We have visitors in town today

CF - 18 Hornet in action

We don't often get fighters in town but for the next few days but for the next few days there will be CF-18s here on a bit of an exercise. You always know when they are here, the sound level increases a bit. 

It's mid September so lets do a bit of a reading update.

Completed Books (3 completed with one of them a DNF)

1. The Humanoid Touch by Jack Williamson (Humanoids #2 / 1980) This was my DNF book.

"I gave up on The Humanoid Touch, the 2nd book in American Sci Fi author Jack Williamson's Humanoid series. There is a 3rd book but I've been unable to find a copy. I have noted that I read the first book, but for the life of me, I can't really recall it. Maybe that explains why I gave up on The Humanoid Touch.

Williamson was in the forefront of Sci Fi, his first book published in 1928. The Humanoid Touch came out 30 years after The Humanoids. I don't even know if I can describe what I read in the 52 pages I did complete. It focuses on a young boy, going through school on some distant planet. His father is distant and basically drops the boy off at boarding schools. His father is fanatical about the threat of the Humanoid race. They want to control mankind.

Kell finds something that may help his father's efforts. He meets a girl from another planet (I wondered if she might be a humanoid spy)... and then I thought. Who cares. I just really couldn't grasp what was going on and didn't care enough to keep trying. I'm sure others have enjoyed it. I do have books from Williamson's Seetee trilogy and his Legion of Space trilogy and I'll probably try them again. But not today. So No Rating for this on."

2. The Rainbow and the Rose by Nevil Shute (Fic / 1958) Nevil Shute never disappoints.

"I honestly don't know how Nevil Shute does it to me every single darn time! He grabs me one way and then twists me around so I'm looking in the other direction and just grabs my heart strings. I've read so many of his stories (*Checks his book list, counts on his fingertips*), 15 so far, not counting this latest, The Rainbow and the Rose, and there hasn't been a bad one in the lot. 7 five-star reads and the others were all great. Anyway, enough rambling, let's look at this book.

The Rainbow and the Rose was published originally in 1958 and starts off with a bit of a preamble about Johnny Pascoe, a pilot, born in Canada, who fought in the RAF during WWI, then after traveling ends up in Tasmania at a small airfield where he crop dusts, does some flying lessons. An old friend from his England days, Ronnie Clark, an Englishman, now flying commercial liners for an Australian airline was trained by Johnny back in England. While their paths haven't crossed in awhile, he hears that a small plane had crashed in Tasmania and that Johnny was flying it.

And that starts this fascinating story. Ronnie, upon returning to Australia, checks into the crash a bit more. It seems that Johnny was flying to a small house in the interior of Tasmania with a small (VERY SMALL) airstrip to pick up a young girl with appendicitis and when he tried to land, he crashed. (btw, Johnny is in his 60s now). Johnny has a fractured skull and is in a bad way and Tasmanian authorities are trying to figure a way of either dropping off a doctor to treat both Johnny and the little girl, or to somehow fly them out.

Ronnie talks to his wife and decides to head down to Tasmania, the town of Buxton, to see if he can maybe help. He offers to fly in the local doctor. Now what this means is that in his small plane, Ronnie will land and while still taxiing, the doctor will jump out of the plane with his kit and then Ronnie will take off again. This is do to the poor runway strip and also the fact that severe weather is coming in. The doctor is rightfully kind of hesitant but grows to the idea. I'm on the edge of my seat.... They try but the weather is too bad and they have to fly back to Buxton. They try once more, but it's even worse and they return again.

They can't get there by sea because of the weather and a group with a doctor is trying to hike in (it'll take a few days). The RAAF is looking to parachute a doctor and nurse in and another flying doctor has arrived in Buxton but he doesn't want to try either until the weather improves.

Now this is told all very matter-of-factly but man oh man, the whole situation just kind of boggled my mind.

Ronnie is exhausted and stays overnight in Johnny house in Buxton so he can make another attempt to fly in the next day if weather improves. Two women show up, one a long lost daughter of Johnny's who isn't very nice and a nurse from the mainland who flew with Johnny as a hostess and wants to help the doctor, to drop in with him.

Now the story takes a strange turn that at first left me wondering.. what the heck! What about the rescue!! While sleeping in Johnny's house, Ronnie kind of jumps back into Johnny's early life and we begin to discover more about who Johnny was and about his life. In the back of my mind, I couldn't see why this was necessary. This was the story of a rescue and I wanted to get back to it. We learn about Johnny's activities in WWI, the stress and toll it took on him. We learn about his marriage and the break up of this relationship. We learn about his life as a flying school instructor, his only other real relationship and its tragic ending (Ronnie oddly shows up in this bit, as this was where he was trained by Johnny) And finally Johnny's life as he nears retirement as a commercial pilot, the air hostess that sort of comes into his life (and the twist).....

