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Last Update 12/5/25
Queer Approaches to Tolkien edited by Robin Anne Reid, Christopher Vaccaro, and Stephen Yandell, McFarland, 2025, $39.95, ISBN 978-1476694627
As you might expect from the title, this is a collection of essays relating various concerns of that community to aspects of the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, whose work is not obviously related. Although that is the main focus, the essays contain a good deal of general discussion of Tolkien’s fiction as well, some of it quite insightful. The unusual perspective is in some cases enlightening, and in some cases requires a bit of imaginative leaping to accept the relevance. The style is mostly academic, although only one essay struck me as pretty much opaque. It was sufficiently out of the ordinary run of Tolkien criticism to hold my attention. 12/5/25
The Code of the Superhero by Ryan L. Johnson, McFarland, 2025, $49.95, ISBN 978-1476594597
Superheroes are, basically, vigilantes - from Batman to Ironman. They take the law into their own hands though sometimes acting in cooperation with the police. This was actually addressed in the Avengers Civil War cycle, and notice has been posted of the differences in how DC superheroes and their Marvel equivalents have different attitudes toward collateral damage. So this look at the evolving history of that aspect of their careers struck me as particularly interesting. The author charts the changes across decades/generations of readers and writers. Each chapter illuminates a particular issue, usually through the examination of one central character - Batman, Luke Cage, Wonder Woman, the Shadow, the Blue Beetle, etc. I found most of this very interesting and some of it made me look at the issues quite differently. One of the best commentaries on the comics phenomenon I've read. 11/18/25
Reimagining Science Fiction edited by Gary Westfahl, McFarland, 2025, $55, ISBN 978-1476690148
This nice collection of academic essays about SF is generally worth reading, but for most readers the Kindle version has a much lower price. Academic books of this type have become prohibitively expensive for everyone except libraries and the very wealthy. There are some familiar names among the contributors, including Howard Hendrix, Donald Hassler, and the editor himself. There is really no central theme and the authors examined vary a great deal in theme, style, and subject matter. The subjects include Arthur C. Clarke, Nalo Hopkinson, Charles Stross, and others, but the better essays tend to be those that look at trends, past and present, changes in focus and subject matter over time, the alteration in the interests of readers based on changes to the world at large, and other matters not necessarily specific to a particular work or author. I found quite a few of these very interesting. 11/5/25
Tolkien’s Glee by John R. Holmes, McFarland, 2025, $49.95, ISBN 978-1476698656
I confess that I was not particularly interested in the subject matter of this short book, which covers the poetry and song lyrics in the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. I actually found them mostly distracting and sometimes positively annoying while reading the books. This is an analysis of them as verse, mostly in literary terms. Some of the commentary about how the words “sound” when spoke aloud were interesting. The discussions of meter and structure would be of more interest to academics and some writers rather than the general public. That said, there were a few interesting points made in the book, and its target audience would undoubtedly find it more useful than I did. 10/28/25
Robots That Love by Judith A. Markowitz, McFarland, 2025, $49.95, ISBN 978-1476674957
Given the rise of interest in artificial intelligence, and by extension robots, this book is very timely. It does mention the positronic brains in the robot stories of Isaac Asimov and, since the theme is also the possibility of making robots feel the equivalent of human emotions, it cites “The Bicentennial Man” and the film version. This is not a book of literary or film criticism, however. It is very wide ranging and discusses AI chatbots, humanoid and non-humanoid robots, the potential “gender” of robots, the physical problems, the political and social issues involved, etc. There were several points raised here that I had not thought of, and some that I had never even heard of. There are so many subjects to cover that some of them are barely touched upon and probably deserve a book of their own. The prose is very accessible, even in technical areas. Although not heavily illustrated, the figures that are included are helpful and illustrative. I’m not sure I believe that it will ever be possible to make a robot/AI that can actually experience emotion, it is quite likely that means will be developed to mimic them beyond easy detection. 10/25/25
Launching Liberty by Doug Most, Simon & Schuster, 2025
Although for the most part this account of the creation of a viable merchant marine in the early stages of World War II is quite good, there are some annoying bits. For one thing, it opens with a recounting of the thoughts of a person in 1947 on a specific date at a specific time as though they were historical fact. This is fiction. Otherwise, the description of how negotiations were made between countries, how shipyards were developed, and other aspects of the process are covered well. It’s a less melodramatic account of the war from a very different perspective and helps one understand the role that industry fills during a war. 10/10/25
Russell Hoban by Graeme Wend-Walker, McFarland, 2025, $55, ISBN 978-1476682822
This is an analytical survey of the writing of Russell Hoban, which encompasses science fiction, mundane contemporary fiction, and children's books. I have only read a couple of his novels - Riddley Walker - and I recall enjoying it although I confess that I remembered little of the plot until it was discussed herein. Some of the other adult fiction seems interesting enough that I will put it on my watch list, but not interesting enough for me to immediately order copies. The author of this examination of Hoban's career does a very good job of showing recurring themes and almost never slips into arcane academic prose mode. It is lucid and interesting and well thought out. There is a bit of sticker shock here, though, for a 200 page book. You might want to ask your library to order a copy. 10/2/25
