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The Fabulous Clipjoint
Fredric Brown 1947 (Penzler 2021)



"When teenaged Ed Hunter's alcoholic father is murdered, Ed is for all intents and purposes orphaned, as he feels little affection for his mean-spirited stepmother and hypersexual stepsister. The police dismiss the case as nothing more than the random murder of a back-alley drunk, and so Ed decides to investigate the crime on his own.
Ed enlists the help of his father's brother, Ambrose "Am" Hunter, an itinerant carny, whom he has not seen in many years, and the two of them set out to solve the crime. Together they wade through a swamp of unseemly characters of the Chicago underworld to expose the real murderer of Ed's father. Along the way, with Am's guidance, Ed comes to realize that his father was not the hapless, pathetic man he had always believed him to be. " (from wikipedia)

A very enjoyable tale set in a gritty post war Chicago. The whodunnit aspect works well and the plot propels itself along at a good lick.
Brown was admired for his mystery novels and science fiction short stories in the forties and fifties and it's good to see that some of his books have been reprinted in recent years.
This book won the Edgar award for best first mystery novel.

The Stars are Ours!
Andre Norton 1954 (Ace 1983)



"Past master at serious science fiction that includes human relationships on personal as well as political levels, is Andre Norton whose latest book is a graphic picture of a hard won trial at new life in another planetary system. Part I of her story is set on an Earth ravaged by atomic weapons and under the tight rule of an Orwellian power that has stifled free thought. Under these conditions, the underground movement of Free Scientists has managed to construct a ship that takes a small party to another planet and we see the trip through the eyes of young Dard Nordis whose older brother has helped with the preparations. The new land has some fascinating aspects to watch as the author reveals them- red rivers, a blue-green vegetation- but the main task of the "terrans", that still remains a challenge at the end, is alliance with the "mer- people" against opposition in a terrifying new dimension." (Kirkus reviews)

The first part set on a totalitarian Earth in 2500 is well done. The second half set on a distant planet is cliched 1950s silliness but still fun to read. It's amusing to see a bunch of renegade boffins living in a cave invent a spaceship and a suspended animation process with slide rules and meccano. This is what space travel was imagined to be before it was invented.
One of the main characters is black which would have been quite radical in the 1950s but the women on the spaceship are only there to make the sandwichs and they ask the male explorers to find some alien plants to make perfume with.

Alexander 334-323BC
John Warry 1991 (Osprey 1997)



"Alexander of Macedonia was undoubtedly one of the greatest generals of all time. This book, by John Warry, an expert on the warfare of the Classical world, examines the principle battles of Alexander's campaigns in detail. The battles of the Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela, Hydaspes and the difficult siege of Tyre are all discussed at length. These careful studies shed light on Macedonian tactics: in particular the combination of armoured infantry phalanx with fast-moving cavalry. The men and equipment of both Alexander and his Persian enemies are also examined, providing a comprehensive insight into Alexander's life and military actions." (from Blackwells)

Before reading this book all I knew about Alexander was that he was in the 300BCs, created the world's biggest empire in his twenties and was compared unfavourably to Eric Bristow by Sid Waddell. This book gives a good account of Alexander's military campaigns and at about a hundred pages is just about the right depth as a primer. John Warry says that his endless campaigning seemed to be as much about exploration as conquest and in the end his army told him they'd had enough and were going home whereupon he sulked in his tent for three days. Sounds like a typical camping holiday.

Horror - Another 100 Best Books
Stephen Jones & Kim Newman (editors) 2005 (Carroll & Graf 2005)



Seventeen years after the original volume, Jones and Newman asked another 100 writers to name a favourite book and to write a short critique of it to accompany the editor's short biography and bibliography of the author of the said book. The choices are heavily skewed to later works from the 1970s onwards often by writers I've not heard of writing about books I've not heard of.
The books are listed in chronological order with the first being "The Revenger's Tragedy" a play by Thomas Middleton chosen by the great Robert Silverberg. I'm going to read that book first and then maybe numbers 11, 21, 31 etc in that order and then read the essay afterwards.
I've only read four up to now so it will take a long time to work through the whole lot. I'll see how I get on.

Ginny
Virginia Holgate 1986 (Stanley Paul 1986)



The latest project is biographies of British Olympic medallists. Having read a few from pre WWI I've jumped to 1984 with this being the first.
Virginia Holgate, later Leng now Elliott wrote this just after winning double gold at the eventing world championships having won a silver and bronze at the 1984 olympics. I quite enjoyed it but then I seem to have no critical faculties regarding sporting autobiographies; I never read one I didn't like. I quite warmed to her over her obvious love for her horses and the fact that whenever she went arse over tit, she always blamed herself and not the nag.
It was also worth reading for the factoids that she played elephant polo against Ringo Starr and beat Kent and England "fast" bowler Richard Ellison in a "celebrity" Krypton Factor.
Holgate won several medals after 1986 but possible her greatest accolade was appearing in Prince Edward's "It's a Royal Knockout" in 1987, the most catastrophic event in British broadcasting history prior to the BBCs Brexit coverage.

