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Count Dracula escapes by the skin of his teeth from Romania, ends up in the Chelsea Hotel in New York, where the first drink of blood he finds is a junkie hooker.It's love at first bite, at least for Drac, Little Mary Sunshine has somewhat different ideas.
Humor in a jugular vein.
A down and dirty low budget movie adaptation is in the works. ... Read more

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For 300 years the Solarians had isolated themselves from the galaxy with the promise to reappear one day to bring victory. With the human race at stake in a war with machine-like beings, can Jay Palmer accept them and their dangerous plan to surrender Earth? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not Free SF Reader
Life has been going along happily for most people.Then, a seriously bad alien menace appears, and they have no hope of stopping it.

Their only hope lies with the Solarions, and no-one has had contact with these people for hundreds of years.One man has to contact them.Once accomplished, the Solarians have a plan, but the people are not sure that their plan isn't worse than what will happen already.

What science fiction should be
I have liked Norm Spinrad for many years, especially after fondly reading his off beat short stories such as Carcinoma Angels.He's not well known but this early effort is a wonderful read.He anticipates many advances we now take for granted.I bought an original paperwork in a half-price bookstore the other day and am flying through this sci fi adventure space opera story about a future battle with against the alien Doogs.Wish Hollywood would read this stuff and make movies out of it rather than crap like Riddick and 5th Element, or Star Wars for that matter.

Sol as a Weapon
Norman Spinrad is one of the long-term masters of science fiction, and this was his very ambitious debut novel from 1966. Here we see big ideas already developing, but Spinrad's ambition was unfocused, and this book creaks under its own weight. The story gets off to a pretty lousy start, in the middle of an over-described but under-conceived space battle with faceless alien enemies called the Duglaari. Spinrad tries to instill real science into his fiction, but accomplishes little more than made-up terms like "lasecannon" or "smell-organ." However, the middle of the novel gets more interesting, as Spinrad drops the pretensions of military sci-fi for pretty intriguing human speculation. We learn that in this distant future, humans have spread throughout the galaxy but are being slowly exterminated by the Duglaari, an alien race that are wonderfully and creatively inhuman. The bizarre society of the Duglaari is probably the most eye-popping aspect of this book. Meanwhile, the people who stayed behind on Earth isolated themselves from their fellow humans, and evolved into a new society called the Solarians, with all human potential realized. The Solarians have now reemerged with a humanistic plan to defeat the coldly logical Duglaari.

These are all bodacious concepts for a debut novel by a young writer, and Spinrad offered some pretty strong philosophy on the nature of humanity and man's potential, while exploring the differences between the righteous Solarians and the directionless humans of the rest of the galaxy. But this is where the ambition of the novel started to become a liability. There are many holes in Spinrad's conception of the Solarians, especially in the short amount of time in which they've evolved, and the implausibly of the social upheavals that got them to this point. Then the end of the novel degenerates into increasingly ridiculous political and military machinations, which get more and more hyperbolic and sensationalistic. We are rewarded with an avalanche of over-enthusiastic big thoughts on humanity's future, which are the thinnest possible result of Spinrad's earlier philosophical explorations. In the end, you can appreciate the ambitious big ideas of this novel, but you can only hope that Spinrad would develop more focus and conciseness as he went forward. And he did. [~doomsdayer520~] ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

thought-provoking solid science fiction collection
This collection consists of a novella and two short stories.All three tales entertain the reader with intriguing looks at society and how "abnormal" individuals try to fit or hide in plain sight.Thus Norman Spinrad does what he has done quite nicely since the 1960s, spin radical stories of odd relationships that cross horror and science fiction but all contain a reader looking at Alice looking in the Looking Glass with a ten foot tall twist to them.

The short stories focus on the bulimia vampire crowd fitting quite nicely with high society in a fancy restaurant or puking in a toilet ("The Fat Vampire"). Count Dracula provides a series of tiny vignettes on taking a bite out of the Big Apple after relocating to NYC because he knows the murders there are more sensational than any of his killings ("Vampire Junkies").

