Reading Rumble Round 9

Robert E. Howard brings his two fists to the ring, and the three Texas titans face off in the squared circle.

Bibliography 

Probably not complete works at Amazon 

By the Hair of the Head by Joe R. Lansdale
Shadows 6, 1983

Atmospheric chiller of an author living with a former keeper in a defunct lighthouse.

Reprinted in High Cotton, from Amazon 

Pirate's Blood by James Reasoner
Kolchak the Night Stalker Casebook, 2006 from Amazon 

Reporter Kolchak encounters ghost pirates after revenge on a corporate raider aboard a cruise ship. Fun, but doesn't quite hit the tone of the TV show.

Black Vulmea's Vengeance by Robert E. Howard
Golden Fleece, November 1938

Irish pirate Vulmea invents a hidden treasure to escape the clutches of the British. Angry natives, hidden tunnels, and a giant snake. Vulmea ends up aiding his British captor for the sake of his wife and daughter - presumably the scores of men he kills were childless bachelors.

All authors stay on their feet.

Reading Rumble Round 8

The million word a year man James Reasoner steps in the ring. His output defies bibliography. Read his blog https://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/ and buy his stuff on Amazon  https://amzn.to/3GioDlN

Man in the Morgue by James Reasoner
Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine November 1978 v42 n11

An obit writer follows a lead about deaths at a flophouse.

Chompers by Joe R. Lansdale
Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine, July 1982

Quickie about a homeless woman finding a cursed pair of dentures.

Lansdale and Reasoner go toe to toe, both authors staying in the ring.

Reading Rumble 7

Fantasy and horror author Tanith Lee springboards into the ring.

Bibliography https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?105

Amazon shop https://amzn.to/3vyFmvX

 

The Nightmare's Tale by Tanith Lee
Women of Darkness II 1990

Collected in Tanith Lee A-Z, from Amazon https://amzn.to/3IhgBft

A man's object of revenge dies too soon, but not too late for voodoo-esque magic.

Drive-In Date by Joe R. Lansdale
Cemetery Dance, Winter 1991

Two dirt bags an their drive-in "date". The first of his splatterpunk dark comedy pieces in the Rumble.

The Wood of the Dead by Algernon Blackwood
The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories, 1906

"What happened to that old man I was talking to?"

"There's no old man here. Might have been the ghost that portends death in the village. Excuse me, I'm off to live a happy and full life."

Lee and Blackwood go over the ropes.

Reading Rumble TV Title Winner

The further Star Wars gets from Lucas the better it tends to get, but the tie in novels just seem like a mess. Forgotten Realms retains the title.

Forgotten Realms: The Crystal Shard by R. A. Salvatore

Dungeons and Dragons: Forgotten Realms
The Icewind Dale
The Crystal Shard
by R. A. Salvatore
1988 TSR

In the far north of the Forgotten Realms, a wizard is possessed by a magical crystal and is building an army of goblins, giants, and a demon to threaten the settlement of ten-towns.

Meet our heroes: Drizzt the Drow, a dark elf shunned by his own people for not being evil; Bruenor the grumpy elf, Wulfgar the Barbarian, and there's a halfling thief that is in the periphery who joins the gang later.

The entire genre acts as a pastiche to Lord of the Rings, but there are some very specific elements here, including the dwarf and elf comparing kill counts. Homage or theft, depending on how charitable you feel.

Ninety percent exposition and council meetings, but the remaining ten percent was good fun. The first appearance of fan favorite Drizzt - I was expecting him to be more angst ridden, but this may be what counts as edgy in fantasy fiction.

Available from Amazon

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order
Vector Prime
by R.A. Salvatore
1999 Del Rey

Set 25 years after A New Hope, the Star Wars gang have kids, the new Jedi are disorganized, and the galaxy is being invaded by the Yuuzhan Vong, an alien race of religious zealots who use advanced biology for their technology.

Mainly known for killing off Chewie by dropping a moon on him. Everybody's got to go sometime, and this all got rebooted after The Force Awakens, but Salvatore kind of pulls a Ed Brubaker, killing off a major supporting character on the front end to show the stakes are high.

The audiobook I listened to was abridged, mercifully. The full version is four times longer, and from what I could tell reading a synopsis, didn't have additional major scenes. Other than Chewie buying it and the cool aliens, not a whole lot going on. First in a series of nineteen.

Available from Amazon.

Reading Rumble TV Title Match

It's Salvatore vs Salvatore, as two tie-in Titans face off for the Television Title