery of the missing unicorns. Beagle’s writing is emotional, charming, funny, heartfelt, magical, and sad by turns, a wonderful display of his talent.

Of the two short stories, both are well written. “Lila the Werewolf” takes place in lower Manhattan in the 1960s, as a young man finds out the girl he’s dating has a dangerous secret. Dangerous to both of them. “Come, Lady Death” is set in Old England, where an elderly and very rich woman, tired of the lavish parties she’s known for, decides to invite an unusual guest to her next one, Death herself.

These novels and stories are highly recommended.

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Rereading: THE LOST PRINCESS OF OZ by L. Frank Baum

Cover and illustrations by John R. Neill

The eleventh Oz book by Baum begins with the disappearance of Ozma, ruler of Oz. It’s soon found that all the magical devices in the kingdom, including the Magic Picture, the Wizard’s tools, and those of Glinda, as well as her Magic Book have also disappeared. Someone has stolen the magic of Oz, leaving no options for the inhabitants and friends of Ozma to go out in search of the culprit. Dorothy and the Wizard lead the main group, heading east, while others search in other directions.

Meanwhile, in the remote mountain kingdom of the Yips, Cayke the Cookie Cook and her friend the Frogman are also setting out to search for Cayke’s stolen magical baking pan, and they meet and are joined by two magical stuffed bears. These parties come together and join forces against Ugu the Shoemaker, who they learn has stolen their magic and the ruler of Oz, but without much magic themselves, how can they defeat him?

A fun reread, and I liked the idea of evening the stakes by taking away the most powerful magic of Oz from its usual heroes. Recommended.

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Rereading: THE HOUSE ON THE MOOR by M. E. Atkinson

Cover and illustrations by Charlotte Hough

The twelfth book in Atkinson’s Lockett family adventures gets back to the core group of the three Lockett children: Oliver, Jane, and Bill, and their artistic and somewhat hands-off Aunt Lavinia, with good results. An old house in Dartmoor has come to the Lockett family through the death of an elderly relative, and the Lockett parents have decided to live there for six months while Mr. Lockett is on leave from his post in India. The parents don’t come into this book, as the children and their aunt drive to the house first to set things up and get ready for the longer stay.

On the way, adventure and trouble strikes before they even get there. The moor is wrapped in thick mist, and when they’re nearly at the house, the aunt’s car has a blowout. They manage to change the tire, and then a stranger appears who offers to help turn the car around and get it out of the ditch. He does that, and then drives off, stealing the car! Soon, other help arrives from a passing motorist, and they learn the first stranger was probably an escaped prisoner at large from a nearby prison.

When they get to their house, things continue to be strange. The housekeeper has gone away to help an ailing sister. A neighbor comes in to help out, but acts nervous about things like some locked doors that can’t be opened, and soon the Locketts are building a case for her helping the escaped convict. More adventures follow as they try to figure out what’s going on.

This is better than the previous book, “Chimney Cottage,” though one of the characters from that book, Caspar, does make brief appearances. My only criticism is that the Locketts seem less able to succeed in solving their mysteries than usual. The illustrations are better than the previous book, but still not nearly as good as earlier work by Harold Jones and Stuart Tresilian.

Recommended.

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My Music: THE BICENTENNIAL RAG

I wrote this some time in 1976, probably influenced by the satirical comedy songs of Tom Lehrer. At the time it was the 200th anniversary of The United States, the Bicentennial, and the amount of hype and hoopla around that was incredible. I found it funny, hence the song. The Bicentennial Rag.

This was, of course, almost fifty years ago. Now we’re almost to the 250th anniversary of independence…if we make it, there will probably be more hoopla then. This was a minor effort, and I hammed it up when recording it around 1978, but still kind of fun.

The Bicentennial Rag is © Todd Klein, all rights reserved.

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Rereading: THE ISLAND STALLION RACES by Walter Farley

The third book in Farley’s series about teenager Steve Duncan and his secret hidden valley and wild red stallion Flame takes what was already hard to believe and doubles down with a science fiction plot.

On his way to the island for the summer, Steve had seen signs for a big international race for top horses to be held in Havana, Cuba, and dreamed about he and Flame entering while realizing it could never happen. His uncle Pitch is away, and Steve is alone with Flame and the other horses in the herd. Then one evening a massive burst of light floods the hidden valley. Steve goes to a lookout window and sees something he can’t understand in the water next to the island.

Before long Steve is meeting two strange men, Jay and Flick, who seem to have surprising mental powers and even the ability to change shape. Flick is cautious, but Jay is friendly and loves horses. He hatches a plan to get Steve and Flame to that big race in Havana, a race he thinks they might win.

Space tourists, the only way Farley could think of to get Flame into a real race, which was probably just what fans wanted to see. The story has its moments, but mostly it’s just hard to take seriously, and the race follows a similar pattern to the one The Black won in Farley’s first horse book “The Black Stallion.” Mildly recommended.

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And Then I Read: THE BOOKSHOP by Evan Friss

This was a Christmas gift from a friend and fellow bibliophile. I don’t often read non-fiction, but it kept me interested and entertained throughout. Starting with Benjamin Franklin, who also sold books in his print shop, and running to Amazon and beyond, the stories are varied and surprising at times. I particularly liked the ones about bookstores I’ve spent time in, mostly in New York City, all with histories I didn’t know, from Gotham Book Mart to The Strand to the Fourth Avenue shops, and I was intrigued by those I’ve never visited but wish I had. Well done and recommended.

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