Dave > Recent Status Updates

BOOK 1/6 - Man in the Queue: A good listen. I enjoyed the environment and surroundings painted well by the phraseology and language used matching with the time in which the story is set. The characters are simple enough, as is the premise. As for the conundrum of 'who dunnit', this is not really suspenseful, but it is entertaining and it kept me captivated enough that I listened in three sittings

Enjoyed ‘First Sight’ and ‘Binary System’

The Malibu Fault and A Night at the Opera each captivated and intrigued. Primordial Follies did not

TTotS and TWoaF(TWoaH) are both brilliant. I loved each of the premises, and enjoyed key characters in both stories. Possibly the most engrossing of he anthology thus far

'... Forest Lawn Clearance...' and 'After Taste' were OK. Oh, and 'War Stories' concluded with my level of enjoyment still elevated!

Enjoyed ‘None So Deaf’, and I’m 2/3 through ‘War Stories’, which I am also enjoying

Wow! The 'Ellison Exegesis' by J. Michael Straczynski is informative, insightful, personal, and emotive. I've enjoyed Harlan's introductions and afterwords, and other pieces, throughout the first two anthologies, and the Exegesis brings them together and adds colour too. It has me seeking out a biography...

‘Things Lost’ was the highlight of this session. ‘… Bentfin Boomer Boys…’ lost me a bit, and then that started to build… I gave up on it in the end. ‘Lamia Mutable’ just seemed empty to me

... I lied. 'Epiphany for Aliens' and 'Eye of the Beholder' were the highlights. Though, 'A Mouse in the Walls of the Global Village' was also good. 'Getting Along' just bored me...

Nothing in this session that grabbed me

Liked the short ‘Bed Sheets Are White’, and was intrigued by ‘Tissue’. The story by Josephine Saxton didn’t do much for me

Really enjoyed 'With a Finger in My I' by David Gerrold, and 'In The Barn' by Piers Anthony. Need to re-listen to 'And the Sea Like Mirrors' by Gregory Benford

When it Changed - enjoyed a lot. Concise and well told; The Big Space Fuck - Can see as an Archer-esque limited TV series, starring Nick Offerman. Good fun, and wryly humorous

TTFP - Nope. Couldn’t get behind it, so skipped after 1/3

COSIANS - Interesting poem, if at odds with the anthology thus far

KOTH - Really enjoyed it, though I wish the ending was stronger

The 10:00 Report… - An examination in apathy and indifference amid societal violence and degradation

‘For Value Received’ and ‘Mathoms from The Time Closet’ are both unusual stories. Uniquely so, yet somehow familiar. Intriguing; enjoyable

Really enjoyed ‘The Word for World is Forest’. ‘Ching Witch!’ was good

Three Intro’s and two books… Ching Witch! is brilliant; TCOV didn’t land

FTGPO - Intriguing. Curious to know what it would be like as a longer novella

LOTGH - Fascinating and colourful in its descriptions

TR - Brilliant! Superbly written, with dark fantasy at its core

JUDAS - Didn’t land; didn’t grab me

WHTAC - Didn’t land at all. Thankfully short

ERSATZ - Alright

GGGSTB - Liked it. Interesting premise

THB - Best story in the anthology thus far. Engaging and believable

EWAH - Interesting

APOB - Alright

TDH - Good

SAOMM - More intriguing than I’d expected

STDPT - Not as incisive as the author hoped

IAMWBWYLOMYS - Uh, I didn’t enjoy or like this at all

TJM - Thought-provoking. Conformity and control under the guise of progress and longevity

GRTB - Not for me

LRMS - An interesting, gloomy dystopia in which hope is light trying to penetrate the thick fog of human hatred and evil

Eutopia - The right of self-preservation explored through the complexities of ideologies governing freedom. It is about acceptance and tolerance in a world of division and mistrust

TNTATBO - Thoroughly enjoyable! A vivid concept of time modification

TMWWTTM-T - Pleasant children's tale with allegorical richness

Faith of Our Fathers - Magnificent Dick! Not a unique theological construct, but masterfully executed, boundary-pushing of its time, and enrapturing as a result

The Malley System - intrigued to read her work as a result of this

A Toy for Juliette - Deliciously salacious and hints at a primal darkness within us all

A Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World - Expected more somehow (the Intro to “… Juliette” shone a light on it)

Riders of the Purple Wage - (inc. Intro. and Afterword):

It starts apace and keeps going! It is a multi-faceted, layered, and poignant tale that could easily be based in our near future, written and released now, with little to show it as a 1967 novella. It stands the test of time, that's for sure! I found it hard going initially, but loved it by the time it ended

Evensong - Alright, though felt underdeveloped

Flies - Enjoyable

The Day after the Day the Martians Came - Underwhelming

The Dedication, four Forewords, and two Introductions certainly whet the appetite for what’s to come! I’d purchased the second anthology in the DV collection before this one, so figured I’d do things properly, and listen in order. 2025 is, afterall, my year for anthologies

The Sign of the Four:

Long-hidden and much sought-after treasure, murders, and the thrill of the chase all feature in the second SH novel

Oh, and by the end of it, our narrator - Watson, is engaged!

An enjoyable, if at times protracted tale, I am continuing as a fan of ACD's writing style as we move into The Hound of the Baskervilles