Books: Shadows Linger, Coming Race, and Jim's Big Uncle

[woodwardiocom]

Shadows Linger by Glen Cook

This is the second book in the Black Company series, which are about a mercenary company in a fantasy world where the choices are between black and gray. In this, we initially follow the story of innkeeper Marron Shed, who is desperately trying to stay financially afloat while his loanshark makes increasingly edged demands. His story is a fascinating slide into evil, which dovetails with the Company when we discover what Shed's evil has created. Highly recommended.

The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

EBL is best known as the originator of "It was a dark and stormy night," and has (not entirely justly) become synonymous with bad writing. ratmmjess talked him up, and this book is historically relevant enough that I picked it up. In it, our unnamed protagonist falls through the bottom of a mine, and is discovered by an advanced race of humans who live within the Earth. As soon as they learn to communicate the novel promptly turns into an encyclopedia, as he discusses their pseudo-utopian society for about half the book. (With emphasis on the weird differences between the sexes.) Then the locals begin to recognize him as a danger to their society, and he flees back to the surface. Like Gulliver's Travels this is far more social commentary than it is anything like a novel, but it's interesting on that level. And it's occasionally funny, possibly even on purpose. Mildly recommended.

The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino

Infantino is a famous comic book artist, best known for co-creating the Silver Age Flash (and thus inaugurating the whole Silver Age of comics), and for a few years in the early 1970s, being President and Publisher of DC Comics. This book is a series of reminiscences about his career from the 40s through the 90s. I found it particularly interesting to compare the POV in here with Mark Evanier's recollections of the same time periods in the Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus series. Recommended, but mostly of interest to the serious comic book fan.

Comments

just a note

[bridgetminerva.livejournal.com]

thank you for posting these reviews. I don't have much time to read these days. Your reviews makes it easier from me to choose more wisely.

[fangirl715.livejournal.com]

I'm assuming that you already know that Carmine is Jim (of Jim's Big Ego) Infantino's uncle, right? The former drew the artwork for the latter's most recent album, They're Everywhere a couple of years back.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

I'm assuming that you already know that Carmine is Jim (of Jim's Big Ego) Infantino's uncle, right?

If I didn't, my subject line would be a heck of a coincidence.

[heinleinfan.livejournal.com]

I love the Black Company books. "...where the choices are between black and gray" is so very apt an explanation. I especially love the characters Cook created in those books, too. One-Eye and Goblin are just...too much and poor Croaker just gets carried along through the whole series by events he can't control or escape, and The Lady...very memorable folks.

[zonemind.livejournal.com]

Carmine Infantino lent his name to one of the most memorable villains I ever ran. The villain had nothing whatever to do with the real Carmine, I just really liked the name for a sword-saint-gone-bad.

[dimers.livejournal.com]

I've read the whole nine-and-a-half book Black Company series, most of 'em repeatedly. (Bought the d20 system book from Green Ronin, too.) I love Cook's standard writing style and voice and the way he plays around with both throughout the series; I love the grit; I love the way he presents everything in terms of the characters' senses and judgements. And Shadows Linger is the best-written of the nine that actually follow the Company. Wish I were a Hindu god so I could give it two hundred thumbs up.