A Princess of Mars

While escaping some Apache, John Carter unknowingly enters a cursed cave and finds himself suddenly projected to Mars. There he becomes the captive of the savage green men known as Tharks. A raid by the Tharks introduces him to Dejah Thoris, the lovely Princess of Helium, who he becomes instantly smitten with. The drive to escape and be with Dejah throws Carter into a war between three different Martian factions.

Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs spins this first tale in his lengthy Barsoom (the name for Mars by its inhabitants) saga. Initially written as a serial for the pulp magazines, Burroughs eventually re-edited and collected the stories into a standalone novel.

Fans of classic science fiction and adventure will find a lot to like in this book. There is a lot of action, as well as some political intrigue and the love story between John Carter and Dejah Thoris.

Burroughs's light writing style makes this a quick and easy read, and he has a great imagination for writing this story well in advance of any interstellar travel. The book's only fault is John Carter being almost instinctively knowledgable about the various goings-on and his plans always resulting into some degree of success.

Nevertheless, this is essential reading for any fan of the genre and fans of the recent movie would do themselves a service to visit the source material. In addition, the book's public domain status makes this a very affordable book for anyone interested in checking it out.

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Overstock.com, and Project Gutenberg.

Title: A Princess of Mars
Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
Year: 1912 (serial) / 1917 (novel)
Pages: 216

Prodigal Blues

After he finds himself stranded at a truck stop in Missouri, Mark Sieber gets one of the biggest shocks of his life when he recognizes the face of a missing child who winds up sitting his booth, waiting for him. After the media frenzy begins, Mark sneaks away to his hotel room to call his wife and let her know what's going on. There he is taken hostage by the same people who released the little girl. But his abductors are children themselves and have their own plans for him.

Gary A. Braunbeck paints a visceral tale of child kidnapping and abuse that sticks in your head for days after. While the basic plot of the story is questionable (Why did the kids need Mark to "return" them to their homes?), its execution is extremely well done.

Braunbeck shows to what depths a professional child slaver, known as "Grendel", will go to in order to ply his trade and establish dominance over his victims. The scenes describing the horrors perpetrated against the kids turns your stomach and twists your heartstrings. However, the kids turn out to be stronger than their abuser, and their unification allows them to triumph and gain their ultimate revenge.

Despite the somewhat contrived plot set-up, this book is extremely well-written and is highly recommended for anyone interested in real-world horror.

Available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Title: Prodigal Blues
Author: Gary A. Braunbeck
Year: 2006
Pages: 304

Creatures of Light and Darkness

To save his kingdom, Anubis, Lord of the Dead, sends his servant Wakim on a mission to destroy The Prince Who Was a Thousand. Simultaneously, Osiris, Lord of Life, sends forth his son, Horus, on the same mission. However, neither of them is prepared for the world of mortals, and The Thing That Cries in the Night may well destroy everything, mortal or otherwise.

Roger Zelanzy originally wrote this novel as an exercise with no intention of publishing it. However, professor and critic, Samuel R. Delany, convinced an editor at Doubleday to publish the manuscript, earning Mr. Delany a dedication at the beginning of the novel.

Basing the characters around Egyptian mythological characters, Zelanzy constructs a universe where gods battle in nontraditional manners, often time-travelling a few seconds into the past to gain an advantage against an opponent (known as the "temporal fugue"). Conspiracies are layered on top of each other, resulting in a novel that is incredibly dense for its sub-200 page count.

This novel is also famous for bringing The Agnostic's Prayer into popular culture, especially after its use in Larry Niven's short story "What Can You Say About Chocolate-Covered Manhole Covers". The nondenominational cleric Madrak provides some much-needed humor and levity to the supradimensional activies, grounding the story a bit for the reader.

This isn't going to be a novel for everyone. It can be a bit difficult to follow in places, and some of Zelanzy's experiments with poetry and script can throw off the reader. However, its rich use of language and imaginative presentation of how gods interact make this a fine read for someone who can appreciate this type of material.

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Overstock.com.

Title: Creatures of Light and Darkness
Author: Roger Zelazny
Year: 1969
Pages: 190

Thrall

After a confrontation in a tavern results in the death of a local official's mercenary, legendary warrior Gorias La Gaul is commissioned to prevent the resurrection of a cult leader. Accompanied by his grandson, the official's daughter, and a bard, Gorias traverses the vampire-plagued land only to find himself caught between an invading horde of barbarians, a powerful necromancer's advancing troops, and two old enemies from his past. Gorias must rely on his own experience and tactical planning to prevent an even greater evil from ravaging the land.

Steven Shrewsbury crafts an engaging tale, much in the tradition of Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. The action scenes are depicted in brutal detail, putting the reader at the center of the action. Shrewsbury also has a good sense of tactics and timing, which works well as the forces converge and Gorias's plan begins to unfold.

