Ken Lizzi's Blog, page 7

Even More Quick Hits: The Disappearing Dwarf and The War Games of Zelos.

James Blaylock delivered a fine sequel to The Elfin Ship with The Disappearing Dwarf. What I wrote about Elfin Ship remains applicable to Dwarf. Blaylock did not stray far from the formula. Why should he? If it ain’t broke…It was a nice break from some of the more dour and serious minded works I’ve been reading. It isn’t all whimsy; Blaylock does fine work in the spooky department, providing some scares bookended by humor. And of course our hero returns home once again, in sterling Bilbo Baggins style. Good stuff.

With Expendables 3: The War Games of Zelos I returned to more straightforward action fare. Richard Avery (Edmund Cooper) continues the accounts of his team of planetary explorers determining whether or not a world is fit for human colonization. This one indulges in some traditional heroic fiction tropes: the planet hosting a medieval tech level society; gladiatorial combats; small units with high-tech weaponry taking on superior numbers of comparatively poorly armed foes. At times I almost heard the Captain Kirk fight music from Star Trek playing in my head. Appropriate, I suppose, given that the planet Zelos happened to be inhabited by human beings. That head-scratcher is actually addressed, though inconclusively. No matter, it made for a hard-charging, engaging action story.

If you are in the mood for an engaging action story (or several) take advantage of the low-priced, four-book set of Semi-Autos and Sorcery. Good bang for your buck.

 

The Seedbearers: 1970s Timecapsule

The Seedbearers was Peter Valentine Timlett’s first novel. The “About the Author” section at the back states that the book was “prompted by by his interest in the occult.” That much seems clear enough after a read through.

The story begins in a sort of proto-grim dark fashion. Timlett leaned into both the grim and the dark; very dark. But after that opening chapter, the tale shifts to world building, politics, intrigue, in-fighting, corruption, and murder. At the same time, Timlett’s occult interests appear clearly. He devotes vast swathes of the narrative to describing his cosmology, his “inner planes”, astral projection, carefully delineated ritual (and sexual) magic, philosophy, along with nods to the occult and Theosophy.

Ostensibly Seedbearers is an Atlantis novel. But it is a wholly original one. Timlett’s Atlantis is populated by Toltecs, Akkadians, and a cannibalistic African tribe of uncertain provenance. He carefully establishes the relations among the three, societal organization, history, and projected cataclysmic future.

The pace picks back up during the final act, returning somewhat to the grim dark beginning, at least in terms of sheer explicit violence. The reader is carried careening through the last fifty pages or so, like running downhill.

There is a definite 1970’s period feel to it. I can almost imagine Leonard Nimoy narrating parts of it as voiceover to an episode of “In Search Of.” If that sounds like criticism, it isn’t intended to be. The 70s vibe is a feature, not a bug. I like this one and appreciate the effort put into creating the cohesive vision.

And now a word from our sponsor: me. The complete four-book set of Semi-Autos and Sorcery is now available, including the audio edition. Get yours now, enjoy the action-filled ride.

Jaunt to San Antonio

The summer break draws to a close. The HA returns to school tomorrow. I took her and MBW to San Antonio for a short trip. We’d been to Six Flags before (though the HA does not remember any of it.) This time we spent several hot, footsore hours at Sea World. Getting soaked has never been more welcome.

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We also visited Longtab Brewing, a military themed brewpub. Good food, good beer, kid friendly. Recommended.

While at Sea World I received the notification that the Semi-Autos and Sorcery series has been released in a four volume set (including audio editions.) The price looks good to me. Get yours now.

More Quick Hits. “The Lost Valley of Iskander” and “Expendables 2: The Rings of Tantalus.”

Francis Xavier Gordon ��— El Borak — is a quintessential Robert E. Howard hero. He is an American, a crack shot and wickedly fast swordsman, an intrepid and renowned explorer of the East, featured in conversations in caravanserai to bazaar from Kabul to Delhi. The Lost Valley of Iskander collects three tales of El Borak.

