Sensor Sweep: Twilight Zone, Solomon Kane, Cosmic Horror
Monday , 30, October 2023 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentT.V. (Art of Manliness): If you have only passing familiarity with The
Twilight Zone — maybe only really knowing its iconic opening sequence — you might be forgiven for thinking that the classic television show centered on scary themes. In reality, however, while the show certainly had a dark atmosphere and included plenty of suspense, creepiness, and dread, it fell more into the genres of science fiction and fantasy than horror.
Robert E. Howard (REH World): Swords of the North – the Ultimate Edition – Coming soon!
The definitive collection of Robert E. Howard’s Celtic/Viking adventure stories. The book checks in at around 500 pages, and will be printed in hardback with dust jacket. Edited by Rob Roehm and Paul Herman. Cover art by Mark Wheatley and introduction by Rusty Burke.
Fiction (E.F. Benson the Other Novels): The purpose of this blog is to review,
and to gather together other critics’ opinions of, the entire works of E F Benson. ‘Fred’ is known today almost exclusively for his Mapp and Lucia novels and his ghost (‘spook’) stories, but in his day he was a popular and versatile author, whose career of almost 50 years saw him tackle a wide range of subjects in both fiction and non-fiction. Read More
My introduction to horror fiction was through Robert E. Howard. I began reading his horror in collections such as The Book of Robert E. Howard and The Howard Collector. Then I moved on to H. P. Lovecraft and then the Lovecraft Circle. My horror reading still tends to be Weird Tales centric. Personal favorites include Donald Wandrei, Manly Wade Wellman’s Weird Tales fiction, Weird Tales period Ray Bradbury, and Carl Jacobi.
I first read Carl Jacobi (“The Pit”) in the the anthology Weird Tales #1 (Zebra Books, 2nd printing 1983) in late summer 1983. I lucked out in April 1984 when Phantom of the Attic on South Craig Street in Pittsbugh had the Jove reprint of the Arkham House collection Revelations in Black. I devoured that in shorteorder appeciating Jacobi’s precise prose in the short story format. His stories were traditional with Gothic atmosphere. They read like horror stories. He was one of those strong second stringers for Weird Tales magazine in its hey day that added to the later legend. Read More
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 28 October 2023
Saturday , 28, October 2023 Uncategorized Leave a commentEvery week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
Echoes of Issel (The Sergey Chronicles #2) – D. T. Read
Reunited with his family, Tristan struggles to find common ground to build a relationship with Lujan Sergey, commander of the Unified Worlds’ special forces and the father he’s never known. A new universe is beginning to open for him when a new crisis occurs, and Tristan is pressed to volunteer for hazardous service.
The alien masuk slavers are about to attack the Issel system and only Tristan, once held captive there, knows the planetary defenses well enough to penetrate them. But he’ll have to pass the demanding Spherzah training—and conquer the demons in his own past—in order to participate.
A new war threatens, and it will take all of the Sergey family to survive it. But when an assassin tries to intervene, will all of the family still be alive to see it through?
The Essence Crystal (Essence Wielder #2) – Dan Michaelson and D. K. Holmberg
The Great Serpent has given a great gift—if only Dax can understand it in time.
With the attack on the Great Serpent stopped, Dax and his friends return to the Academy having changed. They no longer fear the Cult of the Dragon, but the Order now knows of their involvement.
The Academy can only protect them so much.
When Dax discovers strange sentient creatures in the forest near the Academy, he fears the Order has a new plan to attack the empire.
He’ll need to master his essence if he wants to have any chance to understand it. Even that might not be enough to stop the danger that’s coming.
Firebrand #2: The Firetouched – D. E. Oleson
Martel has begun his studies. He’s made a few friends, but most of all, his powers grow.
While hesitant to use fire magic, it’s saved him more than once, and his gift for destruction is undeniable. But others take note, and protecting his secret only gets more difficult. Every day bears the risk that his talent is discovered, and the Empire will force him to fight their conflicts.
Those same wars that flood Morcaster with problems and cause clashes between Asterians and Khivan immigrants, including Martel’s friends.
With every battle on the distant front, the war grows closer, the dead and wounded return in numbers, and the anger threatens to boil over. As tempers become enflamed, the spark of a fire-touched could set the city ablaze – or save it.
Immortal Empire (Path of the Thunderbird #4) – eden Hudson
A dark dragon awakened.
A thunder god returned.
An immortal empire balanced on the edge of a whisper.
