Joseph Baneth Allen's Blog, page 47
December 7, 2023
Starter Villain
Just finished reading "Starter Villain" by John Scalzi, released by TOR Books.
Most people would look at Charlie Fitzer and see a loser. At thirty-two, he's divorced, working as a substitute teacher because journalism is a dying profession, and living with his cat, Hera, in a house he doesn't own. His father left the house in a trust to Charlie and his three successful half-siblings almost a generation older than their younger brother. He hears on the news that his Uncle Jake died, but he hasn't seen the wealthy businessman since he was five. Uncle Jake and Charlie's father had an argument at Charlie's mother's funeral, and that's the last time he saw him. But, it seems Uncle Jake had his eye on Charlie.
Mathilda Morrison represents Jake Baldwin when she shows up at Charlie's. She has some odd requests. Would Charlie stand for his uncle at his funeral in town? In return, Jake left everything to Charlie, and the estate will buy Charlie's house from the rest of the estate. It's only at the funeral home that Charlie wonders what Uncle Jake was involved in. He thought he only owned parking garages. But, the floral arrangements have messages saying they're glad Jake is dead, and the mourners are all males in their late 30s and early 40s. One even tries to stab the corpse to prove Jake is dead. Charlie doesn't understand at all, and he's even more confused when he returns home just in time to see his house blow up.
Morrison will handle all Charlie's difficulties. She sweeps him off to Saint Genevieve in the southern Caribbean. It seems Uncle Jake owned the entire island. He owned more than parking garages. He was a villain who offered countries and other businessmen opportunities to compete against each other. Now, it's all Charlie's. He knows nothing about the villain business, and he's too empathetic and kindhearted. But, he easily learns to listen and be ruthless when he's invited to a convocation of villains. He needs all from Hera, his cat; who is sentient, can type, and owns real estate. She's been watching over Charlie all this time he thought he provided a home for a stray.
If Charlie has a hope of surviving, he's going to have to reach deep inside himself and find the villain that he is capable of being.
GREAT VILLAINOUS FUN!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Starter-Villai...
Most people would look at Charlie Fitzer and see a loser. At thirty-two, he's divorced, working as a substitute teacher because journalism is a dying profession, and living with his cat, Hera, in a house he doesn't own. His father left the house in a trust to Charlie and his three successful half-siblings almost a generation older than their younger brother. He hears on the news that his Uncle Jake died, but he hasn't seen the wealthy businessman since he was five. Uncle Jake and Charlie's father had an argument at Charlie's mother's funeral, and that's the last time he saw him. But, it seems Uncle Jake had his eye on Charlie.
Mathilda Morrison represents Jake Baldwin when she shows up at Charlie's. She has some odd requests. Would Charlie stand for his uncle at his funeral in town? In return, Jake left everything to Charlie, and the estate will buy Charlie's house from the rest of the estate. It's only at the funeral home that Charlie wonders what Uncle Jake was involved in. He thought he only owned parking garages. But, the floral arrangements have messages saying they're glad Jake is dead, and the mourners are all males in their late 30s and early 40s. One even tries to stab the corpse to prove Jake is dead. Charlie doesn't understand at all, and he's even more confused when he returns home just in time to see his house blow up.
Morrison will handle all Charlie's difficulties. She sweeps him off to Saint Genevieve in the southern Caribbean. It seems Uncle Jake owned the entire island. He owned more than parking garages. He was a villain who offered countries and other businessmen opportunities to compete against each other. Now, it's all Charlie's. He knows nothing about the villain business, and he's too empathetic and kindhearted. But, he easily learns to listen and be ruthless when he's invited to a convocation of villains. He needs all from Hera, his cat; who is sentient, can type, and owns real estate. She's been watching over Charlie all this time he thought he provided a home for a stray.
If Charlie has a hope of surviving, he's going to have to reach deep inside himself and find the villain that he is capable of being.
GREAT VILLAINOUS FUN!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Starter-Villai...
Helix
Just finished reading "Helix" by Eric Brown, published by Solaris back in 2007.
"Helix" by the late Eric Brown is yet another example of a book that was that I bought years ago, in this case from the Barnes & Noble near where I live, that has been patiently waiting to be read in my tsundoku, my antilibrary. No, I don't keep track of the exact number of books that I've read compared to the number of books I actually own. [Though I do keep MS Excel spreadsheets on my music CDs, my audio drama CDs, my DVDs, and Big Little Books. The audio drama CD spreadsheet also includes color codes as to which dramas I have listened to.]
