Journal Entry #56December 31, 2009
I’ve spent much of the last few weeks trying to catch up on reading for the Nebula Awards. Novels of particular interest include Rift in the Sky (Julie Czerneda’s latest volume of the Clan Chronicles); Galileo’s Dream (Kim Stanley Robinson’s compelling portrait of the man who discovered Jupiter had moons, and then discovered the moons were inhabited); Starship: Flagship (Mike Resnick concludes Wilson Cole’s revolt against a Republic that has become increasingly authoritarian); and Plague Zone (the final installment in Jeff Carlson’s trilogy of a plague-ridden world).
Shorter fiction I especially enjoyed: “Gunfight on Farside,” (Adam-Troy Castro in the April Analog); “Where the Winds Are All Asleep,“ (Michael Flynn, Analog, October); “Shambling Towards Hiroshima (James Morrow, Tachyon); “Economancer“ (Carolyn Ives Gilman, F&SF, Jun-Jul); “But It Does Move” (Harry Turtledove, Analog, June); “A Jug of Wine and Thou” ( Jerry Oltion, Analog, Apr); and “The Bride of Frankenstein” (Mike Resnick, Asimov’s, Dec).
There were a substantial number of other excellent stories in the mix, tales by Tom Ligon, Mary Rosenblum, Nancy Kress, Don D’Ammassa, Mario Milosevic, Michael Cassutt, James Van Pelt, Marie Desjardin, Eric James Stone, and Henry Garfield.
Christmas always brings new books, although we‘ve long since run out of space for them. This year I received Roger Osborne’s Civilization; Genesis by Robert M. Hazen; Together We Cannot Fail by Terry Golway. The latter one is an account of the FDR presidency, with a disk containing segments of the Fireside chats. I was a bit too young to know what was going on, so I don’t think I ever heard any of them. I should add, though, that I saw Roosevelt twice in person.
I also received an audio book version of David McCullough’s John Adams. Rick Wilber sent me a copy of his novel Rum Point, a mystery wrapped in a baseball story. I’m halfway through it and recommend it with enthusiasm.
And finally, a guilty pleasure: Maureen knows that I grew up as a Captain America fan. Cap and the other superheroes were the way most of the little kids learned to read in the early forties. Usually two years or so before we started school. I mean, how else can you find out what the Red Skull was up to? So she surprised me a Marvel omnibus Captain America. I haven’t been near my old buddy in decades.
I was paging through the book yesterday, and I was struck by how much better the stories and the artwork are than the ones I remember. And the writing…
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Mike Bishop recommended a BBC series to me recently: Foyle’s War. A police inspector in Britain solves difficult cases while Nazi bombs drop. The narratives intermesh with the history, producing shows as dramatic as any I can remember.
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We’ve been debating whether to see Sherlock Holmes. I read the entire canon during the summer of 1955, and can still remember the regret I felt when there were no more. Basil Rathbone was excellent in the movie role. Jean Shepherd once commented that he didn’t play Sherlock Holmes, he was Sherlock Holmes. Later, Jeremy Brett performed admirably in the BBC series. Others haven’t fared so well. And now comes this movie version which looks more as if they’ve put the deerstalker on James Bond.
Maybe I’ll stay with Cap.
Happy new year.