From My Bookshelf

This week I've decided to look at fiction. I cut my reader's teeth on sci-fi and fantasy books when I was younger, and these two were part of that education. From a literary standpoint one of these books is very good, and one is very bad, but they both brought me hours of reading pleasure.

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
   This is the story of Merlin as a young man, in the time before Arthur. She gives Merlin a complex history, a tiny bit of fantasy (he can see bits of the future) and a whole lot of guile and cunning.
   Mary Stewart wrote romance novels before she wrote 'The Crystal Cave,' and that cross-genre pollination works well. It's a shame that in the modern publishing world, this book would probably have never seen print because the publishers today so severely pigeonhole writers.
   This is the good book I was talking about.
Quote: "This is true of all old men, that the recent past is misted, while distant scenes of memory are clear and brightly colored. Even the scenes of my far childhood come back to me now sharp and high-coloured and edged with brightness, like the pattern of a fruit tree against a white wall, or banners in sunlight against a sky of storm."

Lord of the Spiders by Michael Moorcock
   Michael Moorcock wrote the Elric saga, a fantasy series well-loved by readers of the genre. This is not that book. This book is a pastiche of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter books. The John Carter books inspired Carl Sagan to become an astronomer, but I'm afraid Mr. Moorcock's book may have scared some people off of it.
   Mr. Moorcock wrote this book when he was 25 or 26. Think about the kind of book you would have written at that age, and that's the kind of book this is. It's bad. Really, really bad. Astonishingly so. And yet... Mr. Moorcock's work inspired another generation of writers, as Mr. Burroughs did him, so this book has its place.
   The publisher Paizo is reprinting many old sci-fi and fantasy classics that have long been out of print, in an imprint called Planet Stories. They're bringing to a new audience the books that sparked a love for stories in years past. It's a worthy effort, you should go pick up a volume or two.
Quote: "It was the cry of the wolverine debased in the human throat. It was a cry not only to strike terror in the hearts of the women and children, but into the hearts of grown, brave men. It was a cry that was merciless, malevolent, already-triumphant. It was the cry of the human hunter of human prey!" (Yes, the exclamation point is in the original text. See what I mean?)