The title piece novella is Deus X.As the End Times seem to be upon humanity, the Pope must deal with a different "soul" than any he ever dealt with before in his Christian programming.This is a thought-provoking solid science fiction tale that ponders robotic dreams that are similar to Bradbury on Penguin Island.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Spinrad's 'Torch' saves a weak, depressing collection
The premise behind this volume is to present three novellas, a form not usually anthologized, by three important science fiction writers.The title is actually a bit misleading, since these stories don't focus very much on the theme of time.Instead, the common thread is one of secrecy.Each story features a secret that a select group is keeping from society as a whole.How these secrets are exposed tells us a great deal about how the authors see the foibles of the human race.

In Gregory Benford's "Threads of Time" an increasingly powerful religious group called the 'New Sons' hopes to keep an astonishing discovery from the public.The heroines's narrow escapes on the Moon are very effectively portrayed, but this reviewer found the ultimate resolution plain depressing, with little trace of any redemption for humanity, a criticism that has been leveled at Benford before.Clifford Simak's "The Marathon Photograph" is lighter, almost folksy at points, which undercuts any meaningful impression he may have wanted to create.The tale revolves around a secret lodge tucked away in the hills far from civilization, and the unfortunate death of its caretaker, an event that sets off a series of absurd co-incidences, the worst offense being that the photograph is discovered by the one person in the world who would recognize its significance.Even apart from that, the story doesn't really hang together very well.Simak puts plenty of wild gadgets and interesting ideas into this story, but doesn't take the time to develop them fully or even integrate them very well.There isn't enough focus to create the one specific effect that the ending calls for, and the story falls rather flat despite its revelations.Norman Spinrad's "Ride the Torch" is very good, easily the best of the three, although one wishes that the ending (with God and Satan arguing) wasn't quite so cheesy.But prior to that Spinrad tells a good story, quickly sketching the unique social arrangement, getting us interested in the main character, throwing in lots of futuristic technology and effects, and managing to remain upbeat despite the most dire of circumstances humanity could possibly face: being trapped in space with nowhere to go.

If you pick up this book, read Benford's story when you're mad at the world - his cynicism should suit your mood perfectly.Simak's story can be read any time; its scrambled intentions probably won't have much impact either way.But save the Spinrad tale for when you have the time to savor it. It's not quite top-notch, but it's almost enough to make this collection worth while. ... Read more

Product Description
FEATURES: The weird animation of Bill Plympton; Viktor Koen's biomechanical visions; Exclusive excerpt: The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia.

INTERNATIONAL FICTION SPOTLIGHT: "First Photograph" by Zoran Zivkovic; "The Gong" by Sara Genge; "The Dream of the Blue Man" by Nir Yaniv; "The Wordeaters" by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz; "Out of Sacred Water" by Juraj Cervenak; "Time and the Orpheus" by chiles samaniego; more.

POETRY: "The Monster With the Shape of Me" by Brian J. Hatcher.

NONFICTION: The Library: Elizabeth Genco talks with author Lauren Groff about writing The Monsters of Templeton; The Bazaar: Jessica Joslin's crazy steampunk critters; Weirdism: Robert Isenberg on the cinema's latest obsession with apocalyptic futures; Lost in Lovecraft: Kenneth Hite dives literarily into the Pacific Ocean and pulls up H.P. Lovecraft; Harvey Pelican & Co.: special offers from the esoterica king. ... Read more

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The sleazy staff members of television station KLAX become hostages to a group of ecoterrorists who wire the station with enough explosives to destroy most of the local area, and the KLAX staff decides to take advantage of all the excitement. Reprint. NYT. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

TV OR NOT TV
When this was written in 1995, many of the ideas used by author Spinrad may have seemed controversial and/or enlightening, but so much has happened with terrorism, the media and the government, that all of PICTURES AT 11 seems tired and redundant.And Spinrad's book is much too long to keep you really involved; it's one of those books you read in spurts, and to his credit, Spinrad does make you wonder how it will all turn out.Suffice to say, he stacks the deck in favor of the ecoterrorists who take over a small tv station in LA and make ridiculous demands on the US, and hold the newsteam hostage.There is way too much dead time, debates over our misuse of mother Earth and the usual governmental villains.The hostages are held for 8 days and t.v. is used as a medium to advance the goals of the Green Army Commandos, and the careers of some of the news team.It feels like an 8 day read as well.I just find it hard to feel sympathy towards people who insist that everyone in the world should feel the way they do and if they don't, then it's okay to kidnap people and threaten them "in the cause of the future."That's just me folks...

