Bloodshift (©1981)

I bought this years ago, and quite frankly it was one of those books I bought because, um -just because. Now for many people the Reeves-Stevens name is familiar from the Star Trek novels they've written.

However, years before a young Garfield was bent on being the next Stephen King. Bloodshift is a really really good Vampire story, and frankly the cover, and the way it was originally marketed must have killed it in its tracks.

This is a page turner, and would make a hell of an action movie. For a long time my favourite Vampire book was Vampires by John Steakley, and this is just as good in my mind.

The author throws is some nice touches regarding the tried and true clichés, and the ongoing battle between the Church and the undead is fun.

Too bad this is a mostly unknown novel in the genre. I believe that this was reissued with a different cover, but the damage was done long ago. If you have a chance to pick this one up you're in for a fun ride.

Reviewed July 2, 2005

What's Your Poo Telling You (©2007)

I was inclined to dismiss this as a load of crap. I mean really it's not like I need to have my poo tell me anything. Not to put too fine a point on it but the thought of sitting around having a casual conversation with my poo is the stuff of nightmares. I can see it now, Dr. Frankenturd is laughing maniacally while lightning flashes. "IT LIVES IT LIVES" he shouts with glee. I get accused of talking out of my ass by a lot of people, if they were to even suspect that my poo has stuff to say too would be the final straw.

My sister got this for me for Christmas. I'm not sure what she was implying, because I'm pretty sure I've always flushed at her house and never left a "Gift Poo" or "Streak" behind me. Since it was a gift I had to read it as chances were pretty good I'd be quizzed about it at some point. So I read half of it in bed one night. This is just a short little squirt clocking in at 96 pages, I thought I'd be able to read it in one sitting. It was my bad luck to pick a night where my wife was dog tired. I was laughing so hard I was shaking the bed - which woke her up and garnered me a very dirty look. I apologized, and promised to be quiet. She rolled over and went back to sleep. I started reading again - and within a couple of minutes she woke up again. She punched me rather hard on the shoulder and took away my book. I finished it the next morning while performing my morning ablations.

So how was this little brown book? In a word: Excrement! Five flushes! This was the equivalent of War and Feces. As they say many a truth is said in jest. There's actually a lot of good stuff in here. Yes this goes over the top in places, and there are times when it's almost too much - but throughout there are little nuggets of wisdom, and oddly enough there are things your poo may be trying to tell you.

Reviewed January 15, 2008

Telempath (©1976)

Read this one a couple of months ago, and never got around to putting my thoughts down. I'd heard a lot about Spider Robinson, and I knew this was one of his earlier works, so I wasn't expecting too much.

This is a different kind of post apocalyptic story. The world learned how to smell better through the use of a manufactured virus, and the stink drove the population crazy. Add in some ethereal ghostly forms, plus an old scientist who's number one on everyone's hit list you have a fun story. Oh did I mention the pot? It was written in 1976 after all. Still, the basic story and characters are engaging enough, and the story was interesting.

Reviewed May 31, 2002

Men, Martians and Machines (Berkely edition ©1958)

Eric Frank Russell's classic stories about space exploration. This collection of four stories about the Marathon and her crew is a pretty good read, and considering the first tale was written in the early 1940's it's still cheesy fun. The closest equivalent is Star Trek - which was still decades away when these stories were written. The crew of the Marathon is a blended crew of humans, (multiracial, which is stated as a matter of fact and is not made into an issue) and Martians. The Martians are a good fun. They are obsessed with chess, are incredibly strong and more often than not save the day (they also have a lot in common with overgrown octopi). There are no women though - as progressive as Mister Russell was, I'm guessing he didn't think that far ahead.

The stories are all braided together, and are told by the Sergeant Master at Arms who remains nameless throughout the stories. With each adventure members of the crew are captured, beaten silly, but always manage to get away. They return home only to be sent out again to look for life elsewhere. It's fun stuff. Sure this is horribly dated in terms of technology, but as good old fashioned story telling, this is pretty cool stuff (I think I said that already).

I have no idea if this is still in print - but as with all classic stuff you only have to look.

Reviewed January 15, 2008