Paintings and Ice Schooners Lead Me Down A Rabbit Hole

Beautifully packaged parcel from Peahen In The Tree

When I started putting my thoughts together about returning to the world of blogging a year or so ago, I never imagined I'd be writing so much about my book collection.

But then I discovered Booktube, and my perspective shifted somewhat.

The other day, a random eBay advert hit my eyeballs for different edition of a key book from my formative years as a young gamer: Wereblood (or, in this iteration, Were Blood) by Erik Iverson (aka alt-history maven Harry Turtledove).

My 'new' copy of Wereblood

But what made this printing of particular interest to me was the painted Boris Vallejo cover (see above), which bore no relevance to the Gerin The Fox story told in Wereblood whatsoever.

In fact I knew it from a 1985 roleplaying supplement from Mayfair Games' Role Aids line that I was mildly obsessed with as a youth. Ice Elves did exactly what it said on the tin (and in Vallejo's 1978 painting).

It was an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure and rules supplement that explored the idea of a race of elves living in the frozen North, getting around on ultracool "ice riggers".

The reason I was rather hooked on this supplement is because of the similarities, especially in the whole "ships that glide over ice" aspect, to the first Michael Moorcook book I ever read: The Ice Schooner.

However, the more I thought about this - especially when my parcel from online book trader Peahen In The Tree arrived - the more surprised I was by the fact that Vallejo's art didn't decorate the covers of the either of the two editions I have of The Ice Schooner.

My two copies of The Ice Schooner

But a wee bit of Googling quickly revealed it had, of course, been used as a cover illustration for a 1978 Dell Publishing edition of The Ice Schooner:

Was this painting originally commissioned for this book?

A key aspect of the book that introduced me to the wonderful writing of Michael Moorcock is that it was another purchase from P&P Book Exchange in Goods Station Road, Tunbridge Wells.

This is the same - sadly, long-gone - second hand book store where, four decades ago, I discovered the cosmic horror of HP Lovecraft for the first time and was transformed from a "dabbler" in comics to full-on collector when I purchased piles of Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans and John Byrne Fantastic Four comics.

It's no understatement to say that one store played a major role in shaping my lifelong geeky interests. 

The world needs more browsable, brick-and-mortar, second hand book shops.

"We Are Gathered Here Today To Geek Out!"

Me with The Real Kent Ghostbusters at Geek Mania in Tonbridge

Today Rachel and I attended the first Geek Mania show (convention? gathering?) at the Angel Centre, Tonbridge, and it was magnificent.

There were stalls selling books, games, artwork, badges, dice, LARPing gear, and trading cards (so many cards), as well as participation tables for 5e Dungeons & Dragons, various shades of Warhammer, card games (so many cards), Beyblades, figure painting, a lightsaber training academy, and probably other things I missed.

A selection of the amazing props brought along by The Real Kent Ghostbusters

Rachel and I posing with Slimer

I'd really hoped to get Rachel into an "introduction to Dungeons & Dragons" session, but we were there around 11.30 and the tables had proved so popular that the first available slot was 2.30pm... and it was unlikely we'd still be around then (as I have limited reserves of stamina).

The participation tables were packed from the moment we arrived, and just got busier

These were the lightsaber tutors, but they mainly ran classes for younglings through the day

The vibe of the whole show was very welcoming and everyone we spoke to was incredibly friendly, delighted we were there, and happy to talk about whatever geeky niche was their forte.

There were cosplayers - always happy to pose for pictures - and LARPers, with a vast selection of costumes, masks, and boffer weapons for sale. 

I achieved a lifelong ambition and purchased my first pair of elf ears! 

Incredible array of costuming and weaponry from Gem's Trading Company 

"You've made an old man very happy," I told the lady who sold me these ears!!!

I strongly suspect I was one of - if not the - oldest people there (knocking on the door to sixty this year), but it didn't matter. There was a youthful, positive atmosphere that I hope translated into cash in the pockets of the organisers so that this will become a regular event.

Geek Mania was the brainchild of Planet JJs Geekery, which, in very real terms, is close to being at the bottom of our road (although too far for me to walk there and back, sadly).

I really must try and get signed up for regular RPG events at the store, which I have to confess we've only actually been in once. Rachel is supportively offering to be my taxi to and from the store if I join their "club".

I also believe that Geek Mania being organised locally is a massive plus for the future of the show, as there's an automatic community investment here.

Either side of the Pandemic, there were several attempts to make "comic-cons" a thing at the Angel Centre, but they never really took off.

Run by travelling groups who organise such events around the country, there was no great incentive to come back if they didn't rake in the cash they had been hoping for at the first attempt.

That said, Geek Mania was definitely busier than any of the "comic-cons" I've attended at the Angel Centre over the years.

Overall, Rachel and I stayed for about an hour-and-a-half, which wasn't too bad by my usual variable health standards, only having to have a single sit down and cookie break.

Even though Pokémon is an alien language to me and seemed to dominate every other stall, I still managed to pick up some mighty treasures (as well as my ears) from the traders:

My Geek Mania haul

My first purchase of the day was a He-Man Funko Pop (because, like dice, you can never have too many Pops). Sadly, they were all out of Frieren-related Pops.

I was excited to find a couple of boxes of old 60s/70s pulp sci-fi anthology magazines on the floor of a bookseller's stall.

She very kindly picked them up and put them on the table so I could sort through them properly.

My main guiding principle here was looking for authors that Michael K Vaughan had mentioned on his Booktube channel, so that it appeared as though I knew what I was doing.

And finally I bought a cute little pocket zine from local artist Katherine Burgess, whose style and obvious talent made me wish I was producing a game - or a supplement - so I could hire her to illustrate it.

