This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 17, 2018.

The Czar of Fear (Doc Savage #9)

By Kenneth Robeson (House Name)/Lester Dent – Street & Smith – 1933

Review by Robin Marx

While this book had some high points, overall it was a pretty tepid entry in the series so far.

The plot felt like it borrowed a great deal from previous installment Quest of the Spider, but with the sinister criminal mastermind attempting to move in on a mining town rather than the lumber industry. I tend to prefer Doc Savage's more globe-trotting expeditions, however, so this small town America-bound story was less engaging for me. Apart from the titular Czar of Fear, the Green Bell, the other antagonists seemed pretty one-dimensional and ineffectual.

On the plus side, the villain makes some interesting use of technology and is also fairly clever in his struggle against Doc Savage. Having Doc on the run from false murder allegations also adds an extra twist to the tale, making this adventure seem like slightly less of a cakewalk than usual for him. And while I missed Ham's absence from most of the narrative, Long Tom has a bit more spotlight time than most episodes and Monk's soft spot for beautiful women is brought up again.

Overall, this book is worth a read for Doc Savage fans, but it's not a particularly distinguished or memorable adventure.

★★☆☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 26, 2018.

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

By William B. Irvine – Oxford University Press – November 4, 2008

Review by Robin Marx

This book is simple and effective, with clear explanations and methodical organization. Irvine argues that, unlike the ancient Greeks and Romans, modern people tend to lack a philosophy for living, and that people can benefit from incorporating philosophical principles into their daily life. He makes the case for Stoicism in particular as a philosophy with special utility in helping people manage negative emotions and attain a greater sense of tranquility.

Throughout the book he introduces the major figures in Stoic history, their teachings, and advises how to apply them to modern life. Dealing with insults, aging, and grief are all topics covered in the book. While Stoicism today is somewhat obscure and misunderstood, many readers will see familiar parallels in Buddhism (which also understands that desire and attachments are a source of frustration and misery) and the literature about mindfulness.

While I discovered and adopted Stoicism on my own two decades ago (I'm what the author terms a “congenital Stoic”), I appreciated the history lesson and the systematic presentation of the philosophy's tenets and their application. While an interest in history is a plus, I'd recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone seeking more equanimity in their daily life, especially if they're skeptical of religion.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 8, 2012.

The Airlords of Han

By Philip Francis Nowlan – Amazing Stories – March 1929

Review by Robin Marx

This is the follow-up volume to Armageddon 2419 A.D., the story that introduced Anthony Rogers—who later became known as Buck Rogers—to the world. While I didn't quite enjoy it as much as the first Rogers story, the second half more than makes up for a lackluster beginning.

The book opens with the continuing struggle of the techno-tribal Americans versus the diabolical Han, technologically advanced Mongolians and the dominant race of 25th century Earth. While there's plenty of action in these early sequences, the war scenes are described in a bloodless, clinical manner that robs them of much of their excitement. This bland description of (invariably successful) tactics is a problem that the later half of the first book shared. Things become even worse when the author takes a mystifying two chapter break right in the middle of an air combat scene to describe “ultron” and “inertron” technology in detail. There's one chapter for the American's technology, and one for the Han's equipment. I doubt most readers are as interested in the author's technobabble as Nowlan himself was, and this digression harms the flow of the story.

Fortunately, things quickly pick up after this sidetrack. In a rare moment of fallibility, Rogers's cockiness leads to him being captured by the Han and taken to their capital city, where he serves as both a prisoner of war and an honored guest to his decadent, soft captors. This portion of the story finally gives a face to the enemy. While Armageddon 2419 A.D. was fairly light on the racism despite a Yellow Peril-era premise, it appears all that was saved up for the sequel. Repeatedly we're told how decadent and soft and corrupt the Mongolians are, unlike the noble and virile (and apparently minority-free) Americans. (Ironically, I'd trade 25th century American life for a Han lifestyle in an instant. They've got luxurious housing, a welfare system, e-commerce, telecommuting, undemanding jobs, and loose women. Where do I sign up?) We even learn that the Han aren't quite real Mongolians, but actually half-alien hybrids resulting from a space ship crashing in Tibet. I guess that makes their eventual genocide at the hands of square-jawed, white-bread Americans OK, then!

