book preorder: Exiles of Kho

After receiving and loving Gods of Opar, I decided to order the unpublished further book the author is writing (a prequel, actually) called Exiles of Kho. It will be a novella, and right now has an unreleased page count, which honestly concerns me since I have already preordered. Nonetheless, I am very excited! http://meteorhousepress.com/exiles-of-kho/ As I have said before, this author is new to me and not widely known in general circles, from what I can tell. But he seems to be a good writer, and I am pleased I gave him the chance I did when I ordered Gods of Opar slightly on faith. The cover art (and perhaps other art) is impressive and worthy of note, and suggests this will be a very handsome volumn. Carey is not Farmer, and his writing style is subtly different. It's not terribly noticible, and yet I did notice it. His attitude towards mysticism and magic and religion seem to be different, as seem in Song of Kwasin. I am disappointed by at least one thing wich is a matter of taste. I am not a fan of the Sahhindar character, and he will be a central figure in the story. But that's my taste; other readers seem to be thrilled that Sahhindar is well-represented. I am thowing in the labels "xenomorph" and "kaijuology" because of the sirrush, a conjectural prehistoric reptile of crocodilian proportions. The sirrush (trnslated from Assyrian meaning 'Splendor Serpent') is also known as "The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate" and is a creature of legitimate if unproven credentials. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushussu In fact, I wonder if there are any other fiction books that include a living sirrush. I would not be suprised either way.

Interesting: http://phantomsandmonsters.wetpaint.com/page/Sirrush+of+Babylon Another book I am really interested in: The Other Log of Phileas Fogg This link is especially interesting: A Very Long Letter by PJFarmer. also, Iron and Bronze and also, http://www.violetbooks.com/haggard-pringle.html

books: Gods of Opar

I have been very excited about this book for a long while, first seeing it mentioned online as a proposed novel. I was seeking, like many have, the expected conclusion to the Opar trilogy. Unlike most, my timing was especially lucky, and the conclusion was being prepared at that time. I am very glad I ordered the limited edition hardcover of Gods of Opar, even though it was much more expensive than I am used to ($65). In reality though, since the book contains three novels, that makes each novel a quite reasonable price ($20, since shipping was included). Gods of Opar was published by the Subterranean Press just this past month, and includes two novels of fictional prehistoric high adventure (by Phillip Jose Farmer) plus a third just-written novel (by Farmer and Carey) that concludes the trilogy that was left dangling by the original author. All three novels were written to honor and imitate the style of pulp novels, which are known for being adventursome, gratuitios, sensational, and generally over-the-top. The book is most genreally about Opar, an "ancient lost city" invented for the old Tarzan books. It was referred to as a "lost colony of Atlantis" and was described in a few Tarzan books in the 1910s. Then comes Farmer, publishing Hadon of Ancient Opar in 1974. Then comes Carey, expanding the Farmer books with Song of Kwasin, the third book in Gods of Opar. However, ironically, Opar is little seen or spoken of. Rather, the captial island of pseudo-Atlantis (known as Khokarsa) is the focus, an island on an inland sea (now more or less vanished) within Africa. I've had an interesting time listening to some files I found online, called "podcasts", a radio show of sorts, in which the book is discussed by the authors and publishers. http://allpulp.blogspot.com/2012/04/farmerians-reveal-big-news-for-farmer.html http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/webpage/the-book-cave-episode-174-philip-jose-farmer-the-song-of-kwasin- http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/webpage/art-s-reviews-episode-3-philip-jose-farmer-renaissance-2012 (to listen to the above podcasts, you may need to scroll around on http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/) I ordered a follow-up novel (or rather a prequel) to Gods of Opar called the Exiles of Kho, an solitarily written novel by Carey. Since this author, Carey, is an unknown to me and much of the world, I was skeptical at first. But I think I will be mightily pleased. Brobdingnagianly, even. An informal pronunciation guide gleaned from Carey via podcast: Hadon: "Huh-don" Kwasin: "Kwaa-seen" Lalila: "Lah-Lee-Lah" Paga: "Pahgah" Lupoeth: "Loo-Poth" Dythbeth: Sahhindar: "Sah-Heen-dar" Hinokly: "Hee-nokly" Resu: "Ray-zoo"

