Changes in Genre Evaluations: Stanley G. Weinbaum

Changes in Genre Evaluations: Stanley G. Weinbaum

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The Collected Science Fiction & Fantasy of Stanley G, Weinbaum, in four volumes:
Interplanetary Odysseys, Other Earths, The Black Heart, and Strange Genius (Leonaur, April 20006)

Isaac Asimov felt that Stanley G. Weinbaum (4 April 1902 — 19 Dec 1935) deserved to name an entire era in science fiction. The writer died at 33 of throat cancer — though how he got it no one can guess.

These four books which I got because, at least when I was young, titles like “The Black Flame” intrigued me and I’d certainly enjoyed stories like “A Martian Odyssey.” Today it makes one wonder what the rest of the genre was like, or whether his popularity was simply the personal preference of a very brilliant reader and writer in our genre.

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Dark Winds – Good Show, Bad Hillerman

The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Dark Winds – Good Show, Bad Hillerman

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So, I wrote a three-part series, covering about 5,000 words, on Tony Hillerman and his Navajo Tribal Police series. I said this at the end of the third one: “Somewhere down the line, there will be a post about the four movies (and several failed attempts at such) made from these books.”

Back in July of 2021, I wrote this essay, optimistically excited about AMC’s upcoming series based on Hillerman’s books.

The six-episode series aired back in June, but I just got around to watching it. So, this seems like a good time to write a fourth-installment in my Hillerman series, talking about Dark Winds.

If you want to know more about Hillerman and the books, click on the link above. You can find all three essays. I’m a HUUUUGE fan of his books.

I am not a fan of the continuation novels written by his daughter, Anne.

Dark Winds is set in the seventies, on the reservation in Four Corners country. That’s where Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee police procedurals take place. Joe Leaphorn is the boss of this Navajo Tribal Police sub-station. Bernie Manuelito is his number two. Jim Chee is a young officer newly assigned there. These are the three main characters in the books,and in the series.

THE STORY

Season One’s story is based on Listening Woman; the third book in the series. They use enough of the basics to recognize the source material – though they definitely change things up a fair amount. And Hillerman didn’t create Chee until book four. Or Bernie until book six. But it makes sense to have all three in the series: it all works. Listening Woman is a good novel, and I think, the best of the first three. So, a good choice to start the series with. They also worked in elements from book four, People of Darkness, which is one of my favorites. Nice!

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Vintage Treasures: 39 Short Novels edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh

Vintage Treasures: 39 Short Novels edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh

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The 13 Short Novels trilogy (Bonanza Books/Crown, 1984-87). Covers designed by Morris Taub

I spent a lot of hours last year chasing down, reading, and writing about some very fine anthologies produced by the triumvirate of Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh. Their output in the decade before Asimov’s death in 1992 was frankly amazing: some 70 anthologies, including nearly a dozen each in Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction and Isaac Asimov’s Magical Worlds of Fantasy; a decade-by-decade survey of 20th Century SF, The Mammoth Book of Classic Science Fiction; and dozens of others. These were highly readable books assembled with a deep love and knowledge of the genre.

Asimov, Greenberg and Waugh were playful in the themes they chose, and they had a mathematician’s love of lists, in books like The Seven Deadly Sins of Science Fiction and The Seven Cardinal Virtues of Science Fiction, and especially the trio 13 Short Fantasy Novels, 13 Short Science Fiction Novels, and 13 Short Horror Novels — the latter assembled without input from Asimov. The 13 Short Novels trilogy, which collects 39 terrific novellas in three volumes, is long out of print and forgotten today, which is a shame. These are exceptional books, and one is absolutely fabulous.

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Creative Visions of the Weird: Five Great International Horror Collections

Creative Visions of the Weird: Five Great International Horror Collections

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It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed such a good reading run in horror — five great collections read consecutively. I was reminded of my early reading of horror, into my teens, when I discovered so many new authors of dark matter (even hourly when reading my Dad’s Derleth horror collections). Way back then, my enjoyment of the field was writing my own future. I can see that now. And I enjoyed that feeling of discovery and excitement again with these five books — a sense of encountering original, innately weird creative visions for the first time.

I think the last time I felt that recharged by what I was reading in new horror, came in that incredible run of books from Langan, Gavin, Files, Barron, Ballingrud, Tremblay, Bartlett, and many others, around a decade ago — like a new wave of North American weird had come over the seawall. And just when I thought I knew what to expect from horror, Granta and Valancourt translated these collections into English.

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New Treasures: Leech by Hiron Ennes

New Treasures: Leech by Hiron Ennes

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Leech (Tor.com, September 27, 2022)

I’m a fan of sci-fi horror, but to be honest I find much of it rather unimaginative. So I was very intrigued by Leech, the debut novel by Hiron Ennes, which is set in a crumbling chateau in a nightmarish post-apocalyptic America, and narrated by a parasitic monster masquerading as a human doctor who uncovers a competing parasitic horror spreading through his host’s castle. Part of my interest, I admit, arises from the flood of positive press:

“A sublime gothic sci-fi tale.” ― Library Journal, starred review
“Full of squirming terror.” ― Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Pure Gothic horror.” ― The Wall Street Journal
“A strange and fascinating far-future world is gradually revealed in this accomplished combination of gothic horror and sci-fi.” ― The Guardian
“Grotesque biology like I’ve never seen. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if David Cronenberg and Edgar Allen Poe bumped into each other at the same parasitological conference, here’s your answer.” ― Peter Watts

When Peter Watts praises your inventive biology, you know you’re onto something. I was less than halfway through the summary on the inside flap when I knew I was gonna buy this one.

