Looking for Your Next Book

 I honestly don't remember requesting the ARC for this book, but I recognize the publisher, the anthology series, and one of the editors and stories of dragons seem like something I'd be interested in, so I have no doubt that I did request this. I just don't remember it - which is a little unusual. This is a collection of romance stories ... featuring dragons in one way or another.  Sometimes as the object of romance, sometimes otherwise.  But let's recognize that 'romance' here generally refers to erotica.  I was generally impressed with the quality of writing on these stories. I didn't recognize any of the authors' names but editors Cosmin Alexander and Cecilia Tan  did a really fine job of selecting some top-notch fiction. However ... While I like to think I'm fairly open-minded, I have no interest in reading M/M erotica and there definitely was a bit of that here. More, perhaps, than I would expect to find in a general anthology without it being ...

GOR WEEK Book #5 of nearly forty in the series. Presumably the series is just finding its footing and one would have reason to believe that it's a great series, given that the publisher was willing to put out this many books. One might be wrong. It looks like Tarl Cabot is dead and a deadly assassin by the name of Kuurus has made his presence known - he is out to avenge Tarl and he is fearsome. Meanwhile there is some political intrigue going on in the city of Ar. The Priest-Kings have told our hero (ah ... but who IS our hero?) of the 'Others.' The Others are rivals to the Priest-Kings from outer space who destroy everything in their wake. Because the Priest-Kings are now weaker (thanks, Tarl) the Others have found their way into communities of Gor and threaten the Gorean way of life.  The Priest-Kings seek our hero's help to spy on them. Oh, okay ... our hero is Tarl Cabot in disguise. Surprise! (It's not, really.) And if the take-over of Gor by the Others wasn...

 Wow. I didn't think too highly of book three in the Gorean saga because I didn't think there was much plot, but compared to this volume, book three is an absolute epic. If there's a story here other than the taming of a shrew, it's pretty well hidden. So, Tarl Cabot, once of Earth, now a well-known warrior of Gor (a counter-Earth) is dedicated to protecting and preserving the Priest-Kings. But there's a tribe of savages standing in his way so Tarl infiltrates the nomadic Wagon People to try and learn their ways and makes friends with Kamchak. In the course of their friendship, Kamchak gives to Tarl the Earth female slave Elizabeth. It's not much of gift because Elizabeth is sassy and doesn't act the way female slaves are supposed to act. Too much of the book is about Elizabeth and Tarl and their "you're a slave/I'm free/you're free/I'm a slave" arguments.  Though we do also get to learn about the game of Love War: Judges were now c...

GOR WEEK  Tarl Cabot of Earth is back on the counter-earth, known as Gor. His beautiful Gorean wife, Talena, is missing. The enigmatic Priest-Kings who rule from high atop their mountain keep are the most likely suspects to have taken Talena.  Tarl needs to know if the priest-kings took Talena, and if there's any chance she might still be alive. To do so, he'll make the journey to the mountain-top, knowing full well that no one who's ever made the journey has ever returned. Some time back, I decide that I would slowly read through the Gor series.  I read the first few books back in the early 1970's (the covers by Boris were the biggest appeal for this teenage boy), but other than the basic premise of Tarl of Earth being on Gor, I don't remember too much (and admittedly, I sometimes confuse the stories of Gor and Barsoom [though I'm aware that the Gor books are considered much more sexist]) and honestly can't remember if I'd read this book or not. The sto...

GOR WEEK In this second book in John Norman's "Gor" series, university history professor Tarl Cabot finds himself transported back to the alternate-Earth known as Gor. He can't deny that he's glad to be back in this land where he is recognized as a hero and powerful warrior and where his one true love resides. But as Tarl travels toward his home on Gor, he discovers that his name no longer brings about awe and respect, but instead he and all those loyal to him have been declared outlaws. Has he been brought back to Gor by the Priest-Kings only to be captured and punished? Or is he meant to restore the name of Tarl Cabot and that of his city (which has been decimated)?  Tarl is captured and taken to Tharna, a city ruled by women, where he is sentenced to death.  He manages to escape, taking the Tantrix (the ruler of Tharna) with him.  She is used to ruling over subservient men and must now learn what it means to be a slave herself.  But of course Tarl, ever chivalr...

GOR WEEK There are very few books that I re-read, and generally I've only reread a book that I really liked (ie Roger Zelazny's Amber series). But I was interested in exploring the Gor series. This was one of the first books I remember reading specifically because of the nearly-naked woman on the cover (thanks, Boris!) when I was a young teen. Our hero, Tarl Cabot, seemed like the ideal hero to this, then 14 year old boy ... he was smart, and strong, incredibly lucky, and very respectful. Even though slaves were common on this planet, Gor, Tarl would look to free them. And when women threw themselves at him (and they did), he wouldn't take advantage of them if they were only doing so because they were ordered to do it. And despite Tarl's seemingly gentleman-like behavior, there isn't a single woman in the book who isn't either a slave, or treated like slave and wearing a slave collar. The story: Tarl Cabot is a British man who goes out for a hike in New England ...