Kinda spooky...
A lot of deja vu in the book! What year was Waco? Waco and Branch Davidians kept running through my mind with the Govt response to the takeover. Its copywritten in '94 but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Also, anyone remember when that LA station was taken over? I think they just had the anchor read a statement on air but it was cut off by the network, so it only aired locally.

I have to admit this was the best of Spinrad's stuff that I have read so far.

More Deja Vu with the CIA threatenting to blow up the building and blame it on the terrorists themsleves if they do not surrender. It reminded me of the many 911 consipiracy theories flaoting about.

Again, deja vu with instapoll and our recent elections Exit Poll! I think the instapoll is a bit of unattainable tech. Instantaneous public response to events. Unless the public is Borg and they have implants, there is always going to be a time lag between a person deciding their opinion, dialing and getting through. The media and public response through some form of instapoll has been in two books of his I've read (Pink and Blue War).

A really enjoyable read! I was put off when the terrorists responded so readily to the attraction and offers of powerful media and I couldn't believe that they were really on the air all the way to the end. Carl's paranoia of all the CIA plants- I figured they had cut the transmission and had the Network manager playing along and how would they know the movie agent was real?Regardless, just suspend disbelief and enjoy the read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Attn: ADMIN please fix this link
Admin, please fix this link.5 STARS ARE FOR ANY BOOK BY NORMAN SPINRAD.Clicking on the "Riding the Torch, by Norman Spinrad" link from
mindblowing books, A Listmania list by "shamelessh", results in a page full of reviews for an X-men novel.You X-men fans should read some Spinrad, too.You'll dig him.You too, admin.
... Read more

Product Description
DAW hardcover with dust jacket, Science Fiction Book Club reprint of mass paperback original, SFBC #5524, 1st club printing Aug. 1981 (code L39), 243 pages, cover art by John Gampert. Exclusive hadcover edition. 8vo (5.5" x 8.5" tall) 1982 Locus Poll Award, Best Anthology (Place: 7). Includes: Variation on a Theme from Beethoven, by Sharon Webb (1981 Locus Poll Award, Best Novelette (Place: 9)); Beatnik Bayou, by John Varley (nominated, 1980 Nebula Award, 1981 Hugo Award. 1981 Locus Poll Award, Best Novelette (Place: 2)); Elbow Room, by Marion Zimmer Bradley; The Ugly Chickens, by Howard Waldrop (winner, 1980 Nebula Award, 1981 World Fantasy Award; nominated, 1981 Balrog Award, 1981 Hugo Award); Prime Time, by Norman Spinrad (1981 Locus Poll Award, Best Short Story (Place: 11)); Nightflyers, by George R. R. Martin (winner, 1980 Analog Award. 1981 Locus Poll Award, Best Novella (Place: 1). nominated, 1981 Hugo Award); A Spaceship Built of Stone, by Lisa Tuttle; Window, by Bob Leman (nominated, 1980 Nebula Award; 1981 Locus Poll Award, Best Short Story (Place: 4)); The Summer Sweet, the Winter Wild, by Michael G. Coney; Achronos, by Lee Killough. ... Read more

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JUPITER AWARD, HUGO NOMINEE SPACE SAGA OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AGAINST THE VOID! Their trek across the stars had lasted a thousand years. 2400 torch ships in a vain search for a planet that would support human life. Without a haven soon their spirits would die and the human race along with them. One group knew the unspeakable truth, the Pilots. So they enlisted trek's most brilliant senso composer to tell their story. But first he would have to face the ordeal that had driven other men mad and enter the great void of the stars alone! Written by award winner and Star Trek author Norman Spinrad, author of A World Between, Bug Jack Barron, A Child of Fortune and The Druid King. ... Read more