The Complete Peanuts: 1973 to 1974
by Charles M. Schulz (Fantagraphics, 2008)
Two more excellent years. Schulz favours Snoopy (a little too much), Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty, but Sally also comes into her own. The physical humour is masterfully drawn, the existential comedy as reliable as ever. Plus, Schulz dabbles with dad jokes!
Father Brown: The Absence of Mr. Glass
by G.K. Chesterton; dramatised by John Scotney; (BBC Radio 4, 1987)
A single-episode addendum to Scotney’s two series of radio adaptations. Where Chesterton playfully mocked the Holmesian method, Scotney and Bernard Archard (portraying Holmes) go a little too far in demeaning the man himself. The concluding explanation of ‘Mr. Glass’ proves sadly facetious.
A Princess of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs (A. C. McClurg, 1917)
audiobook read by Scott Brick (Tantor, 2008)
A freewheeling adventure aimed very much at an adolescent male market. Burroughs affects an erudite narrative voice (for pulp), and has invested sufficient thought to fudge a depiction of Martian culture. Events, however, transpire in an extemporised cavalcade, dreamlike and dramatically untethered.
Mr Browser in the Space Museum
by Philip Curtis; ill. Tony Ross (Andersen, 1985)
Colonial fiction transposed to a SF setting. Curtis doesn’t have a great deal to say, but captures the attitudinal gulf between students and adults. Ross’s scratchy illustrations once again add a layer of engagement that the text couldn’t achieve on its own.
Star Blazers, Season 1
(1979-1980)
Adapted from the Japanese anime Space Battleship Yamato (1974), Star Blazers remains much-beloved for its flared, 70s-style uniforms and incidental music, its blue-skinned alien adversaries, and a remarkable facility for evoking peril and near-despair… despite the all-encompassing disregard for logic and astrophysics!
The Big Four
by Agatha Christie (William Collins & Sons, 1927)
audiobook read by Hugh Fraser (Lamplight, 2014)
A fix-up novel that shows its seams yet affords both an arch-(group)nemesis for Poirot and also the space to do it justice (cf. Conan Doyle’s one-shot introduction and despatch of Moriarty). Poirot’s quirks and Hastings’ stupidity remain one-dimensional and rather clumsily wrought.
Hands Off
by Robert Sheckley
Galaxy Science Fiction (April, 1954); UK No. 18 (September, 1954), pp. 54-63.
SF novelette offering a two-pronged narrative, following the actions firstly of an unscrupulous human pirate crew, and secondly of the principled alien whose near-totally incompatible physical makeup renders it impossible for them to steal his spaceship. A whimsical, waggish tale of comeuppance.
The Disappearing Diplomat
by Terrance Dicks (Blackie & Son, 1986)
A return to form. Dicks makes use of Cold War tropes to cram in a proper, high-stakes action adventure where all the Irregulars have a chance to contribute (Mickey, thankfully, is reined in a little). Dan’s Sherlock-inspired brainwork is spot-on for middle-grade.
Doorways in the Sand
by Roger Zelazny (Harper & Row, 1976)
audiobook read by Andrew J. Andersen (Trantor, 2024)
A near-future SF runabout with a veneer of mystery and dollops of humour. Career student (and serial acrophile) Fred Cassidy proves a welcome departure from the usual hardboiled protagonists of such stories. Still, there’s a sense here of Zelazny just dawdling along.
The TV Kid
by Betsy Byars (Viking, 1976)
Short book. Short chapters. Byars again creates a relatable MG character with life issues. In this instance, however, it’s not clear whether she’s advocating imagination (albeit TV-fuelled, not dissimilar from the escapism of The Cartoonist) or the maturing benefits of real-world experience.