Some old-fashioned thinking aside, the second half of the story is fun and exciting. Rogers makes a daring escape from the Han with the assistance of remote-controlled explosive drones. Why these remarkably versatile killer drones weren't used by the Americans in previous battles was unclear to me, but their very presence (along with the telecommuting and e-commerce mentioned previously) is pretty astonishing for a story written in 1929. Rogers's escape is also excitingly rendered and much less dispassionately described than the mass battles from the first half of the book.

The American's eventual victory seems a little too easily won, but the two volume series comes to a satisfying conclusion. Parts of the story will feel—understandably—creaky and outdated to a modern audience, but the pulp action is exciting and the futurism genuinely impressive. Both books are worth a read to pulp fiction fans and those interested in learning more about an classic American icon.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #ScienceFiction #SwordAndPlanet #TheAirlordsOfHan #BuckRogers #PhilipFrancisNowlan

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 3, 2013.

Warm Bodies

By Isaac Marion – Atria Books – April 26, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

Warm Bodies is a zombie romance for young adult readers. I'm not generally interested in love stories—I don't necessarily dislike them either, they're just not something I go out of my way to seek out—and I've never been much of a YA reader (Hardy Boys excluded), but my enthusiasm for zombies led me to pick this book up. It has some issues, but overall it was a worthwhile experience.

My biggest issue was how it patterned itself after Romeo & Juliet. The allusions weren't something I was aware of going into the book, but they're so transparent that I couldn't help but pick up on them right away. While the author probably intended to add some heft and “a tale as old as time” dignitas to his story by drawing parallels between it and one of the most recognized pieces of English literature, Warm Bodies is actually diminished by the association. I bought this book because “zombie love story!” seemed fresh and exciting as a concept, but finding out what I was really holding was “Romeo & Juliet, but with zombies!” was a bit of a let down. It was like the author was telling me to moderate my expectations, saying “Let me level with you, buddy. This is a story you've read many times before, just with a bit of a spin on it.” Romeo & Juliet is such a played out and obvious source of inspiration when writing any kind of romance story that includes obstacles, and the book would've been stronger if Marion had skipped the heavy-handed references and done his own thing. Many plots end up resembling bits of Shakespeare unintentionally, anyway; at this point there's really no need for people to go out of their way to crib from the dead bard.

The romance aspect was so-so. This would've been a very different book had it been written by Clive Barker, but this being a YA novel any squickiness or uncomfortable elements (the interesting stuff) pertaining to a love affair between a human girl and an animated corpse are hand-waved away and/or presented in a sanitized manner. Characterization was likewise a little sleight. It was difficult to understand R's infatuation with Julie, apart from what she symbolized (i.e., vibrant life in a dead, gray world). She was spunky and resilient, but her gal-pal Nora seemed like more fun. Perhaps the attraction can be chalked up to some lingering chemical reaction left over from when R eats Julie's ex-boyfriend's brain. Likewise, it was a little hard to see why she was so interested in R (a dead guy who killed and ate a bunch of her friends), apart from him acting protective and paying over the requisite number of niceness tokens.

While a flimsy, not-quite-believable romance would seem pretty harmful in a book billed as a love story, fortunately the novel shines in other areas. Protagonist “R” and his undead associates are remarkably highly functioning zombies, and their culture is fascinating. While I'm usually a Romero purist when it comes to the presentation of zombies, I liked the idea that zombies could communicate with each other and had their own customs, and that the living were just too preoccupied with fear to notice. The human survivors' post-apocalyptic lifestyle is interesting as well, albeit rendered in less detail. The first person narrative was a high point as well. I enjoyed seeing the world through the eyes of a zombie.

Postscript: Apparently the author is working on both a prequel and a sequel to this novel. While that seems like a wise commercial choice, I'm not quite sure I'll want to pick up either. The zombie/survivor conflict in Warm Bodies was exciting, but given the book's conclusion it's difficult to see what more could be done with it. We'll see.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #UrbanFantasy #YoungAdult #WarmBodies #IsaacMarion

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 18, 2012.