Charlie N. Holmberg is back with an absolutely stunning, powerful new book, the first in a series, The Shattered King . Nym lives on the outskirts of the kingdom of Cansere. She is a beekeeper and healer in her small village, and cares for her younger siblings after the unfortunate accident that claimed her parents' and her twin sister's lives. Cansere is under the threat of war, as neighboring, larger kingdoms look to swallow them up. Her role as healer is different from that of a doctor or physician. A healer has the ability to look inside a person's aura, or soul, and to fix them this way. This kind of healing may also heal physical issues, such as broken bones or torn skin. A letter from the queen requests Nym's presence to the castle to attempt to heal Prince Renn, the youngest son of the king and queen who has been a shut-in all his life with only the barest ability to move. Nym learns that no healer or physician has ever been able to heal Prince Renn, but like ev...

 I read a fair amount of Michael Moorcock, having been really fascinated by his hero, Elric, an albino prince in a fantasy land, and then relishing his Eternal Champion, which combined the familiar (to me) Elric other characters in Moorcock's body of work. Somehow, however, I missed the first book in Moorcock's "Metatemporal Detective" series. I picked this book up because of what I expected was obvious ... this must be a new Elric novel. I mean, 'albino' and 'Michael Moorcock' - how could it be anything else? But it is something else. It is the early 1930's and Detective Sir Seaton Begg and his trusty associate, Doctor Sinclair, are sent undercover to Istanbul by Britain's Temporal Agency - a highly secretive organization. They are looking for the Red King who leads a group of assassins who are planning to take control of the entire world. Also in Istanbul are Nazi forces - a recently formed but growing arm of the German forces. Their presence...

 Anders is a teenage idealist who enlists to fight for the North in the war between the States. Somewhere, at the heart of it all, there's a Purpose for it all. A reason people want him to die for it. Right? His enlistment gets him a prime spot as a Union flag twirler - a respected position to announce to the enemy which army is advancing. 'Respected' that is, until he's captured. Still trying to understand just what he stands for and can only find 'staying alive' as a Purpose, Anders becomes a Confederate, willing to fight for his new army. But the Confederates also want him die, this time at Gettysburg. Nearly succeeding in dying, Anders steals the uniform off a Black Union soldier, he works his way to a Black Union unit, telling them he's an Octoroon, despite his very white appearance. This is when his life truly changes, as he befriends a Black playwright (who's writing odd, science fiction plays and creating a 'new' Black theatre), a Haitian...

Warning: This review addresses adult sexual and violent content.  Let me be very clear ... I knew NOTHING about this book, or the series of comics. I recognize Howard Chaykin's name as an artist with both DC and Marvel comics back in the 1970's (when I was a regular comic reader). The cover suggested an erotic series and I've read a couple of very good erotic-themed graphic novels in the past.  What I was not expecting was ... well ... this. This is full of raunchy sex, dark and kinky perversions, vampires, and lots and lots of blood. And don't get me wrong ... that's the good stuff! It's also got some raunchy sex, dark and kinky perversions, vampires, and lots and lots of blood that doesn't work so well. This is not going to be a popular opinion given how ardent some of author/artist Howard Chaykin's fans can be, but this didn't work for me. I need to note: when I downloaded my ARC from the publisher, it was not made me evident to me that my copy wa...

I am not an ardent Fleetwood Mac fanatic. I have perhaps four of their albums, purchased between the mid-1970's and mid-80's and of course I listened to them on the radio back in those pre-internet days. And while they are someone I listened to, they definitely took a backseat to bands like the Beatles, the Eagles, ELO, Queen, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and many many others. BUT ... when ranking my favorite albums of all time, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours is always in the top five, often my number one pick. Clearly I'm not the only person who really likes this album and author Alan Light (a senior writer to Rolling Stone magazine) examines the album, its ability to reach new audiences every generation, and why we seem to be constantly drawn to it. Light goes into some detail about the creation of the album. It seems to have been common knowledge to fans that the band was going through a lot of personal affairs and break-ups with each other and then writing songs about it, m...

 Science fiction readers of a certain age (let's say 60 and older) are probably going to really enjoy this because the authors (and artists) interviewed are generally authors we grew up with (Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, C.L. Moore, Philip K. Dick, Roger Zelazny, Kelly Freas, Anne McCaffrey, Frank Belknap Long, and many, many, many others), and they are talking about magazines and editors and publishers that, if we didn't read, we knew (or thought we knew) about them. There's plenty of dirt dished out - which editors paid well and on time, and which ones did not, how some got their start selling to one of the pulps, and how their stories got edited ... or how they didn't. I particularly enjoyed Frank M. Robinson's story about a time he'd been chatting with an editor of one science fiction magazine:  ...we talked over a story that he wanted me to write, and I went home and wrote the story. Realizing that they always changed the title, I didn’t b...

 It is 1888 and the world is on edge with reports of the brutal murders in the Whitechapel area of London and the still-at-large killer who's given the name Jack the Ripper. And for the man known as 'Jack' it isn't safe to spend too much time in London. He's already been pulled in for questioning by the police - along with a large handful of other men. Clearly the police are casting a wide net, hoping something will come of it, but it does motivate Jack to move on. New York, the Bowery. Tabitha is a Salvation Army girl. She preaches to anyone who listen about the Gospels, and talks a lot of The Ripper. Her roommate, Pearl, has also been a Salvation Army girl, but becomes a Medusa and leaves religion behind. Tabitha is convinced that Jack the Ripper is in New York, and she's not the only one. Investigators who have suspected the man have followed him to New York and let it slip so that all of New York believe The Ripper is living among them. What will happen when...