Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" (1973) by John Godey

I don't read a lot of thrillers, but I read this one long ago and it really stuck with me.

It's the 1970s, and four desperate men have hijacked a subway car underground in New York City. They have hostages, and demands. But how are they planning to •escape•?

You may have seen either of the film versions of the book; the 1974 version starring Walter Matthau, and the 2009 version starring some talentless nobodies. Ignore the 2009 version, but the 1974 version is great–and available to watch and download freely from the Internet Archive.

https://archive.org/details/the.-taking.-of.-pelham.-one.-two.-three.-1974.1080p.-blu-ray.x-265-rarbg

But it's actually •quite• a good book! A best-seller in its time. But like many best-sellers of the 1970s, it's mostly forgotten now. That's a pity, because it was really worth reading.

The chapters are told from the perspective of different characters throughout: the individual hijackers, the detective, hostages, victims, and others. They're labeled with the name of the character in question. It's a tense, fast-paced heist story, a classic NYC thriller.

Of course it's also a bit dated; that's inevitable. One of the characters is an undercover cop in a tumultuous relationship with an anti-Establishment hippy women, for example. I don't recall any cringe moments, but it's a fairly accurate portrayal of NYC in 1973 (I know, I was there).

[“Can I go, please?” The girl in the Anzac hat, making a production of crossing her legs, then leaning forward earnestly. “I’ve got this terribly important appointment.”

“No,” Ryder said. “No one in this half of the car will leave.”

“A very important audition. I’m in the theater—”

“Sir?” The young mother, craning over the heads of her boys. “Please, sir. Please? My two children are very high-strung—”

“Nobody leaves,” Ryder said.

The old man in the cashmere coat said, “I’m not asking to leave, but. But shouldn’t we at least be fully informed what’s going on, at least?”

“Yes,” Ryder said. “What’s going on is that you’re being held by four desperate men with machine guns.”

The old man smiled. “I guess if you ask a foolish question…”

“Could you give us some idea of how long we’ll be detained?” the girl in the Anzac hat said. “I’d hate to miss this audition.”

“That’s enough,” Ryder said. “No more answers. And no more questions.”]

You might not read it twice (although I've read it several times), but it's a good brisk thriller that carries you right along. There are moments of humor and insight that make it more than just a bunch of cardboard characters.

It's still in print, and it's available as an Ebook from the major producers. Used copies are still pretty easy to find. And you can borrow it for free from the Internet Archive, here:

https://archive.org/details/takingofpelhamon0000gode

Happy reading! 🤓📖

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Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "The Lords of Dûs" series (1980 - 1984) by Lawrence Watt-Evans

I'm SO glad to be able to share this one! But it's not one; it's •four•, a series of novels by one of my favorite living authors. In fact, it's the first four novels he wrote. And although as far as I'm concerned all of his works are underappreciated, this series in particular deserves more. Because it's •really• good.

Garth is an overman, a member of a species feared and hated by humans. Taller and stronger than humans, their lives are longer than human lives too: but Garth isn't satisfied with that. Seeking out an oracle of his people, he asks how he can live forever.

When he's told that that's impossible, he asks instead how he can make sure that his name will be remembered until the end of time. That...is possible, and thus begins his quest.

Overmen are quite an interesting creation. Noseless, with skull-like faces, black leathery skin, and fur, they are probably more intelligent and certainly much more logical than human beings. Which makes dealing with humans endlessly complicated for them, particularly since there was a massive war between overmen and humans previously. As a result, overmen have lived in the icy wastes far from humans for a long time.

As the oracle instructs, however, Garth sets out for the nearest human village to serve the Forgotten King, whoever •that• is.

[He is, in fact, a character from a once-famous if now obscure work by another author, a character who has been loosely connected with the works of an author whose initials are "HPL".]

Oh, what the heck: if you haven't heard of "The King In Yellow", here's a link to Robert Chambers' classic: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/robert-w-chambers/the-king-in-yellow

The character has been used and referenced by several other fantasy authors over the years.

Humans and magic confuse Garth; most overmen are atheists and therefore skeptical about the supernatural. Since the Forgotten King is clearly magical, and apparently human (albeit incredibly old), Garth is soon in a state of near-exasperation.

Garth's quest seems straightforward, although somewhat suicidal: to travel to an ancient ruined city and bring back the first living creature he finds beneath it. The problem: it's a basilisk which turns anyone who sees it to stone.

All of this is just the start, of course. And of the first novel, at that! There is a richness of imagination and originality throughout the series, enhanced with a clear and straightforward writing style. Like most of Lawrence Watt-Evans' protagonists, Garth is intelligent and sensible, with a basic sense of decency that's refreshing in a genre that too often features idiots and jerks. It makes for a refreshing change!

Rather than just give you a link to the first book, I'm going to include IA loan links for all four.

"The Lure of the Basilisk" (1980)
Garth's quest begins with a search for the deadliest creature in the world.
https://archive.org/details/lureofbasilisk1t00lawr

"The Seven Altars of Dûsarra" (1981)
Garth is sent to the city of the dark Gods to bring back everything he finds on their altars. Their worshipers, however, may have other feelings about that...
https://archive.org/details/sevenaltarsofdus0000watt

"The Sword of Bheleu" (1982)
Garth's skepticism about the supernatural is challenged by a most disturbing discovery indeed!
https://archive.org/details/swordofbheleu0000watt

"The Book of Silence" (1984)
All quests come to an end, after all.
https://archive.org/details/bookofsilence00lawr

Happy reading! 🤓📖

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Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Common Grounds, Volume 1" (2004) by Troy Hickman

I try to find free ebook copies or loan links for the books I recommend here. Usually that's not hard.

