Falling For Zombies

I don’t do a lot of Zombie reading (except for contributor copies, of course) but I do enjoy a good zombie story (or film) occasionally. So when Voices of the Fall, which was the last of the books in my big pile of Baen titles, turned out to be a Zombie collection, I was delighted to get my zombie fix.

Added to that, it’s a short story collection, which in my opinion makes it even better – a buffet instead of a huge meal of one kind. What’s not to like?

A lot of zombie fiction focuses on the horror of people being chased, attacked and turned by multitudes of the undead. There’s nothing wrong with that, but this book’s different take–looking at what people do after the initial shock has passed and the survivors are rebuilding what they can–was both refreshing and interesting.

The characters in these stories range from a couple in ravaged Portugal to the crew of a nuclear submarine, passing through various points in the US on the way. What each mostly has in common is that they don’t see the apocalypse as the end, but as a new beginning, a bottleneck in human evolution in which only the competent (and honestly the very lucky among those) survive.

But when your survivors are the right kind of people, a desperate situation becomes a hopeful one. And the attitude in the face of almost utter destruction contrasts beautifully with modern society in which the most comfortable, safe and over-protected people in the history of the human race whine on social media about how crappy their lives are.

It almost makes one wish that the zombie apocalypse would hurry up and arrive already.

Almost. But even if it doesn’t quite make you wish for the near-extinction of humanity, these stories are still worth reading. There’s hope in the apocalypse.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose well-received collection of short stories, Off the Beaten Path, explores what might be in a lot of unexpected places around the world. You can check it out here.

Apparently, Adults Never Did Understand What’s Happening to Teenagers

I’d never seen a James Dean movie before last week. This is unsurprising because he was apparently credited in just three movies, and none of the others were on the 1001 movies list (and also weren’t old films I’d randomly watch… meaning old monster B-movies).

In fact, I’m much more immersed in the Dean myth from his auto racing exploits and love of fast cars (including the one he died in) than from anything having to do with Hollywood or his status as a teen idol.

But Rebel Without a Cause was always going to be on the list, wasn’t it? It made Dean an icon, even to this day.

So I learned a bit in my watching. First off, I as surprised that it was in color. I expected it to be black and white. Secondly, it took me a long time to realize that they were actually serious that these cast members were supposed to be believable teenagers. They look about thirty to me (except Sal Mineo, who works for the role). Finally, I was actually expecting Dean to be a bit more of a criminal in the role.

Overall, it seemed like a bad film, not only compared to modern movies, but also when stood alongside its contemporaries. The acting, the writing and the situations… well, it’s a good thing it was aimed at the teen market, because adults would have laughed it out of the theater.

Unfortunately, teens should have done the same. The pop psychology applied to high school life is laughable, and overblown to boot. It’s no surprise that the sixties caught the adult world by surprise, and that Beatlemania was a shock. If this represents what adults then knew about their kids… ugh.

But it’s not hard to understand why Dean became an idol. Quite apart from his looks and the fact that he’d died a classic tragic hero’s death just before this one appeared in theaters, his understated, flatlining performance in this one really stands out.

So a weird little flick that was carried by its star and the circumstances of his death well beyond what it deserved. Still worth watching, though, as it’s such a cornerstone of modern culture.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest book is just as bad on the psych front as Rebel Without a Cause. We’re pretty sure pink sea serpents would never act that way. And the analysis of ostrich insanity is all wrong. If you still think you’d enjoy it, you can check out The Malakiad here.

Umm… That Title Might ba a bit misleading

In its glory days, Road & Track was the most European of the American car magazines. From Manney to Nye, it always had its eye on Europe. That’s not hard to understand, of course: from the magazine’s founding until the present day, the world’s best enthusiast cars came from the Old Continent.

But Americans will always be Americans. No matter who they admire, the competitive streak will drive them to try to best the benchmark.

So, for the August 1987 issue, they took a Callaway Corvette into the Alps to play with a Koenig Porsche. They declared the Corvette the winner, but that… well, it requires a bit of a grain of salt. Yes, the Corvette was probably a better car for certain conditions in the mountains. But to be honest, it got its butt kicked in the pure performance characteristics, and would have been a small spec in the mirror on an autobahn.

Aside from that, Koenig, to my mind, was never the tuner to worry too much about handling. Koening was outrageous styling and eye-popping top speeds. So to take the very best of American industry and place it against a second-tier competitor… not quite enough to say it beat Europe.

Having said that, yeah, those 80s Callaway Corvettes were incredible machines, and led directly to what the Corvette is today – a car that actually CAN beat the best of Europe.

So seminal, if perhaps not quite as advertised.

Gusatvo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest book is a hilarious romp through heroic-era Greece, complete with pink sea monsters. You can check The Malakiad out here.

Noir Fatale, A Selection of SF and F Noir

Noir Fatale is one of those books in my TBR pile that I’d been looking forward to for a long time. As long-time readers of this blog are probably aware, I like noir, and if you combine (or combine) noir with speculative fiction, I like it even more. So I had high expectations for this one.

