A Man With An Agenda

This was a fantastic anthology of hard-boiled detective fiction from the pulp golden age. All eight stories feature a short paragraph introducing the author, their signature characters and the context of original publication. The end of the book has a brief reading list detailing full length novels and collections published that, at the time of this 1960s publication, could be found in remote lending libraries that didn't weed their collections too often. Ha!

These stories deserve a blow-by-blow account of highlights and misfires, but I didn't keep any notes while reading this one. 'China Man' had some racist elements in the underbelly of Manila, but Raoul Whitefield's Filipino private-eye was a refreshing change of pace nonetheless. There were a few other racist and sexist elements that cropped up in these stories, but nothing shocking or unexpected considering the genre.

This was a gag gift from a friend, but I enjoyed it very much. With the exception of 'China Man', the stories were set in the United States in L.A., New York, a mountain resort, Florida among others. The detectives were professional private eyes, gangsters, cab men and reporters. I suspect this is as good a survey of the genre as you're likely to find.

'Deck of Omens' picks up right where 'Devouring Gray' left off, with the Hawthornes and all of Four Paths aghast at Harper's vengeance.

Even in the peculiar world of this town the law doesn't touch magical actions, but there is a definite shift in power even as a new threat rises up from the Gray. Corruption is taking the trees of the forest from the inside out and, after Violet and Isaac try to strike at the Beast, the infection crosses over to people.

Further complications occur when other members of the Founders families begin to return to town. There is more family drama, surprise identity reveals, and so many feelings. Parents and kids just don't understand each other or their feelings.

This book gets to the heart of every mystery raised, but left me still wanting more. This series could easily have been expanded beyond two books, but its nice to see the series wrapped up.
 

Four Paths

Previous: 'The Devouring Gray'

This series keeps going in weird directions, and I kinda dig it. I don't know how kids today would handle this, but adult me was taken in.

'Many Waters' is set some years before 'Swiftly Tilting Planet', likely the winter after 'A Wind in the Door'. The twins, Sandy and Dennys, are returning from an afternoon on the ice to an empty house. Their father is away on business and their mother has taken Meg and Charles Wallace to town for a doctor's appointment. Being teenagers, they're hungry and set about making a snack. The problem is they can't find the cocoa, and so head into their parent's lab to raid the stash there. They don't notice the "experiment in progress" sign on the door and fiddle with a computer. 

The boys are transported to a desert, luckily there's an oasis in sight, but the journey is hard for them and they wouldn't have made it except a local aids them with some help from a mammoth and unicorns.

Yes. Things are getting weird. This is good. 

Of course, certain editions of this give away the other shoe before it drops either on the cover or in the back-cover text: the boys are rescued by none-other than Japeth, one of Noah's sons. Yes. That Noah.

The book is about the twin's recovery from their ordeal in the desert, their adaptation to the unexplainable universe, and their first adult brush with love and loss. The conflict between the Nephilim and their former kin the Seraphim make up a large part of the plot as well. 

This made me remember my early Sunday school lessons about the flood and other early heavenly destructions. The flaw that the destroyed somehow deserve their fate still stands out. L'Engle's only real failure in this book is her attempt to soften the tragedy of the flood with certain plot devices I won't go into. All in all an interesting book.

Time Quintet

Next: 'An Acceptable Time'

Previous: 'A Swiftly Tilting Planet'

Brad Strickland finished this based on an outline left by John Bellairs after his death. It features a lot of classic Bellairs' charm and my personal favorite of Edward Gorey's artwork for the series - the back cover features Lewis' nightmare where headless Opera patrons surround him and Rose Rita. Strickland does a remarkable job here.

Doing research for a local history project brings Lewis and Rose Rita to the abandoned New Zebedee Opera House located above the Feed & Seed downtown. There, Lewis discovers some sheet music making up a lost opera, "The Day of Doom", hidden inside a piano and runs off with it. This is despite a ghost warning him of he who would be "King of the Dead". Rose Rita is surprisingly skeptical about the ghost, even when Lewis challenges her on the weird shit they've been through together and apart over the last couple of years.

