Anders Monsen

Lost worlds and ports of call

Author: Anders Monsen (Page 9 of 81)

Derry Girls

January 25, 2022 /

I generally resist comedy shows. I find most comedic efforts strained; they tend to mug for the camera and are rife with canned laughs. There are small number of comedy TV shows I’ve liked: Seinfeld, MASH…Okay, I think that’s it. Where I’ve enjoyed comedy has been in unintended shows, small snippets. I did watch shows like Frasier and Cheers and Friends, The Big Bang Theory (well, it seems that I mostly stopped watching TV after the 1990s, I guess). Some of these had funny moments. Seinfeld had great characters, unique. The best shows have those types, more so than the series as a whole, you have great individual parts.

I’m sure a few years ago I caught a clip of the opening of Derry Girls and dismissed it as juvenile mugging. Yet somehow I watched a clip somewhere again this month, and it resulted in binging both seasons of the show on Netflix. Not only that, but I on occasion watch clips from the show just to keep the laughter fresh.

Derry Girls is a show about Northern Irish teenagers in Derry, set during the midst of the Troubles in the mid-1990s (a period that warrants its own Wikipedia entry and a capital T, the Troubles was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic, Irish and English, where thousands were killed and many more injured; it was not a good time). Rather than focusing on the Troubles, the show focuses on teenage who happened to live during those times. The actors in Derry Girls are older that the 15 and 16 year olds they portray, which lends them a skill far beyond people that same age. There are currently only two short seasons of Derry Girls, although a third and final season has completed production after a COVID-imposed delay.

There are five main teenage characters in Derry Girls, and one of them is a boy. Other teenage character appear, as well as adults (parents and other authority figures, for the most part). It’s through and through comedy, with tinges of realism such as the IRA, Orange marches, bombings, peace talks, rifts between Protestants and Catholics, and Irish and English. While I’ll never fully understand the two last parts, not being either Irish or English, or fully Protestant, I’ve always found myself deeply in love with most things Irish. Both my children bear names that trace back to Irish roots. I’ve been to Cork, albeit briefly (side note: I once found myself in a rough Cork pub bathroom, where I did my best Irish accent imitation in a discussion as I tried to extricate myself from a nasty stall). There’s Irish slang that required some research (boke, for example), and uniquely Irish traditions such as Rock the Boat at weddings. There’s also drugged scones, fish n chips, and a huge variety of shenanigans (if that isn’t an Irish word, it should be an Irish word).

In Derry Girls, the five main characters try to navigate teenage life in the 1990s. They’re in a strict Catholic girl’s school, though one of them is a boy. Each of the main characters are wildly different, from the artistic Erin, the somewhat on-the-spectrum cousin, Orla, the nervous (and lesbian) Clare, the booze/drug/boy/swearing Michelle. Then there’s the unfortunate English-born cousin of Michelle, James, who is dropped into the girls’ school because it’s supposedly safer. I guess one has to appreciate the Catholic-Irish hatred of the English to understand why.

As mentioned, I tend to stay away from comedies, but I found myself laughing quite often during Derry Girls. I wasn’t able to watch most of it without subtitles, though a few phrases skipped past me the first time (much better than when in Cork and I could don’t understand my taxi driver at all). The escapades of Michelle, with her constant raging at her cousin and her boy-crazy efforts, mixed in with her wild boozy side, seemed at times over the top, but looking back on my teenage years I do remember people like this (and this was not in Ireland). Then there’s Clare, the nervous, serious one; she has many funny moments. Orla seems a little spacey, in contrast to her more serious cousin, Erin, my favorite of the bunch. She tries too hard at everything, but has the best facial expressions. The main male character, James, an English actor, suffers throughout the series, but has the purest heart of the lot.

With the third and final season due out (maybe) in 2022, it will be interesting to see how they end this show. It’s a series that I almost wish never ends. I really wish it had more episodes, and I look forward to seeing when it comes out, as no doubt it will have many funny storylines. Derry Girls came out of nowhere (to me), and I didn’t expect to like it. This goes to show that surprises can be found anywhere and everywhere.

New Robin Guthrie music

January 24, 2022 /

It’s always a treat (to me at, at least) when Robin Guthrie releases new music. In a short span he’s released one album and three EPs.