And then the ending..... Shute does it every single time. An outstanding story with a normal story within, all tied together and just saying bye and leaving you happy, bereft... One of the great story tellers, Shute never fails. (4.5 stars)"

3. The Collected Essex County by Jeff Lemire (CanLit / Graphic / 2009). Just excellent.

"Jeff Lemire is a Canadian graphic novelist. I started his Gideon Falls horror series recently and enjoyed it very much. I was reading an article about banned books in a Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) web page and his name came up again, in reference to this series, The Collected Essex County. So, of course, I thought I should check it out.

Lemire grew up in Essex County Ontario, a county which borders Windsor. So the setting he is using is familiar for this collection of stories. The artwork is stark, the stories ... difficult to describe... about life, about growing up, about relationships, about aging, death... oh, and hockey.

I readily admit that I wasn't sure what to expect as I began to read it but I just found myself just turning page after page, drawn into the story. There is young Lester in his super hero outfit, living with his uncle on his farm and making friends with Jimmy who runs the local gas station. As the story develops, we discover that Lawrence's mother died and she asked her brother, Lawrence's uncle, to raise Lawrence. Jimmy was a hockey player, managed to get into one game with the Toronto Maple Leafs, scored a goal and then took an elbow to the head, ending his career before it got started. Jimmy is supposedly slowish but befriends Lawrence. Lawrence's uncle doesn't like the friendship, the reasons which become apparent much later on.

There is the local nurse, a widow, having difficulties with her son, who tries to keep life going by helping the elderly, sometimes forcefully, which she admits. There are Lou and Vince, two brothers, both hockey players. Lou played with a minor league team and gets his younger brother Vince a tryout. Vince becomes a star, Lou falls in love with Vince's girl friend, they become distant, come together on the death of their mother and then later in life, Lou now has to take care of Vince.

And there are a number of minor short stories that were to be included in this series but are added at the end. All are related by Essex County, by their lives, but the people. It's odd but just draws you in. What a nice surprise. 4.0 stars"

Currently Reading (since my last update) I'm focusing on horror for the next month

1. Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey (Felix Castor #3 / 2007). It's been too long since I checked out this horror series.

"You might think that helping a friend's widow to stop a lawyer from stealing her husband's corpse would be the strangest thing on your To Do list. But life is rarely that simple for Felix Castor.

A brutal murder in King's Cross bears all the hallmarks of a long-dead American serial killer, and it takes more good sense than Castor possesses not to get involved. He's also fighting a legal battle over the body - if not the soul - of his possessed friend, Rafi, and can't shake the feeling that his three problems might be related.

With the help of the succubus Juliet and paranoid zombie data-fence Nicky Heath, Castor just might have a chance of fitting the pieces together before someone drops him down a lift shaft or rips his throat out.

Or not. . ."

2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Classic / 1818) My copy is the 1831 revised edition.

"Obsessed with the secret of creation, Swiss scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein cobbles together a body he’s determined to bring to life. And one fateful night, he does. When the creature opens his eyes, the doctor is repulsed: his vision of perfection is, in fact, a hideous monster. Dr. Frankenstein abandons his creation, but the monster won’t be ignored, setting in motion a chain of violence and terror that shadows Victor to his death."

New Arrivals

1. Threshold by Caitlin R. Kiernan (Chance Matthews #1 / Hor / 2001). I've enjoyed Kiernan's work very much.

"A strange girl speaks of being charged by an angel to battle monsters and claims she cannot do it alone. She needs Chance’s help.

Chance Matthews has suffered enough tragedies. The latest — her grandfather’s death — has left her shaken, convinced that she will always be alone. What she needs now is time — time to recover, time to determine what her future will be. What she doesn’t need is a strange girl with alabaster skin who knows things about Chance she can’t possibly know.

Chance doesn’t believe in angels. Or monsters. But among the artifacts left by her geologist grandparents, there lies a fossil of a creature that couldn’t possibly have ever existed.

But it did. And still does…"

2. America, USA; How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. (History / 2026) Jo and I watch Eddie Glaude on MS NOW regularly, such an intelligent, thoughtful, well-spoken man.

"Celebrated public intellectual Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. returns with a groundbreaking book about the vicious cycles of American history and the country’s enduring refusal to face its true nature—especially at the moments when national anniversaries steer us back toward the mythology meant to disguise the truth.

America, U.S.A., deliberately formulated and beautifully written, details a heart-wrenching exploration of America’s legacy. It is a magnificently complex combination of voices and lessons that, together, paint a sprawling and honest tableau of the United States, its complicated past, and ever more tenuous future. Glaude’s is a powerful voice of conscience in our tumultuous world, and his writing will undoubtedly leave you reeling yet ready for more. He pulls no punches, calling on us to interrogate our conceptions of innocence and freedom and the stories we tell ourselves about our past and present.

Centered around the major celebrations of America’s birthday across 250 years of history, the book offers a riveting look at the battles over who has a stake in the American story. Devastatingly candid, profoundly moving, and deeply reflective, America, U.S.A. is a shining meditation on how we might reckon with a grim past in order to strive for the better angels of our future." (If only the US listened to him)

There you go, a mid - month reading update... and, yes, the noisy planes are still circling.