The Waters of Eternity

By Howard Andrew Jones – Thomas Dunne Books – November 22, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

This ebook collects most of the Dabir and Asim short stories by Howard Andrew Jones. Being a fan of both sword & sorcery (a genre Jones has made a valiant effort through articles at Black Gate, etc., to revive) and the Arabian Nights, I picked up this volume so as to learn about the characters before moving onto his debut novel, The Desert of Souls.

Dabir and Asim make an interesting pair of sword & sorcery heroes, very different from the genre's other notable duos, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Elric and Moonglum. Dabir is a wise scholar, while expert swordsman Asim acts as the brawn. They're a bit like Holmes and Watson in that respect. Trusted by the caliph, they're called upon by a variety of people in need. In the stories collected, the premise most often involves some supernatural mystery or a threat on an important figure's life.

True to the genre, the stories are fast-paced, with swashbuckling action and strange creatures. The mystery elements are interesting, but Dabir often reaches conclusions with very little evidence, or at least none that's shared with the reader. As a result, these “brilliant deductions” can seem a little contrived. They'd ring a bit more true if Jones took more time placing hints beforehand.

The Arabian Nights atmosphere is a bit low-key, but there's enough flavor to distinguish these stories from standard Western fantasy. It's interesting to note that both Dabir and Asim are good Muslims, so while they encounter a variety of sword & sorcery temptresses, dancing girls, and femme fatales, there's no Conan-style wrenching to be found.

The book concludes with a sizable excerpt from the first Dabir and Asim novel, The Desert of Souls. This seemed superfluous to me, however, as most people likely to pick this book up have either read the novel and want to read Dabir and Asim's previously-published adventures, or those like me, who want to read these stories before moving onto the novel. I'll be buying The Desert of Souls, so I skipped this excerpt entirely.

I look forward to reading more about Dabir and Asim's exploits. While sword & sorcery lends itself well to shorter formats, novel-length might be a better match for Howard's style. Perhaps the extra room will give Howard more time to develop his mystery plots, as well as treat the reader to a bit more Arabian atmosphere.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #HowardAndrewJones #TheWatersOfEternity #TheChroniclesOfSwordAndSand #DabirAndAsim

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 5, 2014.

The Hammer and the Blade

By Paul S. Kemp – Angry Robot – January 1, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

I've been slightly dissatisfied with many of the books I've read this year, but The Hammer and the Blade turned out to be a welcome end to this unfortunate streak. It's a fun sword & sorcery novel from beginning to end.

The prologue introduces us to hammer-wielding priest Egil and his crafty rogue companion Nix, right in the middle of a raid on a pseudo-Egyptian tomb. The story very quickly establishes that they're in it for thrills, cash, and personal glory, rather than any more elevated goals. What do they do with their ill-gotten gains? On a whim they purchase their favorite scummy tavern/brothel. These are my kind of heroes: sword & sorcery scoundrels, not farm boys destined for greatness.

The story that follows is fast-paced and fun, as the heroes are coerced into doing the dirty work of an unpleasant sorcerer hoping to use his own sisters as breeding stock in a pact with demons.

As is often the case in swords & sorcery fiction, female characters were mostly relegated to the sidelines as potential romance interests and victims, but there's a moment late in the book where the heroes get a very visceral taste of the abuse the sisters have suffered at the hands of their brother, causing our leering, wenching heroes to reconsider the way they treat the women in their lives. The inclusion of this sudden change in perspective was a pleasant surprise.

My only complaint was that the pacing lulled in a couple sections. It took a little long for Egil and Nix to become involved in the main plot, and the finale likewise seemed a little drawn-out and lacking in tension compared to their final tomb raiding expedition. Everything else, however, was golden. Egil and Nix are great characters in the tradition of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and I look forward to reading their future adventures.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #PaulSKemp #TheHammerAndTheBlade #EgilAndNix

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 7, 2014.

Eight Million Gods

By Wen Spencer – Baen Books – May 15, 2013

Review by Robin Marx

There's a saying among expats in Japan: “If you stay here for a week, you write a book. If you stay here for a month, you write an article. If you stay here for a year, you don't write anything.” I suspect Wen Spencer has spent a week in Japan.

I really wanted to like this book. Japan appeals to me enough for me to have made it my home for more than a decade, and I've always been fascinated by Japanese folklore and mythology. The idea of a book dealing with folklore in modern Japan appealed, but unfortunately this book falls down on several fronts.