The Revenger's Tragedy
Thomas Middleton 1607 (OUP 2012)



"The Revenger's Tragedy - finally attributed to Thomas Middleton - has appealed to audiences for over 400 years. This striking and thought provoking drama depicts a corrupt society, ruled by despots who are driven by lust and greed. Full of irony and often startlingly black humour, its satire is extraordinarily economical and effective because of the energy of Middleton's language and of his dramatic vision; it forces the audience to become involved in the questions it raises" (publisher's blurb)

The first and therefore earliest book in the "another 100 best horror books" where Robert Silverberg goes with the original attribution to Cyril Tourneur. Most scholars seem to be convinced that Middleton is the author and the introduction here gives the reasons why.

The play is full of wickedness and murders but reading it didn't give me the horror vibe although it's meant to be watched not read. For some reason I found the language more difficult than the Shakespeares and the Marlowe that I've read and the editors would have helped by putting the notes on the same page instead of at the back of the book.
The play is staged quite often and there's a 2002 film with Christopher Ecclestone and Eddie Izzard.

The Big Six
Arthur Ransome 1940 (Puffin 1979)



"When Dick and Dorothea arrive in the Norfolk Broads all set for a blissful summer on the river, they find their friends the Death and Glories in a very bad situation. Accused of setting boats adrift, sabotage and theft, the boys are under suspicion by everyone on the river. And in the meantime, the real culprits are still at large. There’s no choice but to form a crime-busting team: The Big Six. As the evidence stacks against them, can they solve the mystery and trap the real criminals?"

No Swallows or Amazons in this, the ninth in the series and the second and final one set in the Norfolk Broads. The Death and Glories are the only working class children focused on by Ransome in his books and he does so in a mostly unpatronising way.
Ransome reviewed detective novels for The Observer but his own skills in this area appear to be limited as it's obvious from the start (at least to an adult) who the real culprits are.
The lads' boat has a "chimbley" and Wroxham has a bit part in the story so I half expected The Singing Postman to pop up singing "Hev Yew Gotta Loight, Boy?"

Quasar, Quasar, Burning Bright
Isaac Asimov 1978 (Doubleday 1978)



Seventeen Essays that Asimov wrote for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction May 1976-September 1977.
Lots of excellent science from an historical perspective including three articles about the discovery of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Paricularly good are the three which explain how natural changes in the Earth's axis of rotation, orbit and tectonic plates affect climate and are thought to have lead to ice ages and the following warming periods.
Asimov was a chemistry lecturer before becoming a full time writer, but judging by the number of essays in this series, and other books on the subject, it would seem that astronomy was his first love - perhaps not surprising given his prolific space fiction output.

Darwin's Blade
Dan Simmons 2000 (Mulholland 2013)



"Darwin Minor travels a dangerous road. A Vietnam veteran turned reluctant expert on interpreting the wreckage of fatal accidents, Darwin uses science and instinct to unravel the real causes of unnatural disasters. He is very, very good at his job.
His latest case promises to be his most challenging yet. A spate of seemingly random high-speed car accidents has struck the highways of southern California. Each seems to have been staged-yet the participants have all died. Why would anyone commit fraud at the cost of his own life? The deeper Darwin digs, the closer he comes to unmasking an international network specializing in intimidation and murder, whose members will do anything to make sure Darwin soon suffers a deadly accident of his own."

If Jack Reacher had a Ph.D in physics...
This is the first Simmons that I've read that didn't fall into the SF/Fantasy/Horror category. It's a good read but not brilliant. Road accident Insurance fraud sounds dull but, at least in America, it is organised crime on a massive scale with violent mafia overlords. Simmons desribes this well. The set pieces are exciting and the sniper tradecraft (Darwin and his Russian mafia adversary are both expert snipers) is rivetting. The problem is that Darwin is just too perfect. Ph.D, expert in classical philosophy, impeccable taste in art, literature and er.... soft furnishings. The love interest is equally brilliant and they're both uber competent at whatever they do.
Darwin says he stopped counting his books when he got to seven thousand. That's even more than me the smug bastard.

Heartsease
Peter Dickinson 1969 (Puffin 1971)



"When an American spy comes to investigate the uncanny "changes" which have made the people of England revert to a medieval machineless state, he is declared a witch and stoned, until two children risk their lives to save him."

The Weathermonger was Dickinson's first book and was well received, but a sequel wasn't really feasible because at the end of that book the changes also came to an end. This book is therefore a prequel with a new set of characters. It's a good exciting tale set in the cotswolds and Severn estuary, and the author is good at evoking the backwards society and the fear and persecution suffered by the few who show any resistance to the changes.
The final book in the series, The Devil's Children is another prequel and was the one which was commended in the 1970 Carnegie Awards.