A New Month - The First Reading Update

Let's get right to it. We're in a new month. Autumn is on the way. Kids are back to school. I've got quite a few books on the go. I keep getting distracted by shiny new ones. I've decided that for the next month, until about mid-October, when I finish a book, I'm going to start a horror novel instead of my normal challenges. 

Scary month is soon on us, right? I've just started my first.. 😈

Completed Books

(Two books completed since my last update)

1. Wycliffe and the Tangled Web by W.J. Burley (Inspector Wycliffe #15 / 1988) One of my favorite, most reliable mystery series.

"The Wycliffe series by British author W.J. Burley is one of my favorite crime series. Wycliffe and the Tangled Web is the 17th book I've enjoyed in the series and the remaining 5 books are sitting on my book shelf. I'll have to take time to savor them. I haven't been reading them necessarily in sequence but each story can be read as a standalone.

We meet Hilda Clemo, a late teen, whose family runs a camping site on the outskirts of a Cornish village. She tells her older sister, Alice, that she is pregnant and then heads off to meet her boyfriend, Ralph Martin, who works for his father running a tour boat business. They have an argument on the boat and she leaves when he docks at the first stop. She tells him she's going to take the bus home and heads off... and that's the last time we see Hilda.

Hilda's father calls the police when she doesn't make it home and it's reported up the chain and eventually, one of Wycliffe's detectives, Kersey makes his way to the village to start up a search. Eventually, when it's reported to Wycliff, he also gets involved and of course, the investigation begins in earnest.

As the title suggests, it's a tangle web of family mattes that the team find itself involved in. There are ill feelings between two branches of the family that live right next to each other. Hilda's grandmother had recently passed away and as the investigation progresses, Wycliffe discovers another death (murder?) of an elderly aunt, living with the Rules (the other branch of the family)

It seems that Hilda wasn't all that nice of a girl. She inculcates herself into various lives, trying to find weaknesses, for what reason? Well, maybe just so she knows. The story is peopled with very interesting characters, each with their own reasons for disliking Hilda. As the investigation in the disappearance (Is Hilda even dead??), we find out more about her dealings within the family and also with the next door neighbour, an art critic and his crippled wife. 

The story moves along very nicely. Burley is very comfortable with his characters and the setting for the story. I vaguely remember watching the TV version of this particular book, each was excellent in its own right. I've enjoyed every book in this series, not a cozy mystery but usually not a thriller. Just an entertaining story with neat characters and well-written. (4.0 stars)"

2. Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson (Alt History / 1988). A new author for me and just my 3rd 5-star read of 2026.

"A preamble before I review Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson.

1. I decided to get this book as a result of exploring publisher PM Press and their Outspoken Authors series of books; which features interviews and short stories from selected authors. Bisson interviews many of the authors and PM also published this book, which sounded interesting

2. I have been enjoying the book since starting it, but last night, I had a really scary dream. One of those dreams that even after you wake up, you can't go back to sleep because it's still behind your eyes, poking at your brain. So even though it was 2 am, I decided to finish this book. It achieved the aim of removing the nightmare from my mind but instead I found myself still thinking about what I'd read and what I wanted to say about it. Needless to say, I ended up watching boring news so I could get back to sleep.

Preamble over. Fire on the Mountain , subtitle is 'What if John Brown had won at Harper's Ferry? The Classic SF novel of a black utopia in the American South'

So there is your premise. We're in an alternate history following 3 story lines. First you have Yasmin and her daughter Harriet, traveling in the new US, or alternate US.  The South is now called Nova Africa and is a socialist, mainly black society. Yasmin has been working as an archeologist in Africa while Yasmin stayed with her grandmother. They've gone to bring back papers of their grandfather (great grandfather?) who had been involved in the wars after John Brown's attack on Harper Ferry. The museum is run by Grissom, a white man who lost a leg fighting to create this new America. 

The 2nd storyline follows Dr. Abraham, the self same great grandfather, who tells the story of what happened at Harper's Ferry and afterwards from his perspective as a young 12 year old, living with his Mama and a white horse 'salesman?' in Harper's Ferry. 

The 3rd story follows Dr. Thomas Hunter, a white doctor from the south who is trying to help John Brown by gathering medical supplies for the revolution. His story is told in epistolary fashion through his letters to his sister and to the woman he loves, another doctor who has gone to practice in England. The letters are provide to Grissom by the elderly sister, now 100+ years old.

There are two smaller subsets that add more richness to the story. Nova Africa is about to land on Mars. Yasmin and Harriet are trying to get back to grandma's house to watch it with her. It's a bittersweet moment for Yasmin as her husband, Leon (the Lion), was on the original fly-past of Mars and he lost his life, floating away in space, after saving the ship. She has not gotten over this and it is a constant theme through her dealings with Harriet.

The other substory is a book that Dr. Hunter's sister gives to Yasmin to read; John Brown's Body. It's a white supremacist science fiction story about what would have happened if John Brown hadn't succeeded in his attack. (Of course, in our life, he didn't succeed, so in effect, we are living now in this Sci-Fi alternate history).

