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Saturday, January 03, 2009
Paperback Book Club
Doctor Who: The Happiness Patrol, 1990, Graeme Curry The Doctor overthrows the government of a thinly veiled Margaret Thatcher in a single night. Ah, the 90s...
Hogfather, 1996, Terry Pratchett That's certainly an...interesting artistic interpretation of Susan. (I forewent my annual re-reading of this book this year in favor of rereading the witch books. I'm more in a Nanny Ogg mood.)
Dragons of Autumn Twilight, 1984, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman Just a reminder that teeny-bopper vampires aren't the first ineptly written children's novels with heavy Mormon subtext.
Red as Blood, 1983, Tanith Lee In just a couple days, I get to play a video-game I'm possibly looking forward to a little too much, and so now I have fairy-tales on my mind.
The Divine Invasion, 1981, Philip K. Dick You know, people really shouldn't try to literalize Dick novels in cover illustrations. It just comes out creepier than it needs to be.
Battlefield Earth, 1982, L. Ron Hubbard You know, for a "religion" that hates gay people so much, they sure do put some hunky guys on their book covers.
[For the record, no, I did not buy this book. No one buys Battlefield Earth. It just shows up in your book-cases one day.]
Tom Swift: Cyborg Kickboxer, 1991, Victor Appleton Given how every single world-threatening crisis Tom Swift deals with is caused by his own scientific arrogance, it's a wonder the kid didn't have his lab privileges revoked years ago.
Relic, 1995, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child The film cut the most interesting character and killed off the characters neccessary for a sequel. Film-makers can be incredibly stupid sometimes. Oh, the book's good, utterly insane in a good way, filled with exciting chases through, er, museums. Too bad DNA doesn't work that way.
Brak: When the Idols Walked, 1978, 1980 edition, John Jakes A pony-tail and a skirt...the 80s certainly were an interesting time for images of masculinity...
The Untold Legend of the Batman, 1982, Len Wein, Jim Aparo and John Byrne The definitive origin for Batman and all his friends and foes! Well, for a year or two it was, anyway...
Ursus of Ultima Thule, 1973, Avram Davidson According to the back-cover copy, Urus is "swarthy, hairy, ostracized by others of his tribe"...Ursus sounds like a fun Saturday night.
A Planet for Texans, 1958, H. Beam Poper and John J. McGuire Today's cover selected because I'm off to Book Expo to meet up with Bully...and not because I saw the title and thought "putting Texas on another planet...well, it's a start I suppose..."
The Midwich Cuckoos, 1957, Ninth Printing, John Wyndham I've been in Oregon since Thursday, for my sister-in-law's wedding, and to meet the new nephew. I'm sure he'll turn out a lot nicer than the kids in this book do.
The Book of Philip Jose Farmer, 1973, Philip Jose Farmer Why is Tarzan in a top-hat? Because Philip Jose Farmer, that's why. For more "why: because" statements, the management recomends:
Walking down the dank dungeon corridor, the hall splits into right-hand and left-hand passages. 1. If you want to go down the right hand passage, turn to page 13. 2. If you want to go down the left hand passage, turn to page 27.
PAGE 13 Walking down the passage, you clumsily trigger a trap. Poisoned spikes spring out of the wall and crush you to death. THE END "Well, fuck that! What's on page 27?"
PAGE 27 Walking down the passage, a huge orc leaps from the shadows and impales you with on a spear. You die, but not before your last vision is of the orc ripping off your legs and devouring them. THE END
"These books aren't as fun as I remember them being..."
Barba the Slaver, 1978, Dael Forest It took some work, but I think I finally found something that out-Gors Gor. As near as I can tell, this is also the only book in the series that features as much man-flesh on display as woman-flesh.
The Space Vampires, 1977, Colin Wilson Vampires. In Space! Later turned into the film Lifeforce, featuring Patrick Stewart in one of his more regrettable roles.
The Tombs of Atuan, 1981-14th printing, 1989-22nd printing, Ursula K. Le Guin The back-cover copy of the 1981 edition emphasizes Tenar's role in the story. The 1989 edition pushes the "great fantasy epic" and "isn't Ged just swell?" angles. Not that I'm drawing any explicit comparisons to the evolution in how fantasy novels are marketed, mind you...
Exile's Honor, 2003, Mercedes Lackey This cover is notable for being one of the very few Mercedes Lackey novels with a) a man on the cover who b) is not a wispy androgyne.
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I'm possibly looking forward to a little too much, and so now I have fairy-tales on my mind.
