And suddenly, it’s 1984

Despite all the memes flying around, George Orwell did NOT nail it. Unless you were stuck on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, 1984 was not a dystopia in which personal freedoms were curtailed by political officers and the need to put the state first.

In the free world, 1984 was precisely the opposite: it was an era of optimism and economic boom… an age where, if you had the money and the desire, pretty much nothing was off-limits. Luckily for eighties people, there was no such thing as email or cell phone cameras in mainstream life… so you could be free without fear of the thought police.

But there WERE car magazines.

The sharp-eyed among you will note that we jumped to the January 1984 issue of Road & Track straight from early 1982, which is unfortunate, as one of the delights of reading this pile of old R&Ts is watching the world evolve, and watching automotive fads, race car technology and concerns rise and fall. I believe the lack of 1982 and 1983 issues probably has something to do with Argentina shutting down for the silly Falklands War in which a former imperial power desperate to maintain some image of being a major player faced off against a country whose military had spent the past century fighting itself for the presidency… a war between clowns.

And by jumping so far ahead, I only found out via the letters column that editor Tony Hogg had died since the last issue I read. So I missed the obituaries and tributes. I’ll see if I can pick up the missing mags elsewhere.

As for the issue itself, a Corvette on the cover is always a good sign. One of the automotive traditions that has been cherished over the years is to watch the editors of car magazines talk about why a car (the Corvette) whose performance is, on paper, on par with the greatest cars in the world ISN’T one of those greats. Of course, modern Corvettes have fixed these shortcomings, but in the 80s, they were in full force. The article talks about these things and, even better, is a piece entited “What is Performance” which also attempts to put this in words.

A couple of interesting Grand Prix reports underlined the fact that, when it comes to F1, 1983 was the season I first started watching. Tambay and Arnoux were my heroes then and sparked a passion for F1 that has only really been ended with the watered-down, boring and, frankly stupid F1 off the last few years. A race in which all the cars finish (because god forbid someone test experimental pieces on their cars), where the only penalty for going off the course is to end up on a concrete runoff area, and where the cars are all pretty much identical because technical innovation is forbidden is not worth watching. And I’ve been missing them intentionally for the first time in my life.

If this gives you the impression that F1 was much better in 1983 than in 2021… then you are correct. With more technical freedom came more cars at every race, loads of engine designs and actual curiosity about who might win the race. Fun, in other words.

The rest of the issue was about par for the 80s course, and entertaining as a period piece.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest book is a collection f linked short stories entitled Safe and Sorry. It shows how the lives of apparently unrelated people touch themselves once and again, with unpredictable results. You can buy your copy here.

Write Ahead 6 – Another Good Entry

As I read more and more issues of Write Ahead the Future Looms, the sense that its hiatus is a genre tragedy heightens. Volume 6 continues the laudable attempt to show what cyberpunk looks like today, where we have40 years of experience more than the pioneers in the subgenre did.

It doesn’t always look like that gritty wroking-class vision shown to us by the Gibsons and Bethkes of the world. Sometimes it still is, of course, but at others it’s gorgeous, as exemplified by the cover art here.

That image above isn’t what you imagined cyberpunk to be, is it? But modern cyberpunk is a flexible animal, and this magazine showed that in no uncertain terms.

My own story in this one is called “Easter Egg”, and it’s probably the most traditional of the lot. Most memorable as a reader is “Car Talk” by Joshua Marinacci which I won’t spoil for you by telling you what it’s about. Not an entertaining story in the usual sense, but it manages to create tension in a very smart and interesting way. Well done.

I’ll keep posting about these as I read them. Just the covers alone are worth posting.

Gustavo Bondoni’s latest collection of short fiction is Off the Beaten Path, which combines science fiction, fantasy and the delightful situations people get into when they leave the usual British and American settings. You can check it out here, on sale until Halloween!

Old Racers Save an Otherwise Bland Issue

Though the blurb talks about sports coupes and fun, the six cars studied in the comparison test on the cover aren’t the kind that would make anyone really sit up and take notice. Scrapyard darlings as opposed to something a restorer would be seeking today, despite 40 years of aging.

Nevertheless, the March 1982 issue of Road & Track is not a complete loss. There’s a wonderful story about El Caballo de Hierro, that amazing Carrera Panamericana racer built from an old Model T shell by famous hotrodder Ak Miller. Now the darling of concours across the US (and why it’s never been invited to Goodwood is a mystery), it was, in 1982, little more than a curiosity. But what a glorious one.

The other old racer that made the issue good was a 1911 Delage featured as the salon article.

A modern racer–and a wonderful article by Sam Posey–was the Lola T-600 that Brian Redman used to win the 1981 IMSA championship. That’s a car that was pretty much forgotten by the casual fan. The problem, I supposed was that it never succeeded at Le Mans, and was eclipsed by the Group C prototypes it paved the way for. Everyone remembers the 956/62, the LC2, the dayglo Mazda and the XJRs… but not the less-glamorous Lolas and Marches that came before the Porsche and the Lancia changed the game forever.