Anyway, the story wanders between the characters, adding facts, relationships (how young Abraham eventually meets Dr. Hunter and their work together as doctors. Oh, there are the 'living boots' that Yasmin gives to Harriet as a gift. Manufactured on the moon, they grow and form to the foot. Yasmin can't remember what it is that makes them grow quicker, but that comes clear as the story winds down.

For a relatively short story, my copy was 154 pages, it's just such a rich, emotional, beautifully written story. The more I got into it, the more I loved the characters, their relationships with each other. It left me kind of sad that I'm living in this Sci-Fi story that is hinted at, the land where white supremacists are systematically trying to destroy the world to keep themselves in power. I want to live in the USSA (Unites Socialists States of America). It's not perfect. They had to fight for it. But it just seemed to have community, hope. Oh and I definitely want a pair of living boots! I really do!!! Please, read this story. It's fantastic (5.0 stars)"

Currently Reading (started since last update)

1. Gambit by Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe #37 / 1962) I haven't read many of the series but I've enjoyed.

"Jerin was a mental freak—one of those eerily brilliant geniuses who could play a dozen games of chess at once and win every one of them. Blount was a millionaire fanatic with a fiendishly ingenious plan for beating Jerin at his favorite pastime. It was up to Nero Wolfe and Archie to prove that Blount’s plan hadn’t included murder… "

2. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin (Horror / 1972) My first horror selection.

"For Joanna, her husband, Walter, and their children, the move to beautiful Stepford seems almost too good to be true. It is. For behind the town's idyllic facade lies a terrible secret--a secret so shattering that no one who encounters it will ever be the same.

At once a masterpiece of psychological suspense and a savage commentary on a media-driven society that values the pursuit of youth and beauty at all costs, The Stepford Wives is a novel so frightening in its final implications that the title itself has earned a place in the American lexicon."

Newest Arrivals

1. 334 by Thomas M. Disch (Sci Fi / 1972). I've read two of Disch's books and like his imagination.

"If Charles Dickens has written speculative fiction, he might have created a novel as intricate, passionate, and lacerating as Thomas M. Disch's visionary portrait of the underbelly of 21st-century New York City. The residents of the public housing project at 334 East 11th Street live in a world of rationed babies and sanctioned drug addiction. Real food is displayed in museums and hospital attendants moonlight as body-snatchers.

Nimbly hopscotching backward and forward in time, Disch charts the shifting relationships between this world's inheritors: an aging matriarch who falls in love with her young social worker; a widow seeking comfort from the spirit of her dead husband; a privileged preteen choreographing the perfectly gratuitous murder. Poisonously funny, piercingly authentic, 334 is a masterpiece of social realism disguised as science fiction."

2. The Other Place by Monica Hughes (Sci Fi / 2000) A Canadian author, whose YA Sci Fi work I've recently discovered. Another I want to keep exploring.

"In "The Other Place", Hughes returns to her most popular setting-- a not-so-distant future world. The Fairweather family, mom, dad, eight-year-old Billy and pre-teen Alison, have just been charged with crimes of subversion against the all-powerful World Government. Now they are about to become "disappeareds", all traces of their existence wiped cleanly away. The Fairweathers are sentenced to five years in the mysterious penal colony of Habitat W- a self-contained, controlled and eerily sterile indoor place that opens to a seething desert of fierce wind and sand. Strangely, Mr. and Mrs. Fairweather robotically resign themselves to their fate. But Billy is convinced that somewhere beyond the barren desert, there is a paradise to be found. His escape from Habitat W sets off a chain of startling events that helps Alison to discover "the other place" and a new hope for their future."

3. On the Calculation of Volume 1 by Solvej Balle (Fiction / 2020). I just happened to see this at my local book store... I did like the cover.

"Tara Selter, the heroine of On the Calculation of Volume, has involuntarily stepped off the train of time: in her world, November eighteenth repeats itself endlessly. We meet Tara on her 122nd November 18th: she no longer experiences the changes of days, weeks, months, or seasons. She finds herself in a lonely new reality without being able to explain why: how is it that she wakes every morning into the same day, knowing to the exact second when the blackbird will burst into song and when the rain will begin? Will she ever be able to share her new life with her beloved and now chronically befuddled husband? And on top of her profound isolation and confusion, Tara takes in with pain how slight a difference she makes in the world. (As she puts it: “That’s how little the activities of one person matter on the eighteenth of November.”)

Balle is hypnotic and masterful in her remixing of the endless recursive day, creating curious little folds of time and foreshadowings: her flashbacks light up inside the text like old flash bulbs.

The first volume’s gravitational pull―a force inverse to its constriction―has the effect of a strong tranquilizer, but a drug under which your powers of observation only grow sharper and more acute. Give in to the book's logic (its minute movements, its thrilling shifts, its slant wit, its slowing of time) and its spell is utterly intoxicating."

4. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (Fantasy / 2025). A new author for me.

"They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood."

