July/August 2026 Reading Report from Jeff Baker. (August 20, 2026)

Posted on August 20, 2026 by jeffbaker307

Reading Report July/August 2026

It’s H.P. Lovecraft’s birthday, but I didn’t read any Lovecraft. Oh well…

NOTE: See the “Rocket Summer” entry for more on July’s reading.

Read another Hi-Lo from Lorimer’s “Real Love” YA series. “Not Not Normal” by Peter E. Fenton. Very good, with very real characters. I posted the Goodreads review I wrote on this blog site.

Read the Kuttner’s story “Shock.” The ending was a little ambivalent but there were some surprises along the way. Published in 1943, set in 1953. Typical dialogue and Kutneresque futuristic terms like “Novunder Soverless.”

Henry Kuttner picked the story for an author’s choice anthology; “The Outer Reaches,” edited by August Derleth in 1951. Maybe Catherine L. Moore (C.L. Moore, esteemed writer and Mrs. Kuttner!) wrote it, like he said she wrote his selection for “My Best Science Fiction Story.”

Read it in the British edition of “Best Of Kuttner 1.”

Re-read Murray Leinster’s fun story “The Power,” which he likewise picked for the Derleth anthology “The Outer Reaches.” I may read all of those stories in that book that I have in my library. Already read de Camp’s choice: “Git Along,” and talked about it in my “Rocket Summer” entry.

Read a couple of David G. Rowland’s spooky stories about Father O’Connor. The latter being a priest with an interest in the supernatural. Sometimes he’s just being told the story, sometimes he has the experience himself. I read “The Executor,” and “The Tears Of Saint Agathe.” Great fun!

Started reading Poul Anderson’s novel “The High Crusade.”

Reat Catherine Lundoff’s riff on Shakespeare: “Great Reckonings, Little Rooms,” in the LGBTQ alternate-history anthology “Time Well Bent.”

Read Jorge Amado’s slightly bawdy (and fun!) “The Miracle Of the Birds.” I saw his bio on “The Writer’s Almanac” and got curious. It’s in “A Hammock Beneath the Mangoes, Stories From Latin America,” edited by Thomas Colchie.

Read Frank Stockton’s 19th Century science-fiction story “A Tale Of Negative Gravity.” Actually a charming domestic comedy,

Read juuust a little of Hamlet (by William Shakespeare) for something I was writing.

FINALLY started reading Agatha Christie’s famous story “Witness For the Prosecution.”

Read the weekly offerings by Kaje Harper.

Read the monthly story by E. H. Timms.

And I got fashionable and started in on the book everyone’s talking about: “The Odyssey,” by Homer. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald. So far, great fun!

—-jeff baker, August 20, 2026

Posted in August Derleth, C. L. Moore, E. H. Timms, Henry Kuttner, Kaje Harper, L. Sprague DeCamp, Murray Leinster, William Shakespeare | Leave a comment

Progress Report, July/August 2026 from Jeff Baker (August 20, 2026)

Posted on August 20, 2026 by jeffbaker307

Showing my Montreal Metros pin…

Progress Report July/August 2026

Actually finished the first draft of a fantasy/erotica/adventure novella I’d been working on since April 2026! Needs a lot more work but the first draft is largely done. 19,695 words. Will need a heckuva revision, but phase one is basically finished! (I started it in April and I know I sloughed-off on it for a lot of late June and July, so that’s about two months of work! Wow!)

Wrote the weekly and monthly flash fiction stories.

Wrote my monthly QSF column. I don’t have a backlog of them, I need to write a few to have ready. Thankfully I have a few ideas.

Wrote several essays on the animated sitcom “My Favorite Martians.” To my surprise, someone posted several that were on You Tube so I watched them and wrote the essays. I have almost all the episodes covered except one on an episode that hasn’t been posted on You Tube yet.

Worked on a paranormal romance novella.

Worked on a short story that turned into a prolouge to an unfinished si-fi/erotica/dystopian novella I’ve got in my files. The short story is set about eighty years earlier in the same dystopian world. Almost finished it.