"Helix" offers an intriguing solution not only to the Fermi Paradox, but also an interesting mega-astro-engineering project conducted on an almost unimaginable scale that is a quiet different take on a Dyson Sphere.
In the near future Earth is becoming uninhabitable and society is breaking down.
Joe Hendry, a disillusioned space engineer, is living a subsistence life on the coast of Australia. His daughter is chosen to take part in a secret mission to take colonists to a new planet to try and start the human race's fight for survival again. Hendry unexpectedly is able to take part in this journey and integrated into the crew of the Lovelock. Only once it near's it's destination, the Lovelock crashlands on an unknown planet, and 1000 year cryosleep. Hendry and his team, consisting of the young inuit, Sissy Kaluchek, African Friday Olembe and the mysterious Italian, Gina Carrelli, must explore this new alien landscape to see if it will make a suitable homeland, while trying to comprehend something they never expected to find - worlds upon worlds in a helix structure.
Meanwhile, on one of the many worlds of the Helix, Ehrin, a young dirigible builder and entrepreneur, is facing battles of his own against the repressive and conservative Church that seeks to conceal the truth of their world and others. Ehrin's dream to find what his father hinted at before his own untimely death leads him into dangerous ground.
A great fun read.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Helix-Eric-Bro...
"Helix" by the late Eric Brown is yet another example of a book that was that I bought years ago, in this case from the Barnes & Noble near where I live, that has been patiently waiting to be read in my tsundoku, my antilibrary. No, I don't keep track of the exact number of books that I've read compared to the number of books I actually own. [Though I do keep MS Excel spreadsheets on my music CDs, my audio drama CDs, my DVDs, and Big Little Books. The audio drama CD spreadsheet also includes color codes as to which dramas I have listened to.]
"Helix" offers an intriguing solution not only to the Fermi Paradox, but also an interesting mega-astro-engineering project conducted on an almost unimaginable scale that is a quiet different take on a Dyson Sphere.
In the near future Earth is becoming uninhabitable and society is breaking down.
Joe Hendry, a disillusioned space engineer, is living a subsistence life on the coast of Australia. His daughter is chosen to take part in a secret mission to take colonists to a new planet to try and start the human race's fight for survival again. Hendry unexpectedly is able to take part in this journey and integrated into the crew of the Lovelock. Only once it near's it's destination, the Lovelock crashlands on an unknown planet, and 1000 year cryosleep. Hendry and his team, consisting of the young inuit, Sissy Kaluchek, African Friday Olembe and the mysterious Italian, Gina Carrelli, must explore this new alien landscape to see if it will make a suitable homeland, while trying to comprehend something they never expected to find - worlds upon worlds in a helix structure.
Meanwhile, on one of the many worlds of the Helix, Ehrin, a young dirigible builder and entrepreneur, is facing battles of his own against the repressive and conservative Church that seeks to conceal the truth of their world and others. Ehrin's dream to find what his father hinted at before his own untimely death leads him into dangerous ground.
A great fun read.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Helix-Eric-Bro...
December 2, 2023
The Spider #94 - Murder's Black Prince
Just finished listening to "The Spider #94 - Murder's Black Prince" by Norvell W. Page writing as Grant Stockbridge, released by Radio Archives.
"The Spider #94 - Murder's Black Prince" was originally published in The Spider magazine back in July 1941, and it provides some interesting background on Police Commissioner Stanley Kirkpatrick's past personal life. It seems that Kirkpatrick was married decades ago, but tragically lost his young bride - something that not even his closest friends Richard Wentworth and Nita van Sloan didn't know and where absolutely shocked to learn.
A good deal of Murder's Black Prince is about Kirkpatrick's ability to love and find personal happiness with the mysterious Lona Deeping - who may be a servant of The Man in the Cowl - a vicious murderer who is masterminding death and destruction on a city-wide scale.
Keep in mind that American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham's work "Seduction of the Innocent" was first published back in 1954, so it couldn't have had an impact on pulp literature - primarily the comic book industry. Yet for the anti-hero that he was, Wentworth's own psychotic serial killer tendencies were green-lighted by editors since The Spider only killed criminals for the good of humanity, and he and Nita, thought not married, it was more than implied that they were in a sexual relationship.
I suspect that Kirkpatrick's backstory was an editorial decision to "normalize" the twisted social morals of The Spider and company. It wasn't unusual for writers at this time to be jailed and tried in court for indecency and obscenity like Edgar Rice Burroughs was for writing the first Tarzan novel after it was published. It was Tarzan's nudity on the written page that offended people.