5. Engines of Reason by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Elder Race #2 / Fantasy / 2026). I pre-ordered this back in January. I enjoyed Elder Race #1 very much.

"Visit a world where sorcery intertwines with science by multiple Hugo nominee Adrian Tchaikovsky in this highly-anticipated sequel to his hugely popular Elder Race.

On a planet where stories govern identity, where science and magic are a merely point of view, a fallen princess, a reluctant wizard, and a precocious child must unravel the past to shape the future.

Betrayal, ancient myths, and the clash of worlds converge in this spellbinding tale of courage, friendship, and self-discovery."

(Editor Comment - Jo and I stopped off at the Comox Thrift the other day so she could say hi to an old co-worker. I found two books in their book section)

6. The Mersey Ferry Murders by Brian L. Porter (Mersey Murders #9 / 2021) I may have to find #1 before I start this one, eh?

"A new serial killer is at large in Liverpool. The victims appear to have no connection to each other, and Detective Inspector Andy Ross and the Merseyside Police Force Specialist Murder Investigation Team are brought in to investigate.

The victims are all middle-aged and the police are initially baffled, until a tenuous link suggests the victims were involved in a rape/murder trial fifteen years previously. Ross and his team of detectives soon realize that the killer has a 'murder list' and that unless he or she can be stopped, the city's streets will soon be awash with the blood of the innocents.

The Mersey Ferry Murders is a tale of rage, revenge and retribution, as Ross's team race against time to prevent the killer from carrying out a plan of heinous proportions."

7. Sanctuary Line by Jane Urquhart (Can Lit / 2010) My ongoing efforts to explore Canadian writers.

"Set in the present day on a farm at the shores of Lake Erie, Jane Urquhart's stunning new novel weaves elements from the nineteenth-century past, in Ireland and Ontario, into a gradually unfolding contemporary story of events in the lives of the members of one family that come to alter their futures irrevocably. There are ancestral lighthouse-keepers, seasonal Mexican workers; the migratory patterns and survival techniques of the Monarch butterfly; the tragedy of a young woman's death during a tour of duty in Afghanistan; three very different but equally powerful love stories. Jane Urquhart brings to vivid life the things of the past that make us who we are, and reveals the sometimes difficult path to understanding and forgiveness."

(And back to my other arrivals)

8.  The Collected Essex County by Jeff Lemire (Graphic / CanLit / 2009). I've been enjoying the Gideon Falls graphic novel series. I read about this in a CBC news article.

"Where does a young boy turn when his whole world suddenly disappears? What turns two brothers from an unstoppable team into a pair of bitterly estranged loners? How does the simple-hearted care of one middle-aged nurse reveal the scars of an entire community, and can anything heal the wounds caused by a century of deception?

Award-winning cartoonist Jeff Lemire pays tribute to his roots with Essex County, an award-winning trilogy of graphic novels set in an imaginary version of his hometown, the eccentric farming community of Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In Essex County, Lemire crafts an intimate study of one community through the years, and a tender meditation on family, memory, grief, secrets, and reconciliation. With the lush, expressive inking of a young artist at the height of his powers, Lemire draws us in and sets us free. This new edition collects the complete, critically-acclaimed trilogy (Tales from the Farm, Ghost Stories, and The Country Nurse) in one deluxe volume! Also included are over 40-pages of previously unpublished material, including two new stories."

9. Molly Zero by Keith Roberts (Sci Fi / 1980) In the past year, I've read two of Roberts' books and enjoyed them both; Pavane and The Furies. So, yes, I'm exploring more of his books. 😀

"Raised, tested, trained and indoctrinated in the blocks, molly zero is being groomed for the governing elite. Rebelling against her fate, she flees. An innocent searching for truth, molly finds the world outside the blocks alien and frightening. Her flight plunges her first into the heart of a small community. Next, attracted by their eccentric gaiety, she joins the travelling gypsies, roaming the country in commercial air cushion vehicles. And then molly gets caught up in urban terrorism."

So there you go. Keep checking this site out as I add some of the horror books I'll be reading. Enjoy your September.

End August 2026 Reading Update

Another month is winding down so let's do a reading / new book update. 

Books Completed (since last update)

(4 books completed since last update)

1. The Dream Master by Roger Zelazny (Sci Fi / 1966) Back in the day, I quite enjoyed Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber series. This was an interesting concept but somewhat disappointing.

"The Dream Master by Roger Zelazny is one of those books I wanted to like more than I ultimately did. I remember enjoying Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber so very much a few years back. I saw The Dream Master listed in another book I'd read and it sounded very interesting.

It's a difficult plot to explain. Render is a psychology engineer, one of the best in fact, who has the ability, with the help of some technology, to enter a person's mind, and use their thoughts and dreams to cure their mental problems. He cures one man at the beginning and gets a request from a blind woman, also a psychiatrist, who wants to use his talents to help her see, even if just in her dreams.

That is the crux of the story, but also we have Render's issues being dealt with; his constant moving of his young son from school to school. Who has the issue? There is a relationship with Jill de Ville and where it might be going.

