Book Review of “The Pride of Chanur” (1982)

chanur

Cover art for C.J. Cherryh’s “The Pride of Chanur.”

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I finished C.J. Cherryh’s The Pride of Chanur a few days ago but am just now getting the time to write the review.

I remembered reading this back in the 1980s but didn’t recall the details (forty years is a long time). When I saw it on Bookbub, I was curious. There wasn’t a copy in my public library system so I bit the bullet and bought a digital copy from Amazon.

The story is set in a universe involving a species called the Hani. They’re cat-like, their space traveling freighters are captained and crewed by females, as the males aren’t suited to space travel, and their particular region of space is dominated by them and other races who trade with each other via a system of space stations in an alliance called “The Compact.”

The chief “baddy” in this tale are the Kif which are tall, thin, and hairless. They are also predatory, cunning, and devious.

While the ship “Pride of Chanur” is at Meetpoint station, a strange alien is seen to be skulking on the docks. It finally manages to slip by the Captain, Pyanfur Chanur, into her ship, but is wounded in the attempt.

Communication is a chore since the creature doesn’t speak a civilized language. It’s eventually discovered that this is an intelligent creature which had been a captive on a Kif ship and was trying to escape.

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The Last Interview of Mister Bill

mister-bill

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

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Mister Bill’s plush body sat in a trendy Hollywood restaurant. The interview about his career was finished, but awakened dormant memories of his 1970s glory days at SNL. Sure, the stunts were dangerous, but money and fame didn’t come cheap.

It nearly ended in 1980, but Chevy rescued him from a garbage can. After that he moved to L.A. By the end of the 1990s, it was over. He’d been surprised by the journalist asking to see him. His old nemesis, Mister Hand was so old now.

“Guess it’s time we both retired.” Bill held his dear friend’s wrinkled hand.

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Film Review of “Oppenheimer” (2023)

oppy

© James Pyles

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Over the weekend, at my local public library, I found a DVD of the 2023 movie Oppenheimer, so naturally, I scooped it up.

Spoiler Alert!!! If you haven’t seen the movie yet and want to be surprised, stop reading now.

The film is three hours long (Oy!) and somewhere in the first quarter, I thought about turning it off. The beginning of the movie is disorienting, not only hopping back and forward in time, but the visual depictions of how Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) conceptualized quantum mechanics. It was a pain in the ass until I figured out what was going on.

The first of the two main sequences is Oppenheimer being grilled by a small committee on whether or not his security clearance (and thus his career) should be renewed. The other was the Senate hearings on whether or not to appoint Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.) to a cabinet post. Both function like trials without having to follow the rules of a court of law but the outcomes of both will determine the futures of each of these men.

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The Tree Where The Elves Live

tree

PHOTO PROMPT © Fleur Lind

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“It’s just a fake door, Jillian. Elves don’t really live in the tree.” Ten-year-old Sam strode towards the trunk.

“Don’t,” the eight-year-old girl cried. “If they get mad, they’ll cast a spell on us.” She ran to her brother and grabbed his arm.

He shook her off. “Watch this.” Sam gripped the knob and pulled away the little door exposing only bark. “See?”

“You’re no fun,” Jill pouted.

“Let’s go get an ice cream,” Sam offered.

After the kids marched off, the knothole popped open. Two elves poked their heads out of the window. Pip asked, “Are they gone yet?”

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My short story “Blood Trail” Accepted for Publication in “Zehlreg Augustus Grindstone’s Spectacular Western Oddity Emporium”

western

Screen capture from hyperion-tales.com

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I don’t have a lot of details yet, but my “E.E. Durban, Occult Consulting Detective” short story “Blood Trail” has been accepted for publication by End of the World Publishing.

The theme is called Zehlreg Augustus Grindstone’s Spectacular Western Oddity Emporium and is “where the Wild West meets the vast worlds of Fantasy!”

More specifically:

Our theme is intentionally broad to allow would-be contributors to rustle the dogies of their imaginations as freely as possible. A few ideas we have had, purely as examples, are: What would it be like if there had been dwarves around for the California gold rush? What animals elves or orcs might drive and what antics might ensue? How would a saloon fight go if some folks in the saloon were magic users? For that matter, what would magic look like/be used for and how would the general populace use it? Show us Sitting Bull with magic that controls water! Show us ghost riders chasing the Devil’s herd! Show us Billy the Kid with a wand! Or on a dragon! Or both! Show us Annie Oakley, Magic Missile Sharp-shooter! The possibilities are endless.

