C.L. Moore is a forgotten master of speculative fiction. During the golden age of science fiction, she and her husband, Henry Kuttner, were rightfully lauded among and above the masters of the genre. They were the envied peers of one generation of writers and inspired another before Kuttner’s young death in 1958 cut short their careers. Over the next decade, without new works to keep the interest of fickle publishers, their works slowly fell out of print. If you’re under thirty, there’s a good chance you won’t even recognize their names.

But you’ve probably read their work. A handful of their short stories continue to see nearly perpetual reprint as a dim testament to their once titanic stature and limitless talent. Of these, the story you’re most likely to have read is “Shambleau”: C.L. Moore’s first published work of fiction and a lasting masterpiece of the genre.

But “Shambleau” is only one small part of a much larger tapestry. Between 1933 and 1936, Moore would write nine stories featuring “Shambleau”’s star, the enigmatic Northwest Smith.

To put this in some context, imagine if the world only knew of Conan through a continual and isolated reprinting of “The Tower of the Elephant”. Or if James Bond was only remembered because Casino Royale was occasionally squeezed into an omnibus between three unrelated novels with an introduction touting the fact that it was once one of JFK’s favorite novels.

Such has been the fate of Northwest Smith – an anti-hero and a rogue; an utterly captivating figure drawn with a stunningly vivid reality. His stories sweep us into a pulp future of science fantasy. His boots track their way through the dusty sands of Mars and the murky jungles of Venus, threading their way through a queer mixture of young border towns and the ruined remnants of ancient civilizations beyond human comprehension.

It is this latter dichotomy which give the Northwest Smith stories their unique flair and quality. Humanity, with the fervor and rawness of the Wild West, has pushed out into a solar system superficially drawn from Burroughs and his ilk. But lurking scarcely beneath the surface of these worlds are elder gods and forgotten civilizations utterly alien – their essentially Lovecraftian nature fundamentally inimical to humanity.

I think it can be strongly argued that, even as Robert E. Howard was transforming the fantasy genre with a strong Lovecraftian influence, C.L. Moore was doing the same to science fantasy. Of course, like Howard, Moore was not simply grafting Lovecraft’s Mythos, she was making her own unique contributions to it. A strong influence of Hellenic myth lends her vision a singular identity, but it is ultimately her disturbingly sensual take on Lovecraftian madness which makes Moore ’s work stand apart.

The universe which Moore crafts from all these disparate elements is made utterly believable through Moore ’s sheer skill and attention to detail: You can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch the fantastic vistas she conjures forth before your mind’s eye. There is a tangible, persistent texture to her creation, achieving the nigh-impossible goal of making you forget that it is a creation: You are left with the sensation of having read a chronicle which scarcely scratches the surface of a depth you will never see.

At the center of these tales, of course, there is Northwest Smith. And like the worlds we see through his eyes, the larger-than-life Smith is drawn with absolutely compelling depth and detail. Moore takes you directly into the heart of Smith’s soul and sets up residence, giving you a blow-by-blow accounting of Smith’s very being. Yet somehow, despite this easy – yet stunning – intimacy with the character, Northwest Smith remains an enigma.

And, ultimately, it is Northwest Smith who I foresee drawing me back to these stories time and time again.

GRADE: A+
C.L. Moore
Published: 1933-1936
Publisher: Paizo
Cover Price: $12.99
ISBN: 1601250819
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Late last year I read Gods in Darkness, the omnibus from Night Shade Books which collects the Kane novels written by Karl Edward Wagner. Upon completing Midnight Sun, the companion volume which collects the short stories starring Kane, I was immediately struck by how different the short stories are from the longer works.

In the novels, for example, Kane is essentially the villain of each piece: An Evil Overlord drawn with such compelling and fascinating depth that any hint of the cliche is neatly avoided. In the short stories, on the other hand, Kane is clearly cast in the role of the anti-hero: He lacks the barbarous chivalry of a Conan or the derring-do of a Gray Mouser, but he is consistently cast into situations where his self-interest guides him onto a path of near-heroism.

