RIP William F. Nolan, Dune Movie Update, Tonight Show Picks "The Plot", Three Women/Shining Girls on TV, Strange Love by Ann Aguirre, Becoming Crone by Lydia Hawke, Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah, The Devil and the Heiress by Harper St. George, and The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

It's been a busy and frustrating week, but somehow I survived, and I managed to read 5 books (one was a re-read) while avoiding the hot weather and bugs outside. The "dog days" of summer are fast approaching, and I'm going to spend them indoors in the cool AC with my family. August is almost here, and thus the end of summer also looms on the horizon. Fall is my favorite season, so I will be happy when it arrives, along with a whole new list of books from authors old and new. Have a cool glass of iced tea or coffee and lets get to the tidbits and reviews.

Logan's run was one of my favorite science fiction movies when I was 16, and I remember it being so influential on me that I read the book AFTER I saw the movie, which was something I rarely did. Mr Nolan lead a colorful and fascinating life, and, as with many science fiction authors who have passed away in recent years, his like will never be seen again. RIP.

Obituary Note: William F. Nolan 

Author William F. Nolan https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49210659, who was best known for the Logan's Run series of science fiction novels, the first of which was adapted into a film and TV series, died July 15. He was 93.

Locus reported that Nolan worked as a writer and designer of greeting cards for Hallmark, a painter of murals, an aircraft assistant and at various other jobs in the '40s and '50s. In 1956, he became a freelance writer. In addition to his fiction and TV writing, Nolan was an editor for and contributor to auto and racing magazines, and a book reviewer.

In the 1950s, he helped found the San Diego Science Fantasy Society, contributing substantially to the fanzine Rhodomagnetic Digest, publishing and editing the Ray Bradbury Review, "working with 'The Group,' a coterie of up-and-coming young writers which included Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, John Tomerlin, George Clayton Johnson and others, and later served as managing editor of the first three issues of Gamma (1963-1964)," Locus noted. Nolan published short fiction and criticism frequently throughout his career under his own name and multiple pseudonyms.

His first novel was Logan's Run (1967, with George Clayton Johnson), which became a Nebula Award-nominated film in 1976 and later a TV series. Nolan wrote several sequels, including Logan's World (1977), Logan's Search (1980) and the novella Logan's Return (2001).

Norman's Sam Space series was an SF/hardboiled homage to Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade, and included the Edgar Award winner Space for Hire (1971). He also wrote horror and paranormal works, as well as numerous crime and mystery titles, among them one "Nolan considered his best novel, The Marble Orchard (1996)," Locus noted. He was a prolific anthologist, editing numerous reprint volumes and some originals, along with nonfiction books about authors and writing.

His many awards include a Living Legend Award from the International Horror Guild (2002), a SFWA Author Emeritus Award (2006), the HWA Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement (2010), and a Special Convention Award from the World Fantasy convention (2013). He was named a World Horror Grandmaster in 2015.

I'm really looking forward to this movie, which stars Jason Momoa, one of my all time favorite actors (originally from Stargate Atlantis) and several other great folks in a new version of the classic movie based on a classic series of books by Frank Herbert.

Movies: Dune

Warner Bros. has released a series of character posters from Dune https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49210689, the highly anticipated film adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel. Deadline reported that the movie, directed by Denis Villeneuve, is set to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September before hitting theaters and HBO Max on October 22. Villeneuve directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth.

The character posters feature Timothee Chalamet, who stars as Paul Atreides; Zendaya (Chani); Rebecca Ferguson (Lady Jessica); Jason Momoa (Duncan Idaho); Oscar Isaac (Duke Leto Atreides); Javier Bardem (Stilgar); Josh Brolin (Gurney Halleck); and Stellan Skarsgarrd (Baron Vladimir Harkonnen). The cast also includes Dave Bautista, Sharon Duncan Brewster, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chang Chen and David Dastmalchian and Charlotte Rampling.

 

One of the few things I like about Jimmy Fallon is that he promotes one book for everyone to read over the summer, and that book ends up being a bestseller from all the attention he's gotten for it. Though I've not read "The Plot" I imagine now I'll be able to get a cheap copy before the summer is out and read it. Anything or anyone who gets more people to pick up a book is a hero, in my estimation.

Tonight Show's 'Fallon Summer Reads' Picks The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

On Tuesday, on the Tonight Show's "Fallon Summer Reads https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49212056" segment, Jimmy Fallon announced that The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Celadon Books) has been selected as this summer's pick. Hundreds of thousands of viewers cast votes, and over the next weeks, Fallon will read the book and talk about it with readers on Twitter and Instagram (#FallonSummerReads). Korelitz will appear on the Tonight Show during the week of August 9.

