Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny

First Publication:  The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, (July and August issues) 1971

Cover Artists:  (1) Bob Pepper (2) Ron Walotsky (3) Segrelles

This Zelazny novel was named after his fellow science-fiction author Jack Vance.  He tried to capture some of the exotic locals that Vance filled his novels with.  He also wrote this novel in one draft.  It was bought and serialized in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" in 1971.  Later that year it appeared in book form.  Fans liked it and nominated it for both the Hugo and Locus Awards for best novel of the year in 1972.  "Jack of Shadows" finished #4 in the Hugo voting.

It features many of the characteristics that I find enjoyable in Roger Zelazny's other works. Many of the themes from the Amber series appear in this novel.  The protagonist draws strength from shadows, he prefers the same personal colors as Corwin from the Amber series, he is an outcast, and his world is a combination of our world and a magical realm.  The difference is that it all occurs on one world.  In Jack's world, the Earth does not spin.  Our world is locked on the day side, the magical one is on the night side.

Zelazny walks a thin line by balancing the two worlds.  Jack is a tragic character in many ways.  Some reviewers, Lester Del Rey in particular, disliked the ambiguous ending.  Fans enjoyed the book, based on the award nominations and comments I have heard, but tried to talk Zelazny into continuing the adventures of Shadowjack.  He declined saying that the ambiguous ending was what he was aiming for with this novel.  

The nightside adventures were classic Zelazny fantasy stories.  Even though the reader gets a sense that Shadowjack will not get everything he wants, you are captured by the magic of Zelazny's writing.  Nobody is able to write as poetic sentences as this author.  And that is one of many reasons that he has been one of my two favorite authors since I became a fan of the field.

If you enjoyed Zelazny's Amber or Changling series, I would recommend reading this book.

34. The Peculiar Exploits of Brigadier Ffellowes by Sterling E. Lanier

Writer:  Sterling E. Lanier
First Publication:  1971

Back in my early days of reading the science fiction magazines, I stumbled on a copy of “The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction”.  It was the July 1974 issue.  The cover by Ron Walotsky  caught my attention.  It showed a jungle scene with an explorer hiding among the plants.  A giant rat, holding a bloody knife, was standing upright in an intimidating pose.  The cover story was called “A Father’s Tale” by Sterling Lanier.  At the time I did not realize it was part of a series. 

A few science fiction authors were using the framework of a bar or club where people told tall tales.  Larry Niven had “Draco’s Tavern”.  Spider Robinson wrote about “Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon”.  Before that Isaac Asimov wrote a series of mysteries about the Black Widowers.  Arthur C. Clarke penned “Tales from the White Heart”.  In recent years Mike Resnick has published the adventures of Lucifer Jones.  The framework goes back earlier than these stories.  

Lanier’s main character, at least on the cover, appears very similar to Sherlock Holmes.  “A Father’s Tale” was nominated for many awards but I never saw any other stories about the Brigadier.  Last year I searched for Sterling Lanier on my Kindle and discovered that he had published two collections of stories about the Brigadier.  “A Father’s Tale” is in the second collection but I wanted to try out the first.  Lanier does an excellent job of pulling you into the world of the club.  I could almost smell the smoke from their pipes.  The chair I was sitting on transformed into an old leather chair.  Lanier made me feel like part of the group.  

If classic tall tales interest you, I would recommend searching for a copy of this collection (or the second one).  Copies (digital for the Kindle or used print editions) are available through Amazon.  

Short Story Sunday - A Classic by Philip Jose Farmer

As the new year begins, I decided to start one of my old favorites from my early years of reading-"The Sliced-Crosswise Only-On-Tuesday World" by Philip Jose Farmer.  I remember reading it in Terry Carr's "The Best Science Fiction of the Year #1" in 1976.  Some of my best reading experiences were the various "Best of..." and "World's Best SF" series.  I plan on revisiting some of those this year.

"TSCOOTW" is one of Farmer's classic stories.  The world is suffering from overpopulation.  A scientist discovers a way to put people into suspended animation.  So the government lets the populace be awake for one day a week.  Our protagonist is a Tuesday person.  At the end of the day, he goes into suspended animation until the next Tuesday.  Life is good until the day he sees one of the Wednesday people who lives in his apartment building.  He falls in love at first sight.  As he learns more about he, he continues to become obsessed with meeting her.  This story follows his quest to switch to Wednesday.

After all of these years, I still enjoyed this story.  Highly recommended as a Farmer classic.

The Midnight Dancers by Gerard F. Conway

Gerard F. Conway spent many years writing great comic books.  In my teen years he was one of my favorites.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered a DAW book called "Mindship" by the same author.  After writing a couple of science fiction novels, Conway choose writing comics full time.  

"Mindship" was one of the novels I still vividly remember from my younger days.  This year I managed to find his other novel.  I eagerly devoured it.  Unfortunately, this novel is not in the same class as "Mindship".  

"Mindship" had a great main character, an intriguing idea, and fantastic atmosphere.  The mood dripped off the pages.  This one, and it is a first novel, missed the mark.  Most of the novel is taken up with detailed descriptions of what it is like to be a primitive hunter.  The characterization is severely lacking.  "Cardboard" characters spring to mind when you force yourself through this book. The story that is talked about on the back cover is missing for most of this novel.  When we do get to the main story, it is rushed.  Where "Mindship" seemed shorter than it was, this one seemed much longer.  That is not a good sign. 

Avoid "Midnight Dancers" and pick up "Mindship" instead.