Beast-Master

Here at Wolf Age Miniatures, with so many monsters and daemons running loose, there has long been a need for a Beast-Master to control and take care of all these creatures. It was a long time before I found a suitable candidate, but the position is filled at last!

Previously in the employ of the late Jabba the Hutt, the Corellian-born Malakili was the primary caregiver for the rancor Pateesa, until that beast's untimely demise at the hands of Luke Skywalker. After the death of his employer Malakili wandered the deserts, for a time he became a sort of nanny to another Hutt, later helping to found a restaurant in the thriving spaceport Mos Eisley. However, after a disagreement with his partner over the customer status of banthas, he began traveling the stars, eventually ending up at my door, in need of a job.

Needless to say, he found one. It's been a bit of an adjustment for him, he's not used to handling creatures with more supernatural abilities like the basilisk or hellhound, but he picks up quickly and I'm happy with his work.

Malakili is a West End Games model, produced in the 1990's by Grenadier for their Star Wars RPG.

Times without Number

I first encountered John Brunner in his short story In the Season of the Dressing of the Wells in the anthology After the King. After enjoying that tale, I picked up a few novels by him in my last used book store trip, including Times without Number.

The book is a collection of three stories originally published in three consecutive issues of the British magazine Science Fiction Adventures in 1962, collected into a novel the same year, revised by Brunner in 1969. The copy I read is the 1969 revision.

It's an alternate history book, set in a 1989 where the Spanish Armada conquered England, paving the way for an empire spanning the whole of the western hemisphere. While conventional technology is at a severely lower level than our timeline, there have been major advancements in one area- time travel, controlled by a government-supported Society of Time. All three stories (really sections) deal with a young junior officer in this order, Dom Miguel Navarro, and his gradual (although spotty) understanding of the workings of time.

While a very enjoyable read, especially the middle section, the chief interest for me was the ideas contained in it. Brunner is really good at writing historical background and making it very organic and accurate, it felt like something that could have happened, even the time travel, at least the idea. There is one slight issue: as is made clear in the end, there can only be one actual timeline- alternate worlds don't stretch to infinity in this book- however, in part 2 people pass through a time machine into this reality from an alternate one. This can be explained by the inexperience of Dom Miguel, he still hasn't learned the innermost secrets of the Society, but a bit of explanation from a higher-ranking member would have been welcome.

Still, I really enjoyed this book, and will definitely be reading more by the author.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye

Star Wars, even the originals,  may not be my favorite films, that title going to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I have had a soft spot for much of its Expanded Universe for some time. So, when searching for copies of some Thrawn novels I found a 1978 Star Wars novel with a Ralph McQuarrie cover, I snatched it up!
Foster's name was familiar, although I can't remember actually reading anything by him, he's best known to me for his Star Trek and Alien novels- other adaptions and Fan Fiction-type books.

The Star Wars EU, although Disney has recently thrown a good bit of it out, is one of the most developed of any Sci-Fi universe- every throw-away line and background character has its story- and this, the first novel written, is where it starts. According to that supreme source Wikipedia (backed up by Star Wars Insider) Foster not only had access to many of the early drafts and story ideas, but this novel was to be a cheap sequel if the first film was a flop. This would have lead to a very different development of the series, as I'll expand on later.

The novel itself is a good light read, don't be expecting much in the way of prose style, but it does have something of a swords and sorcery feel to parts, especially towards the end, where Luke and Leia fight their way through a system of caves to reach an ancient temple dominated by a giant Cthulhu statue, wherein lies a gem with Force-controlling powers. This actually works pretty well with the space opera of the films.

The most interesting thing to me is to see how exactly this novel influenced and is different from what could be called 'mainstream' or at least more recent EU material. There are two major deviations from the norm:

Han is only mentioned in a throw-away line on the last page, taking his and Ben Kenobi's  place is Halla, a smart-alec witch woman. There are two Chewie-type strong arm aliens that ally themselves with Luke and co., reminding me of the later Gamorrean guards.

"No Luke, I am your father" and especially Luke and Leia's relationship was obviously as big a surprise to Foster as anyone else. Luke has some more than brotherly feelings towards Leia, which can make for some odd reading.

Some other differences include:

The casual mention of female Stormtroopers, not to mention some surprisingly intelligent (and talkative) guards,

The constant reference to the Lord Darth Vader,

Leia explaining she joined the Rebels due to their less degenerate art!

It also has some parallels with the later films. The setting alone is a lot like ESB's Dagobah with an Imperial presence, while the Coway are similar to troglodyte Ewoks, especially in their fighting style. The ending showdown between Luke and Lord Darth Vader also plays out in some ways like a reversed version of the Cloud City duel. It would be interesting to know how much Lucas (or Foster) actually borrowed from each other.