In May, Shelf Awareness said, "This staggeringly good literary thriller is about a staggeringly good literary thriller written by a failed novelist who has stolen the book's plot from a deceased student."

 These sound like two great TV programs based on books, so I eagerly await their premier!

TV: Three Women, Shining Girls

Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies) will star in Three Women https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49213473, a Showtime hourlong series based on the nonfiction book by Lisa Taddeo, who is adapting. Deadline reported that Showtime "has given the project a straight-to-series order, with filming set to begin in the fall."

Three Women is executive produced by Taddeo, showrunner Laura Eason, Kathy Ciric and Emmy Rossum. Louise Friedberg (Y: The Last Man) will direct the first two episodes, which she will also executive produce.

"Shailene Woodley is an undeniable powerhouse who never fails to give an unflinchingly honest performance," said Amy Israel, executive v-p, scripted programming, Showtime Networks. "We are beyond thrilled that she will be at the forefront of this electrifying show. Three Women promises to be a riveting and immersive exploration of female desire, told by women in charge of their own narratives. Lisa Taddeo and Laura Eason's adaptation crackles with emotion and edge and, coupled with Louise Friedberg's exceptional direction, this Showtime series promises to be everyone's next obsession."

Emmy nominee Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) has joined the cast of the AppleTV+ series Shining Girls https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49213474, based on the 2013 novel by Lauren Beukes, in a series regular role. Deadline reported that Soo "will portray the intelligent and sure-footed Jin-Sook who works in the research department at the Adler planetarium."

She will star opposite Elisabeth Moss, who is an executive producer on the project. The cast also includes Wagner Moura and Jamie Bell. The series will be adapted for TV and executive produced by Silka Luisa, who also serves as showrunner.

Yet another reason to love Ron Perlman! Not only is he a great actor, but he knows that wearing a mask outside of your home is still important.

If a little tough love is needed, we still have Ron Perlman's tweet from June 16, 2020 https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49213504 to fall back on: "Sure, wearing a mask is about 60% likely to protect you from contracting the virus but it's 100% certain to prevent you from being an a**hole."

 REVIEWS:

I just completed an inadvertent re-read of Strange Love by Ann Aguirre, because it was cheaply available in ebook format for my Kindle Paperwhite ereader. Though I read and reviewed it in February of 2020, I found more nuance to the book during this re-read. I also noticed that there were still a few typos that hadn't been fixed, but they're not too heinous to ignore, so I breezed right past them. The alien/human sex scenes were still a bit too wet and squishy, in addition to being weird, for my tastes, but they're still better than most romance novel sex scenes, which are often highly sexist and misogynistic. It's a highly readable book, though, still very engrossing with prose that grabs you and doesn't let go until the final page. 

Strange Love by Ann Aguirre is a science fiction romance hybrid that appears to have been self published by Aguirre. I've read at least 4 of her other science fiction novels that were published by traditional publishers, so I knew that Aguirre, unlike most self published authors, knows how to write and is an experienced storyteller. Here's the blurb:

He's awkward. He's adorable. He's alien as hell.
Zylar of Kith B'alak is a four-time loser in the annual Choosing. If he fails to find a nest guardian this time, he'll lose his chance to have a mate for all time. Desperation drives him to try a matching service but due to a freak solar flare and a severely malfunctioning ship AI, things go way off course. This 'human being' is not the Tiralan match he was looking for.

She's frazzled. She's fierce. She's from St. Louis.
Beryl Bowman's mother always said she'd never get married. She should have added a rider about the husband being human. Who would have ever thought that working at the Sunshine Angel daycare center would offer such interstellar prestige? She doesn't know what the hell's going on, but a new life awaits on Barath Colony, where she can have any alien bachelor she wants.

They agree to join the Choosing together, but love is about to get seriously strange.

 

Zylar and Beryl's romance is certainly strange and unusual, but that said, the love scenes are not as weird or laughable as one might assume. Though the discussion of lubrication and fluids tends to go on and on, the actual sexual exchanges between the two protagonists are blush-worthy and intimate and hot, which surprised me as a reader. I also liked that there was a warrior "fight for your right to marry and have children" element to the book, because heroines who can't do anything but be blond and bouncy and petite and dumb as a box of hair make me ill. The focus on females being able to care for a clutch of eggs/infants was a bit of a turn off, as science fiction pointing to traditional roles for women seems to be a waste of a good venue for hopeful feminist futures to me. That said, the females in the book have a great deal of independence and agency, and there is even a satisfying takedown of a rich alien dude-bro who is a complete jerk. Note to those who loathe typos, there were three instances of words in the wrong place and missing words in this book that are jarring. But on the whole, the copy is clean and the plot zippy. I'd give it an A- and recommend it to anyone who enjoys wild romantic relationships in a science fiction setting.