Also, rather bold for this time, Lona Deeping is a woman of color and is an equal match for The Spider. She is also being forced into a life of crime due to the circumstances of her birth and culture. She is a victim of slave trafficking, and - Mild Spoiler Alert - Wentworth is willing to give her a chance to redeem herself, mainly for Kirkpatrick's sake.
And in the interest if full disclosure, I have previously written liner notes for some of Radio Archive's previously released collections and although we have never met, Nick Santa Maria and I are friends here on Facebook and we have exchanged a few messages with each other over the years.
Now that my disclaimer is done and out of the way, Nick does his usual outstanding bang-up job bringing this adventure of The Spider to life.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.radioarchives.com/The_Spi...
"The Spider #94 - Murder's Black Prince" was originally published in The Spider magazine back in July 1941, and it provides some interesting background on Police Commissioner Stanley Kirkpatrick's past personal life. It seems that Kirkpatrick was married decades ago, but tragically lost his young bride - something that not even his closest friends Richard Wentworth and Nita van Sloan didn't know and where absolutely shocked to learn.
A good deal of Murder's Black Prince is about Kirkpatrick's ability to love and find personal happiness with the mysterious Lona Deeping - who may be a servant of The Man in the Cowl - a vicious murderer who is masterminding death and destruction on a city-wide scale.
Keep in mind that American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham's work "Seduction of the Innocent" was first published back in 1954, so it couldn't have had an impact on pulp literature - primarily the comic book industry. Yet for the anti-hero that he was, Wentworth's own psychotic serial killer tendencies were green-lighted by editors since The Spider only killed criminals for the good of humanity, and he and Nita, thought not married, it was more than implied that they were in a sexual relationship.
I suspect that Kirkpatrick's backstory was an editorial decision to "normalize" the twisted social morals of The Spider and company. It wasn't unusual for writers at this time to be jailed and tried in court for indecency and obscenity like Edgar Rice Burroughs was for writing the first Tarzan novel after it was published. It was Tarzan's nudity on the written page that offended people.
Also, rather bold for this time, Lona Deeping is a woman of color and is an equal match for The Spider. She is also being forced into a life of crime due to the circumstances of her birth and culture. She is a victim of slave trafficking, and - Mild Spoiler Alert - Wentworth is willing to give her a chance to redeem herself, mainly for Kirkpatrick's sake.
And in the interest if full disclosure, I have previously written liner notes for some of Radio Archive's previously released collections and although we have never met, Nick Santa Maria and I are friends here on Facebook and we have exchanged a few messages with each other over the years.
Now that my disclaimer is done and out of the way, Nick does his usual outstanding bang-up job bringing this adventure of The Spider to life.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.radioarchives.com/The_Spi...
The Rupert Annual 2024
Just finished reading "The Rupert Annual 2024" published by Farshore.
Rupert harkens back to the grand old style of story telling that successfully fuses magic and whimsy with each tale.
For those who came in late, Rupert Bear is a British children's comic strip character and franchise created by artist Mary Tourtel and first appearing in the Daily Express newspaper on 8 November 1920.
Rupert lives with his parents in a house in Nutwood, a fictional idyllic English village. He is drawn wearing a red jumper and bright yellow checked trousers, with matching yellow scarf. Originally depicted as a brown bear, his color soon changed to white to save on printing costs, though he remained brown on the covers of the annuals.
Rupert's world mixes anthropomorphic animals and human characters.
My cousin Hannah gave me my first Rupert annual decades ago as a Hanukkah present - she also gave me my first Doctor Who annual (1980) which featured the Fourth Doctor and Sara Jane Smith. I do not know where Hannah bought the annuals from - though it would have been a bookstore in Regal Park, New York.
Each annual collects various adventures of Rupert throughout the decades, along with one new story especially written for each annual. "Rupert and the Magical Cabinet" - where a magic trick sends Rupert to an elsewhere where the inventor of the magician's ventriloquist dummy helps Rupert return home back to Nutwood is the new adventure for the 2024 annual.
Rupert's other adventures in this annual are: "Rupert and the Water Bottle," "Rupert and the Magic Chalk," "Rupert and the Goose Chase," and "Rupert and Santa's Present."
Perhaps the most intriguing Rupert adventure is "Rupert and Santa's Present" because it leads down an interesting rabbit hole: Rupert's concern for the Professor and Bodkin leads him into a mirror world that is a parallel dimension where people give gifts to Santa, who then in turn gives the presents out to Rupert's world, but curiously there is no double of Rupert in the Mirror Nutwood, and Santa crosses both realities through a magic mirror in the sky.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Rupert-Annual-...