It tuns out that the pages Lewis rescued were hidden from the sinister Henry Vanderhelm to prevent the opera from being performed. It makes up a grand spell that could enslave the dead and doom the living. Unfortunately, New Zebedee has been cut off from the outside world and the adults have already been taken in by the spell of the Opera. Without Uncle Jonathan or Mrs. Zimmerman and with the other New Zebedee magicians vanished, what can two plucky kids do?

As I said, Strickland does a good job here. He expands a little on the world of New Zebedee and attempts to explain why so much weird goings-on focus on their small Michigan town. I liked the inclusion of more witches and magicians as well. This was spooky and dosed with a little satire of high-brow culture.

Lewis & Rose Rita

Next: 'The Specter from the Magician's Museum'

Previous: 'The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder'

Adapted from the 1946 'Superman' radio serial on 'The Clan of the Fiery Cross', 'Superman Smashes the Klan' is great fun and offers a message of hope for those confronting intolerance.

Author Gene Luen Yang, most famous for the middle grade graphic novel 'American Born Chinese', offers a detailed essay in this edition on the origins of the famous serial and its direct influence in defeating a revival of the Ku Klux Klan in postwar America.

The Lees are moving from Chinatown into the heart of Metropolis' residential area. Dr. Lee has been hired by the Health Department (a private company) on a top secret project and looks forward to integrating his family into modern American life. He encourages his wife to speak only in English and they have had their children take on "American" names.

The night after the Lees move in, the Klan burns a cross in their front yard, attracting sympathetic and negative responses. The Daily Planet's most valued reporters are on the story, of course. 

Roberta Lee is a great character, shy and prone to motion-sickness, she is nonetheless brave and stands up for what's right for herself and her family. She doesn't like the idea of leaving their old lives behind, but a piece of advice from her mother about how to make new places home ends up helping Superman as well. During this conflict Superman is increasingly dealing with challenging visions and memories of his childhood. How different is Superman willing to be in order to be his best self?

A timely and important story, appropriate for all ages.

Catherine House is an experimental college that requires its students to make a commitment. If accepted, tuition is free, but students must bring nothing with them of their former lives and agree to stay on the premises of Catherine House for three years with little or no contact with your family and friends, or even news.

It is a heavy cost, but Catherine House offers results. Alumni include award-winning scientists, famous artists, and no less than two Presidents of the United States. There is a heavy blanket of secrecy over the House and its buildings. The biggest secret surrounds the mysterious New Materials concentration. Some years before a scientist published fantastic results of pins rebuilding a broken porcelain vase as if it had never shattered, but these results were discredited. Yet, the concentration continues.

These mysteries mean little to Ines as she enters the gates. Her life circled down the drain shortly after completing the rigorous interview process and was surprised to learn she'd been accepted. She is running away from something and three years away from the world seem exactly what she needs.

Thomas builds a strange world with 'Catherine House', it has all of the hallmarks of collegiate fiction: young people finding themselves, etc., but overlaid with claustrophobia. There's something stifling about the faded grandeur of the college-that-is-not-a-college. There are many characters, but there were a few fuzzy spots that didn't make sense in the tight world of the novel. There are many nameless and faceless people wandering around when in that small of a community, everyone is going to know everyone. Also, it was never made clear why Ines was so special.

The writing was compelling, but ultimately the book didn't lead anywhere. There is a plot and dark revelations, but readers will guess them long before the reveal. The book is about atmosphere and that is what you will get.

After reading 'Network Effect' it was only a matter of time before I broke down and read the novellas.

These are amazing, I can see why Tor has been able to market these as separate hardcover editions for so long.

Murderbot, for those who don't know, is a SecUnit - a robot with organic components designed to protect people and eliminate threats as brutally and quickly as possible. Murderbot has been able to override his governing unit, the fail-safe that keeps robots in line and prevents them from escaping and/or murdering their owners. Instead of immediately going rogue and killing all humans, Murderbot discovers media.

I love the idea that a.i. would be as entranced with sitcoms and telenovellas as we are.

The novella is short and covers Murderbots experience with a survey team on an uninhabited planet. Malfunctions and accidents are piling up and suspicions are beginning to rise: there's a secret on this planet that somebody is willing to kill to protect. In order to keep the survey team safe Murderbot has to help them figure out what's going on and perhaps open up a little to the possibility of connecting on a personal level with humanity.

