Book Review: The Queen of Zamba

Book Review: The Queen of Zamba by L. Sprague de Camp (Also published as Cosmic Manhunt) It started out as a normal missing person case.  Victor Hasselborg was hired to find runaway heiress Julnar Batruni.  Her trail is easy to pick up, as she used her own name to buy tickets off-planet with her lover, one Anthony… Continue reading Book Review: The Queen of Zamba

Book Review: The Wrath of Brotherhood

Book Review: The Wrath of Brotherhood by Ozgur K. Sahin Captain Roy Toppings had planned to live a relatively peaceful life plying a small shipping route  between England and the Continent, but the murder of his sister by pirates set him  on a different course, and now he’s a privateer  operating out of Port Royal.… Continue reading Book Review: The Wrath of Brotherhood

Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate

Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate edited by John Gaterud Yes, this is yet another literary magazine; I picked up a bunch inexpensively at the book fair.  This one seems to take its title from Jack Kerouac’s writing; this first issue was published in 2007. The index is unusual for this kind of… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Super Friends

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Super Friends by Various Back in the 1970s, there was a Saturday morning cartoon titled Superfriends.  It featured several superheroes from DC Comics,, plus “Junior Super Friends” Wendy and Marvin, trainee superheroes with their pet Wonderdog.   Each episode taught valuable life lessons to kids across America.  While reruns of the… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents Super Friends

Magazine Review: Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue

Magazine Review:  Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue edited by David Shields and Bradford Morrow Conjunctions is a literary journal published twice a year by Bard College.  Each issue contains essays, short fiction, poetry and less classifiable writing on a given subject, with this issue being about death.  Literary journals tend to have a connotation of… Continue reading Magazine Review: Conjunctions: 51 The Death Issue

Book Review: Mingo Dabney

Book Review: Mingo Dabney by James Street Mingo Dabney is a Mississippi woodsman from Lebanon who falls in love with the lovely but exotic (white-haired) Cuban woman Rafaela Galbran when she comes to his hometown seeking money and arms for the 1895 Cuban revolution. Being a passionate young fellow, he winds up following her to… Continue reading Book Review: Mingo Dabney

Book Review: Frances Elizabeth Willis

Book Review: Frances Elizabeth Willis by Nicholas J. Willis Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Frances Elizabeth Willis (1899-1983) was the first woman to rise through the ranks of the U.S. Foreign Service to become a Career Ambassador, serving as the United Stares ambassador… Continue reading Book Review: Frances Elizabeth Willis

Book Review: Torsten

Book Review: Torsten by Joshua Kalin Disclaimer:  I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Aznaro, Cordin and Osoro, three blood brothers, have returned to Spain after a tour of the known world.  Already feeling restless, Aznaro becomes interested in a proposed voyage by one Christobal Colon,… Continue reading Book Review: Torsten

Book Review: The Stone Lions

The Stone Lions by Gwen Dandridge Disclaimer:  I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Ara is the daughter of the Sultan of Granada in the early  15th Century.  She has lived all her life in the Alhambra, the Red Palace.  Frustrated by her cloistered existence,  Ara… Continue reading Book Review: The Stone Lions

Book Review: Zorro

Book Review: Zorro by Isabel Allende Johnston McCulley wrote the first Zorro story, “The Curse of Capistrano” way back in 1919.  Set in Spanish California, it told the tale of Don Diego (de la) Vega, a foppish young nobleman who in secret was Zorro, the fox, masked protector of justice.  It was a modest success,… Continue reading Book Review: Zorro