Wrote and finished and sent off two comic sci-fi stories (in a series!) including a basketball story my Brother helped me with! (Thanks, Rick!) “The Lizard Incommunicado,” and “The Lizard In the Driveway.”

Proofread and edited an older story to send to a market in September. Had to cut out around 1,500 words to fit the new market’s wordcount guidelines. Fortunately, a lot of it was exposition and some of it repeated. This tightened the story. Made it better. Whew!

Wrote a review.

And I wrote a short, funny story that’s a riff on Shakespeare. Finished! (Not as crappy as I thought it would be!)

That’s about it for now!

—-jeff baker August 19, 2026

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They’re Still My Favorite Martians #3: “Wall-To-Wall-Flower.” Reviewed and Analyzed by Jeff Baker. (August 16, 2026)

Posted on August 16, 2026 by jeffbaker307
Photo by Zelch Csaba on Pexels.com

They’re Still My Favorite Martians #3; Wall to Wall Flower

Reviewed and Analyzed by Jeff Baker

The animated “My Favorite Martians” which ran on CBS on Saturday Mornings from 1973 through 1975 was almost spiritual kin to Filmation’s earlier Archie and Sabrina cartoons, and that’s apparent here in the episode “Wall-To-Wall Flower.”

Young Martian Andy is being difficult. He’s sullen and sulking and Martin explains to Tim that it’s the time of “The Martian Median Equatorial Equinox.” Martin says that’s “Lakey Time for Martian teenagers.”

I am getting the spelling wrong and I did not know what “Lakey Time” was until several months ago. Something to do with bird behavior, and I wrote it down but can’t find it now! I’ll keep you posted. Anyway…

After school, Katy asks Andy why he doesn’t try out for one of the teams and he explains that that stuff doesn’t compare to “Spaceball.” (This is decades before the Mel Brooks movie, by the way.) Andy demonstrates by zapping a sack of footballs into the air, flying after them and balancing a stack of them on each hand. Katy then challenges him to kick a football without using his Martian powers. He tries and, of course, misses landing on his back like Charlie Brown.

Hildegard, a barefoot classmate, saw Andy try the kick and she shows him how its done, kicking for a field goal. Barefoot.

Here we are introduced to our plot, which would have fit in an Archie or Sabrina cartoon; Tomboy Hildegard aces sports stuff but can’t get a date for the upcoming dance. We see her asking a couple of clueless kids (basically versions of Jughead and Big Moose) who basically turn her down.

Back at home, Martin and Tim are trying to snap Andy out of his funk and Katy tells them about her idea that he could help Hidegard by asking her to go to the dance.

Andy has no intention of asking anybody “out,” but Uncle Martin reminds him what the Martian Code says: “To help another is to help ones self.”

Unlike a lot of other Filmation shows, “My Favorite Martians” did not get very preachy but that is a wonderful bit of wisdom, giving viewers the feel of the philosophy of an advanced, peaceful civilization.

The Martian “Magic” is not overdone in the series, and this episode has some fun moments: Detective Brennan trying to barge into Uncle Martin’s secret lab and falling out a door in the outside wall into a rain barrel (a running gag) and Andy using a saucer-like device he built to decorate the gym for the school dance, and Martin zapping up a luxurious chair and a TV monitor instead of peering through a hole in a fence when Hildegard is playing one-on-one with Andy on the basketball court after school, as Uncle Martin suggested so he can break the ice and ask her out.

Hildegard is running rings around Andy (who isn’t even really trying) when Uncle Martin gives him a Martian boost and for a moment he starts playing like an NBA star.

Andy then asks her to the dance.

She turns him down!

Martin, Katy and Tim realize that Andy wrecked Hildegard’s confidence but basically play on Andy’s ego to get him to ask her out and she agrees.

Comes the night of the School Dance and Tim and Martin are chaperones. Hildegard is nowhere to be seen.

Sipping the punch the girls made, Martin comments “It tastes like something out of this world.”

Sipping the awful punch a moment later, Tim asks Martin how he could have said it tasted like that?

Martin tells him “It tastes just like Martian swamp water.”

A funny moment, and there aren’t as many Martin and Tim scenes as in the original series but they are played well and are usually fun.