The album, Pearldiving, and the EPs, Mockingbird Lane, Riviera, and Springtime, are a swirl of sounds. From Springtime the standout track is “All For Nothing,” a quiet, slowly building tune, reminiscent of his collaborations with Harold Budd. In contrast, on Riviera my favorite track is “Starfish Prime,” a heavier, more bass-laden sound. Meanwhile, on Mockingbird Lane, “My Courtesan,” is my pick. This is not to say the other songs aren’t great, but on each EP, if I were to pick my favorites, those would be the ones. But, as they say, de gustibus non disputandum set; individual tests vary.

Each EP comes with four songs, and though I cannot detect any themes therein, the album seems definitely melancholy. “The Amber Room,” closes the album, and I have played it numerous times. “Les Amourettes” is another standout track on the album. One can almost visualize slow waves wrapped around an anchored boat when listening to “Oustern,” or maybe that’s a strange image that came to my mind. All the tunes are atmospheric, quiet, a variety of instruments blended skillfully together. It’s been a long wait for new music from Guthrie, but well worth the wait.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 4

January 20, 2022 /

After the disappointing third chapter in this Star Wars series on Disney+ (the House of Mouse taking over all avenues of entertainment), this latest installment is a refreshing return to action and adventure.

Once again we are thrust back into the past, as Boba Fett’s dreams in his Bacta Tank take us back into the recent past. He remembers how, in his quest for revenge (chapter 3), he stumbled across the dying Fennec Shand. Here we cross over into the timeline of that other Star Wars show, The Mandalorian, just prior to Fett retrieving his armor. Fett saves Fennec, his bounty hunter nature mellowed by his time with the Tusken tribe. We see Fennec modded to replace the dying organs from her gut-shot with tech that makes her part cyborg. Together they retrieve Fett’s ship, Slave I (although we can’t say that word any more), from deep within Jabba’s palace. One wonders how and why that ship is still there and operable after five years, and why there was a silly kitchen chase scene, but all that aside, there’s some cracking action. With his ship Fett can exact revenge, and does so both against the raiders who destroyed his tribe and the Sarlacc which tried to digest him.

We then return to the present, as Fett tries to bolster his standing with other criminal gangs against a bigger criminal gang, the Pykes. He manages to wrangle a non-aggression pact from the three other gangs on Tatooine, which means he needs more muscle. The episode ends with the strain of The Mandalorian, setting up a possible team-up. Who else will Fett recruit in his war against the Pykes? With three episodes left, it will be interesting to see where this goes. I doubt the clones from The Bad Batch are still around, though Omega could be alive. Any other clones would be ancient at this point, and I doubt other Mandalorians would join Fett against the Pykes. Still, the closing episodes might bleed into season three of The Mandalorian, or possibly other Star Wars shows. Hopefully any other shows will keep the Star Wars universe, but ditch the major characters from the movies; they’ve had their moment.

Peter Hook’s Substance

January 20, 2022 /

Recently I read Peter Hook’s book about his time in New Order, Substance. This is his third book, after the ones he wrote on the Hacienda club and his life in Joy Division, but the first one I’ve read.

I’ve been a fan of the band New Order ever since I heard a clip of Blue Monday on the radio in Zambia in 1982 and recorded that snippet on tape. As soon as I was in a place where you could actually buy records I bought the 12″ Blue Monday on vinyl. It might even have been the first vinyl record that I ever bought. I played their second album, Power, Corruption & Lies endlessly on my Sony Walkman, and later on CD. I think their third album, Low-Life, is the best they ever made, but aside from maybe two songs (Regret and Touched by the Hand of God), I’ve not cared enough about their subsequent albums to buy them, and I can’t remember any other of the songs (well, maybe a small part of Crystal). Although I didn’t care as much about Joy Division as New Order, they still had great songs such as Atmosphere, Decades, Transmission, Isolation, and even the overplayed Love Will Tear Us Apart. No doubt many people wonder what would have happened if Ian Curtis hadn’t killed himself, though personally I think he would have gone solo at some point.

Until a few years ago I’d almost stopped listening to either New Order or Joy Division. Then maybe in somewhere between 2015 and 2018 I started listening to Peter Hook’s band, The Light, on streaming services as they played every song in the catalog of Joy Division and New Order, and breathed new life into the catalogs of both bands (at least through the Low-Life album). At that point in time I didn’t know that Hook had left the band (not once but twice). In terms of music, they seemed to have over time become more electronic focused, and I always though the bass was an integral part of the band; not just the bass, but how Hook played the bass. Electronics in the terms of synths has always been a part of New Order, but instead of remaining revolutionary, the edges were all smoothened out over time. It was at that point that I read about the acrimonious departure of Hook from the band, the lawsuits, and read more about the musical direction of the band. Maybe because I read Hook’s words before anyone else’s, or just because I favored the bass, I fell on the side of Hook.

