Tip the Wink

Having finished two collections the previous week, I read a novel and then shifted to these for a change of pace. I finished Renegade Swords, a sword-and-sorcery anthology, then got back to the huge Thinking Machine collection, which I’ve been nibbling away on for a long time. I read three more stories this past week which brings me to the halfway point. The third book is a collection of science fiction by E. C. Tubb, who some think is one of the better SF writers in short form.

“People of the Dragon” by Lin Carter from Renegade Swords

“Pillars of Hell” by Lin Carter from Renegade Swords

“The Rune-Sword of Jotunheim” by Glenn Rahman and Richard Tierney from Renegade Swords

“The Princess of Chaos”  by Bryce Walton from Renegade Swords

note: Renegade Swords isn’t bad, but is probably best for the dedicated s&s fan.

“Problem of the Interrupted Wireless” from The Thinking Machine – the ship’s radio operator is murdered, but what is the motive?

“The Mystery of the Golden Dagger” from The Thinking Machine – a novelette about a young woman’s murder in a locked, deserted house.

The Problem of the Knotted Cord” from The Thinking Machine – a blind man’s granddaughter is strangled.

“Fallen Angel” by E. C. Tubb from The Best of E. C. Tubb – a robot story

“Death-wish” by E. C. Tubb from The Best of E. C. Tubb – massive interstellar fleets fight a seemingly unwindable war in space

note: I may need to skip my short story post next week as I’m trying to read a couple of novels, so don’t be surprised.

1. The anti-vaxers top the list, but not by much. What the hell has happened in America when “you can’t tell me what to do” is more valued than logic, rules, and science, even common sense? Just get vaccinated, people. It’s safe, effective and doesn’t even hurt.
2. The GOP say “no” to everything (Covid relief, voting rights, infrastructure, climate improvement and the rest), while blaming the Dems for not getting things done. Meanwhile they continue to fawn at the feet of the twice-impeached ex-President and the Big Lie.
3. Commercials. It’s enough to make a person give up watching television. In a half hour the amount of program content vs. commercials is about 50-50. Bah.
4. Sports on TV. We watched the World Series. Those big league players sure can spit and grab their crotch. Hitting and throwing are, apparently secondary. In football, it now seems every “color commentator” wants to be the head coach and is proud to tell the audience what should be done by the real, actual head coach. Just call the game, okay?

Fall is here, the heat is gone, we’ve had rain. Thank goodness.

Let’s face it, single comic book issues tell a short story, and a series is a set of stories. So this time I have Arrowsmith for you. These are the first six issues of Kurt Busiek’s 2004 magic & war comic, with excellent writing and artwork. There was a second set of issues the following year. Now Busiek has announced he’s going to write another set, a continuation.

The stories, one per issue, all written by Busiek:

“War”
“New York” 
“Travel”
“No Man’s Land”
“Atrocity” 
“Survival”

For anyone interested in illustrated storytelling, these really are excellent, as a patriotic young man, clear-eyed, joins an aero-corps and soon faces the realities of war. Set in 1915. At the end of this month a hardcover omnibus of all 12 issues will be published by Image Comics.

This has arrived, and it’s a wonderful thing.

It will come as no surprise that I have many large, oversized books, art books and many others. They are often heavy, bulky and can be challenging to read unless laid on a tabletop. A book stand is a better way,  both to read and display these books, and Barbara found and bought this one, handmade of walnut, for us from Tilisma. You can see I put my new The Art of Pulp Fiction by Ed Hulse on it for demonstration purposes.