Martin, of course, has to pull some Martian stuff to get Hildegard there.

“Well, we got Hildegard to the dance. Didn’t you?” Katy says.

A sweet, innocent little episode, written by Ben Star, but there is a line about Andy needing help with his “ballhandling” that would get unintentional laughs today!

A few words about Lane Scheimer, who voices Andy. Son of Filmation co-producer Lou Scheimer, he did a handful of voices on his Father’s cartoons and has one immense but anonymous credit in pop culture history. In the opening credits of the live-action Saturday Morning series “The Ghost Busters,” Scheimer plays the ghost who chases the trio around. According to at least one of the books on Filmation (not sure which, there are several) he was the only person on set that day who was taller than Forrest Tucker!

Next time for this series, we’ll take a ride in a space ship…

Here’s a link to “Wall-To-Wall Flower” on You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOwpajLZjrE

—end—

Posted in Reviews, Television, They're Still My Favorite Martians | Leave a comment

“Scheduled.” Yes, This Is Kind Of Off-Schedule. Friday Flash Fics from Jeff Baker. (August 14, 2026)

Posted on August 14, 2026 by jeffbaker307

Scheduled

by Jeff Baker

“Oh, wow Granddad!” Dave said as he walked in the door. “The house is all lit up, I can see the tree through the window, clouds in the sky with stars just waiting for Santa Claus to swoop down!”

“If he does, he’ll be as off-schedule as we are!” Robert said. “It’s August and school starts up in about two weeks.”

“Yeah, but we found out a lot of the family was going to be passing through Kansas this week, so we’re holding Christmas now!” Liz said.

She and her girlfriend Daisy had actually set the table. Inside. With air conditioning.

It was almost 100 degrees outside.

“You know, I heard about families that actually do their holiday get-togethers before the bad weather sets in every year.” Robert said.

“Yeah.” David said. “Sounds cool!”

“But no presents, remember?” Liz said.

“Awwwww!” David said.

“Hey! I heard a car!” Daisy said.

“Looks like Bill and Barb,” Robert said looking through the window. “And, hey, that’s your cousin Matt pulling up behind them.”

He glanced at the tree and smiled. This might just work out after all!

—end—

Posted in Christmas, Friday Flash Fics, Friday Flash Fictions, Short-Stories | Leave a comment

Mysterious Cats In Water. Flash Fiction Draw Challenge Stories for August 2026 by E. H. Timms and Jeff Baker. Presented by Mike Mayak. (August 10, 2026)

Posted on August 10, 2026 by jeffbaker307
Photo by Mathias Reding on Pexels.com

Hi, I’m Mike, AKA Jeff Baker.

The draws for the August 2026 Flash Fiction Draw Challenge were:

A Whodunnit

Set At The Bottom Of the Ocean

Involving A Cat

E. H. Timms wrote: “Observations” https://thinkingthinking123.blogspot.com/2026/08/flash-fic-challenge-observations.html

And I (as Jeff Baker) wrote: “The Cat Who Slept With the Fishes” https://authorjeffbaker.com/2026/08/09/the-cat-who-slept-with-the-fishes-flash-fiction-draw-challenge-story-for-august-from-jeff-baker-august-9-2026/

Thanks for participating, and for reading and remember it’s never too late to write your own story, post it in the comments and I’ll link it here.

We’ll be back with another draw on September 7, 2026!

Thanks again for reading and writing!

——mike

Posted in Cats, E. H. Timms, Fiction, Manx Hoffman, Monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge, Mystery, Short-Stories | Leave a comment

“The Cat Who Slept With the Fishes.” Flash Fiction Draw Challenge Story for August from Jeff Baker. (August 9, 2026)

Posted on August 9, 2026 by jeffbaker307
Photo by Jean-Paul Wettstein on Pexels.com

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The Draws for the August 2026 Flash Fiction Draw Challenge were: A Whodunnit, set at the Bottom Of the Ocean involving a Cat. Perfect case for my hardboiled cat-detective Manx Hoffman. —-jeff

The Cat Who Slept With the Fishes

by Jeff Baker

Cornelius Blue was rich and pedigreed and good-looking. He was one of the Norwegian Blue Cat family, he’d inherited his family money and he was also overweight. He was a fat cat in every sense of the word.