In reading Substance, and even some interviews, Hook is far from perfect. He comes across as a royal jerk at times, his pranks bordering on hurtful. He almost delights in his tales of sexual encounters despite being married, and the booze flowed freely and drugs of all sorts abused. He had no sense when it came to money, failed to protect the band’s brand (though trumpeted his own brand and name). But then, few musicians are perfect. Artists tend to be more screwed up than most people. The story of New Order, born as it was from Ian Curtis’ death, seems the typical cliched tale of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. There was plenty of all those elements in many bands back then (and even before and probably since). Hook doesn’t shy away from covering all those aspects, from the multitude of drugs, the booze, the partying, but also the music. He’s been part of two major bands in his lifetime, as Joy Division and New Order remain influential even to this day. When he left the band, though, it should have reformed under a different name. The band “New Order” doesn’t exist without such a key member gone.

Although Hook is far from the greatest prose stylist, and sometimes his cataloging of dates and events seems dry and irrelevant, his descriptions of the recording process, the tedium of road trips and concerts were perhaps the best parts of his book. From 1980 when the three surviving members of Joy Division formed the band, until his final departure in 2007, those decades leave behind a huge body of work. Unfortunately, those decades of work also led to a great deal of friction between Hook and the others in the band, especially guitarist and singer, Bernard Sumner. This is evident on almost every page in the book, and the rift between the two appears irreparable. If you take only Hook’s point of view, Sumner does come across as a major prick, in the English manner of speaking. The lead singer is the front person of the band, the ego grows, and if someone else in the band also has an ego (as does Hook), and they have diverging ideas, then inevitably a conflict results. In recordings, if we are to believe Hook, Sumner gradually edged out everyone. The fact that drummer Stephen Morris remains with the band is perplexing. His wife, keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, does not get any credit from Hook, which is one of the strangest parts of the book, as Sumner gets a lots of credit, and Morris as well, despite the rift between them all.

There have been many other famous splits in music history—band breakups and departures, firings, simple dissolutions (The Beatles and The Smiths to name a couple from different lifetimes). If the Joy Division members decided that they wouldn’t continue under the same name if someone left, that’s not the case with New Order, as after Hook left in 2007 they still soldiered on, though any releases since that date has continued the life-less and bass-less trend from all post-Low-Life albums. Hook’s book intimates that Sumner was heavily to blame for this direction. (Interestingly, one concert video from near the time of Hook’s departure capture’s Sumner’s petulance, where he tells the audience that wouldn’t it be great to turn down Hook’s bass. It makes you wonder if he forgot what made New Order interesting and unique in the first place.)

In the end, I read Substance over the course of a few days, captivated by the tale. I’m planning on reading the book on Joy Division next, but may skip the one on the Hacienda. That one sounds like a true downer.

(Asides: The title of the book applies both to the collection of songs that New Order released, and the drugs often imbibed by the entourage and band. Also, I found it interesting that all his children’s names begin with “J” which is a very “hooky” letter, indeed.)

The Mysteries of Jack Vance

January 19, 2022 /

Setting aside the books written under the house name of Ellery Queen, noted SF Grandmaster, Jack Vance, wrote nearly a dozen straight mystery novels. The same tropes from mystery/detective stories appeared in his SF works, from the short stories featuring Magnus Ridolph, to his Gallactic Effectuator novellas, and even his five-novel Demon Prince books, but it was under names other than “Jack Vance” that he wrote what I’d consider the pure mysteries.

The books I consider pure mysteries are: The Deadly Isles, The Man in the Cage, The Dark Ocean, The View from Chickweed’s Window, The House on Lily Street, Strange Notions, The Dark Ocean, The Fox Valley Murders, The Pleasant Grove Murders, Bird Isle, and Take My Face. Arguments can be made for other books (Bad Ronald, for example), and possible some of these might be considered not pure enough (The House on Lily Street). Both these last novels are interesting because they are told from the viewpoint of evil people, although I’m possibly spoiling something here with The House on Lily Street.

In many of these books, the main character (and often the reader) doesn’t know the identity of the antagonist. Even in The Deadly Isles, when the protagonist is well-aware of the identify of the man who tried to kill him, neither he nor the reader is aware of that person’s accomplice. Like with Agatha Christie’s books, we learn the true identity of the murderer at the end. It’s a delicious tease, and almost never fails to surprise.