Rupert harkens back to the grand old style of story telling that successfully fuses magic and whimsy with each tale.
For those who came in late, Rupert Bear is a British children's comic strip character and franchise created by artist Mary Tourtel and first appearing in the Daily Express newspaper on 8 November 1920.
Rupert lives with his parents in a house in Nutwood, a fictional idyllic English village. He is drawn wearing a red jumper and bright yellow checked trousers, with matching yellow scarf. Originally depicted as a brown bear, his color soon changed to white to save on printing costs, though he remained brown on the covers of the annuals.
Rupert's world mixes anthropomorphic animals and human characters.
My cousin Hannah gave me my first Rupert annual decades ago as a Hanukkah present - she also gave me my first Doctor Who annual (1980) which featured the Fourth Doctor and Sara Jane Smith. I do not know where Hannah bought the annuals from - though it would have been a bookstore in Regal Park, New York.
Each annual collects various adventures of Rupert throughout the decades, along with one new story especially written for each annual. "Rupert and the Magical Cabinet" - where a magic trick sends Rupert to an elsewhere where the inventor of the magician's ventriloquist dummy helps Rupert return home back to Nutwood is the new adventure for the 2024 annual.
Rupert's other adventures in this annual are: "Rupert and the Water Bottle," "Rupert and the Magic Chalk," "Rupert and the Goose Chase," and "Rupert and Santa's Present."
Perhaps the most intriguing Rupert adventure is "Rupert and Santa's Present" because it leads down an interesting rabbit hole: Rupert's concern for the Professor and Bodkin leads him into a mirror world that is a parallel dimension where people give gifts to Santa, who then in turn gives the presents out to Rupert's world, but curiously there is no double of Rupert in the Mirror Nutwood, and Santa crosses both realities through a magic mirror in the sky.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Rupert-Annual-...
December 1, 2023
Bandera
Just finished reading "Bandera" by Mauro Boselli and Alessandro Piccinelli by Epicenter Comics.
Tex Willer and Zagor are popular ongoing Italian comic strip/book characters who were created back in 1961 who inhabit the same shared American West universe of the mid-1800s inspired by the classical characters and stories of old American Western movies.
Tex is depicted as a tough guy with a strong personal sense of justice, who becomes a ranger and defends Native Americans and any other honest character from exaction and greed of bandits, unscrupulous merchants and corrupt politicians and tycoons.
Zagor is a kind of avenger always ready to side with the weak and the oppressed, whether red, white or black, whoever they may be; and some of his adventures are supernatural and otherworldly in nature.
My introduction to Tex and Zagor was in the late 1960s and early 1970s when Dad gave me a few Italian comics that he picked up from a Med Cruise - Dad was in the U.S. Marine Corps for over 30 years. The comics had the look and feel of Gold Key Comics and Warren Comics; but alas back then, and even now, I can't read Italian.
So I was happy to discover that English versions of Tex and Zagor comics are being published in various hardcover and paperback editions by Epicenter Comics.
"Bandera" is the first meeting of Tex and Zagor, and it's an intriguing one. Tex is still considered an outlaw and his true identity is being kept hidden by his ranger friends. Curiously, he's distrustful and uneasy of Zagor because he's older and more experienced, yet the two are able to set aside their unease of each other to work together towards putting an end to a group who are determined to exterminate Comanches on a reservation near the town of Bandera.
A great, tense adventure in the grand tradition of classic Gold Key and Warren Comics with it's artwork and story telling.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165832955320
Tex Willer and Zagor are popular ongoing Italian comic strip/book characters who were created back in 1961 who inhabit the same shared American West universe of the mid-1800s inspired by the classical characters and stories of old American Western movies.
Tex is depicted as a tough guy with a strong personal sense of justice, who becomes a ranger and defends Native Americans and any other honest character from exaction and greed of bandits, unscrupulous merchants and corrupt politicians and tycoons.
Zagor is a kind of avenger always ready to side with the weak and the oppressed, whether red, white or black, whoever they may be; and some of his adventures are supernatural and otherworldly in nature.
My introduction to Tex and Zagor was in the late 1960s and early 1970s when Dad gave me a few Italian comics that he picked up from a Med Cruise - Dad was in the U.S. Marine Corps for over 30 years. The comics had the look and feel of Gold Key Comics and Warren Comics; but alas back then, and even now, I can't read Italian.