He was also dead,which didn’t help him much.

Blue liked to indulge his whims and one of them was personally trying out the new diving bell he was financing. He’d gone down alone and had come back up in the aforementioned dead condition.

I was there because I’d done some work for Blue, but I was there on the docks because I was curious to see how the diving bell would perform. All the cats standing there in their suits and ties. Not the sort of outfits usually worn by people who frequent the waterfront.

Mt name is Manx Hoffman. Private Investigator. Licensed, just check my collar.

And not a fancy collar either, I don’t get paid that much. Not as much money as Blue spent in a day, but I was still breathing and so I would settle for that. I’d done some investigating for Blue and I was curious. Cats don’t go underwater every day of the week.

And you know what they say about curiosity and cats.

Blue’s curiosity had bought him nothing but becoming a dead rich cat joke. They’d brought the bell up, fixed it to the dock and Blue’s partner had opened the hatch and stepped in and started howling like someone had stepped on his tail.

After a while the cops investigated the diving bell and they knew me so they let me have a look inside. After admonishing me to “keep your tail out of our way and don’t touch anything!”

The diving bell was about as big as a Saint Bernard’s doghouse I’d been in once. Still, not much more room to swing a…well, you know.

I glanced at the officer in the bell’s doorway and asked what the smell was that was wrinkling my nose like a prune.

“Cleaner.” The cop answered. “Blue’s own concoction. You know how he was about germs.”

Maybe it was my suspicious nature. Maybe it was all that money Blue had. Anyway, when the cop looked the other way I did what I wasn’t supposed to do and lifted the edge of the litter box on the floor and ganced under it.

I called for the Officer.

“Take a look at that,” I said pointing at the floor with one claw. “More than just crumbs.”

The cops looked. Then they arrested Blue’s partner who was still standing there on the dock. I found out later due to their partnership agreement, the partner stood to make a killing if anything happened to Blue. Which it conveniently had.

Blue never missed a meal. He was a notorious glutton and he looked the part from tail to whiskers. His partner must have mixed chunks of chocolate and onion in with the food in his bowl in the diving bell. Toxic to cats. When his partner entered the diving bell after they brought it up he must have kicked the remaining chunks under the cat box, hoping it would go undiscovered.

He was hoping he’d be able to toss the stuff into the water. Food for the fishes and he’d be rich.

Instead he bought himself a one way trip in a kitty carrier to someplace smaller than a diving bell…

—end—

AUTHOR’S OTHER NOTE: Manx Hoffman was created for a story in the Dick Stodghill Memorial Anthology which never came out. —-jeff

Posted in Cats, Fiction, Manx Hoffman, Monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge, Mystery | Leave a comment

“…Out With Lanterns…” Friday Flash Fics from Jeff Baker. (August 7, 2026.)

Posted on August 7, 2026 by jeffbaker307

Out With Lanterns

by Jeff Baker

The woods were so dark they could barely see the stars above them through the trees.

They heard the hoot of an owl and then there was a funny trilling in the air.

“That’s a Screech Owl,” Granddad said.

“Screech Owl?” Bill said.

“Yeah,” Granddad said. “Only they don’t screech. Don’t ask why they call them that.”

The three of them had been out chasing fireflies at dusk.

“Just don’t catch them,” Granddad had said. “That’s cruel.”

They walked on through the dark.

“We’re lost!” Martin said. He was eight, his brother Bill was nine.

“We’re not lost,” Granddad said.

“You know where we are?” Bill asked.

“Pretty much,” Granddad said. “Even if I didn’t, we could use the stars to find out which was is which. But we’ve got something better. Look!”

Granddad pointed in the dimness. They saw it through the trees, a bright, firm glimmer of light.

“Hooray!” Martin yelled.

“Don’t run!” Granddad said. “We don’t want to really get lost!”

The followed the light. Soon they could see Grandma and Grandpa’s house on the edge of town with its screened in back porch with the lantern hanging from the ceiling. It was closer than the kids thought.

And then Bill woke up.