The Daughter of Erlik Khan. We meet El Borak guiding a pair of Englishmen who employed him under false pretenses. We encounter a number of competing tribes in the mountains of Afghanistan and learn of the mysterious Mount Erlik Khan. Duplicity, battles, secret passages, dark caverns, and swordplay follow. As is almost inevitable in this sort of adventure yarn, coincidence and contrivance play their parts. But also, inevitably, Howard carries us through with verve, kinetic action, and sheer bravura.

The Lost Valley of Iskander. A lost race story. Tale of a forgotten tribe of descendants of Alexander’s Macedonians seem to have been popular at the time, c.f. A. Merritt’s The Metal Monster. Compared to Daughter, Lost Valley is slighter, the plot simpler. But its compactness works for it, providing a streamlined, rousing action yarn of a secluded tribe (aided by El Borak) facing an attack from a (somewhat) more modern foe.

Hawk of the Hills. El Borak in a tale of revenge and tribal warfare, told primarily from the point of view of an English diplomat/frontier fixer. This is solid action fare, with gunfights galore, and El Borak always a step ahead of his foes.

I consider this collection to be a fine companion volume to Swords of Shahrazar. And Michael William Kaluta’s interior illustrations are a pleasant bonus.

Richard Avery’s Expendables 2: The Rings of Tantalus doesn’t miss a beat following volume 1. The story continues to convey peak 1970s men’s sci-fi flare. It is thus, in essence, more of the same. But if you liked that first glass of beer, why not order another? The Expendables must prove another world safe for human habitation and face a mysterious threat. The subplot of a saboteur in the ranks is carried through nicely, keeping the tension high. Fun, fast-paced, and quite short. Formatted more compactly it might not come in more than 150 pages.

If you are looking for another fun, fast-paced series to read, give Falchion’s Company a read, available in print, digital, and audio formats.

Old Stomping Grounds, Part 2

My sojourn continues, this last week primarily in or adjacent to Portland. I left behind my relatives house in the forested hills, taking MBW and the HA to the airport early in the morning. But not before taking a couple of pictures of uninvited visitors the evening before.

I took a hotel room in Southwest Portland, about a quarter of mile from the condominium I lived in for fifteen or so years. I met an old friend in Lake Oswego, arriving early and using the time well.

The next day I made way to the Pearl District in Portland and visited a place I’ve spent countless hours: Powell’s Books. I limited myself to only a few purchases. Then I met another old friend and visited a couple of brewpubs.

Powell’s was one of two loci of nostalgia I revisited. The other was the Bagdad theater, where I caught the new Deadpool flick and enjoyed a couple pints of Hammerhead. The place retains its allure, though I recall a time many, many years ago that one could get a pint, a hamburger, and the movie ticket for $10. Yes, I know: Old man yells at clouds.

I’ve been spending the last several days at the home of friends. The squirrels and hummingbirds have kept me company as well. The nearby brewpub is under (to me) new ownership. I approve of the job done, and found a secret society I’d actually be willing to join.

I’ve met with more old friends, visited more brewpubs, but I think at this point you’ve got the picture. The trip nears its end. I’ll be winging back to Casa Lizzi on Tuesday. So next week’s post will be back to the usual fare.

This week’s post brought to you by the audio version of Semi-Autos and Sorcery.

 

 

Old Stomping Grounds, Part 1.

I’m spending a couple of weeks in the area I lived most of my many, many years. MBW and the HA preceded me by almost a week. (It was to have been a full week, but that unwelcome visit from Beryl set back the departure a day.) I will be dropping them off at the airport in a couple of days, then spending another week here myself. The HA was able to enjoy several days with her grandmother, down on the Northern California coast, then get together with several of her old friends. In fact, as I write this at my Aunt and Uncle’s house on the foothills of Mt. Hood, she and a couple of other little girls are enjoying the morning after a sleepover. (A sleepover that was to have been in a tent, that I sweated and grumbled through setting up for more time than I care to admit, but that was abandoned shortly after dark because of the scary noises. And a bug. I think there was a bug involved.)

