A (Black) Gat in the Hand takes another week off, as I’ve continued listening to audiobooks daily. Last month I talked about some of my Audible choices. Whether I’m working, writing, driving, or trying to fall asleep, I am often listening to an audiobook. Often it’s a repeat, so my attention doesn’t have to be focused. But also, new things I wouldn’t get to otherwise.

EGIL & NIX – Paul S. Kemp

My Dungeons & Dragons-playing middle-school self devoured Elric, and Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser; loving both series’. But while I’ve re-read the Melnibonian many times, Leiber’s series lost its appeal. I’ve tried re-reading it a couple times, and just wasn’t into it.

I did enjoy, however, the first two of three Egil & Nix novels by Paul Kemp. These are absolutely an homage to Leiber’s duo. Anyone who likes Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser should really enjoy this pair. The constant non-swearing swearing (shite, farkin) is tiresome, but some authors seem to think it’s useful. Whatever.

I picked up the first two books – The Hammer and the Blade, and A Discourse in Steel – during that big Audible Super Sale I’ve mentioned here before. I’m listening to book one, and it’s good. It’s suitably dark for sword and sorcery, but not too much so. Nick Pedehl does a good job as narrator.

I’ll listen to the second one after finishing the first, and will probably get around to book three some time. Six years ago, Kemp posted on Reddit that he was very active sharing his political opinions and wasn’t in the mood to write fantasy. But he planned on continuing the series at some point. Hasn’t happened yet.

The individual Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories are included with my Premium membership. I’m listening to “Ill met in Lankhmar.” It’s okay. These stories just didn’t hold up for me over the years, like Thieves World did, for example.

KELLER – Lawrence Block

I’m a fan of Lawrence Block’s stamp-collecting hit man, Keller. He’s a little ‘softer’ than Max Allen Collins’ Quarry, and Donald Westlake’s Parker (I am a fan of them, as well). All but one of the five Keller books are short stories ‘strung together’ into a novel. I listened to the fifth and liked it. Now I only need to listen to a novella, which is the most recent release. I also went back and listened to book two.

I like Richard Poe, who has narrated a couple books. Book two was done by George Guidall. He reads most of Tony Hillerman’s Navajo Tribal Police books. I’m a huge fan of Hillerman’s works, and Guidall is a good choice for Leaphorn and Chee. But he did not work at all for me, as Keller. I didn’t really enjoy my listen to book two.

 

THE BLOODY SPUR – Max Allen Collins and Mickey Spillane

I’m not into Mike Hammer. I’ve tried to read a couple of the novels, and I just don’t like them. The short story collection was okay. I do like the Stacy Keach TV series’, and The New Adventures of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, radio plays.

Spillane hand-picked Collins to take charge of his papers after he died, and Collins has co-written several Hammer books from them. Spillane had an association with John Wayne and worked on a movie project with him that didn’t happen. Long story short, Collins has written several hardboiled Westerns starring that character, Caleb York. They’re ultra-violent, like Mike Hammer is. I like Collins’ co-authored Hammer stories more than I do Spillane’s originals. I also like these Westerns well enough. I have listened to the first three: the sixth novel came out in 2021.

I don’t do a lot of Westerns, and I like the late Robert B. Parker’s Cole & Hitch (now being written by Robert Knott) better. But I’ve liked Caleb York well enough, for all the violence. I’ve started the next book, Last Stage to Hell Junction.

BTW- Knott was an actor. He has taken over reading his Cole & Hitch novels. I listened to his first one. It might be the worst narration I’ve ever heard. I thought he was trying to sabotage his own novel. I’ll give the next one a try, but he was like a really bad William Shatner, with ridiculous pauses and delays. HE couldn’t have tried harder to be bad. It’s a shame, as he does a good enough job writing the books.

 

TOLL OF THE HOUNDS – Steven Erikson

Back to sword and sorcery. I have read the first seven books of Steven Erikson’s epic Malazan Book of the Fallen: Over 7,000 pages in paperback. The series is as dark as anything I read, and I take long breaks between books. But I think it’s a fantastic series. I snagged book eight, Toll of the Hounds, on the Super Sale. Figured it was a lot more likely I’d listen to it, than read it. But this thing is 44 hours long! I also grabbed book eight on sale, but I just haven’t mentally dialed in for that type of commitment.

I’ve also read/listened to the first three books of Ian C. Esslemont’s A Novel of the Malazan Empire series, and enjoyed those as well.

Malazan is a staggeringly broad series and an amazing read. They really are DARK, though. The Esslemont books are a little over half as long, and easier to digest. But I do like Malazan, and I’ll be getting to Hounds.

 

STILL LISTENING TO…

Last month I talked about Thieves World, which has long been one of my favorite fantasy series.’ I finished volumes three and four. I hope they continue on with book five and the rest of the series. I enjoyed revisiting these short stories yet again.

I mentioned I started to catch up on F. Paul Wilson’s Repairman Jack. I’ve been a huge fan of this series for a long time. Book eleven, Bloodline, was my least favorite of the series. By the Sword was better, but it took me a while to get though it. I’m just not that into the end part of this series. I picked up Ground Zero, so I’ll continue on, but I definitely enjoyed the earlier books, more.

I’m still listening to the late John Maddox Roberts’ SPQR Roman historical mysteries. I bought a bunch at that Super Sale, and I am thoroughly enjoying them. Terrific series with an excellent narrator. I talked about these in last month’s post. Highly recommended if you like that sort of thing.

 

ON TAP

I’ve got a few more as yet unread:

CONAN: CITY OF THE DEAD – John C. Hocking

Hocking’s The Emerald Lotus is one of my favorite pastiches. It’s included here with its decades-delayed follow up: The Living Plague. I have the hardback, but again – I’m likely to get to an audiobook a lot sooner. Chris is a terrific Conan author and I’m really looking forward to this.

THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL – Thomas M. Reid

I’m a big fan of the T1: The Village of Hommlet. I read a lot of the D&D novels back in the day, but never this Greyhawk series. I saw ToEE on the Super Sale and had to snag it. Even if it’s not that great, the nostalgia factor will be strong.

 

There are more which I’ll cover when I start listening to them, including books from Lawrence Block, and Scott Oden, more Jules de Grandin, and I’ll eventually finish listening to The Tao of Pooh (I read that book MANY years ago).

Prior Audio Posts:

May I Read You This Book?

What I’ve Been Listening To: September 2022

What I’ve Been Listening To: July, 2024

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Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories – Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.