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A Brief Errand in Time

cotton

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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Miles Jackson strolled past the bistro to The Cotton Exchange. His contact said he had to depart from someplace that existed both now and at the target date. He wouldn’t have much time once he arrived, which was ironic. But in 2024, he couldn’t walk down the streets of Wilmington dressed like a Civil War era slave.

The vaccine was secure in his pocket. Miles knew that ten-year-old Caleb would be in a house just two doors down on the morning of August 16, 1862. He had to inoculate him for the Yellow Fever so his ancestor would grow up.

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Book Review of Orson Scott Card’s “Wakers” (2022)

wakers

© James Pyles

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I finished Orson Scott Card’s novel Wakers last night. Naturally it’s the first book in a trilogy because all books have to be trilogies if not expanded series these days.

Like most people, I was introduced to Card’s writing long ago through Ender’s Game and the subsequent novels in that series. I’m glad to see that Card is still writing and still successful.

In the past twenty years or so, the current gatekeepers of science fiction determined never again to heap any sort of award upon him. This was because he had committed the grievous crime of being religious and making public statements about how his beliefs are guided by such. Between 1978 and 1995, he did win numerous accolades, but the only award post 2000 he’s been granted is the ALA Best Books for Young Adults for “Shadow of the Hegemon.”

Yes, I read “Wakers,” in part, to thumb my nose (like they even know I’m alive) at the exclusionists who run “official” science fiction and fantasy. You know, the folks who claim they want to be “inclusive” and then just shuffle around the players so certain groups are favored at the expense of others, what they say has always been done and they’re still doing it. The only difference is which groups are included and which groups are not. That’s not inclusive, that’s a shell game.

I’m a sucker for an “underdog” (Card’s doing pretty well, but still…) so I checked “Wakers” out of my local public library.

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UPDATE: How to Read (like and comment on) the Serial “Our Legacy, The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure”

Tom and Joan

Promotional image for the television show “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet” with Frankie Thomas as Tom Corbett and Patricia Ferris as Dr. Joan Dale.

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I know I just announced my space opera serial Our Legacy, The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure last week, but I wanted to give everyone an update.

To test the Kindle Vella platform for the story, I clicked the Follow button. So now I’m “following.” It didn’t ask me to sign up or for any money. I didn’t get any email announcements or anything. However, when I clicked the URL to the serial today (as I write this), I saw that episode 2: Flight to Freedom had been published yesterday (Saturday, April 13th).

I clicked on it expecting to get a “pay me” notice, but instead, I got the second chapter. The first chapter’s still there as well. I clicked on the second chapter and it was immediately available to read.

So far, I’m doing all this on my home computer rather than a tablet or phone but please stand by.

There are two IMPORTANT things to know if you read these stories:

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Solved: The Locked Room Murder Mystery

susan

PHOTO PROMPT © Susan Rouchard

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Stephanie’s grandfather had been murdered in his study. The police said the room had been locked from the inside. No one could have gotten in or out.

He was strangled by hand so it wasn’t a suicide. The police determined the murderer could not still be in the room.

Steph knew better. She had been part of his writing since she was six and old enough to compose her first childish mystery.

She worked through the stack of books on his desk. The one he’d received by mail just before he died; his latest novel. Grandfather’s killer was hiding inside.

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Read My Serial “Our Legacy, The Stars – A Tom Corbett Adventure” Now!

tom corbett

Promotional image by “Starry Eyed Press.”

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I am totally thrilled to announce that my 16-part serial “Our Destiny, The Stars” featuring Tom Corbett, Space Cadet is now available through Kindle Vella.

If you’re old enough, you may remember the Tom Corbett television show which ran from 1950-1955, pretty much pre-dating even me. When the fine folks at Starry Eyed Press asked me if I’d write a brand new Corbett adventure, one modernized with our current understanding of space travel and knowledge of our solar system, I was over-the-moon excited.

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