As always he would take a moment to remember that those days had been almost forty years ago. He’d remember what Grandma’s cookies tasted like (even though they were store bought) and he’d remember that the old lantern (which he had rewired) was now sitting on a table on his apartment balcony.

He’d remember that the little grove of trees had seemed like a big forest to the kids at their age. And they couldn’t get lost as there was a fence all around that part of the property. Something they forgot at age eight and nine.

And he would sit up in bed and smile.

—end—

NOTE: Title is from Emily Dickinson. —-jeff

Posted in Fiction, Friday Flash Fics, Friday Flash Fictions, Short-Stories | Leave a comment

“Not Not Normal” by Peter E. Fenton. Reviewed by Jeff Baker. (August 4th, 2026.)

Posted on August 4, 2026 by jeffbaker307

“Not Not Normal” by Peter E. Fenton

Reviewed by Jeff Baker

Peter E. Fenton’s YA novel “Not Not Normal” features relationships, bullying, loss and self-doubt with realistically drawn characters and situations. Oh yeah, and books.

Lots of books.

“Not Not Normal,” is a “Hi/Lo,” a “high interest, low reading complexity book” meant for young readers who do not have a high reading level for one reason or another. Publisher Lorimer has featured a good many of these under their “Real Love” imprint.

Jordan Shepherd is starting his Junior Year of High School. He is devoted to order and sameness and loathes change but he’s planning on making a big change (for him) namely re-naming the school book club he runs. In his corner are people like his widowed Veterinarian Dad and Emma, a friend from school who admits she’d consider dating him “if you didn’t prefer boys.”

Jordan’s Dad is still recovering from the death from Cancer of his wife and Jordan’s Mom several years before. This drove Jordan to become more obsessed with routine and order and it caused his Dad to relocate from their old house and its memories. Different school and different life for Jordan.

Jordan’s refuge is books, especially his late Mom’s science-fiction books, which he has shelved in an orderly fashion in his room in the apartment he shares with his Dad. Not only is Jordan a reader but the books make him feel closer to his late Mom.

Fenton handle’s Jordan’s situation, especially his panic attacks perfectly. The fact that all this was intensified with the loss of his Mom as well as Jordan’s routine to stave off the attacks: identifying four things he can smell, touch and see, are well-done touches.

Into Jordan’s well-ordered bubble busts uninhibited, openly Gay Nathan on Sign-Up Day for school clubs when everything seems to suddenly be going wrong. Nathan stands up for Jordan against the school bully and they don’t become fast friends immediately. Their relationship takes some realistic twists and turns as they learn about each other and learn to support each other. Nathan giving Jordan a much-needed push to do a school presentation and Jordan giving Nathan an ear to bend about his own rough home situation which Nathan’s bravado masks.

Both young men each give the other a shoulder to cry on and they could use it. While this is a romance, it does not come off as contrived.

And it all ties in to Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”

Adding to the story are the well-defined moments at Playter Heights High School; not just faculty, staff and students but the routine of life in 2024 (when the book came out) including teachers referencing the recent events of COVID while talking about the plague of Shakespeare’s day.

“Not Not Normal” is another fine addition to the catalog of YA books in this Lorimer series and to Fenton’s own body of work.

It should be noted that a “Shepherd” is one who guides and herds others. In other words, someone who works to maintain order.

—end—

NOTE: A version of this review was posted to “Goodreads” and “Amazon.”

Posted in Books, LGBT, Not Not Normal, Reading, Reviews, Young Adult | Leave a comment

Whodunnits! The Ocean Bottom! And A,,,Cat?!?! Flash Fiction Draw Challenge Draws for August 2026. (August 3, 2026)

Posted on August 3, 2026 by jeffbaker307

First, here’s the prompts for the August 2026 Flash Fiction Draw Challenge, then my usual long-winded explanation:

A Whodunnit

Involving A Cat

Set at The Bottom Of the Ocean

Now, on to the details.

Hi! I’m Mike Mayak, I also write as Jeff Baker and I’m the current moderator for the monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge, which was started by ‘Nathan Burgoine a few years ago and carried on by Cait Gordon and Jeffrey Ricker. It’s a monthly writing challenge mainly for stress-free fun that anyone can play.