Mark Gruenwald's Quasar by Jason Olsen, McFarland, 2025, $49.95, ISBN 978-1476695457
Although I read Marvel comics for years, I don't recall ever encountering this character. I know that I never saw his solo title, but he might have made a guest appearance elsewhere. In any case, this survey and discussion of his career at the hands of writer Gruenwald was entirely new to me, so it turned out to be more interesting than I expected. There are, unfortunately, no illustrations in this book, which would have made it more accessible to readers not familiar with the character. That said, the author explores in depth some of the themes that were used in the comic - which lasted as a solo title for a few years - as well as revealing the story line that supported this unusual and very powerful character, who apparently has not reappeared in thirty years. The price tag is a big steep so you might want to talk your library into acquiring a copy. 9/14/25
Sleepy Hollow As American Myth by Steve A. Wiggins, McFarland, 2025, $39.95, ISBN 978-1476697574
I had occasion to reread this Washington Irving story fairly recently, so this book was well timed for me. The author covers a number of books, stories, and films based at least party on the story - although he misses the short story I wrote turning it into science fiction. So it goes. Anyway, he examines various ways that it has impacted American culture in an often interesting and generally quite well written and accessible study. There are also peripheral discussions of the are in which the story was set and different interpretations of the origin either in criticism or in homage. A little short for the price tag - 200 pages - but the content is very good. 8/27/25
More Lovecraftian People and Places by Ken Faig Jr., Hippocampus, 2025, $25, ISBN 978-1-61498-439-9
This is obviously a follow up to an earlier book and like that one is probably chiefly interesting to Lovecraft enthusiasts. It is a collection of essays about people in Lovecraft's life - relatives, acquaintances, colleagues - and places which Lovecraft visited that have some significance in his life - sometimes rather tenuous. There are quite a few maps and photographs and even leaving aside the unifying thread of HPL, the book is somewhat interesting as an historical study of the period in which he lived. Faig is meticulous about references and explains the connections without being overly speculative. Each of us touches a great many people during the course of a lifetime, and we are largely shaped by the people with whom we interact, so this provides some interesting insights. 8/26/25
The Mismeasure of Orcs by Robert T. Tally Jr, McFarland, 2025, $29.95, ISBN 978-1476694351
This scholarly work has an unlikely subject. The author believes that Orcs got a bum rap in Tolkien's books. They are the only intelligent species about which it appears that nothing good can be said. But there are bits and pieces scattered throughout the books that could be construed as presenting the less evil side of orcs. He argues that their occasional good treatment by other characters in the books illustrates that they have sympathy for the Orcs which must have some basic in empathy, as opposed to simply being a means of further polishing the characters expressing these sympathies. He discusses how Orcs and their behavior are described in different books - and they clearly are somewhat different - and the arguments are reasonable. An interesting discussion, but readers should be warned that the prose is very dense. 7/4/25
Global Science Fiction edited by Gary Westfahl, McFarland, 2025, $65, ISBN 978-14766890142
The price tag on this collection of essays is pretty stiff, but there is a cheaper Kindle version. Science fiction in the US has become more much globally oriented in recent years. We have seen SF novels from Japan, the Caribbean, China, and Africa in addition to the trickle of books that have reached us from continental Europe. These essays attempt to provide a taste of what is going on in those previously obscure writing communities as well as some that remain almost unheard of by current readers. I found this to be a fairly consistently interesting read because so much of it was new to me, and the essays mostly steer clear of most of the excesses of academic writing. There is an exceptionally good bibliography of related works. It is a shame that there is not a mass market edition because I think a lot of readers would find it a good jumping off point to expanding their reading horizons. 6/27/25
Anthony Trollope by T.H.S. Escott, Kennikat, 1937 (originally published in 1913)
This is an account of Trollope’s life and his novels written by a man who knew him personally. Much of it concentrates on acquaintances and experiences that contributed to Trollope’s fiction. It is presented chronologically and in great detail. Some of it seems fairly trivial, although the author may have been close enough to his subject that he was unable to be completely objective. The book is readable, although the prose is quite dense – some paragraphs run to multiple pages. I’ve been reading Trollope off and on for a couple of years – he is my favorite of the Victorian novelists - and this provided a good deal of context for several of the novels. 5/24/25
Steamboats on the Western Rivers by Louis Hunter, Octagon, 1969
This is a long and very comprehensive history of the steamboat in North America, examining every facet of that enterprise that I could think of in sometimes excruciating detail. I have been reading it a little bit at a time for a couple of months. It is a reference book rather than a narrative history and is often very dry. My only real complaint is that other than a couple of drawings, there are no illustrations. A selection of photographs would have been very helpful. The author is more interested in the economic and technological developments than in the aesthetics. 5/12/25