So I was happy to discover that English versions of Tex and Zagor comics are being published in various hardcover and paperback editions by Epicenter Comics.
"Bandera" is the first meeting of Tex and Zagor, and it's an intriguing one. Tex is still considered an outlaw and his true identity is being kept hidden by his ranger friends. Curiously, he's distrustful and uneasy of Zagor because he's older and more experienced, yet the two are able to set aside their unease of each other to work together towards putting an end to a group who are determined to exterminate Comanches on a reservation near the town of Bandera.
A great, tense adventure in the grand tradition of classic Gold Key and Warren Comics with it's artwork and story telling.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165832955320
The Satanic Mill
Now sometimes when I mention in a review of a book that I had read as part of my "Great Re-Reading of Favorite Books of My Youth Project" - my don't I come up with rather grandiose titles - that my teachers in the Camp Lejeune School System during the 1960s and 1970s often complained to Mom and Dad that I was reading "inappropriate" books.
Even Mrs. Patricia McNally, my 8th Grade Math Teacher at Brewster Junior High School, took a book away from me - "Asimov on Astronomy" by Isaac Asimov, because he was a science fiction writer who should not be writing about a non-fiction topic - her words. But let's cut Mrs. McNally some slack. She gave me the book grudgingly back when I demanded it and told her that she didn't know what she was talking about because Isaac Asimov also wrote non-fiction too. I also told her that NOBODY was going to tell me what I could read.
Note: Selma Franz, my sister, who is eight years younger than me, has noted that a lot of her teachers were revealed that she was nothing like me - she had a lot of my previous teachers.
Among my many transgressions in school was that despite having a near 4.0 average, I refused to join the National Honor Society and the National Spanish Honor Society. And despite being an "officer's brat," all my friends' parents were enlisted - except for Steve, who's father was a Colonel - but like me, he was bit of a "misfit" too. I would also drink a can of Pepsi during each class period. Yeah, I was a real trouble making, rebel rouser, wasn't I?
I do know that I was considered more than a lost cause.
So today, I got a reading copy of "The Satanic Mill" by Otfried Preussler in the mail and when setting it on top of my stack of books I'm re-reading, I suddenly recalled that this was the one book no-one at Stone Street Elementary School complained to Mom and Dad that I was reading.
I had originally ordered it through the Weekly Reader Book Club and Mrs. Saunders actually gave it to me when it arrived without raising her usual ruckus - I think this would have been after the time both Mom and Dad informed her that I was their son and that I could read what ever I wanted to. Yeah, during a parent/teacher conference she actually went down that route and told them that if I "was her son" she wouldn't let me read that filth. Mrs. Saunders didn't like how they responded, Mom and Dad told me afterwards.
Now, she might not have noticed it in the pile of books that I ordered - though teachers were supposed to check each order to make sure a student got all the books they purchased.
Mrs. Saunders had previously pitched fits because I read books by Andre Norton, and I also read, GASP - Japanese folk and fairy tales.
Now at the time I was in elementary school, I was the only Jewish child in the Camp Lejeune School System and I did have teachers who tried to convert me to Christianity and were horrified when I told them I didn't believe in Jesus and that Dad renounced his belief in Jesus and converted to Judaism. The one teacher who slapped me for refusing to convert to Christianity when I was 8-years old was arrested and fired when I let Mom and Dad know what she had done. [Though now a Teachers' Union would probably defend what she did. The Camp Lejeune School system did not have a Teacher's Union during that time frame.]]
Based on my experience with those particular teachers at that period in time, here's my theory as to why they didn't raise high holy hell for me reading "The Satanic Mill;" they simply couldn't complain about a book that was sold by Scholastic Services through the school. Scholastic, at that time, represented the best in educational reading and it was also available in the school library to check out as a hardcover book.
It could also be this: Mrs. Saunders once asked me if I was afraid of burning in hell and meeting Satan because I'm Jewish. [Trigger warning - back in the 1960s and 1970s in the Deep South this was a typical question Jews were asked.] I replied no, because Jews don't believe in the devil or hell. Hell and Satan are Christian inventions. Yes, you do have the snake in Genesis and Satan is mentioned by name in the Book of Job, BUT they are not Jewish versions of the devil - and yes, I'm way over simplifying this. Simply put, Judaism believes that "hell" is a self-imposed separation/exile from G_D, not a pit of eternal flames presided over by a pitch-fork toting fallen angel.