The short stories also reveal a very different facet of Kane’s unique tragedy: In the novels we see a Kane whose frustration with the world creates a desperate need for power and control. In the short stories, on the other hand, we see a Kane at the nadir of his eternal cycle: An introvert dulled by immortality and withdrawn from the world. Either of these characters is interesting unto itself, but when contrasted one against the other upon a single soul, a poignant portrait of psychological horror begins to reveal itself. In Kane, Wagner has created a character who cannot be contained to a single story: His revelation requires distant counterpoints charted across an immortal life.

It is here that the Kane stories succeed where so many imitators of Howard, Burroughs, and Leiber fail: At the center of these tales there is, ultimately, a fascinating, unique, and larger-than-life character. Unlike lesser works of swords-and-sorcery, the monsters, magicks, and mayhem serve not only to tell a rip-roaring tale, but are also the means by which Wagner reveals to us the majesty of Kane.

The short stories are also notable for their distinctly gothic horror. Their tone is actually quite different from the Lovecraftian-tinged adventure fiction of the novels. Instead, one feels the distant beats of Stoker and Poe echoing through Wagner’s masterful storytelling.

I would like to be able to say that Wagner’s creation is flawless. But, unfortunately, I can’t. The most significant problem, for me, is the inconsistency of his dialogue. In many, but not all, of the stories found here, Wagner’s characters will suddenly slip into a jarring 20th century colloquialism. In an afterword at the end of the volume, Wagner claims that this is entirely intentional — the goal, apparently, being to “translate” the prehistoric dialogue into a purely modern equivalent (rather than a faux-Elizabethan). If such a goal were diligently pursued it might work (although I doubt it). Unfortunately, Wagner doesn’t stick to his guns: His characters will randomly shift from typical fantasy dialogue into a sudden barrage of “okays”, “hold ons”, and other 20th century speech patterns. The effect is even more disconcerting because of the powerful poetry typically to be found in his prose.

You will also find several weaker stories in this collection. There are three stories set in the modern era which seem particularly out of place. At first I was excited by the idea of Kane in the modern world: What role would he assume? What type of life would he lead? But the actual stories themselves seemed to relegate Kane to the minor role of facilitating whatever improbable and pornographic magical gimmick Wagner wanted to unleash upon his main character. In fact, the character named “Kane” in these stories scarcely seems to resemble the dynamic and compelling figure seen throughout the rest of the collection.

But, ultimately, what you’ll find in Midnight Sun are at least a dozen of the finest fantasy stories ever told — several of which easily deserve a place on your personal best list. I strongly recommend both Midnight Sun and Gods in Darkness.

GRADE: A-
Karl Edward Wagner
Published: 2003
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Cover Price: $35.00
ISBN: 1-89-238951-7
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The FDA needs to add Bujold novels to its list of controlled substances. They’re too damn addictive.

I recently locked myself out of my apartment. I was stuck sitting around for a couple of hours until someone with a spare set of keys could come by. Fortunately, I had a stack of books available to me. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the book I’m currently reading (Midnight Sun by Karl Edward Wagner). So, rather than start something new, I picked up Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold: I’d read it before, so I figured I could dip into it and then drop it again to go back to my Wagner.

Six hundred pages and a sleepless night later I’d finished re-reading not only Komarr, but A Civil Campaign as well.

Sigh.

I’ve talked before about all the things which make Bujold, arguably, the best SF writer working today, but they bear repeating:

(1) The smooth, perfectly natural use of her science fiction. After finishing A Civil Campaign I actually thought to myself, “There was scarcely any science fiction in this novel at all.” And then, after another moment, “Except the functional sex change. And the bioengineered bugs. And the uterine replicators.” All of which the plot is directly dependent upon. Not to mention the clones, gene therapy, hover cars, automatic traffic systems, stunners, wormholes, terraforming, contraceptive implants, and force fields which you’ll find laying around.

Whoops. Guess there’s quite a bit of science fiction in there after all.

The reason people say this type of thing about Bujold – and why even my subconscious will occasionally spew up such thoughts – is that Bujold is simply masterful in her ability to create a world utterly of the future yet, at the same time, utterly believable in its organic detail. You literally don’t think about the uterine replicators, clones, and terraforming as being particularly remarkable because Bujold makes them seen perfectly natural.

And, of course, that’s pretty dang remarkable.

