I finished four books during this week, as well as two pulp magazine issues.
Books
- Swords and Deviltry, by Fritz Leiber. The first of Leiber’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series in chronological story order, this volume brings together origin stories for each of the pair as well as an account of the meeting that leads to their partnership. None of the stories is particularly strong, and the final one, “Ill Met in Lankhmar,” is rather overlong and too downbeat. Though all three stories are worth a look for fans of the duo, this is not the place to start for readers coming to the characters for the first time. Mildly recommended.
- The Tragedy of Cymbeline, by William Shakespeare. A rash wager, a treacherous bettor, disguises and mistaken identities, knaves and a wicked queen, all combine to make for an entertaining play. Thought some elements are a little strained — e.g., one villain’s comeuppance comes offstage and provides a too-convenient resolution of some plot points — the whole nevertheless hangs together reasonably well. Recommended.
- Matagorda, by Louis L’Amour. Tappan Duvarney, fresh from dead-end service with the U.S. Army after the Civil War, invests his money in a cattle drive proposed by a man he had met during the war. Complications arise immediately, however, as the man is in the midst of a long-running feud, and though Duvarney tries to stay out of it, there are those who will target him nonetheless. A highlight of the novel is the account of the destruction of the port of Indianola, Texas, in a hurricane. Recommended.
- Assignment—Treason, by Edward S. Aarons. The third entry in the long-running Sam Durell spy thriller series sees Durell reluctantly going undercover as a supposed traitor in order to locate a mole in the department. The assignment goes off the rails almost immediately, however, and through the rest of the novel Durell endeavors to both uncover the bad guy(s) and clear his own name. Brutal in patches. Recommended.
Magazine
- Argosy All-Story Weekly, June 27, 1925
The cover story in this issue of Argosy All-Story Weekly is the serial “The Call of Shining Steel,” a three-part railroad serial whose first portion, in this issue, certainly leaves the reader eager to learn what happens to a young man from the hills who has begun to find his place in the wider world. The novelette, Walter A. Sinclair’s “Crooks Welcome,” is a humorous tale of a young man out to impress a young woman with what he can accomplish. Fred McIsaac’s baseball yarn, “‘We Want Mabel!’,” offers yet more humor, while L. Paul contributes a Northern tale of survival and just deserts in “‘Man Coming Out.'” In Joseph Gollomb’s “The Point of the Needle,” Professor Goldie and his wife Alice, especially, again unravel a mystery on campus, while the latest installment in Clarence E. Mulford’s “Hopalong Cassidy’s Pal” entertains as usual, though the story itself is slight. Jack Woodford’s “Radio Razz,” in which a sharp tradesmen meets his match, concludes the issue, which also has a couple serial parts that I did not read because I don’t have all the issues needed for a complete story, as well as a handful of poems of varying quality and interest. - Short Stories, June 25, 1925
A man considered a killer find a chance for redemption in “Haskell of the Dug-Out Hills,” by Frank C. Robertson, the lead novel in this issue of Short Stories; a tangled story, it holds the reader’s interest but perhaps is rather too packed with characters, incidents, and coincidences, and the resolution of the mystery in the story is obvious but not particularly convincing. Better is W. C. Tuttle’s short story “The Fate of the Wolf,” though the reader will not be surprised by the turn of events. The remaining stories are serviceable but not memorable, but the conclusion of “The Ghost of the Golconda,” the two-part serial begun in the previous issue, does provide a satisfactory wrap-up of what had gone before.
Currently Reading
- Captain Future and the Space Emperor, by Edmond Hamilton.
- Weird Tales, July 1925.