MBW has been under the weather, and so was unable to complete most of the plans laid months in advance. But she is a trooper and knows how to roll with the blows fate deals out.

I have been setting up my laptop at a client’s office, getting work done, having some in-person meetings. More of that will come. This is as much a business trip for me as an exercise in nostalgia. But I’ve indulged in that as well, driving by the old house, having dinner with former neighbors. Hitting a couple of watering holes I used to frequent. I have plans to get together with friends in the coming days during the evenings. And, with any luck, I’ll make a trip to Powell’s Books. (More on that next week, I hope.)

I haven’t forgotten my avocation. I’ve been working on the second draft of book two of the (working title) Twilight Galaxy series. My goal is to complete the second draft by the time I return to Casa Lizzi, then get back to writing book three. (Oh, and figuring out how to pay for a new roof. Thanks Beryl.)

Well, I rambling. Enough. If you are looking for something fun to read, pick up my crime/S&S novel Thick As Thieves. (Don’t buy the version with the red cover. Get the brown cover.)

Lilith. George MacDonald’s Visit to Heaven

I’m not sure I possess the tools to discuss George MacDonald’s Lilith. This is not, I flatter myself, because I lack the mental capacity, but because I inhabit a different conceptual universe than that of a Victorian-era minister. (Note I do not write Victorian minister: I gathered the impression that MacDonald did not entirely approve of the zeitgeist of his age.) I do not view the world through his particular 19th Century Congregationalist lens. Much then, that he meant to transmit I could not fully receive, seeing his vision only through a glass darkly.

Still, I believe I got the gist. In his introduction to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series edition of Lilith, Lin Carter writes: “Do not read MacDonald consciously hunting for meanings to the allegories.” I think that, in part, Carter was being deliberately disingenuous in order to avoid deterring readers who might not be interested in reading what is, fundamentally, a deeply Christian work.

That, however, isn’t at all clear from the through-the-looking-glass (or, seen from a later perspective, through the wardrobe) beginning. The story takes its time, leading the narrator (Mr. Vane, which may be a reference to a weather vane shifting with the prevailing winds or someone possessed of the vanity of “reason”, or both, or neither) through a mirror in the attic of his house into a bewildering world, occasionally guided by a doyen in the form of raven. Slowly a more or less cohesive other world is developed, one operating more on spiritual rather than physical logic. As it does, the vaguely Pilgrim’s Progress aspect becomes more apparent. The themes of salvation and resurrection become obvious, though to give Carter his due, I imagine many of the allegories are lost on me and rather than trying to puzzle them out it would be best to: “Immerse yourself in the book, lose yourself in it.”

It is clear after reading this how seminal of a work it truly is, even second hand. The influences on later writers are hard to escape, C.S. Lewis being an obvious example. At times I thought I caught ghost echoes from the Lord of the Rings, just fleeting images and impressions, a sort of literary d��j�� vu.

I’m not going to lie to you, reader: at times I found Lilith a bit of a slog. You can take the boy out of Philistia, but you can’t take the Philistine out of the boy. But the mystery and sheer imaginative power, along with MacDonald’s poetic language, carried me through. And I’m glad I stuck with it. Some may read this as a powerful work of consolation written by a minister near the end of his life. Others may read it as a moving, beautiful work of self-delusion. I don’t judge. Either way, it is a masterpiece, a magnum opus, and a vital piece of the corpus of fantastic literature.

Moving from evaluating Lilith to the huckster act of selling my own scribblings might be going from the sublime to the ridiculous. But one has to pay the bills. (And after hurricane Beryl, I am anticipating bills, at least in the form of insurance deductibles. I hope any of you reading this that were in the path of the storm survived relatively unscathed.) Why not give the exploits of Karl Thorson a try? The Semi-Autos and Sorcery series is good, two-fisted fun.

