Over at my crime fiction blog, I review the first (and only?) team-up of Batman and Tarzan, Claws of the Cat-woman, by Ron Marz and Igor Kordey.
One question for comic fans: are there other modern titles in comics with Tarzan? I know about Superman/Tarzan (have it here somewhere) and The Lost Adventure. I'm wondering if there are more stories out there or, perhaps, a collection of the Joe Kubert, DC Comics stories.
Thanks.
Despite the imprint of my copy of 1916's The Beasts of Tarzan (Ace Science Fiction Classic, 1963), it's not really an SF book. However, since I've listed the other two here, I thought I'd let everyone know that I've reviewed The Beasts of Tarzan over at my crime/pulp fiction blog.
Over at my crime fiction blog, I've reviewed the first Tarzan novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Take a look if you'd like.
Here's a question specifically for SF fans: has anyone read Philip Jose Farmer's Tarzan Alive? If so, what did you think? Should I start hunting down this title or not bother?
Over at my crime fiction blog, I have a review of King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard. It's part 3 of 4 of my Adventure Week Series. Book #4 will be revealed tomorrow as part of Patti Abbott's Friday Forgotten Books.
Over at my crime fiction blog, I reviewed Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's Part 2 of Adventure Week, my reviews of some classic adventure tales I read for the first time this year. Yeah, it's not exactly science fiction and that's why I'm posting it on my crime fiction blog. Check it out. I consider it my favorite classic novel of the year. Not sure what can top it.
Up next: King Solomon's Mines (tomorrow).
Over at my crime fiction blog, I've started Adventure Week. It's my review of four classic adventure novels that most people read when their a kid...and I waited until I was a forty-year-old kid. First up is Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It's a SF novel--and the only true one on the list--and probably should have posted it here. However, I wanted to keep all the reviews together.
So, if you have a mind, head on over to my crime fiction blog and take a read. Up tomorrow is Treasure Island, King Solomon's Mines is unearthed on Thursday, and Friday is the mystery book. You'll have to tune in on Friday to see what I've got planned for Friday's Forgotten Books.
For those of you looking for my September book review, it's here, at my crime blog. Apologies for the extra jump.
Over at Grasping for the Wind (a great place for all things literary SF), SF Safari is now included in the gigantic reviewer list. I've also answered the meme about which fantasy world would I like to live in. Look for my answer tomorrow. For now, here's part one.
Coming later this week: the write-up of Science Fiction Book Club #1: Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell and the revelation of SFBC #2.
It's difficult to overstate how much I'm looking forward to the new web series, The Mercury Men. I've written about here back in May after Lou Anders posted it on his blog.
The Mercury Men is a glorious throwback to the Cold War days and science fiction adventure from the days long gone. If you like the Republic serials of the 1930s, the movies of Indiana Jones, or the new novels of Gabriel Hunt, then you enjoy good, old-fashioned cliffhanger storytelling. That's exactly what the creators of The Mercury Men are tapping into and putting up on the web this fall. What caught my attention was the varied influences writer/director Christopher Preksta distilled into his work on the Mercury Men, especially the original Star Wars movie.
Take a read at the synopsis from the Mercury Men website:
Edward Borman, a lowly government office drone, finds himself trapped, when the deadly Mercury Men seize his office building as a staging ground for their nefarious plot. Aided by a daring aerospace engineer from a mysterious organization known as “The League,” Edward must stop the invaders and their doomsday device, the Gravity Engine.
The look and feel of the project are pure Outer Limits or Twilight Zone. This serial would have found a home right next to these 1960s seminal SF programs. Take a look at the trailer here. For an HD version (recommended), head on over to the Mercury Men website.
My latest contribution to the Forgotten Books Project started by Patti Abbott. For the complete list, head on over to her blog.
Back in the late 1970s, Alan Dean Foster was my introduction to science fiction. He wrote the novelizations to the Star Trek Animated Series, expanding 22-minute cartoons into longer stories with more depth and characterizations (here's my review from earlier this year). Naturally, I gravitated toward Foster's own work and started with his first book, The Tar-Aiyam Krang. Thirty some-odd years later, I frankly can't remember a thing about that book. Now that Audible.com has The Tar-Aiyam Krang on audio, I decided to read it again.
Foster's first novel, The Tar-Aiyam Krang (1972) is the first to feature his young hero, Flinx, and his 'minidrag,' Pip (basically, a flying snake-like thing). Flinx is an orphan on the planet Moth, part of the interstellar Human-Thranx Commonwealth. The Thranx are incectoid creatures who have a good relationship with the humans. Flinx, who is a partial telepath, happens upon a mugging in which Pip played a role, an event where both muggers and victim all die. Snagging something from the victim's pocket, Flinx soon discovers it's a star map that might lead to the Krang, a large weapon or musical instrument created by a long-dead race, the Tar-Aiyam. Two gentlebeings, one human (Tse-Mallory) and one Thranx (Truzenzuzex) hire Flinx as a guide through his city. The trio end up at the home of a merchant, Malaika. Armed with the star map, they all board Malaika's starship and set off on their adventure.
The irony of reading this book when I did is all one of timing. I recently read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island for the first time as well as Scott Lynch's The Lies of LockeLamora (my review). It's clear that Foster was at least inspired by Treasure Island (treasure map; star map; young hero) and Lynch's 2005 novel is part of a long line of orphan heroes (Oliver Twist, Batman, etc.). Foster's book was good and lighter than I remembered. With youngFlinx along, he gets the chance to ask Big Questions that result in an info dump on the reader. Thankfully, the info dumps were not too long but they still slowed the story. But the story's kind of slow anyway. Treasure Island had more action than this book. But, at least, The Tar-Aiyam Krang did have the huge ending, setting up Foster's later books. One thing that annoyed me back in the day was the names of aliens. When I read the book, I could not even figure out how to pronounce Truzenzuzex. Now, with the audiobook, I know. More importantly, I know what the name means. Okay, I get it now. My bad.
The Tar-Aiyam Krang is the first of four books Foster wrote in the 70s (Orphan Star, The End of the Matter, Bloodhype) and Flinx and Pip returns sporadically throughout the 80s and 90s. Just this year, Foster published Flinx Transcendant, the fourteeth and final novel in the series. The Tar-Aiyam Krang is a first book and it has all the good things a first book contains (new ideas, new characters, new universe) and a few minor nits (the need to explain everything at the expense of action). With most, if not all, the Flinx books now available on audio, I'm likely to forge through more Flinx books in the coming months and years. He's a fun character and, besides, are you going to argue with a teenager who has a venomous flying reptile resting on his shoulder?
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