Harem Scarem in El Cerrito by Neva Calvert Carpenter

(Final note: As a Pratchett fan, interesting to see the primordial versions of Truckers or The Long Earth.) less than a monthĠ78) Revival Volume Four: Escape to Wisconsin by Tim Seely and Mike Norton, finished August 16

That said, as I read on, I stopped skimming the occasional paragraph and just read the whole thing. And I suppose that's why it's not surprising that the best work in this collection is the longest: a 48-page Granny Weatherwax story. That his short stuff is good but not as great as his long work is true. But still only really worth reading from a scholarly perspective. The stuff he wrote when he was a teenager was precocious-on the par with the best student stuff of my career. The primary impression of this book is that Terry Pratchett was not beset with false humility when he claimed he wasn't a strong short-story writer.ĭon't get me wrong. two nightsĠ80) That A Guise, John? by Brace Pannier, finished August 19Ġ79) A Blink of the Screen by Terry Pratchett, finished DATE The experimentation level is high, but it's kept entirely under control. One last comment: On one page, Van Sciver abandons the gutters and just rams the frames together, a sign of Joe's instability more subtle but just as effective as the wobbly thoughtboxes or concentric dark circles. It starts and ends us with a sense of the holy-of pending deus-but is really no more than a cheap gag. It reveals that the entire world we see isn't some omniscient narrator, but Joe's consciouness's filter. And one thing's for sure: it won't take the booze away. His deus ex machina might solve as many as two of his problems.

And for a moment we think, hey! yeah! That solves his problem! And then we remember.all his other problems.

You know when you're in an awful moment of your life, so bad the thought that hey-if only a truck would kill my boss, things would work out for me seems totally reasonable? Joe's deep into that realm. And his choices are spiraling downward-every good decision is outweighed by half a dozen bad. He means well, he just can't hang on to a clear sense of what is best in this world. It's impossible not to feel for Joe, even as his id takes charge.

Harem Scarem in El Cerrito by Neva Calvert Carpenter