Here’s how it works: the first Monday of every month I draw three cards; a heart, a diamond and a club. These correspond to a list naming a genre, a setting and an object that must appear in the story. Participants write up a flash fiction story, 1,000 words or less, post it to their website and link it here in the comments. I’ll post the results (including, hopefully, one of my own!)

As I’m no good making videos I did the drawing offstage. So, the results were the Queen of Hearts (a Whodunnit), the King of Diamonds (The Bottom of the Ocean) and the Ace of Clubs (A Cat.)

So we will write a Whodunnit involving a Cat set at the Bottom of the Ocean.

We’ll have the results here in this same space around Monday August 10th, 2026.

So, get to writing and I’ll post the results next week! And I’m putting the 2026 Flash Draw sheet at the end of this message, again! (* indicates those have been used.)

Thanks for playing, and I’ll see you in about week!

And have fun!

——mike

Clubs

*1 A Cat

*2 A Crown From a Theater Prop Room

*3 Contact Lenses

4 A Vintage Comic Book

*5 A Bunch of Bananas

6 A Manhole Cover

*7. A Bag of Ping-Pong Balls

8 A Suitcase Full Of Money

*9 A Plastic Toy Horse

*10 A Book Of Stamps

*J A Football

Q A Jack-O-Lantern

K Modeling Clay

HEARTS

A Science Fiction

2 A Sword-And-Sorcery Story

3 A Thriller

*4 A Romance

*5 A Fantasy

*6 A Mystery

*7. A Comedy

*8 An Ancient History Story

*9 A Horror Story

10 A Fairy Tale

J A Story Involving a Chase

*Q A Whodunnit

*K A War Story

DIAMONDS

A. A Boat in Hudson Bay

*2 An Abandoned Prison

*3 A Mexican Restaurant

4 The Golden Gate Bridge

5 An Egyptian Pyramid

*6 A Roller Coaster

*7 A Chapel

*8 A Skating Rink

9 An Abandoned Highway

*10 A Stable

J. A Church Steeple

*Q. A Walk-In Freezer

*K. The Bottom Of the Ocean

Posted in Monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge | 4 Comments

Rocket Summer 2026! A Reading Report Extra, from Jeff Baker. Blast-off! (July 31, 2026)

Posted on August 1, 2026 by jeffbaker307

Rocket Summer 2026 a Reading Report Extra

from Jeff Baker

The cover depicts “Git Along” by De Camp. The lizard on top is wearing a cowboy hat…

“Rocket Summer” is being done by a lot of Book Tubers on You Tube, a reading event started by Michael K. Vaughn where this year we are reading Science Fiction, usually the classic stuff, especially from the Fifties and before. I don’t always do these reading events, but this time I am, mainly to read some things I haven’t but should. So, I decided to finally read L. Sprague de Camp’s collection “The Continent Makers,” his stories of the “Viagens Interplanetarias” which I got about 25 years ago. (NOTE: Written in the ‘50s it is basically ‘30s-style Sword-and-Planet Space Opera with hints of sex. My copy came out in the 70s and the blurb calls it “One of the great mind-blowing SF flights of all time.” As well as “Destination: Future Shock!” Promising a 70s mind-trip, which is like promising them “The Monkees” and showing them “The People’s Choice.” These stories are good but they aren’t 60s trippy stuff!)

And I couldn’t find my copy of the paperback at first! So I looked up ISFD and grabbed a couple of books I had that have a couple of the stories and read from them!

First off: The Galton Whistle” (by de Camp.) Great fun, perfect descriptions of the alien world. I thought I knew where the plot was going (I’ve read a lot of de Camp!) but I was wrong! The hero has a clever plan (very scientific of course!) and then there is some derring do and swordplay.

And I read the story in Gardner Dozois’ 1990s anthology “The Good Old Stuff” which has a Murray Leinster story I’ve been meaning to read, so that is fortuitous!

Out of “The Best Of L. Sprague de Camp” I read “The Inspector’s Teeth,” another Viagens tale. This is a more deliberate college comedy set in the late 2000s but feeling like the 1920s-College era.