Murderbot Diaries

Next: 'Artificial Condition'

This book quite literally sat on my bedside table for two and a half years. I brought it home from work the day it was released in hardcover in November '17, employee discounts are a beautiful thing, and it just sat. I loved the previous books, but I never felt in the mood. Then the mass market came out and I thought to myself, the Stormlight books I have are mass markets, so let's go ahead and buy that and donate the other one to the library.

So I did. And it sat some more.

I don't know what took me so long, but it was worth the wait. 'Oathbringer' is a behemoth, but still lighter, at least in tone, than previous books. Epic showdowns and mental anguish occur, but nothing felt as world-shaking as the revelations we've seen. I think Sanderson backed off so he could save momentum. This is only part three of a planned ten-part series after all.

'Oathbringer' focuses on Dalinar's backstory, in particular his lost memories of his wife, which had been supposedly lost after a bargain with the Nightwatcher, an entity that grants boons for a terrible, Monkey's Paw-esque price

Shallan, meanwhile, has the dissociative break we've all been waiting for, while she, Navani, Adolin, and others explore the city and attempt to form a coalition to defeat the Voidbringers.

Kaladin does some brooding. 

This was a lot of fun and finally broke the ice on my long-frozen reading mental state. I held off reviewing this for awhile thinking I'd come up with something more to say, but, afraid not.

Stormlight Archive

Next: 'Rhythm of War'

Previous: 'Edgedancer'

The second of two manuscripts finished by Brad Strickland after John Bellairs' death. This was a more typical novel for Bellairs, following shy Lewis and his new friend Bertie as they cause and avert supernatural misfortune at the Barnavelt ancestral estate in England.

My opinion of this has improved since childhood, I remember being disappointed there wasn't more done with an actual "FOR REAL" gothic country house. But, you guys, there's a haunted hedge maze.

This text had more of that authentic Bellairs flavor, following Lewis' adoration of Sherlock Holmes, the English Civil War, and little details about mid-century tourism. I could have used a party-line joke when telephones came into it, but to each their own.

Lewis & Rose Rita

Next: 'The Doom of the Haunted Opera'

Previous: 'The Ghost in the Mirror'

This was the first of two manuscripts finished by Brad Strickland after the death of John Bellairs in 1991. I haven't read a full biography, I don't know if there even is one, but it seems to me from Bellairs' focus on Johnny Dixon through the '80s tells me that these manuscripts were likely experiments and wouldn't have seen publication. The only full posthumous work he left was 'The Mansion in the Mist', a rare Anthony Monday book, and one of his all-time best works.

Rose Rita and Lewis had reached a point in their relationship where certain realities were gonna have to be addressed if their friendship was going to continue. Romantic feelings, even if Rose Rita and Lewis were going to stay platonic, were not Bellairs' territory. He left them behind for good reason. 

That said, this is a Rose Rita book and that means its great. Stuck in New Zebedee with a broken ankle while Lewis and Jonathan are in Europe, she makes plans with Mrs. Zimmerman to go on a road trip as soon as she can travel. Mrs. Zimmerman has been feeling the loss of her magic and needs a distraction. Of course, she has a supernatural ulterior motive: a message from her long-passed teacher in a magic mirror tells her that if she rights a great wrong she will find her powers.

Bessy, Mrs. Zimmerman's car, transports the two to the 1830's and seemingly strands them there. What is the wrong they need to correct, and is there a more sinister motive to their being lured into the past?

This was fun, but adult me couldn't get over the lack of period details. The farm family don't speak in 19th century fashion and there are a lot of things like individual bedrooms for the whole, extended family that didn't seem right. Bellairs often inserted obscure bits of 1950s nostalgia into his books in the way of radio programs and defunct candy bars as way to introduce modern readers to a past way of life, and Strickland didn't come up with an 1830s equivalent.

The other nagging detail is I've always felt, even when I read these as they came out in the early '90s, is that 'Vengeance of the Witch-Finder' should really come first. They happen simultaneously, sort of, but the pace would really work better if their order was switched. As their written now, reading them that way spoils 'Ghost in the Mirror', but Strickland could have changed that. 

Lewis & Rose Rita

Next: 'The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder'

Previous: 'The Letter, the Witch and the Ring'

'Little Eyes' follows many people around the world as they become apart of the "kentucki" craze. Kentucki are little plush covered robots that come in many types and colors, but they offer something unique: an actual person is behind the controls. Each high-priced Kentucki can only be activated once - once a connection is broken it can't be made again - and there is no control over who might be behind the camera eyes of the little robots. People can pay less and be a "dweller" inside a kentucki.