So since I didn't believe in Satan, then reading a book titled "The Satanic Mill" couldn't "hurt me." Or they could have thought that it was better if I became a Satanist instead of being Jewish, then I could be saved by accepting the Blood of Jesus because with their twisted logic it is easier to convert a Satanist than a Jew. [Though I will admit that the vampiric element of Christianity still befuddles me, since like vampires, Christians do drink wine which is used to symbolize the Blood of Christ to grant them eternal life. Hey, I have to put my utterly useless Bachelor of Arts in Gothic Literature degree to use somehow.]
Certainly I'm being over-the-top here; but keep in mind that my teachers had absolutely problem using the anti-Semitic phrase: "You're nothing but a stiff-neck Jew" to me and my parents on a constant, almost daily basis. So it's not too far of a stretch to believe that this may have been their thinking based on my interactions with the Camp Lejeune School System at that period of time when I reading this book.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/002...
Even Mrs. Patricia McNally, my 8th Grade Math Teacher at Brewster Junior High School, took a book away from me - "Asimov on Astronomy" by Isaac Asimov, because he was a science fiction writer who should not be writing about a non-fiction topic - her words. But let's cut Mrs. McNally some slack. She gave me the book grudgingly back when I demanded it and told her that she didn't know what she was talking about because Isaac Asimov also wrote non-fiction too. I also told her that NOBODY was going to tell me what I could read.
Note: Selma Franz, my sister, who is eight years younger than me, has noted that a lot of her teachers were revealed that she was nothing like me - she had a lot of my previous teachers.
Among my many transgressions in school was that despite having a near 4.0 average, I refused to join the National Honor Society and the National Spanish Honor Society. And despite being an "officer's brat," all my friends' parents were enlisted - except for Steve, who's father was a Colonel - but like me, he was bit of a "misfit" too. I would also drink a can of Pepsi during each class period. Yeah, I was a real trouble making, rebel rouser, wasn't I?
I do know that I was considered more than a lost cause.
So today, I got a reading copy of "The Satanic Mill" by Otfried Preussler in the mail and when setting it on top of my stack of books I'm re-reading, I suddenly recalled that this was the one book no-one at Stone Street Elementary School complained to Mom and Dad that I was reading.
I had originally ordered it through the Weekly Reader Book Club and Mrs. Saunders actually gave it to me when it arrived without raising her usual ruckus - I think this would have been after the time both Mom and Dad informed her that I was their son and that I could read what ever I wanted to. Yeah, during a parent/teacher conference she actually went down that route and told them that if I "was her son" she wouldn't let me read that filth. Mrs. Saunders didn't like how they responded, Mom and Dad told me afterwards.
Now, she might not have noticed it in the pile of books that I ordered - though teachers were supposed to check each order to make sure a student got all the books they purchased.
Mrs. Saunders had previously pitched fits because I read books by Andre Norton, and I also read, GASP - Japanese folk and fairy tales.
Now at the time I was in elementary school, I was the only Jewish child in the Camp Lejeune School System and I did have teachers who tried to convert me to Christianity and were horrified when I told them I didn't believe in Jesus and that Dad renounced his belief in Jesus and converted to Judaism. The one teacher who slapped me for refusing to convert to Christianity when I was 8-years old was arrested and fired when I let Mom and Dad know what she had done. [Though now a Teachers' Union would probably defend what she did. The Camp Lejeune School system did not have a Teacher's Union during that time frame.]]
Based on my experience with those particular teachers at that period in time, here's my theory as to why they didn't raise high holy hell for me reading "The Satanic Mill;" they simply couldn't complain about a book that was sold by Scholastic Services through the school. Scholastic, at that time, represented the best in educational reading and it was also available in the school library to check out as a hardcover book.
It could also be this: Mrs. Saunders once asked me if I was afraid of burning in hell and meeting Satan because I'm Jewish. [Trigger warning - back in the 1960s and 1970s in the Deep South this was a typical question Jews were asked.] I replied no, because Jews don't believe in the devil or hell. Hell and Satan are Christian inventions. Yes, you do have the snake in Genesis and Satan is mentioned by name in the Book of Job, BUT they are not Jewish versions of the devil - and yes, I'm way over simplifying this. Simply put, Judaism believes that "hell" is a self-imposed separation/exile from G_D, not a pit of eternal flames presided over by a pitch-fork toting fallen angel.
