Tag Archives: book reviews

March 17, 2026 · 12:52 pm

THE VOYAGE OF MAEL DUIN – HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY 2026!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Here’s a look at an ancient Irish epic from Lebor na hUidre, The Book of the Dun Cow. 

voy mael duinTHE VOYAGE OF MAEL DUIN (Immram curaig Mail Duin) – Dated to around the late 900s A.D. or earlier, this story deals with the epic quest of Mael Duin (aka Maildun and Maeldune) and the crew of his ship as he seeks revenge on his father’s killers. This lengthy epic deserves to be as well-known as the Odyssey or the Quest for the Golden Fleece.

        At any rate, exactly why the main character wants revenge for that slaying is beyond me, because Mael Duin’s father, supposedly Ailill of the Edge of Battle, raped a nun at a priory and she subsequently gave birth to him. The nun turned the infant Mael Duin over to her queen and king to raise as if he was their own child.

        voyage of mael duin cMael Duin matured, and proved better than his presumed siblings at athletic, martial and academic competitions. Losing their temper over this, one of our hero’s foster brothers ridiculed Mael Duin for not even knowing who his real father and mother were.

        The hero prevailed upon his mother the queen to tell him the truth, and she referred him to his birth mother, the nun. She revealed to Mael Duin the name of his father and the young man set out with his three foster brothers to the land of his father Ailill of the Edge of Battle. Continue reading →

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March 12, 2026 · 3:24 pm

ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE PROFESSOR’S EXPERIMENTS (1910)

professor's experiments opening story pic

THE PROFESSOR’S EXPERIMENTS (1910) – By Paul Bo’ld (sic) – real name: Edward George Paul Bousfield. (Not to be confused with John Paul George Ann Ringo.) A possible influence on H.P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West, Reanimator in style but not in content. This collection of six short stories centered around mad scientist Jerome Mudgewood and his assistant Dr Gertrude Delaney.

Mudgewood’s envelope-pushing experiments unleash forces beyond his control, resulting in death and tragedy. The stories in order:

The Retardatory Force – Professor Mudgewood tries to harness a pair of sub-atomic and extra-atomic forces, believing that eternal life can be achieved by doing so. He, Dr Delaney and their housekeeper instead find themselves confined in an energy field that slows matter down and eventually dissolves it into nothingness. Jerome and Gertrude survive but the housekeeper isn’t as lucky.   

The Magnetic Essence – The Professor isolates a particle in iron, a particle which he believes causes iron to be attracted to magnets. Dubbing this particle “the magneto component” he plans to implant it into any object he wishes to magnetize. It turns out the force is also responsible for maintaining an atom’s integrity and so extracting “the magneto component” figuratively splits the atom, unleashing incredibly deadly explosions.      Continue reading →

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March 7, 2026 · 12:51 am

CONAN THE BARBARIAN: THE ALTAR AND THE SCORPION

This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post looks at Marvel Comics’ adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s non-Conan short story The Altar and the Scorpion rewritten with Conan as the central character.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN Vol 1 #52 (Jul 1975)

Title: The Altar and the Scorpion

Villain: The Scorpion God

Synopsis: Conan’s wanderings bring him to Belverus, the capital city of Nemedia in the Hyborian Age. He encounters the suave, handsome and capable Murilo, whom he first met in Rogues in the House during his battle with Thak and Nabodinus.

Murilo now leads a mercenary troop called Crimson Company and he hires Conan as his new second-in-command. The hundreds of Crimson Company soldiers ride south to Ophir to start working for their new client – the ruler of the city of Ronnoco.

Their first mission is to retrieve the Ring of the Black Shadow, a powerful ring in the ruins of an abandoned, ancient Valusian city dating back to the time of Robert E. Howard’s character Kull the Conqueror. The ring can unleash a dark god if worn by a mortal. Conan and a female member of Crimson Company, Tara of Hanumar, shine in the expedition.

Conan finds the Ring of the Black Shadow, thus animating a huge statue of the Scorpion God which guards the ring to keep it out of human hands. Our hero fights the statue and renders it inert again with a sword through its “brain.”