But it's difficult to follow the story, it jumps from scene to scene and leaves you unsure if it's reality (a futuristic reality) or dreams with Eileen (the blind woman). Bender's mentor seems to worry that Eileen might be taking over the psycho analysis from Bender.... 

There are fascinating moments and frustrating moments. The ending is interesting, but ... um, maybe vague or unclear are the correct words. Oh yes, there is Eileen's seeing eye dog, Sigmund, who is able to talk and is concerned that if Eileen gains a sort of sight from the treatment, he will no longer be needed. Sigmund is one of the more interesting characters.. Oh and who the heck is the man walking down the highway?

I think it's my confusion that left me not liking the book so very much. It's a fascinating concept and the book got better as it went along. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't a favorite. (2.0 stars)"

2. The Genocides by Thomas M. Disch (Sci Fi / 1965). I think I preferred Camp Concentration to The Genocides but it was still quite interesting.

"The Genocides by Thomas M. Disch is the 2nd book I've tried by Disch, the first was Camp Concentration. Both are Sci Fi stories but quite different. The Genocides is set in northern Minnesota in the aftermath of some sort of invasion (it's not clear and not that important to the story other than the setting) by 'plants'. And no, not Triffids. The plants are large trees that are absorbing the Great Lakes and other bodies of water. Mankind is dying off, all other plant life being overcome, and animal / insect life as well. This is from the perspective of the group of people we are following in this story.

A religious community run by Anderson, they are in a constant fight to burn back the plants and grow enough crops, mainly corn, to survive. Anderson has two sons, Buddy and Neil, as well as a teenage daughter, Blossom. Tragedy keep striking the group, their few cattle escape, and are destroyed by some flame throwing machines that appear to belong to the plants and are responsible for destroying Earth life forms. A group of marauders, people escaping the cities arrive and are dealt with.. yucchh... (Remember the famous line in Soylent Green?)

The story also follows Jeremiah Oliver, a mining engineer. He has his own ideas and with his girl friend, Judith and a few other city survivors, arrive at the Anderson's encampment. Only two are allowed to survive, Jeremiah and an elderly nurse, Alice. But the death of Judith, drives Jeremiah to plot his own vengeance.

The encampment is forced to move underground half way through the story when the flame machines attack and they are forced to try and survive in the darkness.

It's a dark, disturbing story.. take The Road and add some kinks to it. Is there hope for the survival of mankind? Can the group survive each other, their hatreds and differences? The story moves along at a steady pace, especially when everything moves underground. Claustrophobic, darkness, fear, infighting. It was an interesting concept and story. Enough to make me keep exploring Disch anyways. (3.5 stars)"

3. We Stand on Guard by Brian K. Vaughan (Graphic Novel / 2016). I've been enjoying Vaughan's other Sci Fi series. This one was interesting and kind of struck a chord, as a Canadian.

"I've been enjoying quite a few of Brian K. Vaughan's graphic novel series; Saga, Paper Girls and Y: The Last Man, so being a patriotic Canadian, I thought I'd try We Stand On Guard, a story about the US invasion of Canada. I thought it might be a merry, cheerful read. 😁😎

The story starts off in Ottawa, Ontario, 2112 with a family, mother, father and two children, watching the news. It appears the mother is a lawyer working for the Canadian military. As they watch, bombs begin to drop from the sky. Only the son and daughter, both quite young, survive. Skip to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, 2124, and the daughter, Amber is walking through the snow armed with a crossbow. She is attacked by a robot wolf, belonging the US invaders, and is saved ultimately by a group of freedom fighters, the Two-Fours, the remnants of Canada's freedom fighters as our military has been destroyed. (Ed Note. A Two-Four is what Canadians call a case of twenty - four beer. Now you know)

After Amber proves herself to the group, that she's not a spy, they take her to their hideout in caves under Yellowknife.. There is a lot of action. They capture one of the US giant robot machines. They are monitored by 'The American' one of the US's top 'spies?' who interrogates the group's boss when she is captured.

The story is what it is, a story about a resistance, about the fight for survival. It's not the greatest story ever written but it's interesting, action packed and kind of struck a chord with me at this moment in time. Thank you Mr. Vaughan (3.0 stars)"

4. Them Bones by Howard Waldrop (Alternate History / 1984). My 1st attempt at Waldrop's work.

"Them Bones is my first exposure to the work of Howard Waldrop. I also have a collection of his short stores as well and now that I've enjoyed this book, I look forward to reading this.

I had some doubts about the book when I read the foreword, as editor Terry Carr explained (and this was when the book was published in 1984) about the New Ace Science Fiction Specials. He talked about how they were trying to usher in the new writers that were expanding Sci Fi, etc. To me that puts a lot of pressure on a book and I have a tendency to ignore books that get a lot of praise (if that's the word I'm looking for).

Anyway, the book lived up to the pressure. It's a fascinating concept. It follows three groups. Bessie is an archeologist working with a team somewhere on the Mississippi in Louisiana. They are exploring a bunch of mounds that may have ancient artifacts. They are also at risk due to the severe flooding and heavy rainstorms that are expected. They have discovered things that make no sense in mounds and it galvanizes them to more action. These are things that shouldn't be together; bullets, native artifacts, etc.

