I discussed Baum and his Oz books in a prior Under the Influence, but in honor of the release of Polychrome, I thought it might be appropriate to perform a review of each of the first fourteen Oz novels, including particular reference to events, characters, and my own thoughts on each book that found their way into Polychrome. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, often just called The Wizard of Oz, is the first of the Oz books, published in 1900, 115 years ago. The basic outline of the story is well-known, thought today mostly through the [ Continue reading... ]
Writing: Musings on Publishing
April 29, 2015 By 1 Comment
Having now made it through my own self-publishing saga as well as having multiple books published the traditional way, I figured I would gather my thoughts on the two approaches. I'm probably not going to say anything that others haven't said, but maybe it'll be said differently enough to make it interesting! The TL;DR version: Trad publishing is a great gig, IF (big if) you can get it, as long as you're cool with someone else running the show. Self-publishing, YOU run the show – but that word "RUN" is what you'll be doing, as in "run [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: To The Stars!
March 27, 2015 By 3 Comments
I previously discussed Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series, and I may later talk about his Deathworld trilogy. Here I'd like to discuss one of his less well-known series, which in some ways I found a more interesting work than either of the others: To The Stars. To The Stars is a trilogy, composed of Homeworld, Wheelworld, and Starworld; despite its title, it isn't concerned with getting people to the stars per se – that is, it isn't one of the many works in which the protagonists are part of the first journey(s) of mankind [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Harry Potter
March 23, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Looking back over my prior posts, I find myself startled to discover that I have not yet discussed the single most successful and perhaps influential fantasy series written since I was born: Harry Potter, by J. K. Rowling. The vast majority, if not all, of the people reading my columns will know the story of Harry, but just in case: the basic concept of the series is that Harry Potter was left as an orphan with his only relatives, the Dursleys, and raised (poorly) by them for eleven years; at that point he discovers [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Magic Kingdom of Landover
March 9, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Terry Brooks is best known – by far – for his Shannara series, which I have written about previously. However, he has written other books in other settings, and the ones I have enjoyed most have been the Landover novels. There were three volumes in the original Landover series; these are the ones I have read, although I intend to purchase the remaining ones after the seventh and final is completed. Thus this review covers the first three novels: Magic Kingdom for Sale – SOLD!, The Black Unicorn, and Wizard At Large. In [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Cometeers/One Against the Legion/Nowhere Near
March 4, 2015 By 2 Comments
Jack Williamson's The Legion of Space was only the first in the Legion series. As I read the Legion stories in a single omnibus edition, Three From the Legion, containing The Legion of Space, The Cometeers, One Against the Legion, and the novella Nowhere Near, I had originally planned to review the omnibus as a single book. However, I found that reviewing The Legion of Space itself was worth a complete entry. Thus, I complete my review of that omnibus in this second entry. There was a fourth Legion novel – Queen of the Legion – which I will [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Legion of Space
March 2, 2015 By 2 Comments
Jack Williamson published his first story in 1928. His last novel was published in 2005. His writing career thus spanned *nine decades* -- from the 1920s to the 2000s. Of all his works, the tales of the Legion of Space may be the most enduring. (Note: that link goes to the omnibus edition Three From the Legion, which is OOP but apparently widely available, and happens to also be the edition I first read the novel in) The original Legion tale, The Legion of Space, was first serialized in 1934, a contemporary of the Skylark and Lensman series [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 28
February 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Miri had just seen something startling... ------ Chapter 28. Miri stepped into her guestroom at the Reflect's mansion and closed the door, leaning against it heavily. I'm shaking! Shaking like a terrified human! Her current body was human, in a way… but in all the centuries she'd been in such bodies, she'd never had such a reaction. Miri held her arm up in front of her, watched the trembling of the delicate hand, the imprecision of its movements, with stunned fascination; it took twice as long as normal [ Continue reading... ]
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