Both The Fox Valley Murders and The Pleasant Grove Murders feature a police detective, or rather sherrif, and thus represent The Law. The other books feature private individuals forced to become detectives to uncover nefarious deeds and evil motives. Murder is so easy that even a housewife can kill, when pushed in a certain direction. Hardened criminals exist as well; they occur elsewhere in his fiction as well, shrugging off ethics and scruples as if these elements do not matter in the grand scheme of things. We find all sorts of people in Vance’s stories, across the spectrum of good and evil. There’s a healthy mix of the in-between, but he doesn’t shy away from portraying people on the far end of the evil spectrum.

Although Jack Vance achieved some success in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, his mystery books were generally published under assumed names, or his real name—John Holbrook Vance. They therefore found little success. The original books are rare; reprints were published by small press publishers such as Underwood-Miller or Subterranean Press in limited editions. Even these latter editions now are hard to find, and often fetch premium prices on the collector’s market. As Vance didn’t make a career out of writing mysteries, no doubt few modern publishers would be interested in releasing mass market editions of his books, so aficionados are left with limited opportunities to read his books.

How well do they age? The Deadly Isles, which is set among islands in the Pacific and on that ocean itself, is artifact of a bygone age. Progress has long since caught up with these distant places. The tale itself is one deeply-rooted in human motivations. It comes down to love or lucre, at the end, as P.D. James once wrote. The other books are in the same category, but then so are most books, they are products of their times. The Fox Valley Murders and The Pleasant Grove Murders take place in an invented county in Northern California, and today seems almost as alien as any science fiction work. The View from Chickweed’s Window is a tale of revenge, and so perhaps one might call Take My Face. The Dark Ocean, set on a steamer heading down the California coast and through the Panama Canal, might be one of the tensest books, taking place mostly aboard the steamer, with characters trapped together. Bird Isle reads almost like a Wodehousian farce, as does some of the characters in other books. Humor in Vance’s books tends to be incidental, though, aside from those Magnus Rudolph stories. Aside from occasional lines here and there, none of what he writes even approaches the chuckles of a Jeeves and Wooster tale.

All in all, anyone who enjoys classical mystery novels will enjoy these books. The style in these books is uniquely Vance. Sometimes the plots are repetitive, and the question as to the identity of the murderer too akin a Hercule Poirot book. I’ve read all of them multiple times (aside from Bad Ronald, which for some reason I feel I will never read a second time; it was just too evil), and even though I know the plots, part of the appeal is the color and texture of the characters and the language.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 3

January 13, 2022 /

The third installment of Disney+’s Star Wars Boba Fett series was a bit of a disappointment. There was a chase scene that came over as slow and poorly choreographed, more like cut from Back to the Future II than the French Connection or Ronin, two movies with great chase scenes. Even the brief one in Solo was better. There was a confrontation with the Hutt twins, quickly dismissed. There was a battle with a large Wookie, also quickly settled and with minimal bloodshed; if you want to kill someone in a Bacta tank, shoot them or chop them with an axe, don’t haul them out and throw them across the room. Then there was Fett’s Tusken tribe, which met the fate of Luke Skywalker’s aunt and uncle.

With four episodes to go, it seems like the show it setting up some “big-bad” confrontations or build-ups for future seasons, not an arc for the current season. A crime syndicate has been making headways on Tatooine, and this syndicate, the Pikes, seems to be those big-bads. There are rumors that someone else is behind them, possibly someone from the Solo movie, which makes the show less about Fett and more about pleasing the fans again with easter eggs and nods to other movies, or books or comics. Just tell the freakin’ story without weaving in every possible thread from elsewhere so the “true fans” will nod and point and say “That’s so and so,” with a knowing wink. At least, that’s what I think, and I’m far from a Star Wars fanatic. The “new story” aspect is what made The Mandalorian great, at least until it introduced some more famous Mandalorians, and even some noted current and former Jedi, which then switched focus away from the titular person, and onto the cameos from more well-known characters.

There a degree of tension, though, with Disney+ releasing new episodes every week, vs. the “dump ’em all” philosophy of Netflix. Recently I watched season two of The Witcher, a Netflix show. Even though all episodes were available, it took me a few weeks to watch them all. Still, I did like the fact they were all there, vs. the wait one week method with Disney+; they did the same thing with Hawkeye, the only Marvel series I watched, as well as The Bad Batch, an interesting though uneven show. This is the way it was done with traditional TV, though most traditional TV isn’t episodic, like these shows. You had to wait a week until the next one, but for the most part the episodes were disconnected. I remember Babylon 5 as something unique (at the time), while most other shows on broadcast TV that I watched were just brief flashes—fun, yes, but still only flashes. Meanwhile, Babylon 5 set up a long arc, and most (but not all) episodes were connected. Then again, I watched Babylon 5 in reruns, with “new” episodes each day, a schedule that can be tough to meet. That was back when you either recorded to VHS or Tivo, or made sure you were in front of the TV when the shows aired. None of this “on-demand” stuff of today.