(2) The detailed, believable, and moving portrayals of her characters. Bujold is one of those authors seemingly incapable of producing cardboard characters. Even the bit parts who show up for no more than a page or so are given a unique identity, personality, and presence. And her main characters are drawn with a depth and humanity which make them either beloved or hated without ever hitting a false note.

(3) The compelling and well-paced plots. Bujold’s books are, quite simply, page-turners. The compulsion to find out what happens next simply never lets you go, even when the book comes to an end. Plus, Bujold never drags her feet or rushes her tale – she tells the story in precisely the amount of space it needs to be told in, neither more nor less.

(4) The clean, expressive prose. Reading a Bujold novel is like looking through a clear window. The characters and their actions simply present themselves before the mind’s eye, without obstruction or distraction.

(5) The accessibility. Bujold’s Vorkosigan novels are the only series in which a new reader can pick up any single volume and enjoy it fully and completely. No matter which book you’re reading, Bujold somehow manages to accomplish the impossible – neither boring long-time readers with constant recaps nor expecting new readers to be familiar with her previous works. (The trick seems to be that, in any given book, the previous continuity is seamlessly handled like background information would be in any other novel.)

And, when all is said and done, the sum of all these strengths is stunningly greater than its notable parts.

Bujold’s one intermittent flaw as a writer, in my experience, is her peculiar variation upon the deus ex machina. I call it her “random meeting in a space station” plot point. In short, she will occasionally hinge an entire plot upon – literally – a random meeting in a space station. This particular flaw crops up significantly in Komarr, which results in my grade for that novel being knocked down from an A+ to a mere A.

A Civil Campaign, on the other hand, is without flaw. It is a masterful mixture of romance and high politics played out in a rip-roaring comedy of manners. Several scenes – including Miles’ infamous dinner – easily earn the work its place among such classics as Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The result is startling unique and utterly captivating.

As with everything Bujold writes, these come highly recommended.

GRADES:

KOMARR: A
A CIVIL CAMPAIGN: A+

Lois McMaster Bujold
Published: 1999 / 2000
Publisher: Baen Books
Cover Price: $7.99
ISBNs: 0-67-157808-1 / 0-67-157885-5
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There was a time when I owned every single Star Trek tie-in novel ever published. When I became a paperboy in grade school I took my first real paycheck and bought every single Star Trek novel ever published by Pocket Books. (This would have been the late ‘80s, so there would have already been a lot of them, although not nearly as many as there are now.) I had already collected all the novels published before Pocket Books took the helm, including the retellings of the original series by Blish and the animated series by Alan Dean Foster. I took a great deal of pride in the completeness of my collection, continuing to buy each and every Star Trek novel as it was released.

I kept that up even after I had essentially stopped reading them. Then, eventually, the habit grew too expensive: Once DS9 made its appearance there were three different series of novels, each with a monthly release, and I couldn’t afford to spend $20 or more each month on books I wasn’t even reading.

Not to mention the shelf space.

My point here is that I had gotten to the point where I simply ignored media tie-ins. My philosophy was simple: With all the great books out there that I will never get a chance to read, why should I waste my time trying to sort through the great sea of mediocrity which is tie-in fiction?

But then I encountered Babylon 5, which lit a burning passion in my heart. In fact, the TV series was painfully good, with each new episode leaving an ache of yearning in its wake.

That ache still wasn’t good enough to get to me try out the tie-in fiction, mind you. In fact, in a lot of ways, my love for this particular series only made the tie-in novels less interesting to me. Why? Because what raised Babylon 5 to its transcendent level was largely the loving care with which J. Michael Straczynski revealed his universe, his characters, and his story. Disconnected, disjointed tie-in fiction written by third party authors simply lacked the very things which made Babylon 5 so special.

But, suddenly, that changed: The license for Babylon 5 tie-in novels changed hands and, with the new arrangement, J. Michael Straczynski was providing detailed outlines. The new novels were, rather than being misbegotten step-children, unique new windows into the Babylon 5 universe.

And that, finally, enticed me back into the tie-in stable. Three trilogies resulted from the Straczynski outlines: Legions of Fire by Peter David; The Passing of the Techno-Mages by Jeanne Cavelos; and The Psi Corps Trilogy by J. Gregory Keyes. All three were eventually issued as omnibuses by the SFBC, and it’s in that form that I finally picked up copies.