Heeding Murilo’s instructions that nobody must touch the ring, two Crimson Company soldiers are assigned to stand guard over it while Conan, Tara and the others ride on to Ronnoco to get priestly help in containing the ring.

One of the guards greedily decides to steal the ring but upon touching it is transformed into a human-sized black shadow-being. He absorbs the other guard at his touch and becomes as large as two humans. Continue reading →

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February 28, 2026 · 12:05 am

STEVE DITKO’S MR. A: COMIC BOOK FANS SHRUGGED

This weekend’s escapist and light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko’s iconic Mr. A, warts and all.

MR. A

Secret Identity: Rex Graine, reporter for the Daily Crusader newspaper.

First Appearance: Witzend #3 (1967)

Origin: Rex Graine wanted to fight crime without endangering his friends and loved ones. He assumed the white-costumed identity Mr. A and took on the forces of evil.

Powers: Mr. A was in peak human condition and excelled at unarmed combat. He wore a white metal facial mask/ helmet for protection and anonymity. He also wore metal gloves and boots to make his punches and kicks more potent. I assumed he wore articulated body armor on his torso too, for some protection against bullets.

        This character was an expert investigator and used calling cards with no writing – just black on one half and white on the other to represent his black & white moral attitudes. I’d have had those calling cards be made of metal, too, with sharp edges so they could be thrown like Moon Knight’s crescent moon blades.

Comment: Mr. A was a more “pure” version of the Question, Steve Ditko’s similar character also created in 1967 when he worked for Charlton Comics. Ditko owned Mr. A, whose nom de guerre came from the Objectivist principle “A is A”. He was an uncompromising vigilante the like of which superhero comic books had rarely seen in 1967. In the decades to come such figures became very numerous in comics. Continue reading →

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February 21, 2026 · 12:11 am

MARVEL PREMIERE ISSUES 31-40

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog resumes examining Marvel Premiere, this time from issue #31 to 40.

MARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 #31 (Aug 1976)

Title: A Birthday Nightmare

Villains: A violent mob and Major Del Tremens’ troops

Synopsis: This was the origin story for Woodgod, created by Bill Mantlo. Just outside Liberty, NM is a ranch used by government scientists David Pace and his wife Ellen Pace. It serves as their residence AND laboratory for their Top-Secret projects.   

One such project is a deadly nerve gas called Purple Mist. Another is the cross-fertilization of human and animal genetic material which has resulted in the unnatural “birth” of Marvel’s newest character – called Woodgod by David Pace.

Under observation by the Paces, Woodgod grows to maturity in just three days and his enormous intellectual potential has him speaking in simplistic English but we’re told Woodgod will be at genius level in a few more days.

Superstitious people in Liberty, NM get covert glimpses of the creature and decide to raid the Pace ranch to destroy Woodgod and any other such “monsters” being created there. David and Ellen are shot to death in the attack but our main character is super-strong and invulnerable, so he survives being shot multiple times.

Woodgod’s still-childlike mind is confused by the violence. The attackers destroy all the lab equipment at the ranch and unintentionally unleash the Purple Mist nerve gas into the air. All the attackers die, then all the human and animal life within 15 miles of the ranch drops dead as well.

The only survivor is Woodgod, whose healing powers make him immune to the gas. At nearby Vertigo Military Base (later retconned into Tranquility Base) Major Del Tremens and his troops become aware of the chaos at the Department of Defense installation on David and Ellen Pace’s ranch. Continue reading →

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February 16, 2026 · 3:56 pm

ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE LUNARIAN PROFESSOR (1909)

Lunarian ProfessorTHE LUNARIAN PROFESSOR AND HIS REMARKABLE REVELATIONS CONCERNING THE EARTH, THE MOON AND MARS TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE CRUISE OF THE SALLY ANN (1909) – Written by James B Alexander back in the glory days of titles so long they might not fit in a 140 character limit.

The story is set in 1892, when James Alexander pretends that, while on a fishing trip he encountered a humanoid with a head like a globe, six limbs, large eyes and six wings. The being claims to be a “Lunarian,” a man from our moon.