Blogger, blogspot hasn't been working well for me

I don't know what it is. At least today, I can make a post. Other days I can't even enter text. Maybe it's fixed; I hope so. In other related news, my recently purchased cell phone (same number, new device) won't log into Gmail. About two weeks ago it worked great. Now, when I try to enter my password, everything seems great, until I reach the "click" function, which is "select" on this phone. It even offers me a "select" choice but won't do anything. Argggg!

movie review: John Carter of Mars

I really needed to write this review a week ago, because the details are already starting to drain away. On the other hand, longer reflection has added some new insights into my movie-going Burroughs experience. First off, I really REALLY enjoyed the movie. And hadn't expected to. It was in my opinion actually an improvement on Burroughs in many ways, although in other ways not. I talk of Burroughs, because this movie is based on a book (rather series of books) by ERB that I read as a youngster. Actually, rather young, perhaps 12 or 14. As a sci-fi friend of mine noted, the title was very unfortunate. The books were titled such things as "A Princess of Mars" and "Gods of Mars" and "Warlord of Mars." My friend insightfully said that just about any of those titles would have been better. However, I respect their choice, which suggests to me their acknowledgment of their own artistic retelling of Burroughs, which I find very honorable. However, I have no idea if that was the actual reasoning, and I suspect flawed marketing. Buroughs wrote adventure stories. Sometimes he was dismissive of his own writings as not artful and even "dampool tales". But this feeds directly into why I don't mind seeing his stories retold by moviemakers. His intention was never art for arts sake, but fun entertainment. The improvements were as follows: 1) A needed humorist element added to his works, which is perhaps merely a modernist updating. 2) A needed personality added to the character of John Carter. The hero of the Mars books was rather one-dimensional, as I recall (only vaguely--remember I read these books in my childhood). In fact, all of ERB's heros across many storylines are pretty much the same. Which, I suppose, might not be a criticism but rather saying Burroughs knows what he writes well, and stuck to it. However, I do criticize. 3) A desperately needed modern heroine for the Mars story. In the books, she was little more than a royal damsel in distress, as I recall (perhaps mistakenly) 4) A personality and charater for the above heroine. 4) A modern interpretation/solution to the whole "astral projection" thing in the origial Burroghs books. You see, they were written in the 1910s or thereabouts, as I recall, and can't be held accountable for their errors of the period. Remember, at one time blood-letting was a widely respected medical practice. The creators of the movie seem to have been wider Burroughs fans that merely the Mars books, or of books at all. I am pretty sure a story point was solved using a device from the black-and-white Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies, the Escarpment. There may have been another, relating to the Elephant's Graveyard. But that one I am rathat dubious of. Hardly worth mentioning. And yet I did mention it, didn't I? Things I didn't like: 1) The toad-dog 2) Burroughs as a character 3) The introduction of the John Carter character, with the telegraph office, just didn't seem a good early introduction of his charater (my thoughts).

Free fiction by 'Song of Kwasin' author

http://meteorhousepress.com/2011/09/28/kwasin-and-the-bear-god-read-the-opening-scene/ http://cpcarey.blogspot.com/2011/10/free-fiction-read-opening-scene-of.html

I haven't read anything by this author yet (Christopher Paul Carey, author of Exiles of Kho and more) and I am anxious to do so (you see, I've ordered one of his books, Gods of Opar - Song of Kwasin, and am exited about others). But, let me share my find. It's only a teaser and prints for me at 4 pages.

http://meteorhousepress.com/exiles-of-kho/

Sauratown Mountains of North Carolina

Like many mountain ranges in the North Carolina (and anywhere else with mountains) small ranges are often poorly understood or even unknown by those living quite nearby. The Sauratown Mountains (locally pronounced "sour town")definitely fall into this category. Adding to the confusion there is a the Sauratown Mountain, besides the other well-known Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountains. These are all part of the same small chain, although many locals have no idea. (In all truth, does it much matter to most people when looking at one of the spectacular viws?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauratown_Mountains I myself had no idea until I saw a sign at Hanging Rock State Park in the last few years.

I would encourage a person to also look at the Brushy Mountains, the Uwharries, and the South Mountains.

Costa Rican tea - Mondaisa's Digextivan

http://www.mondaisa.com/tes.php?cat=02&te=02-002

I highly recommend this herbal tea, besad on no medical information but just my enjoyment. If I recall it had licorice, which although I don't enjoy it as candy, it makes wonderful tea. It appears you can order it online easily through Paypal, although I have not done so. It makes me wonder if the price combines with international shipping charges, although I suspect there is an American importer-merchant.