From the paperback of “The Continent Makers,” (Which I finally found!) I read de Camp’s “Summer Wear.” Think of it as a 1930s black and white movie set on a spaceship instead of a train. It involves the fashion industry, their representatives and some skulduggery with sample cases. All going to the Planet Osiris. (All at less-than-light-speed with no hyperspace because de Camp didn’t believe in that. Which actually enhances these stories!) The science-fictional touches involving 21st Century locks are nice touches and there’s an additional surprise at the end. Enlivened with de Camp’s humor the stories (he later set some novels in this world) are his only real science fiction/science fantasy series. The attitudes towards women are right out of the 1940s/’50s, the time these stories were written.

There’s a lot of variety in these de Camp stories and he cited “Git Along” as a favorite when he picked it for a Derleth Author’s Choice anthology (“The Outer Reaches,” 1951.) Like “The Sheriff Of Canyon Gulch” (see below) it’s a riff on the then very-popular Western genre, This time the cowboy emulation is instigated by Darius Koshay who has fled arrest from Sol’s solar system to the planet Osiris in the Procyon system.

Here I will mention in a brief Author’s Note to the book, de Camp quickly and concisely explains the well-thought-out background to his Future History.

Koshay figures he has a perfect scam going but then the man he impersonates shows up and I won’t spoil it for you! Again, the avoidance of faster-than-light travel helps the plot along and the comedy works perfectly. (“The Western United States is as civilized as any place! I know because I have been there! They have plumbing, libraries…”) Blended with de Camp’s typical use of foreign words and phrases to make it seem truly like an alien world. (I kept imagining actor John Banner playing Koshay’s rival in this!)

Also from “The Good Old Stuff” I read a Murray Leinster story I’ve been meaning to read: “Exploration Team.” After the two de Camp stories I missed de Camp’s humor in this one initially. And the story was slow going at the beginning but the pace picked up as it went along and I really got into it. An inhospitable planet, an explorer who shouldn’t be there, friendly mutant Kodiak Bears who double as fierce warriors, (and they are needed!) An indescribable and truly alien menace and then a visiting member of a Colonial Survey wondering where the colony went. This leads to a harrowing, adventureous and well-done journey through dangerous territory on a rescue mission.

Leinster was called “the Dean of Science Fiction Writers,” and here he shows why. Fine worldbuilding, entertaining characters a frightening menace and some clever touches make it an entertaining read.

More bears now but of a different kind. Read Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickenson’s “The Sheriff Of Canyon Gulch,” the first of their “Hoka” stories. Amazingly, I’ve never read them! I laughed out loud in a couple of places! Every possible stereotype of cowboys and (so help me) “injuns.” But the cowboys are teddy-bear aliens and the indians are lizard people with shootin’ irons on the planet Toka. Courtesy of Earth explorers who left behind western movies and books (long before “Star Trek’s” episode about gangsters.)

In the middle of it all is a hapless Earthman who gets assigned to be their contact with the “Interbeing League.”

It’s all in “The Sound And the Furry: The Complete Hoka Stories,” that SFBC put out 20 years or so ago. Great fun!

And I finally sat down and read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” It counts as early science fiction (1844!) and is very much Gothic Romance/Horror and was great! Even if I kind of already knew the plot!

And I polished off “Rocket Summer” by reading some more early science-fiction: Guy De Maupassant’s legendary story “The Horla,” in an excellent translation from the French where the prose flows and the descriptions are beautiful.

Contrasting with the story which is a tale of terror as our narrator is shadowed by an invisible something. Or is he delusional? The story never specifies, and it is the human actions in the finale that are really terrifying!

I’ll list the translators in the book, not sure who did “The Horla.” They are: M. Walter Dunne, Dora Knowlton Ranous and W. Bob Holland. My highest regards for their work on this volume.

The book is M. Grant Kellermeyer’s fine Oldstyle Press edition of “The Horla And Others.” https://www.oldstyletales.com/

Posted in Books, L. Sprague DeCamp, Murray Leinster, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reading, Reading Report, Science Fantasy, Science Fiction | Leave a comment