WE3 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

Many things have been said about Grant Morrison's writing.  He is known as a genius who is so in love with all the crazy ideas in his head that he forgets to make it understandable to the average reader.  In some cases the reader has to read one of his stories 3 or 4 times before they start understanding the story.  For that reason some fans will not read his books.  I am of the group who feels anything that Morrison writes is an automatic buy.


WE3 is one of Morrison's most accessible stories.  It is a good one to introduce to a new reader.  Morrison and Quitely have done their version of the "Homeward Bound" type movie.  This is the story of  a dog, a cat, and a rabbit who only want to go home.  With Morrison involved, the story is not quite that simple.  In this situation, the animals are part of a weapon's project developed by the military.  When they decide it is time to shut them down, the trio tries to find the legendary place of safety that is called home.  Unfortunately for them the military unleashes Weapon 4.  It's mission is to destroy Weapon 3.  It is almost impossible to not sympathize with Weapon 3 as these cute animals in cybernetic war suits try to find sanctuary.  


I do not want to forget the art by Frank Quitely.  He makes the animals sympathetic even when they are killing people.  The expressions he draws on the animals' faces is unparalleled.  Quitely is also a master at depicting an amazing degree of detail on the action scenes.  Numerous bullets are flying at their target and it looks like you can see every one.  


Fans of great character work or military science fiction will like this book.


Highly recommended.

"Scales" by Alastair Reynolds

It is hard to believe that Reynolds started having his stories published in 1990.  I still think of him as a newer writer.  "Scales" first appeared in 2009 as part of the Guardian Books Podcast.  It was reprinted in Lightspeed Magazine's May 2011 issue.


This is the first military fiction written by Reynolds that I remember.  When I finished it I thought of similar themes from Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" and Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War".  Somehow Reynolds was able to fit many big ideas including humanity at war with an alien race, the evolution of humanity, the life of a soldier, and it all happened in a short story.  Usually Reynolds receives credit for his novels but I think he is a master of the short form.  This stand alone story deserves to be recognized.  I plan on checking out more of his short fiction.  This is the second of his short stories I have read and both were very good.


Highly recommended.  Not enough room to develop the characterization but the ideas and plot carry it at this short length.

"Auto-da-Fe" by Roger Zelazny

Auto-da-Fe by Roger Zelazny
    Dangerous Visions, 1967

From Wikipedia:  An auto-da-fe was the ritual of public penance of comdemned heretics by the Spanish Inquisition.  The most common form was burning at the stake.

Zelazny envisions a world where men challenge cars in a futuristic version of bullfighting.  The bullfighter comes back after dying twice to enter the ring for a third round of fights.  How did he return after dying two times?  The author never explains.  Based on the descriptions it sounds like some bionic parts might have been used to repair his body but that is strictly my thought on the subject.  I do not have proof that is what happened.

The ending is when "auto-da-fe" comes into play. 

I rate this as middle Zelazny.  It is not one of his best stories but is still very interesting.  I did not feel a connection with the main character.  I think it could have been helped with more pages to flesh him out.

An interesting read but not one of Zelazny's best short stories.  It appeared in Harlan Ellison's influential "Dangerous Visions" anthology but I do not consider it one of Zelazny's most influential stories. 

The Roger Zelazny Project

It is no secret that Roger Zelazny is one of my favorite writers.  "Nine Princes in Amber" is one of the most read books in my collection.  So I began an unofficial "Roger Zelazny Project".  My goal is to eventually read (and in most cases re-read) all of his novels and short fiction.  Coming up soon on this site will be reviews of "The Guns of Avalon" and a short story called "The George Business".

I am always on the lookout for Zelazny sites.  One that stood out to me is Zelazny & Amber. As part of my tribute to an author who has given me many hours of reading pleasure, I volunteered to help out on the site.  Starting today I will be writing summaries of his novels.  You can go to the novel page by clicking here.  My first summary is for "Nine Princes in Amber".  I will post a message here as I do more of the summaries.