As god-protector of the heavens, Ji Yu Raijin is the only one who can stop the universe-ending power of the Dragon. If he fails, everything he’s fought so hard to save will be destroyed, and his immortal throne will be lost forever.
The full might of his enemies is arrayed against him. Legions of cunning immortals, powerful cultivators, and deathless demons stand in his path—but they aren’t the greatest obstacle he faces.
The first time Raijin was betrayed and cast from the heavens, it was with his immortal wife’s sword in his back.
Can he trust Koida to help him retake the throne, or will she stay true to her nature and betray him again? Read More
Sensor Sweep: Black Starlight, Tales From the Crypt, Night Gallery, Toga Trash Novels
Monday , 23, October 2023 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentConan (Sprague de Camp Fan): The new Conan adventures are starting to 
pile up faster than I can read them. This one is not really new though. It was originally serialized in Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian (2019) issues 1 through 12. I didn’t read it then. Like most, I imagine, I decided to wait until all 12 issues were in my hand so I could read the whole thing in one or two sittings. But after a year passes other things are bought and other things are added to the pile.
Games (Walker’s Retreat): Which means we’re getting Hyborea for ACKS. And that is a massive win. It’s been years since Mongoose did their surprisingly decent adaptation (the first edition) with its excellent The Road of Kings setting book, and I cannot wait to see that surpassed with which Macris and Dixon can do now that so much of Howard’s work either is Public Domain or will be soon.
D&D (Jon Mollison): It turns out I’m not the only one playing AD&D solo these days. I’m not even the only one with a blog discussing the results of my solo play. Today I present to you “Fort Cranium“, a newish quick recommendation today. He started with a 5×5 map of 30 mile hexes, which are subdivided into 5 mile hexes of their own, a large are with plenty of room to explore, loot, and colonize. Make sure you stick around for future episodes to see how a few dice rolls can spin up a wholy different experience. Read More
One of the library book sale finds was a pristine paperback of Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon. This is the thriller novel that put serial killers on the map. The book was first published in 1981. There were other novels that had serial killers (James Ellroy) but Harris took it to the next level.
The mass paperback is 354 pages. The novel starts with Will Graham visited by his old boss Crawford from the F.B.I. Crawford wants Graham to look into the murders of two families space a month apart. Graham has been retired after putting Dr. Hannibal Lector away a few years earlier. There is a race against time before the killer butchers another family in a month. Read More
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 21 October 2023
Saturday , 21, October 2023 Uncategorized Leave a commentEvery week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
The Alliance (The Survivors #21) – Nathan Hystad
A wedding. A mysterious entity. A dangerous lineage.
Jules is ready to get married. If only things were that simple.
Dean is contacted by someone known only as Friend and told about a drifting vessel on the edges of Alliance space. What he finds on board is a shock to everyone.
When Jules appears on an alien world with one of Earth’s most notorious criminals, she must fight to survive and find her way home.
The Alliance may be the Survivors biggest test yet, but with Jules and Dean, they always have the answers. At least, they used to…
The Altar of Hate – Vox Day
“DOWNRIGHT EVIL”
Vox Day is one of the most intelligent, most eclectic, and most dangerous writers of his generation. With a literary range that spans from philosophy and economic commentary to epic fantasy and science fiction, he has been banned from every major social media platform and is forbidden by name from setting foot inside Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.
“Vox Day rises all the way to ‘downright evil’. “
-Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Tor Books
THE ALTAR OF HATE is a collection of his short fiction that is unrelated to his ARTS OF DARK AND LIGHT or his QUANTUM MORTIS series. The stories include tales of blood feuds in Venice, diplomatic assassinations, scientific genocide, cyberpunk, magical journeys into the distant past, and the selling of infernal machines.
Cozy Isekai Craftsman 2: Loyalties – Blaise Corvin and C. Cheesecake
After being transported to a fantasy world full of supernatural beauty and weirdness, Joe has forged himself a place in the community of Lockwood. Now he has a home, a place he belongs, and people he cares about. After finding loopholes in the strange ability conferred by the goddess Quinn, he has enriched and delighted his new friends.
However, despite solving local problems ranging from sanitation to monster attacks, Joe’s work is not done. There are powers in the world who are seeking Joe. Some might be friendly, some not so friendly.
Some of those around him are also hiding secrets. Some need help. Some might even help him when he needs it most. And most of all, Joe is about to learn that his deal with the Goddess Quinn will complicate his life in ways he could have never anticipated.