This isn't one of those times.

"Common Grounds" isn't available as an ebook. Physically, it's not in print any more. Most libraries don't stock it, although they should be able to get it for you via interlibrary loan. You might find a copy in a used book shop, but it's not common (no pun intended). Even on the high seas, it's basically impossible to find–at least in English.

And that •sucks•. Because this is a really good graphic novel. It's a collection of six comic books bundled into a single volume. Sadly, although it's labeled "Volume 1", Troy Hickman never wrote any more of them. Or at least, not as far as I know. It's a refreshing look at the world of superheroes from a much more •human• viewpoint.

What do I mean? It's set in and around a chain of coffee-and-donut stores that cater specially to the superpowered: -heroes, -villains, and others.

The first story features an interview with "Speeding Bullet", a speedster hero who's not unlike the Flash. His life is anything but glamorous, though. For example, not only does he have to eat an enormous amount every day, he spends an equivalent time in the bathroom. Life in super-high-speed has all sorts of drawbacks, and the reporter who interviews him comes away with a newfound appreciation for the life of an ordinary non-super.

Each story focuses on different supers, with occasional connections to previous stories and characters. None of them feature the usual bombast and combat that DC and Marvel churn out these days; the drama is much more human, more realistic. At the same time there's a nice light sense of humor in play. The concepts are funny and interesting. For example, Baron Existence is mentioned as having threatened to blow up the universe with with his universe-destroying bomb, only to have a wealthy superhero BUY the bomb from him for a fortune.

It's really quite a good series. I wish Hickman had written more of it.

And for what it's worth, you can find physical copies for sale from online used book services such as Biblio.com and Thriftbooks for less than $10–which is basically a steal.

Happy reading! 🤓📖

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Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Murder At the ABA" (1976) by Isaac Asimov

I'm surprised it's taken me this long to recommend an Asimov book; he was my favorite author when I was young, and my father took me to see him speak once. It was a •very• interesting experience.

But I'm trying not to recommend books that are too well-known. That can be hard to judge, these days; there are a lot of great books that almost any reader would have read when I was growing up, but which are basically unknown to younger generations. So it's kind of a crap shoot.

But wait! I should note that this is NOT science fiction. Asimov's best known for his science fiction, of course, and to a lesser extent for his science books. But he wrote in a huge variety of genres. "Murder At the ABA" is just that: a classic murder mystery set right here on Earth in the (then) modern day of 1976.

The murder in question takes place at the annual convention of the American Booksellers Association, and it's •packed• with authors. The victim is a (fictional) author; the detective (Darius Just) is an author based on Asimov's real-world friend Harlan Ellison; and Asimov himself attends the convention and plays a key role as himself!

A conversation between Darius and Asimov. Asimov's publisher has asked him to write a murder mystery set at the ABA, but he's not comfortable about it:

["Then how have you written a hundred sixty-three books?"

"Published," he said. "I have eleven in press… Because my books are without description. I have an unornamented style."

"In that case, get someone to help you."

It was odd that I should say that, for at that moment, I couldn't possibly have supposed that matters would end up in such a way that / would help him.

After all, he did manage to do the book in time. You're reading it—Murder at the ABA by Isaac Asimov.

It's just that it's my story and / am first-person while he is third-person. And since I've left the writing entirely in his hands and don't entirely trust him, the agreement is that I am to be allowed to add any comments of my own (within reason) in the form of footnotes where I consider him too far off base.*

* For instance, I can point out that while Asimov is sticking to the outline, he's dramatizing me into total distortion. I am five feet five and not five feet two. The subtle (or not so subtle) saturation of the story with my supposed pygmy complex is just designed to make him shine by contrast.

—darius just

Just is five feet five if you count his elevator shoes! I'm not supposed to be literal here anyway. This is a work of fiction and I will take any liberties I choose with the facts. And as for making myself shine, I ask anyone who knows me to read these last few pages in which I figure and testify that I am sticking to Just's ridiculous attitudes vis-a-vis myself at some considerable cost to my self-respect.

—ISAAC ASIMOV]

There are a few exchanges in the footnotes like that, and they're pretty amusing. I wish there had been more.

This is one case where physical books have an advantage over ebooks; they handle footnotes well. Ebooks use various means to represent the footnotes, but none of them really work properly.

Asimov actually planned to write sequels and turn it into a series, but unfortunately his publisher quashed the idea. He wrote other mysteries, of course, but this would have made a great series.

I should note that there are moments which are somewhat sexist. If such things are likely to offend you, this book may not be for you. But as a child of the 70s (sort of), none of this struck me as over-the-top; at most there were a few moments of mild cringiness.

I don't know if the book is still in physical print, but I still see copies in good used book shops. Ebook versions are commercially available. And you can borrow it for free from the Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/murderatabapuz00asim

Happy reading! 🤓📖

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