So since I didn't believe in Satan, then reading a book titled "The Satanic Mill" couldn't "hurt me." Or they could have thought that it was better if I became a Satanist instead of being Jewish, then I could be saved by accepting the Blood of Jesus because with their twisted logic it is easier to convert a Satanist than a Jew. [Though I will admit that the vampiric element of Christianity still befuddles me, since like vampires, Christians do drink wine which is used to symbolize the Blood of Christ to grant them eternal life. Hey, I have to put my utterly useless Bachelor of Arts in Gothic Literature degree to use somehow.]
Certainly I'm being over-the-top here; but keep in mind that my teachers had absolutely problem using the anti-Semitic phrase: "You're nothing but a stiff-neck Jew" to me and my parents on a constant, almost daily basis. So it's not too far of a stretch to believe that this may have been their thinking based on my interactions with the Camp Lejeune School System at that period of time when I reading this book.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/002...
Sword Catcher
Just finished reading "Sword Catcher" by Cassandra Clare, released by Del-Rey Books.
Jeff H. did buy me "Sword Catcher" as a late birthday present because he remembered that I have read all the books in Clare's Shadow Hunter series.
I'm probably gong to stir the pot of controversy here by saying that "Sword Catcher" brought to mind the novels of Sherwood Smith in her ongoing Sartorias-deles series. Like Sartorias-deles, magic is limited in the city of Casteilane, but can only be used by the Ahkar, an outcast community whose last queen centuries ago removed most magic in the world in a desperate attempt to save her people from being enslaved by near immortal wizards.
Kel, Prince Connor’s Swordcatcher, was plucked from an orphanage, raised to be the princes bodyguard and body double. Living is life to protect the prince. Lin is Ashkari, people who still retain some magic, and are feared and hated by many. She even struggles with her own people as she demanded to become a physician, a position not normally given to women. Kel and Lin find themselves, along with Prince Connor, twined together. Alongside all this is the Ragpicker King, criminal load of Castellene. He wants Kel and Lin’s help, can he be trusted? Can they figure out who has nefarious plans for their city? Can Lin save her friend?
Realizing your place in the over arch of the scheme of things is the theme in Clare's latest novel, and Kel and Lin are pushed way outside of their own personal comfort zones as events conspire to move them in directions they never thought of before.
I am curious as to how Clare will unfold the events of this new world/universe that she has created.
Strongly Recommended.
Four Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Sword-Catcher-...
Jeff H. did buy me "Sword Catcher" as a late birthday present because he remembered that I have read all the books in Clare's Shadow Hunter series.
I'm probably gong to stir the pot of controversy here by saying that "Sword Catcher" brought to mind the novels of Sherwood Smith in her ongoing Sartorias-deles series. Like Sartorias-deles, magic is limited in the city of Casteilane, but can only be used by the Ahkar, an outcast community whose last queen centuries ago removed most magic in the world in a desperate attempt to save her people from being enslaved by near immortal wizards.
Kel, Prince Connor’s Swordcatcher, was plucked from an orphanage, raised to be the princes bodyguard and body double. Living is life to protect the prince. Lin is Ashkari, people who still retain some magic, and are feared and hated by many. She even struggles with her own people as she demanded to become a physician, a position not normally given to women. Kel and Lin find themselves, along with Prince Connor, twined together. Alongside all this is the Ragpicker King, criminal load of Castellene. He wants Kel and Lin’s help, can he be trusted? Can they figure out who has nefarious plans for their city? Can Lin save her friend?
Realizing your place in the over arch of the scheme of things is the theme in Clare's latest novel, and Kel and Lin are pushed way outside of their own personal comfort zones as events conspire to move them in directions they never thought of before.
I am curious as to how Clare will unfold the events of this new world/universe that she has created.
Strongly Recommended.
Four Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Sword-Catcher-...
November 26, 2023
The 1991 Snoopy Annual
Just finished reading "The 1991 Snoopy Annual" by Charles M. Schulz, published by Ravette Books.
Gordon Volke wrote the prose short stories and filler material that accompanied the collected Peanuts comic strips within.
"The 1991 Snoopy Annual" collects a sampling of Peanuts comic strips throughout the decades that appeared in newspapers internationally, along with various historical occurrences throughout each decade.
Great Fun!
Highly Recommended!
Ten Stars!
https://www.amazon.com/Snoopy-Annual-...
Gordon Volke wrote the prose short stories and filler material that accompanied the collected Peanuts comic strips within.
"The 1991 Snoopy Annual" collects a sampling of Peanuts comic strips throughout the decades that appeared in newspapers internationally, along with various historical occurrences throughout each decade.
Great Fun!
Highly Recommended!
Ten Stars!
https://www.amazon.com/Snoopy-Annual-...