The 2nd story line follows Yazoo Leake. He is an advance scout from some future time. The World is dying and the future hopes to send troops back into the past to maybe rectify what has caused this future disaster. Unfortunately for Leake, nobody has followed Leake through his portal and he is alone with his horse. He meets local natives. Neither can understand each other until he meets one of the tribal leaders, Took-his-Time, and discovers they can communicate in 'Greek'! Now this is in early Louisiana, or so it seems. But when?

The 3rd story follows the actual troop that was supposed to follow Leake but arrive sometime else. this storyline is called Box (which will become apparent as the story progresses) and sometimes deals with the story told by WO Smith and other times, just basic camp reports. They come under attack by the local natives for, it seems, bringing sickness to their land.

The story progresses in this fashion, following each group, building the story. It's quite fascinating and the more you get into the story, it becomes more interesting. What has Bessie and her fellow archeologist discovered? Is it related to either of the other groups? Leake's story is maybe the most interesting as he becomes more and more a member of his 'tribe' and tries to discover when he is is? Maybe even where he is? Is this some fold in time and space maybe?

Waldrop makes each story unique but at the same times manages to keep them linked together. I really enjoy his description and how he ramps up tension when necessary. The storm that hits the diggers is so perfectly described that you can feel it in your bones. The attack on Leake's tribe and the chase across the country both to save his friends and to escape the enemy tribe is breath-taking and so tense.

All in all, I enjoyed this book so very much. It grows and develops expertly and the ending was satisfying... well, depending on how you look at it, that is. But it tied up things pretty nicely. Excellent story. (4.5 stars)"

Currently Reading (started since last update)

1. The Rainbow and the Rose by Nevil Shute (Fic / 1958). Shute is one of my favorite authors and I hope to eventually read all of his works. This has started off really nicely.

"When seasoned pilot Johnny Pascoe tries to rescue a sick girl from the Tasmanian outback, his plane crashes and leaves him stranded and dangerously injured. Ronnie Clarke, who was trained by Pascoe, attempts to fly a doctor in to help, but rough weather makes his mission more difficult than he imagined. As he waits overnight at Pascoe’s house for a chance to try again the next day, Clarke revisits the past of this unusual man—and reveals the shocking and tragic secrets that have influenced his life."

2. The Humanoid Touch by Jack Williamson (Humanoids #2 / 1980). I can't say I've loved his work but they are part of the history of Sci Fi, especially space adventures.

""Humanoids: Self-directed robots invented to serve and guard mankind. Jack Williamson created one of the finest science fiction novels of all time - The Humanoids. In his second novel he returned to his classic subject: the final confrontation of man and machine."

3. Heart on my Sleeve: Stories from a Life Well-Worn by Jeanne Beker (Memoir / Can Lit / 2024). I've watched Jeanne Beker on TV for years. This book sounded very interesting and I hope to learn more about her life, ideas.

"Fashion and style icon Jeanne Beker delivers an uplifting and inspiring memoir that walks us through a wardrobe of memory, one article of clothing at a time. Jeanne Beker’s name is synonymous with style and grace in fashion. Recognized by many as the beloved host of Fashion Television and The New Music, Jeanne has spent an entire career interviewing celebrities and uncovering their most private selves. Now, in Heart on My Sleeve, Jeanne reveals who she is in an all-new way. This is not just a memoir but a wardrobe of memory. Jeanne walks us through her recollections of specific pieces of clothing and jewelry, precious items that have made an indelible impact on her. She invites readers to think more deeply about how what we wear—whether it’s a thrift-store find or high-end couture—acts as a touchstone to our most treasured recollections, reminding us of who we once were or of loved ones we hold dear. With Jeanne as our style guide, we get up-close and personal with a star-studded cast, including Paul McCartney, Madonna, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Moss, Oscar de la Renta, Beyoncé, and Keith Richards. But equally important, Jeanne introduces us to the family members and loved ones who form her closest entourage—including her wise Yiddish mother and her industrious father, both Holocaust survivors; her childhood neighbor Mrs. Jaskolka, a style maven ahead of her time; her two trailblazing daughters; and her many warm and exuberant friends who have seen her through the best and worst of times. Jeanne proves that a life lived with style and substance is always in fashion. Bold, colorful, and authentic, this is Jeanne Beker at her very best and brightest."

4. Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson (Alt Hist / 1988). A new author for me.

"Presenting an alternative version of African American history, this novel explores what might have happened if John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry had been successful. Chronicling life in a thriving black nation founded by Brown in the former southeastern United States, this dramatic story opens 100 years later, just as Nova Africa is poised to celebrate its first landing of a spacecraft on Mars. The prosperous black state will soon be tested when the granddaughter of John Brown returns from Africa to reunite with her daughter and share with her a secret that will alter their lives forever."