This was a great, paranoid look at the consequences of our exposure to strangers and the little machines we put so much trust in. Reading it, I kept thinking how absurd the situation is - would people really pay so much to invite a stranger into their lives? Of course, we already do.

Schweblin ricochets across the globe, following a few consistently and others with only a single chapter. Young and old are drawn into this voyeuristic world, making assumptions about what they see and do. The kentucki can be playful, or insidious, and they all bring about unintended consequences.

This is a quick and disturbing read. I hope to see more of this Argentinian author translated into English. 

This was an absolute delight. I know I'm behind the curve, the Murderbot Diaries have been enthralling readers since 2017, but I'd never picked one up until this arc crossed my path.

Set far in the future or else in a galaxy far, far away, our hero is Murderbot, a SecUnit (security unit) who has hacked his software so that he's free to make it's own choices. It's personality is often caustic, it's humor black, and is really good at it's job. Humanity is spread across the galaxy making use of wormhole technology and divided into many corporate and republic entities. This is the fifth entry in the series, but I had no trouble following. The author made every effort to make this book a true standalone without being heavy-handed with the exposition. There are a lot of terms and characters that make themselves known at a good pace.

I'm hoping a print edition comes out soon collecting the novellas. 'Network Effect' had a terrific plot and great characters. It was sufficiently unrealistic media.

Murderbot Diaries

Next: '?'

Previous: 'Exit Strategy'

All the points awarded for being just absolutely crazy.

This is the last of the novels and anthologies Random House published for Mattel. To my knowledge no other full-length chapter book has been produced since. Subsequent books in the '70s, '80s and on have a shorter page count and are geared towards a younger audience. Is it because children cease playing with dolls at a younger age than they used to? It's too bad these stopped, because they were just starting to get REALLY interesting.

Barbie and her family are spending a winter holiday with friends in California. They have plans to fly home to Willows for Christmas eve, but Mr. Roberts had business things to do and nicely invited his family along. The Murchisons have two boys: 18-year-old, beefy, goatee'd Pete who loves science and 14-year-old Larry whose characterization is that he's a boy.

At a backyard barbeque, Skipper and Barbie are challenged by the brothers on their ability to survive in the wilderness and are jokingly invited on a camping trip in the desert. The girls call their bluff and set out to the Mojave desert with them the next morning.

There's car trouble on a back road, but fortunately a town is just in site on the horizon. The four make the journey and discover its a ghost town.

They are then shot at. A prospector out of central casting is mighty suspicious of these suburban kids and their undoubted lust for his gold. They are rescued by a mute Hispanic boy, who leads them to an idyllic pueblo 'castle' built by an older couple.

The older couple, the Bonesteels, welcome the children, but they have no telehone and it seems like their car is out of order, too! Coincidence? Barbie and Skipper are stuck and risk missing their flight home for Christmas, which devastates Skipper.

This book is very hard to find and over 50 years old, but is so bonkers I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might get their hands on it. Things get really weird, but somehow it all works out in the end with a little help from guns, a mule named Mirabel, a cigar store Indian, and dress-up. There's a real mystery here and moments of real danger for Barbie, Skipper and their friends.

Skipper wears 'Day at the Fair' #1911, which included a miniature Barbie doll! Barbie is in the classic early outfit 'Sweater Girl' #976, complete with accessories. The necklace is not Mattel, but was issued by Cleinman and Sons as part of a matching set of jewelry for Barbie and owner and advertised in Christmas catalogs in the early '60s.

Barbie Random House Novels

Previous: 'Barbie's Candy-Striped Summer'

Willows High is abuzz with the news: Juniors and Seniors can take a month of school to get a job! Of course, there are stipulations. One must have at least a B average and agree to write a report about their experience.

Barbie's well-connected parents know a couple in Florida who would only be too happy to host Barbie for the month and can pull strings at a television station down there. Barbie is also excited, because there's an exotic animal preserve where Midge could get work as well!