If I had any complaints, the first chapter is a little slow in its set-up, appearing almost directionless until Gorias gets his mission. Also, there were times when I had difficulties with the dialog as the characters' voices switched between the more traditional fantasy style of speech versus the modern, contraction-laden vernacular. The electronic copy of the book I read also had some infrequent grammar and spelling errors and would have benefited from another round of editing.

Despite these minor issues, this is a welcome addition to the sword-and-sorcery fantasy genre, and fans of the aforementioned authors should enjoy this book. I look forward to reading more of Shrewsbury's work, as well as the forthcoming books in this series.

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Title: Thrall
Author: Steven L. Shrewsbury
Year: 2010
Pages: 288

Dark Harvest

It's Halloween 1963 in Small Town, U.S.A., and the local teenage boys are getting ready for the annual hunt for the October Boy, a pumpkin-headed being that runs the gauntlet each Halloween. The boy who brings him down before he makes it to the local church wins a ticket out of town and freedom from the ennui of small-town, no-ambition life. Pete McCormack is extremely determined this year, but a chance encounter with a female tomboy reveals the horrifying truth about the town tradition and turns his expectations upside-down.

Dark Harvest, despite being a short book, spins an entertaining yarn that anyone who grew up in a small town can relate to (well, except for the rampaging pumpkin-boy). Having grown up in a tiny little burg, I can sympathize with an overwhelming urge to get away from the tired, repetitive lifestyle. Fortunately, my town wasn't as poverty-stricken as this one seemed to be.

The plot itself is fairly straightforward and doesn't contain much in the way of surprises. The reader would probably do him- or herself a favor by going into this book expecting a horror-themed action story rather than spine-chilling prose of terror. That being said, the action scenes are extremely well done. Partridge does an excellent job of balancing the descriptions with the activity, giving you just enough to see what's happening without overwhelming you with the details.

Because it's a short book and the action flows quickly, someone should be able to read this in just a few sittings. While it may not have the character richness of a 400-page epic, it's not necessary to tell this particular story. I'd recommend this for both the serious and the casual reader.

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Title: Dark Harvest
Author: Norman Partridge
Year: 2006
Pages: 169

The Devil You Know

Felix Castor is an exorcist who's fallen into some hard times after an attempt to remedy a friend's possession went horribly wrong. Out of the blue comes a simple ghost removal, which seems fairly simple. However, while attempting to get a feel for the ghost's nature, he runs afoul of a crooked pimp, a lycanthrope with an attitude, and an elder succubus who's been summoned just to kill him. Felix is forced to use his wits to not only bring peace to the mute ghost, but to save his own skin in the process.

Up until this novel, I was only familiar with Mike Carey's comic book work, primarily Lucifer and The Unwritten (both excellent titles, by the way). This is the first prose novel of his I've read, and coincidentally the first novel in the Felix Castor series.

While Felix comes off a bit like John Constantine (Carey also wrote some issues of Hellblazer), the uniqueness of Castor's universe allows you to look past a lot of the familiar occult detective tropes. Carey comes up with creative origins of the various supernatural types, some of which are refreshing takes on otherwise tired concepts. Combine that with some snappy dialog and excellent pacing, and you end up with a book that's an absolute blast to read.

If you're looking for something both fun and new, this is definitely a book to check out. Highly recommended.

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Title: The Devil You Know
Author: Mike Carey
Year: 2006
Pages: 501

Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice

Detective Tony Chu is a cibopath, meaning he gets psychic feedback from anything he eats. This means he feels the life of any animal, plant, or anything else he ingests. Well, except for beets. Why? Who knows, but at least he can eat something guilt-free.

In a world where poultry consumption has been outlawed due to an outbreak of avaian flu, Chu is hired on by the Special Crimes Division of the USFDA to use his talents to solve otherwise unsolvable crimes. Teamed with a hulking mass of a man named Mason (who is also a cibopath), Chu is assigned to the most bizarre of cases, including a reporter who's food reviews make people physically ill, an Arctic outpost with a seemingly pointless assignment to audit their spending, and a Yakuza chicken smuggling operation. All the while, clues emerge that question the government's poultry ban.

Fans of bizarro fiction are likely to enjoy the sheer weirdness of the plot, while those used to more conventional stories may not appreciate the storyline. John Layman does a great job establishing the state of this world and makes the characters as believable as possible, considering the absurdity of the conspiracy and nature of Chu and Mason's powers.

The over-the-top artwork by Rob Guillory helps drive home the quirkiness of Chu's world. Chu is drawn relatively straightforward, while those around him are exaggerated caricatures of the traits they represent. It also helps that Guillory doesn't seem to be afraid of backgrounds, which often have little "Easter eggs" if you're paying attention.

All in all, a pretty good read. Check it out if you'd like to add a little strangeness to your diet.

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Things From Another World

Title: Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice
Author: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory
Year: 2009
Pages: 128