Newest Arrivals

1. The Eternal Moment and Other Stories by E.M. Forster (Short Stories / 1928). I've enjoyed 3 of Forster's novels but this collection of short stories sounded interesting.

"A collection that explores the human spirit through a series of fantasy vignettes, including "The Machine Stops," "The Point of It," "Mr. Andrews," "Co-ordination," "The Story of the Siren," and the title story."

2. Interlunar by Margaret Atwood (Poetry / 1984). One of two books by Atwood I found this month. It's a book of poetry. What can I say until I've read it.

3. The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine by Robert J. Sawyer Jr. (Downloaded #2 / 2025). The first book was excellent.

"It’s 2555 and the remaining members of the Phoenix colony, both convicts and astronauts, have fully integrated since they were originally downloaded from cryogenic suspension.

Now, as the countdown to Earth's final day approaches, two groups of colonists prepare to leave on separate missions.

One group, led by Captain Letitia Garvey, will re-upload to the quantum system as they head to Zeta Tucanae to complete the original astronaut mission, while the other, led by Mayor Roscoe Koudoulian, will begin a new colony on Mars, safely away from the asteroid about to hit Earth. But tragedy strikes on the day Roscoe is set to leave, forcing him to upload his consciousness as well. Back inside their virtual silos, the astronauts and convicts alike encounter mysterious digital duplicates that could destroy their stored consciousnesses forever. In a race against time, they are forced to make impossible choices in order to exist in a world where the line between human and digital reality has blurred."

4. The Dorians by Nick Cutter (Hor / 2026). The Troop was fantastic. The Deep was ok. Looking forward to exploring more of Cutter's work.

"On a remote island in the Canadian wilderness, five elderly volunteers from different walks of life are given a tantalizing offer: to stall their biological clocks or even reverse them, restoring their lost youth. The chance to put death on pause—forever, perhaps. The remarkable secret lies in the high-tech harnessing of an ancient and extraordinary biological agent…one with no conscience, yet possessed with a single-minded purpose that has helped it persist for eons: the will to survive. The dark heart of unbridled human ambition finds its apex in an unholy experiment that now tests the limits of both creator and subject, eclipsing all bounds of morality and sanity…."

5. A Shipwreck in Fiji by Nilima Rao (Akal Singh #2 / 2025). A new author for me. I've both books in this series to enjoy.

"Fiji, 1915: when a purported sighting of Germans on the run from WWI turns deadly, Sergeant Akal Singh must (reluctantly) take up the investigation in this vibrant follow-up to A Disappearance in Fiji.

Sergeant Akal Singh, an unwilling transplant to Fiji, is just starting to settle into his life in the capital city of Suva when he is sent to the neighboring island of Ovalau on a series of fool’s errands. First: investigate strange reports of Germans, thousands of miles from the front of World War I. Second: chaperone two strong-willed European ladies, Mary and Katherine, on a sight-seeing tour. And third: supervise the only police officer currently on Ovalau, an eighteen-year-old constable with a penchant for hysterics.

Accompanied by his friend Taviti, who is visiting his uncle, the local chief, Akal sets off on these seemingly straightforward tasks. Instead, they become embroiled in a series of local issues: the gruesome death of an unpopular local and the imprisonment of a group of Norwegian sailors in Taviti’s uncle’s village. To add to Akal’s woes, Katherine, the charming aspiring journalist, harbors an agenda of her own. Will Akal be able to keep her—and himself—out of trouble before anybody else gets killed?"

6. The Dog Park Detectives by Blake Mara (Dog Park #1 / 2024). Another new authors for me. And hey, it's got dogs!

"Murder is never just a walk in the park . . .

When friends Louise and Irina find a dead body in the local park whilst walking their dogs, they are soon drawn into the mystery of who murdered local entrepreneur Phil Creasey.

Phil used to be a member of their dog walking community – nicknamed The Pack – until the death of his cockapoo, and The Pack feel they owe it to Phil to investigate his death. With Louise and Irina leading the charge, they soon come up against local drug dealers, stolen cars and a disturbing incident of poisoned dog biscuits. Have The Pack bitten off more than they can chew, or can they follow their noses and solve the crime?"

7. The Business Man by Thomas M. Disch (Hor / 1984). I've read Camp Concentration and The Genocides by Disch so far.

"Bob was the happiest man in the world. His wife was dead, and no one suspected him of the murder. His mother-in-law was dying, and would probably leave him an inheritance. And with both of them gone, he can wallow in all the beer, chips, and TV a man could ever want... Then Bob's wife came back from the grave. She brought her sadness, her rage, and something worse - her mother. Revenge is a gruesome business. And Bob has hell to pay..."

8. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood (Fic / 2015) The 2nd book I bought by Atwood. I found it and The Business Man at one of our local Salvation Army Thrift Shops when I was out with Jo the other day.

"Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around—and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in . . . for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their "civilian" homes.

At first, this doesn't seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one's head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan's life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled."

So there you go folks. All caught up for now. I hope you get a few reading ideas from the books above. Enjoy your September.