David J. Skal

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXXXI (Iain M. Banks, Mike Resnick, Sydney J. Van Scyoc, and David J. Skal)

/ Joachim Boaz / 30 Comments

Which books/covers/authors in the post intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

1. Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future, Mike Resnick (1986)

  • Michael Whelan’s cover for the 1st edition

From the back cover: “SEBASTIAN NIGHTINGALE CAIN: County hunter. You can call him Songbird–but only once. He’s after Santiago.

VIRTUE MECKENZIE: Freelance reporter. She never give up. She wants an interview… with Santiago.

THE SWAGMAN: He collects art–at gun point. He wants a few pieces currently in the hands of Santiago.

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Short Story Reviews: Howard Waldrop’s “Mary Margaret Road-Grader” (1976), David J. Skal’s “Chains” (1971), and Tom Purdom’s “Courting Time” (1966)

/ Joachim Boaz / 14 Comments

Howard Waldrop (1946-2024), David J. Skal (1952-2024), and Tom Purdom (1936-2024) all passed away since the beginning of the year. As I’ve only read Howard Waldrop’s “God’s Hooks!” (1982), “My Sweet Lady Jo” (1974), and “The Ugly Chickens” (1980) and Tom Purdom’s “Toys” (1967), I impulsively thought I’d stich together a post featuring a tale by each.

Please note that I have not read enough to identify their best work and a negative review is not intended to be a statement about their entire oeuvre and impact on the genre. If you have any fond memories, recommendations for stories, or other tangents related to the three authors, let me know in the comments.

Terry Bisson (1942-2014) also passed away this year but did not publish any short fiction until the 90s. I’ll make sure to review one of his 80s novels—Wyrldmaker (1981) or Talking Man (1986)–this year instead. I’ve also procured novels by Purdom and Skal to feature later this year.

Now let’s get to the stories!

  • David Plourde’s cover art detail for the 1978 edition of Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Sixth Annual Collection, ed. Gardner Dozois (1977)

4.5/5 (Very Good)

Howard Waldrop’s “Mary Margaret Road-Grader” first appeared in Orbit 18, ed. Damon Knight (1976). If you have an Internet Archive account, you can read it online here.

Nominated for the 1977 Nebula Award for Best Short Story. Lost to Charles L. Grant’s “A Crowd of Shadows” (1976).

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