Description from website:

📖 MULTIFUNCTIONAL ADJUSTABLE BOOK & TABLET HOLDER – Extremely useful reading accessory, which can be used as cookbook stand for kitchen, textbook stand for study, a bible stand, office desktop book holder, a tabletop music stand for playing the piano or while reading in bed. Can be used as an easel
📖 HIGH QUALITY LUXURY ITEM – The product is lightweight and portable, holds the pages wide open and has several angles for comfortable use. Elegant design, rare material and exceptional craftsmanship make this book holder stand great addition to your house or office. Express your high taste!
📖 HANDMADE IN GEORGIA from the finest parts of Walnut wood by experienced craftsmen, which makes every single TILISMA wooden book holder unique. The product is eco-friendly, sustainable and is made almost completely out of wood
📖 PERFECT GIFT for students as a reading desk, for book lovers and bookworms to read anywhere hands free, for librarians and teachers and for everyone as a tablet holder
📖 LARGE BOOK STAND – Desk dimensions: 11.8″ X 9″. The front pin is 2″ wide, so it can easily hold both thick and thin books. It has a line for holding the tablet firmly. The back mechanism enables you to adjust the angle of reading in 4 different positions

I had a birthday recently, and, though I’m creaking with age, I still enjoy getting books. So I thought I’d share the ones I got this year. Here they are. I’m not sure why the first book shows smaller in the gallery, but clicking on it will let you see the bigger image and you can scroll through all of them. The JLA image is lousy but the best I could find without hauling the thing downstairs to my scanner.

The Art of Pulp Fiction: An Illustrated History by Ed Hulse, Elephant Book Company September 2021 oversized (11 1/4 x 10 inches) hardcover, non-fiction, heavily illustrated, 240 pages. I’ve already started reading the introduction.

A Surprise For Christmas edited by Martin Edwards, British Library Crime Classics 2021 anthology, introduction and a dozen stories, all holiday themed. I’ll read this next month.  

Wednesday Comics by DC Comics, 2010 very oversized (17 3/4 x 11 1/4 inches) hardcover compilation of 2009 issues #1-12. 200 pages, genre: comics. I did not expect this to be so huge! This will need to be read lying on a table, so it will live on the dining room table until finished, I guess.

Guilty Creatures edited by Martin Edwards, British Library Crime Classics 2021 anthology, introduction and a dozen stories, introduction by Edwards and fourteen stories, all featuring to some degree an animal or bird. I love these anthologies.

JLA by Grant Morrison Omnibus published by DC Comics, 2020 hardcover, collected from various comics issues, 1989-2019. This mammoth book (no page numbers, as is common with comics omnibuses), is 11 x 7 1/4 inches and it’s over 2 1/2 inches thick! It’s so heavy (just over 8 lb.) that like the Wednesday Comics listed above, this will probably be read on a lap desk or table. Grant Morrison is an excellent comics writer, one of my favorites along with Kurt Busick and a few others. The Justice League of America, in this iteration, is Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, Aquaman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Aztec, Huntress, Oracle, Plastic Man and Steel. Many other lesser characters and many villains appear, of course.

So that’s the birthday book list. A lot of graphic novel / comics stuff this year, I guess I was in the mood for it, and two of them certainly a surprise, even a shock, at their size. I’ll probably do a post on each of these after I’ve read it.

I hope all who read this blog are well and content.

Autumnlands vol. 1: Tooth & Claw by Kurt Busiek and Benjamin Dewey, Image Comics, Published July 1, 2015, fantasy graphic novel, eISBN: 9781632155177

I was in the mood to read a graphic novel and came across this in an article in Mike Glyer’s blog File 770. I’m familiar with Busiek’s writing from various other works, including Astro City and Arrowsmith, and he was with CrossGen Comics when I was there, so I thought this would be a good choice, and I was right.

When the wizards of the Autumnlands reach through time to bring back a legendary hero, they don’t get the savior they expected. But in a shattered, besieged city, he’s their only hope of survival—and possibly their entire world’s, as well. This collects The Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw #1-6.

The writing and artwork are both excellent, and I enjoyed this immensely. Highly recommended for graphic novel fans! I also have volume 2 in hand and am saving it until I finish the novel I’m currently reading. The series is being revived by Image Comics and I’m already eager to continue with it.

Also, fans of Busiek’s Arrowsmith series may be interested in a forthcoming hardcover of the entire story coming in a month or two.