At least with the Disney+ shows you don’t get gaps with re-runs (for now), but can depend on new episodes dropping each week, until the limited run of episodes ends. It’s a shame these shows run only 6-8 episodes. They seem all too brief, unlike the Marvel shows that came out on Netflix (until they were cancelled, of course). I’m talking about Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, The Punisher. Those shows combined the best of both worlds: all available to binge (if you so wished), and all more than a dozen episodes per season. I miss those shows.

Protecting special books

January 8, 2022 /

I have a decent collection of unique SF/Fantasy/Horror hardcovers. Many of these are from small press publishers—vs. mass-market publishers like Tor and Baen. Some are from defunct mass-market publishers, lost in the mists of near-time (1970s and 1980s, with publishers like Doubleday or Blue Jay). When I buy older books from dealers or other collectors, the books usually come with mylar protection over their dust jackets. When I buy direct from publishers, or newer books from (cough) online major outlets, the books usually arrive with no extra protection. It’s up to the buyer at this point.

Until recently, when acquiring new books, I tended to cannibalize some covers I already had from older books, applying any covers the right size to special books that came with no such protection. At some point, one runs out of books from which to cannibalize these covers. I finally bit the bullet this year and ordered 100 mylar covers from one of several such manufacturers/resellers. Although I have over 100 books that need these extra covers, I decided to start with 100, and at the size that covered book up to 10″ tall.

It’s a tedious and not too easy affair to wrestle dust jackets into these covers. The covers I bought are usually slightly taller than the books. The first step is then to adjust the covers to the right size. The next, straightening a reluctant cover inside its new protection, and the last step, bringing the book into its new jacket.

With 100 covers, I started with what I considered “high priority” books. Maybe that was a bad decision, as I was still figuring out how to fit the jackets into these covers. So far I’ve maybe done 20 books, and gotten slightly better at the process. I do feel a bit better about having the books protected this way. There’s one book I know that is beyond help, with a small quarter inch tear on the jacket. Other books have slight stains, likely from exposure to the sun before I bought them, or just part of the paper aging process.

So far I have prioritized small press books—those from Subterranean Press, Dark Harvest, Underwood-Miller, Zeising; a few others still yet identified. Lined up and waiting are books from favorite authors big enough to warrant mass-market publishers: Vernor Vinge, Charles de Lint. James P. Blaylock, Tim Powers. Other books, especially from Arkham House and Golden Gryphon, which are shorter, probably require jackets of a smaller size. It’s likely that I’ll run out of the first batch of 100, but at that point I’ll have a process in place, and will continue with the rest of them.

It’s interesting when stripping the jacket from a book to see what’s underneath. In some cases, the books are just books—nothing extra. In other cases, the publisher has made something special of the book itself, with text or art, that almost warrant its own attention. It’s here that I’m reminded of Steve Jobs, who made even the parts not usually visible to user as artistic and beautiful as the parts that were visible. This is counter-balanced by the moments when you remove a cover and see flaws that can never be undone; yellowing, spotting, foxing, and worse. Here you wonder whether any attempt to protect the book is worth it, for entropy comes to all things. In the meantime, I feel that I’m almost discovering some of these books anew. An exciting time.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 2

January 6, 2022 /

This episode, almost an hour long, takes place mostly in the past. The present portion deals directly with the assassination attempt on Fett from Chapter 1, and his meeting with the mayor of Mos Espa. It also introduces Jabba’s twins, who lay claim to Fett’s new role. Then we switch to Fett’s dreams of the past.

The past involves Fett’s life between his Sarlacc snack and resurrection in The Mandalorian. Here we see Fett as he grows in his role as a member of a Tusken tribe. He introduces them to technology, in the form of stolen speeder bikes. He teaches them to ride the bikes and jump between them, a precursor to jumping on a speeding train. They hijack the train, establishing Fett’s role as a leader and trusted member of the tribe. He then walks a spirit walk, and gains a proper Tusken staff and role within the tribe.