I will admit that the first part of the book didn’t quite meet those lofty standards. The stories, while technically competent and written by some of the best in the business didn’t quite have that spark I expected. They were good, but didn’t quite manage to bring me into the noir mood the way I wanted them to.

Three stories from the end, I thought the book would be just another book, entertaining but not memorable, when I encountered Patrick M. Tracy’s “Worth the Scars of Dying”. While I’d argue that it wasn’t really noir, this story was amazing. It was then followed by two more really strong ones: “The Frost Queen” by Robert Buettner and “Bombshell” by Larry Correia.

A side note for the Buettner tale here: if anyone had told me the plot of this one, I would have rolled my eyes and given it a miss… but I really, really liked it. Execution, in this case really was everything, turning a plot that I’m not the target for into a powerful story indeed.

So the final three tales picked up so much that this one rises above average. I’m sure other readers will find different favorites, and there really isn’t a bad story in the lot.

Perhaps the most interesting of them all, even if I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as my favorites, it Laurel K. Hamilton’s “Sweet Seduction”. It’s the subversive story in the lot… but I won’t spoil it by telling you why.

A solid antho here.

Gustavo Bondoni’s latest book is a humorous, non-politically-correct romp through Ancient Greece (which is fortunate, because none of the ancient Greeks depicted in the story are alive to attack him on Twitter for his views). It’s called The Malakiad, and you can check it out here.

World’s Fastest Cars… Even Faster This Time

Though road cars are much faster today than back then, there’s just something so 80s about a magazine taking a bunch of hugely expensive vehicles and running them at antisocial speeds on a closed track because (wink, wink), we all know you’d never open them up on public roads.

Of course not (wink, wink).

Everyone knew that was utter tripe, and that people who bought these cars would (and still do) hit their top speeds on public roads. But in the 80s, people were relaxed enough that you could talk about exclusive vehicles and their capacity to break the law, and people wouldn’t be horrified. It was just good fun, and if the cars were gaudy, noisy and attainable by only a select few, it wasn’t cause for envy but for admiration (the more ambitious would find something to aim for).

So in July 1987, the R&T team did it again. In Europe this time.

This was obviously the best article in the mag. How one yearns to live in a society which still smiles at people having fun with billionaire’s playthings without some humorless socially-conscious jackass telling us how wrong it is. And 211 mph is still respectable today.

Next best? The 1987 Formula 1 season started in Rio (and that same poor jackass would have had a fit at the photo of a woman wearing a very small bikini on a beach that accompanied the article, poor guy).

And it also had a Salon about the Bugatti Tank that won Le Mans in the 1930s.

A vintage issue, even if the road tests were a little boring.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest book is a romp through the heroic age of Greece, with monsters. You can check out The Malakiad here.

Time Travel – A Modern Take

I know David Weber’s work from having read a book in the Honor Harrington series, but The Gordian Protocol was my first exposure to Jacob Holo’s writing.

I didn’t know what to expect – the cover made it look like there were space vehicles over what appeared to be present-day Earth, so I thought it might be alien invasion.

The first chapter made it clear that we were dealing with time travel, however, and that gave me pause. After mindless, pointless post-apocalyptic fiction, time travel is my least favorite science fictional trope. Though I’m normally flexible about extreme science (even certain forms of FTL travel, if explained without directly contradicting stuff we currently know), time travel has never worked for me, falling–on my own scale of values–into the realm of fantasy. I still prefer it to didactic fiction that tells us how awful the world will be if we don’t mend our capitalist ways, but only barely.

So this is another of the books that I wouldn’t have purchased if I hadn’t won it in the Baen contest a couple of years ago, but I still gave it a chance (I tend never to abandon books in the middle).

The first section of the book did nothing to dispel my misgivings. It started off a little slow, and was hard going for a bit.

But then came the jailbreak scene.

Without spoiling anything, from the moment the main character (one of two, actually) was released from digital prison, the book becomes a nonstop roller-coaster ride of entertainment. It is a solid ride until the end, even managing to give the other main character a happy ending despite everything seemingly conspiring against it.

So this ended up being a solid read, needing a little patience, but worth it in the end. If time travel is your thing, you will definitely want to check this one out.

Gustavo Bondoni’s latest novel is a comedic romp through ancient Greece. Our unheroically (or very heroically, depending on your sensibilities) hero fights his way through most of the beasts of antiquity to reclaim the Golden Malak of an even more unheroic king. You can check out The Malakiad, here.

He’s From Laramie… and He’s James Stewart

It used to be directors that recurred over and over again on the 1001 films list, but one man has completely blown everyone out of the water for most times in the list. Hell, he’s even outdone arch-criminal Alec Guinness.

That man is James Stewart, and he’s… grown a bit boring by now.

His aww-shucksy style and holier-than-everyone moral stance was interesting in early films, but by 1955 and The Man from Laramie, it’s getting annoying. He is essentially the same guy, every single time. And those times are hugely frequent. The man was obviously box-office gold.

