The Chronicles of Conan – Volume 13 – Whispering Shadows And Other Stories – Part 1
Sep14

The Chronicles of Conan – Volume 13 – Whispering Shadows And Other Stories – Part 1

The Chronicles of Conan Volume 13 Whispering Shadows And Other Stories Part 1   These ongoing pieces are overviews rather than reviews and therefore contain spoilers galore.   It’s just as well that anyone who shelled out money for a thirteenth volume of The Chronicles of Conan must by this time have been a hardcore fan; because if they had simply taken a chance on the book, then when they read this first turkey of a story they would...

Read More
The Chronicles of Conan : Volume 12 – The Beast King of Abombi : Part 2
Aug24

The Chronicles of Conan : Volume 12 – The Beast King of Abombi : Part 2

Death of a Queen: The Chronicles of Conan Volume 12 The Beast King of Abombi And Other Stories Part 2   These ongoing pieces are overviews rather than reviews and therefore contain spoilers galore.     The wild sea is beating Against the grey sands; The woman, the sea-woman, Stretches her hands. Her eyes they are mystic And cold as the sea, With slender white fingers She beckons to me –   There are woods in the sea Though the leaves...

Read More
The Innsmouth Cycle – The Taint of the Deep Ones
Aug18

The Innsmouth Cycle – The Taint of the Deep Ones

The Innsmouth Cycle The Taint of the Deep Ones Selected and Edited by Robert M.  Price An Occasional Look at Lovecraftian Anthologies: 6     The first thing I have to do here is to give a truly geekish fanboy rave to the introduction by Robert M.  Price, who also selects the tales and poetry here.  Yes, that’s what I said: the introduction. I was two pages into this near-eight pages of really tiny type when I stopped, shook...

Read More
Revisiting Larsson’s The Girl Who Played with Fire
Aug12

Revisiting Larsson’s The Girl Who Played with Fire

Revisiting Larsson’s The Girl Who Played with Fire       “I’ve had a miserable week and I’m in a bad mood.  You know what the worst thing is?  Every time I turn around there’s some fucking pile of shit with a beer belly in my way acting tough.  Now I’d like to leave.  So move it.”           — Lisbeth Salander   There is a scene late in Stieg Larsson’s 2006 novel The Girl Who Played with Fire where investigative journalist Mikael...

Read More
The Chronicles of Conan  Volume 12  The Beast King of Abombi
Aug12

The Chronicles of Conan Volume 12 The Beast King of Abombi

The Chronicles of Conan Volume 12 The Beast King of Abombi And Other Stories Part 1   These ongoing pieces are overviews rather than reviews and therefore contain spoilers galore.     It’s always a little surprising to me that so many fans of writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema’s 70s Marvel Comics run of Conan the Barbarian would seem to have preferred it if these stories had been reprinted on that original, more...

Read More
The Chronicles of Conan – Volume 11 – The Dance of the Skull And Other Stories
Jul23

The Chronicles of Conan – Volume 11 – The Dance of the Skull And Other Stories

The Chronicles of Conan Volume 11 The Dance of the Skull And Other Stories   These ongoing pieces are overviews rather than reviews and therefore contain spoilers galore.   With writer Roy Thomas’s regular collaborator –the artist John Buscema — otherwise engaged, cult-favourite Howard (American Flagg!, Black Kiss) Chaykin had stepped into those very large boots for a few months. As I mentioned in the review for...

Read More