One really, really nice thing about these issues is that, with the advent of the 1980s, political meddling in automotive maters and the regulatory interference from clueless politicos seems to have disappeared. In our moronically over-politicized era, this is a refreshing change from the 1970s.

Anyhow, a middling issue… but worth it for these three racers.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest novel, Lost Island Rampage, is a monster-filled romp across a tropical paradise that is anything but deserted. Only the toughest and most resourceful will make it out alive. You can check it out here.

Voyaging Through More Cyberpunk

Last week, we discussed the merits of Write Ahead The Future Looms Volume 4, and now it’s time for Volume 5, which also contains one of my stories, and is also gorgeous.

I won’t belabor the point that this magazine just looks better than everything else out there, so I’ll just say mention in passing that London, apparently, is still the center of the design universe, if we’re going by this.

And, like Volume 4, this one includes every look at the man-machine interface you can think of, and it’s a wonderful thing, with the Persephone in Neon serial that I already liked (how can you not like cyberpunk private eye stories?) begins to really build steam.

So beg, steal, borrow (or if all that fails, buy) a copy of this one and have a look. It’s a different feeling from the regular runn of the genre, and keeps cyberpunk vibrant even though we already live in the future.

Gustavo Bondoni’s latest novel is a monster book romp through the south seas. It’s entitled Lost Island Rampage and you can check it out here.

Eighties Automotive Icons, Nearly There

If anyone asked me which of the automobiles of the 1980s represent the era, I’d definitely list the Countach as one of the real symbols of the era. And not just any Countach, but a white one, bespoilered and impossible to drive in a city.

And Lamborghini’s nemesis will always be Ferrari. And in the eighties, that means…

Testarossa.

Which means the cover of the February 1982 Road & Track can’t quite claim to be the eighties in a single image. Because, even though it includes my favorite Ferrari ever, the 512BB, it isn’t a TR.

But the Countach is right there. And the eighties mentality is also present in the Salon article – few cars are quite as resplendent in their decadent celebration of wealth than an Isotta Fraschini, and the one in here is no exception.

On the socially conscious side of things, there’s also a first-person story about buying old beaters and keeping them alive until they finally die to save money. Had it not been wonderfully well-written, it could have been depressing (especially surrounded by eighties optimism and celebration of life) but it was brilliant. Better still, the car featured was a Renault 4CV.

Coverage of the infamous Las Vegas Grand Prix, held in a track in a huge parking lot reminded me that the circuit and the venue were well-regarded in their day. The aura of weirdness descended on it later.

So this one isn’t quite full-bore eighties yet.

But that’s to be expected, of course. It’s 1982 and Miami Vice wasn’t launched until 1984. MTV alone can’t carry a decade… and neither can the Countach.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest novel is entitled Lost Island Rampage. It’s an action-packed romp (monsters included) in the Indian Ocean. You can check it out here.

Still the Most Gorgeous Mag in the Literary World

I recently got news that Write Ahead / The Future Looms will not be publishing new issues in the foreseeable future, which I think is a huge pity as I’ve long stated that it was, by far, the best-looking magazine in SF or any other genre. Full-color interiors, incredible artwork and cyberpunk sensibilities go a long way to blowing everyone else out of the water. And the fiction keeps up its end.

Of course, I’m way behind on my reading (TBR pile is currently at 97 books and magazines, not counting the R&Ts), and contributor copy reading is no exception, which means I’m still on Volume 4… but that doesn’t reduce the pleasure I got from this one. It’s a good mag, period.

This one contains three stand-alone stories, two serials (my story is called “And Your Enemies Closer”) and a lot of thought-provocation going on.

Cyberpunk can be whatever you make of it, and this volume underscores that beautifully, dancing between the traditional private eye tropes to highly philosophical questions about whether humanity deserves to survive. This is really good stuff.

My favorite of the tales that weren’t mine is probably Jake Swindall’s “Neon on Water”, which is another serialization, but the stories are all good, and they seem to fit well together, with a reasonably homogeneous style, which is suprising cnsidering how different they are philosophically.

This is a mag I will miss, and not just because they like my stuff. It’s a truly strong entrant.

Gustavo Bondoni’s latest novel is a monster book romp through the south seas. It’s entitled Lost Island Rampage and you can check it out here.

Ah, the DeLorean

Reading magazines long after the fact can sometimes be quite fascinating, but it’s also an interesting experience. A good case in point is the lukewarm road test of the DeLorean in the December 1981 issue of Road & Track.