'Barbie in Television' follows the typical format for these books: Barbie gets spectacular opportunity, travels to an exciting location, crushes the opportunity like a boss and dates cute boy. I was hoping that the tease at the start of the book meant that Midge got to have some fun as well, but no dice. It turns out Midge was so focused on cheer-leading in the fall she let her grades slip and doesn't quite make it to the B+ her parents require, so she is denied permission to go on the trip.

Duest at least has Midge call Barbie out on her privilege: pointing out Barbie's internship in New York and being a cover girl for a teen magazine for God's sakes, but, Midge is forced to grin and bear it and be left behind in Willows with Ken and the rest. She also has to admit that its her own fault for trying to have everything the way Barbie does.

Carefree, Barbie is free to make new friends. Her companions are a Brazilian exchange student, Blanquita, who helps Barbie with her elocution and a hotshot baseball rookie, Danny Folger, who's on the cusp of going pro with the "Green Socks"

Barbie stands up to some serious toxic masculine behavior here, ignoring bad pickup lines and unapologeticly doing her job. She, of course, fixes him later, but we'll take the small victories the writers inserted into these books. Another highlight is working woman Pat Larkin, the station's program director who works full time and counts on her husband to take the roast out of the freezer.

Other than Midge's disappointment, the real reason this book gets a heavy star reduction is a "romantic" legend of a Native American warrior falling so in love with the daughter of a Spanish conquistador that after her death she is taken out into the bay and the warrior, plus 50-100 other braves sink their canoes and kill themselves so they can guard her resting place in the afterlife. This legend is the basis of an exciting festival and parade in the Florida town that Barbie visits and is the focus of her teen journalism. Is this based on reality? Because, wow, that's horrible. It certainly sounds like something midcentury America would celebrate.

Other key plot points involve a haunted ruin of a hotel and a mysterious hobo whose house Barbie and Blanquita break into.

Two versions of 'Casuals' #782 from 1961-1964. The striped shirt is a later version. They're missing small gold car keys and I left off their red hats to show off their glorious, reflocked hair. Jon filled in the bald spots and followed the original pattern so they look mint!

Barbie Random House Novels:

Next: 'Barbie, Midge and Ken'

Previous: 'Barbie's Secret'

"Nancy invited me to a party, what should I wear?"

"What about this? No? Or that?"

"No mother, but, what about this?"

"Not for a party!"

"Hi Barbie, are you going to Nancy's party?"

"Hello, Midge. Yes, are you going to Nancy's party?"

"Yes, Barbie. What are you going to wear?"

"I don't know. What are you wearing to the party?"

"I don't know. Let's call Sue."

"Hi Sue, are you going to Nancy's party?"

"Yes, Barbie. Are you going to Nancy's party?"

"Yes, Sue, what are you going to wear?"

"I don't know. What are you going to wear Barbie?"

So many pages. Soooo many pages.

My brain felt like mush. The book did have fun pictures that detailed many, many, actual Barbie outfits and the backdrops were copied from 'Barbie's Dream House'. Its fun as a collector, but this had no redeeming story value at all. Clothing is rejected with no explanation - I would have killed for a didactic explanation of party etiquette and dress codes.

Skipping product numbers and year.

Seven outfits not worn to the party: 'Orange Blossom', 'Swingin' Easy', 'Theatre Date', ''Fancy Free', 'Fashion Pak Knit Dress', 'Senior Prom', and 'After Five'.

'Barbie the Baby Sitter' is an early reader picture book, so I wasn't expecting a complicated story. The problem came with this book breaking the single most common-sense rule of these books and makes it impossible to enjoy on any level.

The story involves Barbie agreeing to baby-sit the dreaded Tyler twins on the same night she has to write a story for school. The twins get up to mischief and prevent Barbie from thinking about what to write until she realizes that her life is the story.

The problem is that at every opportunity the words and the pictures are out of sync. The text will describe Barbie looking for one twin or the other, but the picture on that same page shows us what the little bastards are doing. There's no suspense and really no reason for kids to bother reading the text at all.

The pictures, particularly the opening shot of Midge and Barbie discussing homework in front of a mid-century modern street, are charming, but can't make up for the other flaws.

Midge wears #953 'Barbie Baby Sits' from 1963 (it was tweaked and re-released in 1965 with some accessories swapped out). I'm missing the list of phone numbers, snacks, and other pieces, but is still a cute set.