Full Dark, No Stars is a collection of four intense short stories with retribution as …
Review of 'Full Dark No Stars Archival Slipcased First Edition Set ( Glow in the dark slipcased Set ) BARGAIN' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is a collection of four of Kings novellas. I've always felt his short fiction to be significantly better then his longer. While in his longer works he frequently flubs the endings, in his shorter one he usually nails them dead.
1922 * A solid ghost story though not one of his best works.
Big Driver Rather brutal even for king, its ending is a little flat and contrived. The weakest of the four
Fair Extension * Hands down the best in the book, and one of his better short stories he has written in the last decade.
A Good Marriage ** Solid though the ending wavers into sentimentality
Review of 'A Short History of Europe' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Short is a correct way to describe this history, it moves extremely rapidly covering the whole history of Europe ending in 2016. The main criticism is that the coverage is not expansive enough, but the goal was clearly to have a short book covering as much as possible within the format. In this the author was successful. Unlike some histories this is not dry stuff, if you are looking for an introduction to European history this is an excellent book.
This book [1974] by Michael Shea is the sequel to Eyes of the Overworld aka Cugel the Clever by Jack Vance [1966]. Vance would go on to write his own sequel Cugel's Saga aka Cugel: The Skybreak Spatterlight [1983]. Comparing the two books is fascinating.
Both begin at the same place and same moment with Cugel finding himself deposited on the same beach he had arrived at in the first book. Here the immediately diverge. Vance takes Cugel across the ocean and then on a somewhat round about trip home.
Shea on the other hand takes Cugel on a quest to find the Wizard Simbilis in the hope that he can be persuaded to return him home and confront his nemeses. The writing is disimler. in both Cugel is cunning and faces constant change in circumstance. Vance who is writing at the height of his powers does this to much …
This book [1974] by Michael Shea is the sequel to Eyes of the Overworld aka Cugel the Clever by Jack Vance [1966]. Vance would go on to write his own sequel Cugel's Saga aka Cugel: The Skybreak Spatterlight [1983]. Comparing the two books is fascinating.
Both begin at the same place and same moment with Cugel finding himself deposited on the same beach he had arrived at in the first book. Here the immediately diverge. Vance takes Cugel across the ocean and then on a somewhat round about trip home.
Shea on the other hand takes Cugel on a quest to find the Wizard Simbilis in the hope that he can be persuaded to return him home and confront his nemeses. The writing is disimler. in both Cugel is cunning and faces constant change in circumstance. Vance who is writing at the height of his powers does this to much greater effect. Vance's Cugel is constantly making great fortunes and loosing them a page later. Shea's cugel has a more typical difficult journey. The winds of fate blow less hard.
Its unclear if Shea has attempted to approximate the language of Vance, but if he has he has not come close. Vance writes with blinding wit, Shea stands in pale comparison.
Still Shea does manage to capture some of the incredibly diverse settings that Vance has conjured.
I would not recommend this book. It's fine, but surely only of interest to those who have read both of Vance's previous efforts. Those who have will be somewhat disappointed. Still it is not without merit, and is a short enjoyable read. Readers who have not read the two works by Vance would be much better starting there. Those who want more Vance should try Songs of the Dying Earth, the anthology edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois.