"A City On Mars - Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, And Have We Really Thought This Through?
Just finished reading "A City On Mars - Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, And Have We Really Thought This Through?' by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, published by Penguin Press.
Now I'm of two minds with this book, which does look at the current level of technology currently available to explore and eventually colonize the Moon, Mars, and beyond. There are problems of sustainability, legalities, and basic human biology that are going to be resolved before outer space colonies are attempted and the Weinersmiths do a pretty good job at looking at these issues, BUT, the don't look at the work being done to resolve these issues. So it's a two-sided coin.
A light, fun read, but it's only part of the story.
Recommended.
Three Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/City-Mars-sett...
Now I'm of two minds with this book, which does look at the current level of technology currently available to explore and eventually colonize the Moon, Mars, and beyond. There are problems of sustainability, legalities, and basic human biology that are going to be resolved before outer space colonies are attempted and the Weinersmiths do a pretty good job at looking at these issues, BUT, the don't look at the work being done to resolve these issues. So it's a two-sided coin.
A light, fun read, but it's only part of the story.
Recommended.
Three Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/City-Mars-sett...
"The City of Marble And Blood - The Chronicles of Hanuvar 2"
Just finished reading "The City of Marble And Blood - The Chronicles of Hanuvar 2" by Howard Andrew Jones, released by Baen Books.
As frequent readers of my reviews here on Facebook, Goodreads, and other social media sites know, I am always forthcoming when I have a tie with a musician, actor, writer, editor, and/or content creator.
While I am friends with Howard Andrew Jones here on Facebook, I have never personally interacted with him except for one brief email exchange here on Facebook years ago which consisted of maybe two or three messages. As annoying as some may find that I always try to be forthcoming, the one time I forgot years ago, all heck broke loose and I was accused of being misleading. So not wanting to repeat that particular situation again...
With Hanuvar and his ongoing quest to free his people from slavery, Jones has created a hero in the grand tradition of Epic Heroic Fantasy worthy of Robert E. Howard's Conan and Lin Carter's Ganelon Silvermane.
Now for those who may balk at the mention of Lin Carter, it was the late, great Andre Norton herself, who came to Carter's defense in the first volume of her "Magic In Ithkar" series that she co-edited with Robert Adams, where she defended including a short story that Lin Carter wrote for the first anthology.
Hanuvar soon finds that his life may be coming to an end soon, when after he defeats a wizard in an underground cavern, he finds his youth has been restored, but that unless his lifeline can be reset, that he will age rapidly as a result of the sorcery. His unexpected youth does help him hide his identity in the Dervan Empire as he seeks the fate of his own daughter while seeking to free more and more of his people, gaining new allies and walking a very dangerous tightrope between success, discovery, and failure.
I'm eagerly looking forward to "Shadow of the Smoking Moutain" the next novel in "The Chronicles of Hanuvar" which is scheduled for release in October 2024.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/City-Marble-Bl...
As frequent readers of my reviews here on Facebook, Goodreads, and other social media sites know, I am always forthcoming when I have a tie with a musician, actor, writer, editor, and/or content creator.
While I am friends with Howard Andrew Jones here on Facebook, I have never personally interacted with him except for one brief email exchange here on Facebook years ago which consisted of maybe two or three messages. As annoying as some may find that I always try to be forthcoming, the one time I forgot years ago, all heck broke loose and I was accused of being misleading. So not wanting to repeat that particular situation again...
With Hanuvar and his ongoing quest to free his people from slavery, Jones has created a hero in the grand tradition of Epic Heroic Fantasy worthy of Robert E. Howard's Conan and Lin Carter's Ganelon Silvermane.
Now for those who may balk at the mention of Lin Carter, it was the late, great Andre Norton herself, who came to Carter's defense in the first volume of her "Magic In Ithkar" series that she co-edited with Robert Adams, where she defended including a short story that Lin Carter wrote for the first anthology.
Hanuvar soon finds that his life may be coming to an end soon, when after he defeats a wizard in an underground cavern, he finds his youth has been restored, but that unless his lifeline can be reset, that he will age rapidly as a result of the sorcery. His unexpected youth does help him hide his identity in the Dervan Empire as he seeks the fate of his own daughter while seeking to free more and more of his people, gaining new allies and walking a very dangerous tightrope between success, discovery, and failure.
I'm eagerly looking forward to "Shadow of the Smoking Moutain" the next novel in "The Chronicles of Hanuvar" which is scheduled for release in October 2024.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/City-Marble-Bl...