Becoming Crone by Lydia Hawke was a delightful ebook that I downloaded the moment I read the words "60 year old woman" and "magic" in the blurb. There are very few books published that deal with female protagonists over the age of 45, and even then, those women are usually portrayed as being grandmother figures who are ill, cranky and ugly and only there to cook and clean for all the other characters, and to dispense a bit of common sense/wisdom to the foolish young people. This book defies all those tropes, by having Claire, the protagonist, be a spry 60 year old who is hoping to reinvent herself, and finds that her life suddenly takes a huge turn for the better once she accepts her magical heritage. Here's the blurb:  She wanted purpose. She got dark magic and war.

Claire Emerson is adrift. After a lifetime as a wife, mother, and grandma, she never saw divorce or loneliness coming and is desperate for some sense of purpose. But when her sixtieth birthday brings a snarky gargoyle, an annoyingly sexy wolf shifter, and an unknown magical calling, she thinks she's losing the only thing she has left: her sanity.

Refusing to believe she's the powerful defender of humankind her so-called protectors claim, Claire attempts a return to her safe life... only to have her powers ignite when she's attacked by dark supernatural creatures. And without the training she was supposed to have received, she has no idea how she'll defeat sinister mages plotting her demise.

Can Claire overcome creaky joints and major hot flashes in time to save the world - and her own life?

Becoming Crone is the page-turning first book in The Crone Wars paranormal women's fiction series. If you like spunky heroines, snappy banter, and triumphing over self-doubt, then you'll love this ageless adventure.

I loved the sparkling clean, witty and bright prose, as well as the nearly flawless plot that flew by on owl's wings. I wish that the publisher's blurb didn't add the word "ageless" to their description of the book, however, as if a woman's age is something to be ashamed of, to hide or lie about because it somehow makes women "less" competent or useful or intelligent, while men are seen as more powerful and wise as they age. Though Claire has some self esteem issues (mainly due to the sexism of her entire family),she soon finds her inner core of strength and power and kicks major arse throughout the rest of the book. I couldn't get enough of this fantasy tale of a woman my age tearing apart the patriarchal tropes and fighting evil to save the day. Becoming Crone gets a heartfelt and well deserved A from me with a recommendation that all women read it, (and enlightened men) ASAP.

Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah was a cheap paperback that I grabbed onto, thinking that though its one of her earlier works that I'd enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed her more recent offerings, like The Nightingale or The Four Winds. Unfortunately, though the prose was good and the plot straightforward (if a bit transparent to anyone who watched Dallas in the 80s), the story itself came off as a cheap trope from a romance novel, and the author added in a religious element that was clunky and ill conceived. Here's the blurb: Kristin Hannah is beloved by readers around the world for her unique blend of powerful emotion and exquisite storytelling. In Comfort & Joy, she offers a modern-day fairy tale—the story of a woman who gets a miraculous chance at happiness.

Joy Candellaro once loved Christmas more than any other time of the year. Now, as the holiday approaches, she is at a crossroads in her life; recently divorced and alone, she can’t summon the old enthusiasm for celebrating. So without telling anyone, she buys a ticket and boards a plane bound for the beautiful Pacific Northwest. When an unexpected detour takes her deep into the woods of the Olympic rainforest, Joy makes a bold decision to leave her ordinary life behind—to just walk away—and thus begins an adventure unlike any she could have imagined.

In the small town of Rain Valley, six-year-old Bobby O’Shea is facing his first Christmas without a mother. Unable to handle the loss, Bobby has closed himself off from the world, talking only to his invisible best friend. His father Daniel is beside himself, desperate to help his son cope. Yet when the little boy meets Joy, these two unlikely souls form a deep and powerful bond. In helping Bobby and Daniel heal, Joy finds herself again.     

But not everything is as it seems in quiet Rain Valley, and in an instant, Joy’s world is ripped apart, and her heart is broken. On a magical Christmas Eve, a night of impossible dreams and unexpected chances, Joy must find the courage to believe in a love—and a family—that can’t possibly exist, and go in search of what she wants . . . and the new life only she can find.