Phantom Chamber (Shattered Legacy #2) – Andrew Rowe and Kayleigh Nicol
After the Tortoise Spire climb claims three members of Team Guiding Star Legacy, surviving combat experts Nieve and Hane—teammates by chance if not by choice—cope with their losses by joining another delving group to ascend Tiger Spire. Allied with bickering siblings Rose and Mason, an Architect and a Transmuter, and the Biomancer Lief, they’re led by Odette, an Analyst, who has meticulously studied the spire’s scenarios to locate the mythical Vault of Shadows and claim its priceless treasures.
Their quest takes them aboard a train transporting rare cargo, but their mission is vague. Odette believes they’re either supposed to protect the cargo or capture someone. As the team splits into factions to solve the mystery, they encounter the notorious thief known as the Magpie. Sa’rhi Nereux is a Controller, commanding powerful minions to help them steal a creature capable of granting life or death with a single bite.
Even if the adventurers are victorious, greater threats await them within the spire if they’re to unearth the Vault of Shadows. Nieve, still grieving her lost companions, wants to befriend her new team to face these threats together. But Hane prefers distance, even from Nieve, leaving her to bond instead with a being of unimaginable power . . . Read More
Sensor Sweep: Conan, James Bond, Creep Show 2, Poul Anderson
Monday , 16, October 2023 Sensor Sweep 1 CommentConan (Sprague de Camp Fan): This one starts with Conan raiding a
caravan. A bloody business for sure and Dixon doesn’t shy away from describing the slaughter. Everyone, except for a young male soldier, is unmercifully slaughtered. After the killing is done one of Conan’s men, Zekir al Khoraj, is upset that their raid did not result in capturing any women to rape and suggests this last captive will suffice.
Weird Tales (M Porcius): Today we wrangle some stories from the February 1938 issue, including works by the premier Weird Tales writer, New England’s Howard Phillips Lovecraft, and one of our favorite scribblers, Henry Kuttner, the young man from California. And in the spirit of exploration which I like to think characterizes this journey, we’ll read two stories by individuals we’ve never read before, one by Clifford Ball and one by M. G. Moretti.
Games (Walker’s Retreat): What would RIFTS look like if it were a competent product? Remaking this product into a complete, comprehensive, and competent fantastic adventure game means doing the following: Designing, testing, and perfecting a complete tabletop wargame whose rules and procedures scale up seamlessly from Man To Man to Massive Fleet Battles & Cosmic Entity Combat- all going on simultaneously (i.e. the scales interact). Read More
October: The leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter, the temperatures are getting colder. I generally set aside more blood and thunder fiction and read weird/supernatural/horror until Halloween.
A series that has really grown on me is Wordsworth’s Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural. This series started in 2006 and lasted until petering out in 2015. Richard, who guest blogs here now and then, sent me the E. F. Benson collection and I think the Henry S. Whitehead collection.
These books are great. Trade paperbacks priced very affordably. Wordsworth mainly reprinted fiction out of copyright. The emphasis was on pre-pulp British ghost writers. I currently have 2 Le Fanu, M. R. James, and W. F. Harvey collections on my coffee table for nightly reading until October 31st. Read More
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 14 October 2023
Saturday , 14, October 2023 Uncategorized Leave a commentEvery week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
A Blade’s Rebirth (The Chain Breaker #13) – D. K. Holmberg
When a power greater than the Chain Breaker rips through his realm, Gavin must become more.
When a strange power breaks into Gavin’s world from the other realm, he must find a way to stop it—and the ones responsible for forcing open the dangerous vents of power that let terrifying creatures into his world. But too many openings are forming.
Gavin and his allies don’t have the numbers.
Worse, when the truth about these openings is revealed, Gavin fears a war unlike the world has seen in ages will return.
And he may be the only thing standing in the way—if he can control his changing power in time.
The Eldritch Underneath (The Splintered Five Saga Outworlder’s Blood #2) – WillPowah
In the heart of the wilderness, a ravenous hunger lurks…
After a narrow escape from Tumbling Rapids, Kay and his mentor, Eleniah, embark on an exhilarating journey into the unknown. Eleniah has grand designs for her new protégé and plans to mold him into a force of nature, capable of withstanding whatever the world can throw at him. And her chosen classroom? A monster-infested stretch of wilderness, where no one would be stupid—or crazy—enough to venture.
But when a motley crew of refugees and adventurers unexpectedly intrudes upon their solitude, Kay’s training takes an unforeseen twist. Leadership is suddenly thrust upon him and, like it or not, he now has an entire settlement to look after.