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Goth Chick News: Predator Meets The Dirty Dozen Meets Werewolves? Sure, Why Not?

Goth Chick News: Predator Meets The Dirty Dozen Meets Werewolves? Sure, Why Not?

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I’ve often observed here that horror, like all forms of pop culture, moves in trends. Generally, this means an ebb and flow between the various sub-cultures of monsters. For example, 2010 saw the beginning of zombies rise in popularity with the premier of The Walking Dead, just as the Twilight movies with angsty vampires, were winding down in 2012. Since then, we’ve been through witches, clowns, ghosts/evil spirits and more traditional vampires. The odd thing about these trends is that, like black nail polish, werewolves have never been so much of a trend, as a staple of the horror genre which occasionally hits the mainstream.

Werewolves in film over the last decade tended to be in two categories; either as part of a larger story (ala Underworld, Hemlock Grove and Wednesday) or as the solo subject of indie films (The Cursed and The Forrest Hills). As a dog lover myself I find this kind of sad, and wish werewolves would get to be the stars of contemporary big-budget films like short-lived but glorious days of the early 80’s which brought us American Werewolf in London and The Howling (1981), and The Company of Wolves (1984).

Sigh…

Well, until then we will have to be content with the bones we are thrown from the small budget production houses, and this brings me to today’s news.

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Random Reviews: “Shadow in the City” by Dean Wesley Smith

Random Reviews: “Shadow in the City” by Dean Wesley Smith

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Cover by G-Force Design
Cover by G-Force Design

Dean Wesley Smith wrote “Shadow in the City” for the anthology Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian. Ian, a longtime science fiction fan, had attended the Worldcon in 2001 and became friends with several authors over the next several years, including Mike Resnick, with whom she edited this anthology in 2003.  Smith’s story is inspired by Ian’s song “Here in the City,” from her 1999 album Unreleased 2: Take No Prisoners.

Set in the aftermath of a calamity that has depopulated the Pacific Northwest, if not the entire world, Carey Noack has been living alone for four years near the Oregon coast when she decides it is time to return to Portland to see if anyone is living in the city, or at least to retrieve some of the belongings from her old apartment. In Portland, Toby Landel is living in a penthouse apartment he has commandeered surrounded by surveillance equipment he set up around town in hopes of finding someone else living in the otherwise deserted city.

Although both are looking for other people, they are also aware of the danger of finding someone else. Toby’s one discovery of a person moving through Portland since the catastrophe resulted in him not revealing himself for fear that the transient would just as likely kill him as anything else. The tension of the story comes, in part, from Carey and Toby’s concerns once they realize that there actually is someone else around.

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Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords: The Princess Bride Redeems the ‘80s

Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords: The Princess Bride Redeems the ‘80s

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The Princess Bride (USA, 1987)

George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg: we may love their movies, but those guys have a lot to answer for. Their early fantasy action blockbusters, especially the Star Wars series, were such global mega-hits that they spawned countless imitators making noisy, busy, and sadly shallow films that flooded the theaters from the late ‘70s throughout the ‘80s. Everyone was chasing the golden youth market that was supposedly hooked on broad, colorful action enhanced by flashy special effects — and this pursuit infected not just Hollywood, but European and Asian studios as well.

There were some worthwhile films that followed that formula, of course — Excalibur, Time Bandits, Highlander — but in general, we got an endless series of loud actioners bloated by chase scenes, slo-mo heroic leaps, and large explosions (so many explosions). But then, in 1987, along came The Princess Bride, a small miracle of a movie with brains, heart, courage, sly wit and sharp dialogue, a film that made it possible to forget all about Red Sonja. And suddenly, the ‘80s didn’t look so bad after all.

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Future Treasures: The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 14, edited by Ellen Datlow

Future Treasures: The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 14, edited by Ellen Datlow

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The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Fourteen (Night Shade, December 20, 2022)

Here we are again. Ellen Datlow — arguably the most famous editor of horror short fiction in the world — has released her latest Best Horror anthology featuring her annual selection of tales, plus an invaluable overview of what happened last year in horror (books, magazines, awards etc.)

The present volume collects twenty-four stories and, once again, is a juicy treat for any lover of the genre.

I will focus on my own favorites, most of which were already among my own personal selection from the year 2021, while others had escaped my attention as a simple reader.

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Talking The Rings of Power: Numenor

Talking The Rings of Power: Numenor

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Sticking with my assessment that it’s better than The Shannara Chronicles, but not as good as Wheel of Time, it’s back to The Rings of Power.

Previously, I visited the sad story of Miriel (Tar-Miriel). Tolkien speculated on a couple back-stories to her marriage to Ar-Pharazon, but dropped all of them. Click on over and check that one out. He had some neat ideas.

I will say that I think that Numenor is one of the two strongest points in the show. It helps offset the fan-fiction level plotting and all the harfoot clutter.

THE GOOD

Numenor is one of my favorite things in The Silmarillion. Not surprisingly, The Rings of Power has been a bit free with adapting it. But overall, I think Numenor is one of the highlights of the show, and they could have done a lot worse.

Visually, Numenor is stunning. It was a great island empire in The Silmarillion, and they did a terrific job of conveying the splendor of Armenolos, the capital city. As Halbrand and Galadriel arrive on Elendil’s ship, the city is unveiled in majestic fashion. The big CGI budget absolutely pays off.

The Argonath – two giant statues of Isildur and Anarion, on the River Anduin – were a highlight of Peter Jackson’s movies. They stand, with their hands out in a gesture of defiance from the folk of Gondor.

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