The blurb neglects to mention (SPOILER) that the reason Joy gets on the first plane out of town is because she discovers her sleazy husband in bed with her dirtbag sister, and then said sister has the gall to come to her home to rub her face in the fact that her ex is marrying her because the sister is pregnant, which is something her ex denied Joy previously, saying that he didn't want children (when what he obviously meant is that he didn't want children with Joy, but of course he doesn't have the decency to tell her that, the bastard).  But when Joy appears suddenly in Bobby's life, (after a devastating plane crash) and begins to make a difference to this grief-stricken boy and his father, Daniel, it twigs the reader to the real reason that only a few people actually seem to be able to "see" Joy....she's not really there, she's in a coma and appears like a ghost to Bobby (though his dad only pretends to see her for his son's sake). She awakens after spending several months with Bobby and Daniel, in the hospital with her scumbag sister by her side. She proceeds to forgive her sister and her sh*tty ex, for reasons that are never clear (and WHY anyone would forgive these reprehensible people is beyond me anyway...they do not deserve one ounce of her kindness or forgiveness! They're liars and cheaters and if there's a hell, they're headed there, IMO),and of course she sets off in search of Bobby and Daniel, though everyone tries to tell her that they were figments of her imagination. There's a convenient HEA, but I still felt that the whole plot contrivance was awkward..."It was all a dream" has been done to death, KWIM? Hence I'd give this slender paperback a B-, and recommend it to anyone who wants something like a Hallmark channel romance in book form.

The Devil and the Heiress by Harper St George is a historical romance that I also found in cheap paperback form, and bought on a whim. The prose is decent, but the plot tries to be more complex than it actually needs to be. Still, this tale of young wealthy American women being courted and basically sold to impoverished English nobility during the latter part of the 19th century is a good distraction if you're on a long flight or waiting in the doctor's office. Here's the blurb: Sparks fly when a runaway heiress bargains with a devilish rogue to escape a marriage of convenience.

No one would guess that beneath Violet Crenshaw's ladylike demeanor lies the heart of a rebel. American heiresses looking to secure English lords must be on their best behavior, but Violet has other plans. She intends to flee London and the marriage her parents have arranged to become a published author--if only the wickedly handsome earl who inspired her most outrageously sinful character didn't insist on coming with her.

Christian Halston, Earl of Leigh, has a scheme of his own: escort the surprisingly spirited dollar princess north and use every delicious moment in close quarters to convince Violet to marry him. Christian needs an heiress to rebuild his Scottish estate but the more time he spends with Violet, the more he realizes what he really needs is her--by his side, near his heart, in his bed.

Though Christian's burning glances offer unholy temptation, Violet has no intention of surrendering herself or her newfound freedom in a permanent deal with the devil. It's going to take more than pretty words to prove this fortune hunter's love is true.

Of course Christian falls for Violet,but when the truth comes out that he planned on abducting her and forcing her to marry him so that he could refurbish one of his three estates, it all comes crashing down, and though they're married, Christian learns that he's got a lot of apologizing to do in order to convince Violet that he really does love her, even without her money. Violet forgives him, (once she discovers she's pregnant) and there's the requisite HEA ending, but I still felt that Violet was portrayed as being way too naive and Christian as way too underhanded to make this marriage work. Still, it was a good distracting read, and I'd give it a B, and recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting paperback romance that they can read in an afternoon.

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh is a delicious fantasy ebook that I found curious and complex, as it combined gothic romance with mystery and dark fantasy ala Anne Rice to make a delicious New Orleans gumbo of a novel. Here's the blurb: New York Times bestselling author Renée Ahdieh returns with a sumptuous, sultry and romantic new series set in 19th century New Orleans where vampires hide in plain sight.

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans is a safe haven after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent in the middle of the carnival season, Celine is quickly enraptured by the vibrant city, from its music to its fancy soirées and even its danger. She becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's enigmatic leader, Sébastien Saint Germain.

When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in Sébastien's own lair--the second dead girl to turn up in recent weeks--Celine battles her attraction to Sébastien and suspicions about his guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

After a third murder, New Orleans becomes gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose--one who has now set Celine in his sights. As the murderer stalks her, Celine finally takes matters into her own hands, only to find herself caught in the midst of an age-old feud between the darkest creatures of the night, where the price of forbidden love is her life.
At once a sultry romance and a decadent, thrilling mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet.

Though there was a touch too much horror and gore for me, this Anne-Rice-lite tale was so engrossing I was up until the wee hours turning pages to find out what happened next to the feisty and overly proud Celine. The prose was rich and sweet and the plot shadowy and slick. It's one of a few novels that left me feeling hungry in both body and soul. Therefore I'd give it a B+, and recommend it to those who love Anne Rice's early works (especially Interview with a Vampire,which is her best novel, IMO).