The Japan presented in this book is a mixed bag. Some aspects (perhaps not coincidentally those that a Western tourist would encounter over the course of a short stay, such as subway station coin lockers, or a description of the Gion festival) are represented authentically, with almost fetishistic detail. Other bits are embarrassingly off. The use of the Japanese language is frequently suspect; Osaka locale “Dōtonbori” is misspelled consistently throughout the book, as is the “jorogumo” monster name. Prices for things tend to off by a factor of ten, and the protagonist shops with bills that don't exist (¥100,000?). It's also a bit strange as someone who has lived in rural Japan to see tanuki (“raccoon dogs,” which basically combine the least threatening aspects of both animals) presented as a dangerous menace. Most of the Japanese mythology was represented accurately, but fairly shallowly. It was blatantly obvious that this was Japan viewed through an anime/manga lens; there's actually a pretty cringe-worthy section where characters remark “This is just like that bit in Inuyasha! Or Naruto!” I guess this is a book you can judge by its katana-wielding schoolgirl cover.

None of the characters really appealed to me. Heroine Nikki has hypographia, a mental disorder characterized by a severe compulsion to write, but this felt like a trivial depiction, as is common for obsessive compulsive disorder. Her hypographia turns out to be more of a supernatural gift than a mental disorder, which could excuse some of this, but it still reminded me of flaky girls using “I'm SO OCD!” as an excuse for minor personality quirks, when the real thing isn't so cute and harmless.

It also bothered me that the only prominent Japanese characters were basically spirits on the periphery. The main character, her friends, the shadowy organization operating in Japan, are all foreign. Leo is half-Japanese, at least, but he was raised in Hawaii by a Brit and serves little purpose in the plot but to beat people up, get beat up, and be sexy for the heroine. The actual Japanese characters are basically all deities, including dead historical—although this strangely isn't played up in the text—figure Taira no Atsumori. It's fun reading about foreigners active in Japan (hell, I AM one), but reducing Japanese people to props, obstacles, and Yoda-like mentors does them a great disservice, especially after borrowing so many of the cool trappings of their culture.

The plot feels fast-paced, but there were so many dead ends and tangents that even with its exuberant tone, this book was a struggle to get through. There's a late plot twist involving protagonist Nikki's mother that feels extremely contrived, and the book's final confrontation is breathtakingly anticlimactic.

If you like Young Adult books, anime, and dream about maybe visiting Japan someday, this may be a good book for you. If you're expecting a more adult book (it wasn't marketed as YA, although it should have been), or if you're more acquainted with Japan and/or less than enthused about the manga Inuyasha, this is probably one to skip.

★★☆☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #UrbanFantasy #Japan #EightMillionGods #WenSpencer

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 2, 2015.

A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert “Believe It or Not!” Ripley

By Neal Thompson – Crown Archetype – May 7, 2013

Review by Robin Marx

While a somewhat obscure figure these days, this biography shows how Robert Ripley went from humble beginnings to world-famous cartoonist and one of the richest men in America.

Ripley lived the life of a pulp hero, and the book often has the same sort of breathless voice found in the old adventure magazines. I found it interesting that the narrative focuses more on his life in New York (and later Florida) than the details of his overseas excursions. Despite the adventurer mystique, it turns out that he tended to spend his many trips in relative comfort and surrounded by other Westerners, rather than do much in the way of trailblazing. It turns out that his life in America—as a somewhat awkward figure thrust into the celebrity spotlight—is every bit as interesting as his travels, however.

Ripley is represented as an interesting and conflicted human being, and the book doesn't shy away from presenting some of the more negative aspects of his personality (alcohol abuse, womanizing, and a propensity towards fits of rage as his health declined later in life).

The book makes an effort to parallel his unlikely life with the subject matter of his “Believe It or Not” newspaper cartoons, with occasional sidebars mentioning unusual coincidences or people mentioned in passing who later went on to do notable things. While these sidebars are interesting, they didn't feel frequent enough to fully carry off the conceit.