 

 

Independence Day 2024

Today’s post is almost entirely pictorial. I’m rather busy at the moment preparing from an uninvited visit from Beryl. She’s never welcome, blustery, impulsive, and demanding. So I’ve some hatches to batten down. Below are some photos from my Independence Day festivities Thursday. MBW, the HA, and I rode our bikes down to the lake for the patriotic boat parade. Then we returned to Casa Lizzi to hang out with guests by the pool. A good time was had by all. Let freedom ring. (The pictures aren’t in order. Sorry.)

 

But not even an impending hurricane will prevent my from hawking my wares. Buy my books. (Not particularly imaginative, but I hope you’ll forgive me under the circumstances.)

Quick Hits: Killer and Expendables 1 — The Deathworms of Kratos

The pseudonymous Richard Avery’s The Expendables 1: The Deathworms of Kratos is decidedly an artifact of the ’70s. It is fast, fun science-fiction, replete with action, off-page sex, and a Dirty Dozen-esque cast. These last, the eponymous Expendables, are tasked with determining (“proving”) whether or not worlds light years distant from Earth are safe for human habitation. After reading this one, I’d pick up another if I come across it in a used bookstore.

David Drake and Karl Edward Wagner collaborated on Killer. I’ve read the abbreviated version in David Drake’s Vettius and His Friends and thought I knew what I was in for. I did not. Killer is punch-dagger brutal. It is, if I must apply labels, not historical fiction, but rather historical science-fiction, set in the relatively early Roman Empire. It presents a bleak, cruel picture of the universe. It is unsparing, even horrific. Yet it does, on its own terms, arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. Drake, I assume, was responsible for the bits of historical verisimilitude. I wonder if Wagner provided the bleak outlook. Good stuff, but not for the squeamish. You have been warned. A couple of thoughts I had while reading: At times I couldn’t help but be reminded of the film Predator II. The two protagonists are reminiscent of Vettius and Dama to some degree in character but more so in their interpersonal dynamic.

Now for an announcement. (Imagine here the world’s briefest drum roll.) I will be a panelist again at Orycon this year, October 18-20. If you are in PDX that weekend, drop by and say hello. I’m curious to see how two years away will affect my reaction to autumn in the Pacific Northwest.

Before I go, here is the obligatory sales pitch. Buy my books. They are good. You will probably enjoy them.

 

Oron, Heavy Metal Noise.

David C. Smith’s Oron is a stripped down, dark epic fantasy. The scope is, perhaps, too broad to call this sword and sorcery, but that may be a quibble. The tropes are all in place, the bloody battles, swordplay, evil demonic sorcerers, nubile queens and slave girls, mercenaries, feasts, and more than a trace of horror. The Clyde Caldwell art is note perfect, his trademark light effects matching the garish nature of the material.

The story follows the titular Oron — barbarian and apparent chosen one — in his rise from mercenary to warlord to king, preparatory to his confrontation with his nemesis, the reincarnated (every thousand years from Hell) sorcerer Kossuth. There is a certain repetitiveness in the frequent sieges and battles to conquer the cities of various petty states. But the story does not fall into expected paths. It has the virtue of keeping the reader guessing. While I didn’t find Oron the character interesting enough that I’m likely to pick up the subsequent volumes of his adventures, he does possess some depth and weaknesses: a certain self-doubt, illiteracy, and bit of a drinking problem.

There is an unflinching brutality about the description of horrific deeds. Smith leans into the sheer evil of the villains. If nothing else, it serves to place the rather lacking-in-virtue protagonist in a comparatively brighter light.

The prose is serviceable, though I find stylistic turns such as using “sword” as a verb off-putting. A minor complaint for what is otherwise an enjoyable, if not monumental, read. There’s nothing wrong with straightforward entertainment. Not everything needs to be a work for the ages. (I for one am in no position to be casting stones.)

Cue the segue.

Speaking of straightforward entertainment, give Blood and Jade (the first volume of the Semi-autos and Sorcery series) a try. I remain pleased with that book and I think you’ll like the characters, action, and setting. The entire series will be released as a boxed set in August if you prefer to wait for the economy-size package.

I drove to Louisiana yesterday for lunch. Here are bonus pictures of Lake Charles.