He is a professor and informs Alexander that he and his fellow Lunarians travel from planet to planet by manipulating gravity. They live in vast underground caverns on the moon, caverns with a breathable atmosphere. Their mastery of gravity is the key to their advanced technology.

The professor’s people have been observing Earth for an untold amount of time. James Alexander even learns that in the distant past humans had to fight intelligently evolving reptiles for planetary supremacy. The cavemen won.

The Lunarians grow vegetation in hydroponic trays and dispose of their dead through a disintegration process that breaks the bodies down into their base elements, thus nothing gets wasted. Though their own culture is socialistic the Lunarians have no shyness about earning profits by selling their advanced technology to other inhabited planets.  

The Lunarians have even developed methods of predicting the future. Alexander asks about Earth’s future and the professor from the moon is happy to lay it all out for the Earthling. Continue reading →

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February 14, 2026 · 2:28 am

TEEN TITANS: THE 1976 REVIVAL

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the 1976 return of DC ‘s Teen Titans team after a few year hiatus.

TEEN TITANS Vol 1 #44 (Nov 1976)

Title: The Man Who Toppled the Titans

Villain: Dr. Light

Synopsis: Dr. Light captures four of the former members of the Teen Titans – Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Speedy (should be called Red Arrow to avoid confusion about his m.o.). He wants to use them as bait in a trap to kill the Justice League. 

Malcolm Duncan, the black friend of the Teen Titans, decides that he will need superpowers to save the former teammates. He dons the exo-skeleton and shield of the Golden Age superhero the Guardian.

As the new Guardian he frees Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Speedy. The five of them defeat Dr. Light and decide to stay together to revive the Teen Titans team. Continue reading →

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February 13, 2026 · 2:03 am

DOES LOVE DIE WITH YOU? BY MIA WINHERTT

DOES LOVE DIE WITH YOU? (2025) – This is the first novel from fellow blogger Mia Winhertt, known previously for her excellent short works. The story is a romantic fantasy so it’s outside my usual type of reading material, but I found it a wonderfully written tale that can’t help but inspire emotional reactions from anyone who has ever been in love but was reluctant to open up about it.

Mia gives us Aaron Philip, who has been in love with Diya Awasthi for seven years but has concealed from her the depth of his emotions. On the day he at long last works up the resolve to confess his love for her he dies in an accident on his way to meet with Diya. Continue reading →

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February 10, 2026 · 4:33 pm

ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE NEW HUMANS (1909)

UgandaTHE NEW HUMANS (1909) – Written by B Vallance. No other name has come to light for the author of this thought-provoking work. Explorer Montgomery Merrick is roaming around the wilds of 1909 Uganda when he falls down a mountainside and into a concealed valley.

Merrick’s injuries are such that he does not expect to survive but he wakes up on an operating table in fine condition. Looking down at him are amoeboid humans who don barrel-shaped exo-skeletons whenever they need to keep their forms stable, as in during the surgery they were performing on Merrick.  

One of the beings speaks English and introduces himself to the recovering patient as the Chief Adaptor, who takes credit for “repairing” our hero. Merrick gradually becomes aware that his ultimate fate is still being debated by his odd saviors. Continue reading →

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February 7, 2026 · 12:22 am

FLASH: YEAR ONE (1940)

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the early adventures of the original Flash, Jay Garrick.

FLASH COMICS Vol 1 #1 (Jan 1940)

Title: Origin of the Flash

Villains: The Faultless Four

Synopsis: College senior Jay Garrick foolishly smokes while conducting atomic experiments with hard water/ heavy water. This exposes him to fumes which put him in a coma for a time. After regaining consciousness, Jay gradually becomes aware that he now has powers related to super-speed.

He graduates from Midwestern University and at age 21 starts work as an assistant professor at New York City’s Coleman University. He adopts the costumed identity of the Flash to fight the forces of evil, starting with a protection racket.

Jay’s love interest Joan Williams asks him to find her father, who has been abducted by enemy spies called the Faultless Four and led by the French Sir Satan. The Frenchman and his British, Russian and Slavic colleagues want her retired major father to reveal the secrets of America’s new Atomic Bombarder.

Joan learns that Jay Garrick is secretly the Flash as he rounds up the Faultless Four and frees her father. Continue reading →

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