Twice in Time ★★☆☆☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Twice in Time
Series: ----------
Authors: Manly Wade Wellman
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 168
Words: 47K

Synopsis:

From FictionDB.com

While vacationing in Italy, 19-year-old Leo Thrasher rashly experiments with a radical new science. The result: he "reflects" himself 500 years back in time and must deal with life in the middle ages as he strives to return to the present. And in the 20th century, the memoirs of Leonardo da Vinci are unearthed.

My Thoughts:

This was my third foray into the works of Manly Wade Wellman and I have to admit, I've been nothing but disappointed. Unless I can get my hands on the Silver John series or the John Thunstone series, I'll not be reading anything else by Wellman.

This book was stupid. The main character, Leo Thrasher, goes back in time, without giving it any thought and turns into Leo da Vinci. Makes me wonder if Tim Powers read this story and if it influenced his Anubis Gates any? If not, it's a remarkable coincidence.

So, Leo. He descibes his time mirror and goes into detail of what went into the making of it (super rare elements, machined metal parts measured down to the micrometer, etc, etc) and he somehow expects to be able to make one to return, in Italy in the 1500's? What kind of idiot is he? A big ultra-stupid idiot, that's what kind. It was just one ridiculous situation after another that either had me rolling my eyes or shaking my fist. I realized what Wellman was doing (ie, Leo was Da Vinci) about halfway through and I probably should have seen it much sooner. But I was distracted by all the stupid idiotic stuff going on.

I had higher hopes from Wellman. But the three books I've read by him have all been juvenile, simplistic, stooooopid and not entertaining. Adios amigo and don't let my lightsaber hit you where the Good Lord split you.

★★☆☆☆

• 
  All of My "Manly Wade Wellman" Reviews.

The Complete Hok the Mighty ★★✬☆☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Complete Hok the Mighty
Series: ----------
Authors: Manly Wade Wellman
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 265
Words: 99K

Synopsis:

Table of Contents

Novels

The Day of the Conquerors, Thrilling Wonder Stories, January 1940

Short Fiction

Battle in the Dawn, Amazing Stories, January 1939

Hok Goes to Atlantis, Amazing Stories, December 1939

Hok Draws the Bow, Amazing Stories, May 1940

Hok and the Gift of Heaven, Amazing Stories, March 1941

Hok Visits the Land of Legends, Fantastic Adventures, April 1942

The Love of Oloana, Pulse Pounding Adventure Stories #1, December 1986

Untitled Hok Fragment, Echoes of Valor II, August 1989

My Thoughts:

This review is Dedicated to Mrs Muggrage, because she's the only person I know who is really interested in Neanderthals. And this book has a lot of them in it. That being said, Mrs M, I wouldn't recommend this book to you at all.

The short and dirty is that this is a book of fictional pre-history and Hok the Mighty is a cromagnon man who does All the Things, Invents all the Things and Thinks All the Things. He invents the kiss, is the indirect cause of Atlantis being destroyed, invents the bow and arrow and fights pteradactyls while defending a tribe of Piltdown people. He also unites several tribes and drives out a tribe of Neanderthals who spend the rest of the book trying to take their area back.

So, the Piltdown tribe. If you didn't know, the Piltdown Man was supposed to be evidence of the missing link (which have to exist if you think evolution is true) only it turned out to be a massive fraud and only survived scrutiny as long as it did because its adherents wanted it to be true. So having a story about a tribe of them just made me laugh my head off. Poor Wellman. Don't believe everything scyenzetists tell you, you fool. They are people too and as such, just as scheming, corruptible and capable of lying as you are.

The neanderthals were presented much like how Crichton presented them in Eaters of the Dead, ie, brutish subhumans that were an evolutionary dead end branch on humanity's tree. Bestial and degraded with just enough cunning to be dangerous. And that is why I don't recommend this book to Mrs M. She can tell you all about how that portrayal is simply dead wrong on so many levels and from what I gather, evidence is pointing more and more to neanderthals being fully human and the differences no different than the differences between me and some guy from Africa.

So-so adventures that weren't bad but didn't age well because of the advance of knowledge. I would REALLY like to find the Silver John books by Wellman but as I noted in The Last Mammoth, they simply aren't available at prices I can justify. Maybe some day when I'm rich I'll track them down. But for now, I'm stuck with Hok the Mighty (and the Mighty Eyeroll of Bookstooge).

★★✬☆☆

• All of My "Manly Wade Wellman" Reviews.

The Last Mammoth ★★★✬☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Last Mammoth
Series: ----------
Authors: Manly Wade Wellman
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Western
Pages: 139
Words: 40K

Synopsis:

From the Publisher

Sam Ward was yearning for adventure when a Cherokee man arrived from a distant village with a tale of a monstrous hairy creature threatening his land. The formerly peaceful beast went rogue upon the death of its mate, and the chief of the Twilight People sent Otter to ask for help. Sam's quest quickly turns dangerous with new challenges and new enemies, but using their wits, skills, and courage, Sam and Otter finally face Giluhda, last of the living mammoths.

My Thoughts:

I was introduced to Manly Wade Wellman back in my middle grade days through his Silver John series, of which the library had several. In my desire to expand my reading circle I remembered those fantasy stories (or urban fantasy maybe?) and went alooking. Well, there don't appear to be any ebook version of Silver John and the hardcovers run up to $900, which is so out of my price range. Therefore I had to settle for some other stuff by Wellman and this is the first of the prizes I found.

This is an action/adventure Western about a woolly mammoth going mad and trying to destroy an indian village. The omens tell them they must find a white man to help kill the mammoth and so they gt our main character. He has a nice rifle given him by Daniel Boone and so of course it gets destroyed near the beginning of the story. Can't have the hero doing something silly like shooting the dang mammoth through the eye or something.

Overall, the interaction between the hero and his indian guide and friend was pleasant to read about. Seeing two brave men face danger together and overcome it is so much better than a lot of what gets written today.

At only 139 pages, this can slip into almost anyone's busy reading schedule, no matter who they are. Do you remember when books were regularly under 150 pages. Bookstooge remembers, and approves!

★★★✬☆