We’ve talked DeLorean here before, but this edition is a million times more painful since you can see the editors attempting to cut the car some slack. It’s easy to understand why they’re doing this: the DeLorean represented a break from tradition, a first step for a small company trying to take on the big dogs the right way. The fact that the company was founded by the author of the book that denounced the near-criminal inefficiency of the traditional auto industry (On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors) just makes the wish to root for the underdog all that much stronger.

But this wasn’t the right underdog to cheer for. This was a company built on smoke and mirrors that makes Nigerian scammers have nothing on old John Z.

But all of that was in the future and we got to watch our well-meaning editors defend the dog of a coupe.

I other news, this was a pretty decent mag, with a lot of competition content, including Le Mans coverage, which is always a high point. The Salon, which is usually also one of the good parts was particularly memorable, too, featuring a V-16 Caddilac.

But none of that could overcome the irony of the lead road test. It will be interesting to see if I can get my hands on the issue where DeLorean crashes like the Bricklin before it. It’s like watching an old car crash in slow motion.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest novel is entitled Lost Island Rampage. It’s a holiday book with monsters and cannibals, so if that’s the kind of thing you enjoy, come have a look.

Council of Fire – Confirming the Fun Factor

If there’s one word that keeps coming back to me time and again as I read through the box of Baen books I won it has to be “Fun”. The recent rears have seen a tsunami of navel-gazing, politically-driven and most of all boring genre books where lower-quality stories and authors have been given a prominent space in order to further a very specific narrative and a narrow and myopic set of objectives.

Baen has, to a huge degree, been immune to that. They don’t seem to care if you’re communist (I believe one of the co-authors of this book is a vocal one), Libertarian or something else, as long as you can tell a good story. The result has been a varied and entertaining box of books in which you don’t have to wade through political screeds or diluted text (sensitivity readers ruin books. Period.) to see if the author remembered to tell a story.

Council of Fire is yet another of those books that doesn’t necessarily fall into my wheelhouse; supernatural alternate history is never something I’d pull off a shelf of my own volition. And yet, like the 1636 book, I enjoyed it enormously.

This one takes place in an America cut off from the rest of the world by a supernatural event triggered by Halley’s Comet. Ghosts walk this world, as does everything anyone ever believed in, no matter how unlikely, from Native American spirits to European alchemy. And we get to watch the belief systems square off against each other on the battlefield. Good stuff.

Also fun to see how famous figures in the American Revolution adapt to the new roles they will have to play in the broken world.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to highly-structured engineering types. It’s a flight of fancy in an extreme “what-if” way, and not everything is consistent. But that is the whole point of this particular broken world: the rules have changed and what used to follow no longer does. Also, anyone who expects people in the 1700s to speak or act in modern ways should give this one a miss: it’s not sanitized for the overly-sensitive (which, of course, is as it should be).

Anyway, Council of Fire was highly enjoyable, and I’m delighted (again) that these books forced me out of my usual reading zones.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest novel is Lost Island Rampage. It’s kind of an anti-vacation guide book, in the sense that if you go to the island described, you’ll likely become lunch for either cannibals or monsters. If that sounds fun, you can check it out here.

Panel Discussion About Fiction, Non-Fiction and Hispanics. Free to register, this Wednesday!

Reminder – the panel is on Wednesday!! Registration is free, and I think it will be a truly entertaining discussion!

In support for the launch of my book Safe and Sorry, Creators Publishing has planned a free virtual panel in which three prominent Latino and Latina authors/speakers and I discuss fiction, nonfiction, the Hispanic experience and the decolonization of thought.

This is going to be one of the most interesting panels I’ve ever been on, full of people I admire – plus, the publisher will be there, too (so author friends, come on over).

The event will be held on October 13th, at 5 Eastern / 2 Pacific. 

Registration link here.

Mike the Bike Article Turned into Unexpected Tribute

Mike Hailwood, as most gearheads know was a master on two wheels (and not bad at all on four) and in this particular issue of Road & Track, Rob Walker argues that he is the greatest ever (at the date of writing, of course, which was 1980, for publication in 1981). Ago might have had something to say about that… but no one else.

It’s a bit of a sad article because, after it was written, Hailwood tragically died, along with his daughter, in a road accident. After racing on the Isle of Man so often, it’s awful to think he would not live to a ripe old age. To me, that was the central poignancy of the June 1981 issue of Road & Track.

The rest of the magazine was decent, too. Eschewing their usual family sedan comparison tests, this time they ran with some fast and fun sports coupes, and the F1 season was back in full swing, too, with the turbo vs. atmo war just about to start in earnest, as Ferrari joined the forced-induction crowd.

There’s also a Salon article about a Veritas racer in here, which is not something you’ll see every day.

A good issue overall, even if it doesn’t quite ooze the eightiness of others.

The latest installment in Gustavo Bondoni’s popular monster series is Lost Island Rampage. You can check it out here.