I read Legions of Fire last year. It was my first choice among the three because it finished the story of Londo Mollari – a story which had been broadly and intriguingly hinted at over the course of the TV series, but never told. Its revelations made it an addictive and entertaining read for me, but I couldn’t help regretting the relative crudity of its craft. In a lot of ways, the flaws in the novel made it painfully clear that I was reading a novel written by one author from the outline of another: For whatever reason, Peter David had been unable to fully own the material, resulting in a certain lack of depth. Nor had he been able to forge a smooth narrative from bullet points, creating an awkward pacing and a definite lack of causal continuity.

In short, you had a very compelling plot that simply didn’t come to life in the telling. The result was something that I think any fan of Babylon 5 would enjoy reading, but which fails on its own merits. As a result, I ended up setting aside the other two trilogies, expecting more of the same.

All of this is nothing more than a lengthy prelude, however. What I’m really here to talk about is my reaction to The Psi Corps Trilogy, which I just finished reading.

Let me brutally blunt here, because otherwise I fear my point will be lost:

These are damn good books.

And I don’t mean that in a “these are really good considering that they’re tie-in novels” way. I mean that these are damn good books, period. Start with a little of Mutant by Henry Kuttner, then add a lot of The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester, and then give it some meat with a dark version of the best parts of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and you’ll begin to have some sense of what The Psi Corps Trilogy has to offer.

In short, J. Gregory Keyes offers a dynamic, complex story with an epic scale. He seizes the opportunity to work with a large, multigenerational cast by drawing each character with care and detail. He then cements the entire work by placing at center stage an absolutely compelling psychological drama which takes the reader’s heart in hand and wrings emotion from it almost effortlessly.

The only “flaw” – and I hesitate to call it such – is that there is a gap in the narrative of the trilogy. The first volume, in an epic style reminiscent of the Foundation Trilogy, covers the history of telepaths from their first appearance in the 21^st century until the time of Alfred Bester (another of the many compelling and deeply drawn characters from the television series). The second volume is the life story of Bester up to his first appearance in the series. The third volume essentially completes Bester’s story after the series. (The missing part of the narrative, of course, is the story that we see in the series itself.)

In essence, The Psi Corps Trilogy is the Tragedy of Alfred Bester. The particular brilliance of the work can be ascribed entirely to Keyes’ success in not only telling this story as an intense drama of the human spirit, but also by imbuing in Bester the legacy of the telepathic race. Keyes perfectly captures a character created by Straczynski and portrayed by Walter Koenig, and then renders that character into a Janus-like figure, looking down upon the twin destinies of his people. The result is Shakespearean in its scope.

As I sit here, giving the work the thought it deserves – looking at its details and savoring each in turn – I am particularly struck by the complexity of the characters. Not only does Keyes practice an exceptional conservation of cast (never once allowing a character to simply amble through his narrative without some deeper purpose or effect), he also makes sure that every character is fully realized as a living, breathing being.

On a similar note, the careful weaving of the story’s many themes also leaps out at me as a stellar accomplishment. No event is allowed to pass as an idle plot point: Nothing simply happens – it happens to someone, and has a meaning; an impact; an effect upon them. And, on top of that, each event carefully illuminates some new facet of the gem which Keyes is crafting – it has a unique significance not only to the characters, but to the reader.

Which brings me back to my thesis statement:

These are damn good books.

You should read them.

GRADES:

DARK GENESIS: A
DEADLY RELATIONS: A
FINAL RECKONING: A

J. Gregory Keyes
Published: 1998-1999
Publisher: Del Rey
Cover Price: $6.50
ISBNs: 0-34-542715-7 / 0-34-542716-5 / 0-34-542717-3
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More of What I’m Reading today. I might try for some variety tomorrow, or I might just keep chewing through these until I’ve got the website completely updated:

26. The Psi Corps Trilogy – J. Gregory Keyes
27. Komarr and A Civil Campaign – Lois McMaster Bujold
28. Midnight Sun – Karl Edward Wagner
29. Northwest Smith – C.L. Moore
30. 40,000 in Gehenna – C.J. Cherryh