I have to admit that I was initially skeptical when I first heard that a ‘new’ work was being published by J.R.R. Tolkien. I envisioned a book written containing a minimal influence of the master, cobbled together in order to make a buck. Thankfully my cynicism was short lived. It only took a bit of thought to dismiss that as ludicrous. Christopher Tolkien has been nothing but a devoted son to his father in the years since his death, working tirelessly to bring forth the massive works of his father that would otherwise not have seen the light of day. I merely had to think back to how easily I lost myself in The Silmarillion to recall just how much Christopher Tolkien has influenced my love of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
If the name Charles de Lint sounds familiar to you and yet you haven’t read any of his work it may be for a number of reasons. You may recall in the Terri Windling Friday Favorites that I mentioned that she, along with de Lint, coined the term mythic fiction and were instrumental in bringing this type of fantasy back to popularity. You may have seen the many striking book covers graced by the work of John Jude Palencar as you walk down the fantasy aisles. Or it may be because Charles de Lint has written over 40 novels, has numerous short story collections, writes poetry, and is a Celtic folk musician. Whatever the reason, the name Charles de Lint should be familiar to you. If it is not, I cannot encourage you strongly enough to remedy that situation as quick as possible.
As I mentioned in a previous post, reading the Howard Chaykin/Mike Mignola graphic novel adaptation of Fritz Leiber’s characters Fafhred and the Gray Mouser merely whet my appetite for Leiber’s work without bedding her back down. Thus I found myself purchasing the first book, in the reissued Dark Horse format.
Not surprisingly, my first official finished read for the Once Upon a Time Challenge is a book from my alternates list, and one that I didn’t possess at the beginning of the challenge!
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is the re-release of the Howard Chaykin/Mike Mignola graphic adaptation of the classic characters created by Fritz Leiber and featured in stories that spanned a 50 year period beginning in 1939. The original comics have been out-of-print for years and Dark Horse has done a phenomenal job of collecting these for the first time in graphic novel format with a new cover image by Mike Mignola.
John Scalzi is on a mission. That mission, I believe, is to make sure that I personally do not have time to read anything but his books. Despite his obvious ploy to dominate my literary life by releasing book after book after book, you will not find me complaining. I am in ecstasy.
All kidding aside, John Scalzi has rekindled my passion for science fiction with the universe he has created in his novels Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades, as well as The Android’s Dream (not related to the previous books, but a damn good read nonetheless). Clicking on the previously mentioned titles will take you to my reviews of those books, so no need to recreate the wheel.