Juggling his new responsibilities while simultaneously advancing his Classes and Skills should be challenge enough, but unfortunately there’s a far more ominous threat lurking beneath the surface of their new home. Something hungry. Something vicious. Something bloodthirsty. And Key’s idyllic little hamlet looks like the perfect meal…
Gunpowder Geishas (Four Horsemen Universe: Phoenix Initiative #8) – Carolyn Kay
“Swift as hares, fierce as wolves!”
Born into the Scarlet Rabbit’s mercenary company, Sakura Ike learned the art of combat before she learned how to serve tea as a Geisha. For her, fighting in a CASPer mech suit is as natural as breathing.
The job was simple: get down to the planet Wh’ton, retrieve the box, come home, and get paid. Easy. But then tragedy struck, and the only family she had left was her aunt Katsume and a mother that never loved her.
There is no time to grieve; Sakura must find the answers before the trail goes cold, and she loses her chance at revenge. But she can’t do it alone. Together with her best friend Jeni, the shell-shocked Newsom, the mysterious Jung, and the alien warrior Taka, they must band together to hunt down the Rabbits’ betrayer. The good news is Katsume has built brand new cyber battlesuits for them. The bad news is a fledgling Yakuza crime family wants to take them out before they fulfill their ultimate mission.
Will the Gunpowder Geishas get the revenge they seek, or will they become yet another failed Phoenix Initiative merc company?
Perry Rhodan NEO #15 – Alexander Huiskes and Christian Montillon
The Tosoma has been dutifully repaired attempts to escape when Naats, in service of the Arkonide Empire, descend upon the Web, demanding the ship and its crew.
Meanwhile, Aescunnar makes an astonishing discovery while trying to recover Hetcher on Mars. Signs of an ancient civilization are found on the Red Planet. More startling still: they may not have left…
On Topsid, Manoli is now heading for the Wise Ones’ Stronghold, a mountain refuge for their most revered figures. But the climb will be far from easy—and will a human even be allowed into such a sacred place? Elsewhere, the despot obsesses over his unseemly “collection” of Arkonide captives.
Back on Earth, Bai Jun’s questions are about to be answered. Administrator Adams orders him to evacuate the entire city of Terrania as a precursor to a grand reveal. What are the secrets of the Stardust Tower—and the administrator’s plans for it?
This is a guest post by Shogun Montgomery:
Ideologues are Rewriting Homer’s Classics
It’s common knowledge at this point that Cultural Marxists prefer to stay in academia and influence subsequent generations of students. It was only a matter of time before they got into medieval studies and classics departments to add toxic masculinity, white privilege, and intersectionality as bold footnotes to history.
In the last decade, this trend has targeted Homer’s classics The Iliad and The Odyssey. Feminists are telling the stories of Homer’s classics from the perspectives of the women in those stories, and, in doing so, are ultimately rewriting them with feminist dogma. Read More
Sensor Sweep: Conan, Red Sonja, Walking Dead, Ravenloft
Monday , 9, October 2023 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentD&D (Grognardia): Despite my somewhat negative assessment of the lasting
impact of Tracy Hickman on the development of AD&D, I nevertheless respect Hickman’s dungeon designs. Ravenloft, for all of its theater kid stylings, includes an immense and genuinely challenging dungeon in the form of Castle Ravenloft.
Fantasy (Goodman Games): We recently caught up with Howard Andrew Jones, sword-and-sorcery scholar and novelist, as well as the Managing Editor for our very own Tales From the Magician’s Skull. We talk about his work on the magazine, the writing of fantasy series, and get a taste of his latest all-new epic sword-and-sorcery series, The Chronicles of Hanuvar!
Firearms (Guns Magazine): They Say that on a cold night, when you walk
past the stern figure of Samuel Colt standing as a monument on his grave in Hartford, Conn., there can be seen a faint smile on his cold marble lips. And many people wonder why he is smiling. Maybe it is because some 3,000 miles away, in the City of the Angels in the land of California, there is a man who is doing the same thing Colt did back more than a century ago. Read More
Kingsley Amis’ Colonel Sun was the first non-Ian Fleming James Bond novel (1968). Glidrose Productions, the rights holders to James Bond, wanted a continuation novel to retain certain rights. Amis had already written The James Bond Dossier (1965) and The Book of Bond (1965). Colonel Sun was listed as by “James Markham.”
The novel starts with an attempt to take James Bond prisoner as he visits M who is recuperating from pneumonia at the Hammond’s household. Ex-Chief Petty Officer Hammond. Bond escapes despite being shot with a tranquilizer dart. He was found by a motorist who took him to the hospital. M is missing, the Hammonds are dead. Read More