One of my favorite parts of the site is the "Encounters".  Numerous people has left comments about their experiences with Zelazny.  If you had any interaction with him, please leave a note on the site.

Grasping for the Wind

John Ottinger put out the call for people who would want to do a monthly article for his blog "Grasping for the Wind".  I proposed writing about the interaction between science fiction/fantasy and comic books.  John accepted and I will now be appearing there on the 26th of each month.  If John likes the articles, I will continue for the foreseeable future.  If you like this idea, go to "Grasping for the Wind" and let John know.


Next month's article will focus on Larry Niven's contributions to the Green Lantern mythos.


The following articles appeared today.


GFTW Welcomes Jim Black!

Science Fiction and Graphic Storytelling

Doctor Who Season 6 Episode 3: The Curse of the Black Spot

The TARDIS is marooned onboard a 17th-century pirate ship and the Doctor is soon being forced to walk the plank at gunpoint. But things are about to get much, much worse...

Beset by terror and cabin fever, the pirates have numerous superstitious explanations for the appearance of a mysterious Siren. The Doctor has other ideas but as every plan of escape is thwarted, he must win the trust of the implacable Captain Avery and uncover the truth behind the pirates' supernatural fears - and he must work quickly because some of his friends have already fallen under the Siren's spell...

(from the BBC site)

It's time for me to do some catching up.  Another episode has aired since this one appeared.

It is obvious that "The Curse of the Black Spot" was done to help pull in fans of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie.  Does that make this a bad episode?  Not necessarily.

Any time a pirate gets cut, a black spot appears on their hand.  Shortly thereafter the Siren manifests and takes the pirate.  When the Doctor and his companions (Amy and Rory) arrives he knows that there has to be a logical explanation.  Rory gets cut and the action kicks into high gear.  Amy goes all out to become a pirate and try to save the boys.  She does a good job with the action sequences.

"Curse" is a more traditional straight forward Doctor Who episode.  Some fans will like it more than the two parter that opened the season.  I liked this one but enjoyed the two parter more.  The storytelling in it was challenging and demanded more from the viewer.  

Once again the special effects are fantastic for a television series.  This season has featured some of the best effects.

A solid episode that will be followed by "The Doctor's Wife" (the Neil Gaiman scripted story).

Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba

I kept hearing great things about this series published by Vertigo.  Since I missed the first few issues, I decided to wait for the paperback collection to appear.  It is a different comic book experience that should not be missed.


What is "Daytripper" about?  It is the story of one man's life.  At various times it focuses on his relations with his father, his best friend, his wife, and his son.  It definitely is a story about the impact of loss and death on a person.  Somehow the creators take all of this and make it a celebration of life.  Just like in real life, the main character's life accumulates and combines all of the losses and gains we experience to make a whole person.  After reading this book, you will be made to think about the relationships you have in your life.  Appreciate them while you have the opportunity.  As this story shows, your chances to interact with others are limited.  Life and death intervenes when we least expect it.

In some respects it is a magic realism story, in others it seems like a day in the life story about a writer, and at times I can see the influence of the themes of Philip K. Dick.


When I read the first issue (or chapter if you are reading the collection) it seemed like a biographical story.  It was very well written with art that supported the story with excellent graphics.  This story could take place in the real world.


Then the second issue puzzled me by showing a character who died in the first story.  How did this happen?  It was not even addressed.  Chapter two told a different biographical story.  


This pattern was continued until the later issues when some magic realism was introduced.  The dream sequences were naturally into the over all story.


Somewhere around chapter 7 I started questioning what was real for the main character.  Reality seems to change with each chapter but somehow they all tie together.  This was the Philip K. Dick portion of the story.


It might sound like an unusual mixture but it works.  Congratulations to the creators.  I will definitely be looking for more of their work.


Highly recommended.