Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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The Form of Desire: Zenobia

zenobiaGood old Zenobia.
My personal ancient-history crush.

Julia Aurelia Zenobia was the queen that, proclaiming herself Imperatrix Romanorum, defied the power of Rome and led the ill-fated Palmyrene Rebellion. They went down fighting, and a good fight it was. And we have been taught by captain Mal Reynolds that being on the losing side does not always mean being on the wrong side too.

I like the old girl. Always liked her.
I like that particular period of the Roman history known as the Third Century Crisis, and I like Zenobia, a woman defying an empire. The stuff of great stories. The stuff of legend.

According to Wikipedia…

Zenobia has become a popular name for exotic or regal female characters in many other works

… and they go on listing Hawthorne, Wodehouse, Golding, Heinlein and Robert E. Howard.

Continue reading →


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Khaki or Field Grey?

cover92550-mediumAnd talking about books, and history, and weird stories, here’s a quick heads-up, waiting for the time for me to expand on the subject.
Today sees the launch of Bretherton, actually the reissue, by Casemate/Open Road Media, of a novel originally called Bretherton: Khaki or Field Grey?.
The book was written by W.F. Morris and published in 1929.

In November 1918, as the Germans are in their final retreat, a British raiding party under fire follows the sound of piano music and stumbles across an eerie scene in a ruined chateau. A German officer lies dead at the keys, next to a beautiful woman, also deceased, in full evening dress. But what makes their discovery especially strange is that the man is the spitting image of G. B. Bretherton, a British officer missing in action.

The novel was very popular in its time, and was called the finest novel about the Great War. And indeed, with its mix of trench warfare drama, espionage, divided loyalties and mystery, it is a great summer read1.
I will post my review in a few days, but to be quick and concise, I might just say Morris’ novel is as good as vintage Eric Ambler (that, incidentally, called it one of the five best spy stories ever written).

Highly recommended (by both Eric Ambler and me!)
Check it out.

  1. I was lucky enough to get an Advance Reader Copy of the new edition. ↩


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Weird detectives

August.
Despite my misgivings, I will hopefully have a lot to do and a lot to write, in the next weeks, while the countryside flounders into a deep pool of apathy and ennui, and only the mosquitoes seem to have any energy left.

So, work by day (hopefully), and a good book by night, together with a refreshing drink, or maybe an ice cream (gotta be careful with that, I’m trying to cut the sugar).

17131858And so I dug out a book I had ordered last autumn.
It’s called Weird Detectives – Recent Investigations and it’s a big fat anthology edited by Paula Guran (always a guarantee) and featuring… well, you can guess it.
I always had a thing for weird detectives, and I am really looking forward to a few nights of pleasure.
Actually, I already read some of the stories collected here – and Caitlìn R. Kiernan’s The Maltese Unicorn alone is worth the price of admission. I will re-read it and still enjoy the sheer fun and the depth of it.
And then there’s a story by Simon R. Green – another favorite of mine.
And Neil Gaiman.
And Joe Lansdale.
And William Meikle.
And everybody else – this is a true wonder of a collection1.

Also, I have to say I absolutely love the cover art.
Publisher Prime Books has a wonderful selection of wonderful anthologies – and were I not broke, I’d splurge a few bucks on a pair of other titles.

Anyway – cool air, a cold tall glass of Moroccan mint tea, and a good book.
Vacations, here in the hills of Astigianistan.

  1. and I still have my notes for a supernatural detectives series, here somewhere on my PC… so this book is also research. ↩


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Other People’s Pulps: 150 Years under the Seas

20k_leagues_under_sea_01Sometimes we notice the weirdest things in the weirdest moments.

For instance, I mentioned 20.000 Leagues under the Sea a few days back.
The book is set in 1866.
Granted, it was written in 1869 and published in book form in 1871, but what the heck, it is set in 1866 – so it’s 150 years that the events narrated by Professor Aronnax took place.
It’s cause enough for a celebration.

So yes, I will do something, most certainly.
A few posts during the summer, possibly. Continue reading →


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RE:CON Service – day one

OK, so the “professional” website is up and the Mana Brothers are in business.
Or something.
We launched yesterday afternoon the beta version of the website for RE:CON Service – a small venture whose main purpose is to provide research, fact-checking and content editing for authors on the run.

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Speed, accuracy and flexibility will be our by-words.
And we are cheap.

We are currently fixing the last bits – we are on Facebook, but we still miss a Twitter account and a G+ presence.
Also, something we are looking into is the option of working through TimeRepublik – so that we and our clients can trade in time, not in money.

Anyway, hello world!
RE:CON is go1.

Spread the word, if you will.

  1. incidentally, we will not fil Karavansara with RE:CON stuff from now on – this remains my personal blog, I talk about what I like… there will be a page and a banner, but nothing invasive.
    And yet, I had to start somewhere, spreading the news 🙂 ! ↩


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The Joan Crawford Blogathon: Strange Cargo (1940)

It’s the Joan Crawford blogathon – and we are terribly late!
But here we are.
Set up by the In the Good Old Days of Hollywood blog, this online marathon celebrates one of the most iconic actresses of Classic Hollywood.
Strikingly beautiful, extraordinarily talented and extremely versatile, Crawford later became the subject of interests unrelated to her acting career… but we are trying to stick to her performances. This is not a gossip column.
So, please check out the link above for a full list of the participating blogs and a lot of excellent posts on some great movies.

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And once you’re done, follow us in the jungle as we set our sights on Strange Cargo. Continue reading →


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Other People’s Pulps: A hero worth resurrecting

The newcomer was a man of thirty-three, maybe thirty-four, and therefore a little older than his companion. He was of average height, very fit, his skin incredibly white, his features regular, his eyes gray and cunning, his lips mocking, and thin, a sign of an iron will. On first sight it was clear he was European, not only, but he belonged to some southern race.

Who is this mysterious stranger?
Now, let me take a circuitous way.

fd5429b1a5adc48216a9f254fd2e3c27Two nights ago I pitched a story for a forthcoming anthology by ProSe Press. The book will be called The Further Adventures of Ned Land, and it will feature… well, the further adventures of the harpoon-man from Jules Verne’s 20.000 Leagues under the Sea. The same character that in the 1954 Disney movie was portrayed by Kirk Douglas.
Now, I’m a big fan of both Disney’s film and of Douglas’ character – so as soon as I saw an opening, I threw myself in.
Will my pitch persuade the editors? We’ll see.

But after emailing my pitch, as I was having a glass of ice-cold Moroccan spearmint tea to toast a work well done, I started thinking about other out-of-copyright characters that it would be worth resurrecting for a series of all-new adventures.
And granted, there’s an awful lot of pulp characters out there that have fallen into the public domain, and would really deserve a comeback, but, what about Yanez de Gomera? Continue reading →