All in all, if you like the films and would like to see a different handling of them it's well worth a read, after you have gone through some of the more 'canon' works.

Small Hands

"Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world; small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
-Elrond

 The first of the Fellowship to get painted- Merry and Pippin!

Ranger of Middle-Earth

In the Forests of the Ettinsmoors, a lone Dunadan hunts Orcs...

Rendezvous With Rama

The first Arthur C. Clarke I read was his short story, The Star, in the Asimov-edited Hugo winners anthology. I liked it, so when I happened upon a copy of Childhood's End a few weeks later, I snatched it up and read it in the next day or two. It had the steady, organic procession of Greek tragedy, and the description of alien vistas and technology were breathtaking and very cohesive. Clarke excels at first contact stories, whether it involves giant saucers or monoliths and Rendezvous with Rama is no exception.

A big part of the novel is the slow discovery of what lies inside Rama, so I'll try not to give away too much. The set-up's simple, a large object is discovered moving at an astounding rate towards the solar system, a probe discovers that it's a massive spaceship and the only Earth vessel in range goes to investigate.

The best portion of the book for me was the middle, as the spaceship crew enter Rama and begin to explore Clarke delivers some of his great description- it's completely alien, unknowable, but it all fits together, what little we understand makes sense. It's the same feeling one gets with the monoliths in 2001, especially the first encounter on the moon.

It almost reminded me of Lovecraft's Elder Ones, so high above and beyond humanity that we might as well be insects. The Ramans, what ever they are, don't really care about humanity's contact with them.

He paces himself well too, there's no real sudden jerk as something's discovered or explored, it flows at a steady pace. This makes it easier, I suppose, to digest the incredible things he's talking about.

Clarke makes comparisons between the exploration of Rama and Earth-bound archaeology- this is very fitting. There is no life here, it's sterile, at least at first.

As the novel progresses the first mysteries are more-or-less solved, but this only digs up new ones, another Clarke standard (curiouser and curiouser!). After the slow build-up, however, the eventual discovery of life in the form of 'biots', while intriguing, didn't quite live up to my expectations- no monoliths! While an interesting idea and well-done it seemed too much like a science fiction conceit, not a part of the discoveries that have gone on before. It made Rama become a little too human, especially since several of the biots, including the first encountered, came close to actual creatures.

Clarke picks back up soon after the first biot scene, with a crewmember's journey through a suitably strange landscape. It may just be me, but this sequence (and the biots), seemed really close to the stories and ideas written a generation before Clarke, Stanley Weinbaum's short story A Martian Odyssey, for example. While I enjoy reading this kind of Sci-fi, it felt a little out of place in Rama.

Still, it was an excellent book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It ranks with Childhood's End and 2001: A Space Odyssey as some of Clarke's best work, the atmosphere of the first half alone is well worth the read, and I'll definitely be re-reading it.

Have thoughts of your own on this or others of Clarke's work? Leave a comment!

Book cover art

I like buying used books. Something about the act of hunting through shelves of books, never knowing quite what you're going to find, the history behind every beaten-up paperback, and the smell of old books- not to mention the prices- appeals to me a lot more than simply going down to a chain bookstore and getting exactly what you came for. I also like to read older books, mostly Science-fiction and Fantasy from the turn of the last century up to the early 80's, so used bookstores tend to have more of what I like to read than new ones. One of the interesting features of used books is all the different cover art available. Most of these are frankly mediocre at best, but sometimes you find a gem- here are three of my favorites:

First- The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, cover by Yvonne Gilbert. This is one of the best non-Tolkien high fantasies. She creates a well thought-out world, with perhaps the best handling of magic I've ever seen. The cover captures the story well, I like its muted colors, Ged's clothing, in particular, looks like it belongs together and has seen some wear. It really captures what I try to do on most of my fantasy paint-jobs, especially my Dark Tower miniatures.

 Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov, cover by Michael Whelan. My favorite volume of the classic series, the cover illustrates the Mule in the disguise of Magnifico playing his Visi-Sonor in the Ruins of Trantor. It's almost surreal with its yellow and green highlights, contrasted with the bright colors of Magnifico's clothes.

The Silver Warriors by Michael Moorcock, cover by Robert Gould. I actually haven't finished this one, having just gotten it Friday. It's the first Moorcock I've read and I'm really enjoying it. It has the trapping of a good Robert E. Howard story, with a well done atmosphere. The cover is set up almost like a medieval manuscript, and reminds me of Tolkien's Thror's map from the Hobbit.

Disagree with my choices, or have a favorite of your own to share? Leave a comment!