This film… isn’t bad. It’s an entertaining western of the classic type, with clearly defined good guys and bad guys and a thoroughly predictable arc. It’s entertaining enough, but not ground-breaking in the least. Apparently, the film’s greatest claim to fame is its warbling theme song which, though memorable, is annoying.

I know this sounds like it was a train wreck, and I guess it suffers in comparison to other films on the list, but if you happen to catch it on TV, it’s one that will keep you entertained, with action and a love interest. I would recommend it to lovers of Western films, even if it isn’t the best of the 1001 films or even the best of the James Stewart films on that list.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest book is a silly romp through classical Greece where heroes are confounded by pink sea-monsters, attacked by vengeful penguins and tormented by talking swords. You can check it out here.

Road & Track Turns 40

Apparently, at 40 car magazines, like humans, are entering their golden age. Long past are youthful growing pains and insecurities, and there are still a couple of vigorous decades left before the decline. In Road & Track‘s case, its 40th anniversary was right before a nearly perfect era of car magazine glory. In my opinion, the three years from January 1988 to round December 1990 make up a truly glorious era for this magazine.

The 40th anniversary issue itself is quite special. Perfect bound (all the earlier ones I have were saddle-stitched, although the mag went to full perfect-binding in the second half of 1989) and with a fold-out cover, it was the longest issue in the mag’s history so far.

As one would expect, the retrospective articles looking back at the mag’s history and characters were the best part of the issue while the rest was pretty much standard fare in the mid-80s R&T idiom. But those retrospective articles really make this issue. The characters that made up the magazine, in particular, are as charming when looking back as they are when reading their stories in old issues. It’s like watching a family evolve, meeting new people and watching some old friends fade out of the pages (and eventually discovering the obituary a few years later).

It’s a fascinating roundup of the trip I’ve been on with these mags, and it made for a very good opportunity to stop and think abut the tapestry that is this very specific piece of the past.

Still a couple more 1987s to read, and then I’ll be done with the huge pile of R&T’s I bought a couple of years ago… and out looking for more magazines to fill the holes in my collection!

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer. His latest novel is a comic romp through heroic-era Greece. The heroes, when not involved in drunken fistfights (or sword fights, or spear fights or…) are off doing horrendous things to monsters who are minding their own business. You can check out The Malakiad here.

Cosmic Crime Stories is a Particularly Fun Read

Since I mostly write in genres I enjoy, reading contributor’s copies is usually a source of entertainment, and Cosmic Crime Stories was no exception.

In fact, it was a particularly pleasurable read because crime + SFF is just such a cool combination.

And this one has a ton of variety to spice it up. From angels seeking strange boxes to time-traveling philatelists, the detectives in this volume have to deal with a ton of stuff they definitely didn’t see coming. My own stories in this volume are straight SF, but there’s a bit here for everyone.

Of the ones that aren’t mine (I have two stories in this volume), I enjoyed “The Gift” by Mike Murphy, which was extremely creative in its setup.

So, if you enjoy speculative crime fiction, this one should press your buttons.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest novel is a humorous romp in heroic-era Greece (with pink sea serpents). If that sounds like fun, you can check The Malakiad out here.

Mickey Spillane, Unpredictable Even on the Big Screen

Mickey Spillane was a wonderful writer, the original page-turner whose books hit you over the head with something major on the very last page, something he did intentionally. Apparently, when his work was adapted to the big screen, the same rules applied.

Kiss Me Deadly has all the elements of film noir. And by all of them, I mean ALL of them. Every last thing you can cram into a detective story has been crammed into this one. Fistfights for no reason? Check. Brutalizing of witnesses? Check. Shadowy government agents warning him off? Check. Powerful criminals in the way? Check. Dangerous women? Check, check, check. Detective’s friend brutally murdered? Check.

It’s the kind of thing that works really well in a book, even a short one, because the author can take a sentence or two to explain what Hammer is thinking or why he feels justified in breaking the old opera singer’s records. He can even share his suspicions about who sent the knifeman after him and why. Also some of the omissions could be explained as well, specifically why Hammer, having a witness in front of him, doesn’t ask more and deeper questions.

Which is all a roundabout way of saying that what works beautifully in prose feels rushed and unbelievable in film. You really need to turn your mind off for this one.

But one thing you can’t fault it for pacing and fun factor. Like one of Spillane’s novels, this one keeps you hooked from the first second until the end. You won’t be reaching for the remote to watch something else, and it’s so rapid-fire that even the enormous plot holes zoom by.

So, did I enjoy it? Yes, enormously.

Is it a good film? It succeeds at what it aims to do very well. But it’s tough to sit down and analyze it without being critical of the stuff you noticed failing about the film as you were wooshed along in its wake.

Recommended for those who enjoy being entertained.

Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer whose latest novel is a humorous fantasy romp through Ancient Greece… with monsters. It’s called The Malakiad, and you can check it out on Amazon, here.