With five episodes to go in the series, it’s doubtful they will spend as much time in the past as with this episode. Still, the past is important to Fett. He’s no longer a solo bounty hunter, but a part of a family. What, then, prompted him to emerge from the wilderness to save Fennec Shand and then reclaim his armor. Did his tribe get wiped out? Did they cast him out? Did he decide it was time to leave? My bet’s on the first option. How this influences his future life remains to be seen. Will he try to persist in his role to supplant Jabba, or will be move on to something else? We shall see.

Nonetheless, this was a much better episode that the first one. I still think the actor is two decades older than the role, but he still conveys the gravitas needed for his new role. It’s a bit too similar for Dances with Wolves for my taste, and I think it will end in the same way as that movie, but so far the visuals have been superb. This is a corner of the Star War universe far more interesting than seeing Luke Skywalker mope around and drink blue milk.

Tho Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 1

January 4, 2022 /

Strong characters never die, at least not in the movies. When last we saw the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunter, back in Return of the Jedi in 1983, he was unceremoniously dumped into the Sarlacc pit on Tatooine. Since then he’s refused to die, at least in the minds of fans across the decades, who have speculated on Fett’s survival and eventual emergence from the Sarlacc.

In Disney’s season two of The Mandalorian, Fett’s survival became canon, as they say. Now, with The Book of Boba Fett, a seven-episode series from Disney that debuted in late December 2021, the story continues. Played by the same actor who played his father in Attack of the Clones (2002), Temuera Morrison, this Boba Fett seems much older than the one who was disposed of so easily only a few years ago (in terms of Star Wars chronology). Morrison is around 60 years old during the time of filming; the events in the show take place around 9 ABY (after the battle of Yavin in Return of the Jedi), so he should technically be in his early 40s, as he was born 32 years before Yavin. Perhaps getting partially digested by the Sarlacc, and then spending 9 years hanging around with Tusken raiders have aged him, and no disrespect to Mr. Morrison, but this Boba Fett seems somewhat diminished at this point. He spends time in a healing chamber; he loses fights and gets wounded. How will he not only survive, but hang onto his new role as the replacement for crime lord Jabba the Hutt?

I do think that if a younger actor played Boba Fett, his journey from the wilderness to crime lord would make more sense, as at this point in time he’s still so new to his role that mistakes will be made, he will be forced to grow and assert himself. With six episodes to go, it will be interesting to see how this story develops. He does have a loyal (at the moment) associate, the assassin Fennec Shand, but will she remain loyal for long? He’ll face takeover attempts, assassination attempts, and other dangers, for as he says, he seeks to rule with respect, not fear. I fear that in the underworld, respect doesn’t keep you on top of the hill for long.

Could another actor have played Boba Fett? Sure, it would have disappointed loyal fans, but there are limits to fandom, especially where art is concerned. Nostalgia, here, has won the day. It’s a nod to the modern fanboy culture, with its callbacks and easter eggs, and the reluctance to let go and experience with new ideas. It’s the reason the newer Star Wars movies failed, in my opinion, as they just couldn’t let go of old characters. Then again, we’re about to see two more Star Wars shows with old characters – Obi Wan and Ashoka. What made The Mandalorian so unique was the brand new character, yet in a familiar universe. I wish the powers at Disney/Star Wars would see that as a way to explore newer stories, and not strip mine old ones.

Looking ahead to books in 2022

January 1, 2022 /

Some of the books that I hope to read this year include:

Stolen Skies, by Tim Powers. This comes out in just a few days, the third in the Vickery and Castine series. Not sure where he’s heading with the characters, but the story looks fascinating.

The Consequences of Fear, by Jacqueline Winspear. Latest in the Masie Dobbs series. As I only pick up the soft cover editions in this series, I need to wait a while after initial publication. This is a February release.

Road of Bones, by James R. Benn. I have to wait until September or October for this one, when it gets the soft cover edition. Sorry, Ms. Winspear and Mr. Benn, but as I have all the others in softcover, I can’t break tradition.

Sword & Ice Magic, by Fritz Leiber. Unlike the ones above, this is a limited edition hardcover, published by Centipede Press. It may or may not be released in 2022. I won’t know until shortly before publication. I finally get to retire the last of my Fafhrd and Gray Mouser Ace paperbacks.

The Mines of Behemoth, by Michael Shea. Another Centipede Press possibility. Announced via email. Hardcover edition. We shall see. One of those few luxuries I afford myself if it happens.

I don’t know if there are other books I want, vs. ones I stumble across, but so far these are the only ones on the aforementioned list.

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