“A Curious Man” is a brisk read. Just like the man whose life it chronicles, the narrative is always on the move. Recommended for those with an interest in early 20th century Americana and world travel.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Nonfiction #Biography #ACuriousMan #RipleysBelieveItOrNot #NealThompson

This review originally appeared at This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 5, 2018.

Wastelands 2: More Stories of the Apocalypse

Edited by George R. R. Martin – Titan Books – February 24, 2015

Review by Robin Marx

Much of the book didn't feel as strong as the first Wastelands anthology. That was perhaps inevitable, given the fact that the first book had decades of post-apocalyptic stories to draw from, while the second volume was mostly dependent on those published since the release of the first volume. However, many of the strongest stories are in the second half of the book, with the end result that it matches (or perhaps even exceeds) its predecessor in overall quality.

Scattered thoughts about some of the more memorable stories in the book:

“Animal Husbandry” by Seanan McGuire This starts off as fairly standard post-apoc fare, but has a grim little twist that I appreciated.

“Jimmy’s Roadside Cafe” by Ramsey Shehadeh One of the quieter stories, this one deals with the emotional side of the apocalypse.

“The Postman” by David Brin I had low expectations of this story, given the bland movie adaptation with Kevin Costner, but it ended up being quite the page-turner. One of the more optimistic stories in this volume.

“Patient Zero” by Tananarive Due Very similar to The Girl With All the Gifts, but with a male protagonist and lacking zombies. Well-rendered.

“Tight Little Stiches in a Dead Man’s Back” by Joe R. Lansdale Gory and bizarre, like the best Lansdale. An interesting read, although it felt a bit overstuffed, like there were enough ideas for two different stories here. The reference to tattoos having “stitches” seemed a little odd to me, though.

“The Traditional” by Maria Dahvana Headley Written in the second person, this story is bloody and kind of splatterpunk, like old Poppy Z. Brite. A too-cool-for-school couple shelter together, giving each other outré anniversary gifts as the outside world falls to carnivorous worlds. I wasn't sure where this story was going, but the ending is surprisingly triumphant.

“Monstro” by Junot Diaz This story is about an Americanized Caribbean Islander visiting the Dominican Republic as an odd epidemic breaks out. The narrator's voice and frequent Spanglish was compelling, and the characters were all layered and interesting. The ending is a bit abrupt, but it definitely left me wanting more.

Overall, many the stories collected here had a very experimental feel. A number are written in the second person, one is written in a Wikipedia entry format, and another is written as a multiple choice test. Some of these experiments are more successful than others, but the diverse storytelling kept me interested and engaged throughout.

If you liked the first Wastelands book, this second volume is an easy recommendation. Even if you haven't read the first, this book is worth a look to fans of the post-apocalyptic subgenre.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #PostApocalyptic #ScienceFiction #Wastelands #Wastelands2MoreStoriesOfTheApocalypse #GeorgeRRMartin

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 3, 2014.

Bait

Edited by J. Kent Messum – Plume – August 27, 2013

Review by Robin Marx

Short and nasty, this little book was sort of a combination between The Most Dangerous Game and Saw. The premise was simple but effective: shadowy figures maroon six junkies on a remote archipelago in the Florida Keys, then place a package of heroin and supplies on a neighboring island. The addicts are forced to deal with aggressive sharks and their murderous audience, who watch from an offshore yacht. The heroin acts as bait for the addicts, and the addicts are bait for the sharks. Exciting stuff!

While the author kept things moving fast, the first half of the book was still hindered by the presence of six unnecessary and redundant flashbacks. The characters' backgrounds were all pretty similar (“I used to be X, then got hooked on heroin. Yesterday I was stalked and rendered unconscious by beefy guys.”), and they end up verbally explaining their circumstances to the other characters anyway. The flashbacks are mercifully brief, but they distract from the characters' more exciting present and end up feeling like filler. The book could have shed this bit of fat and become an even better, punchier novella.

While the characters were a little thin—the non-shark antagonists seemed a bit like comic book baddies—the story's pace was brisk and action-packed. While the term “pulp” is often used by snobs to dismiss stories that emphasize action and excitement over characterization and deep reflection, Bait is a good, modern embodiment of the best qualities of the pulp adventure tale. If the premise intrigues you, by all means give this book a read.

★★★★☆

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