"Tonbridge. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

The Adventures of Breckinridge Elkins by Robert E. Howard

Me and Breckinridge Elkins

This week on his Robert E Howard Show segment, my favourite booktuber, Michael K Vaughan, discusses the latest release from the Robert E. Howard Foundation Press, The Adventures of Breckinridge Elkins.

I just happen to have purchased this hardback tome recently (now that I'm trying to go 'all-in' on this line of definitive publications of Howard's work), although I have to confess the only Elkins' "tall tale" I've read is the one that was published in Savage Sword of Conan magazine last year.

Breckinridge isn't a Howard character I'm particularly au fait with. But Michael does a great job in this video of convincing me that I'll probably enjoy the book, as it seems to bear comedic similarities with my beloved Sailor Steve Costigan yarns, as well as being part of Howard's Western work.

TODAY IS ROBERT E HOWARD'S 120th BIRTHDAY

It's the 120th anniversary of the birth of the greatest pulp adventure writer of all time, Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan, Solomon Kane, Sailor Steve Costigan, King Kull et al.

In the videos above people way smarter and more erudite than I share their love and appreciation for the man and his inspirational and enduring writing.

And what better time to make your own contribution to the legacy of Robert E. Howard by supporting  the Robert E. Howard Foundation, which needs funds urgently for the upkeep of Howard's former home - now a museum of his life and work.

"...the home of Robert E. Howard requires some serious repairs: its foundation and piers are rotting and collapsing, there is termite damage to a large section of an outside wall, and many of the floors are starting to buckle and drop. While the hard-working folks of Project Pride in Cross Plains have restored and cared for the House since acquiring it back in the 1980s, their small volunteer army cannot address the extensive repairs that will be needed. Professional restoration is required for this 100+ year old home on the National Historical Register, and it is needed now, before the damage gets worse.

"Because the house is on the National Historical Register and the State of Texas Historical Places list, the cost of repairs will be affected. All repairs will require contractors that have experience with this type of historical preservation, as we will need to keep the House as close to its original state as possible, during its historical period (i.e., when REH lived there)."

You can support this fundraiser here.

PROJECT 60: What's To Be Read?

Inspired, in large part, by Booktube - and Michael K Vaughan, in particular - I'm setting myself some personal "book reading challenges" for 2026.

In recent years my reading has gotten a bit slack, for various reasons (a combination of health, the easy ubiquity of television, and general laziness), and so I have been inspired to inject a bit of discipline into this important pastime.

The first challenge (seeking to emulate Michael's "reading Superman every day") is to Read Judge Dredd Every Day.

The plan is to start at the first page of the first Complete Case Files (which reprint every Dredd yarn in chronological order) and read on from there. Over the years I have accumulated (as shown above) the Complete Case Files 1 - 20, with some waifs and strays from the later volumes.

So, that should keep me going for a good while. 

The other challenge I'm setting myself is to read the new Conan The Barbarian hardback novels (see below), published by Titan, as well as the Red Sonja novel written by the peerless Gail Simone.

I think this is a solid basis for getting some organised reading going in the New Year.

Hopefully, by then, I will have made significant headway into my backlog of monthly comics (I'm pretty sure I'm six or so months behind on most titles), as well as trimming my pull-list to prevent such scenarios arising again (and for financial and space reasons).

There's also a new Philip Reeve book, Bridge of Storms, due in February, which will obviously jump to the top of my TBR pile the moment it drops on my doormat.

Audiobook-wise, I'm working my way steadily through Stephen King's Dark Tower saga - with diversions to other worlds between each volume - and hope to start book four, Wizard and Glass, in late January/early February.

This will be new territory for me, as I'd originally read the first three books pretty soon after they were published (not that I could remember much past the first, so the audios felt like new stories anyway).

This is an exciting prospect - even if Wizard and Glass is over 27 hours long - as I've oft wondered how the tale of Roland the Gunslinger concludes... and have been very diligent in avoiding spoilers for all these years.

I have a shelf of King books, outside of The Dark Tower they're mainly collections of short stories but I also have The Shining, which may get a look-in next year, depending on how the Conan reading goes.

Stephen King shelf - with my original Dark Tower cassettes (left), with King reading the story

HEALTH UPDATE: Baby Steps!

Once again, I am learning how to walk. I did it as an infant, I did it after my stroke 20 years ago, and now - for currently unknown reasons - I am having to do it again.

My MRI last month showed that I had a slipped disc, but the analysis of that was that it didn't explain the loss of strength in my legs and my sudden inability to walk.

While I await next week's appointment at the orthopaedics department, I've been testing the limits of my strength and stability by first walking and down the stairs (using the extra handrail that Rachel's dad installed) - instead of dragging myself up and down on my arse - and am now trying to walk (short distances) from either end of the staircase.

As long as there's something for me to hold on to you with one hand - or even touch with my fingertips - I'm able to make it to rooms off the first floor landing or, on the groundfloor, into the lounge.

I even made it to the backdoor one day this week - essentially walking the length of the house.

The other positive thing I did was finish the two books I was reading: Stephen King's Carrie and "Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?", an in-depth, graphic novel biography of Ed Gein, the inspiration for Norman Bates, Leatherface et al. 

I'd read a huge chunk of Carrie while I was waiting around in hospital for my tests in mid-July, but then hadn't picked it up since, due to a combination of physical discomfort and depression. 

But I was determined to finish it this week, as my "TBR" pile continues to grow into a mountain.

To celebrate this achievement, Rachel - not a fan of the horror genre at all - heroically agreed to watch the classic, original Carrie as our Saturday evening film.

However, I couldn't find my blu-ray disc of the movie (as I'm currently unable to fully search my double-stacked library of films), so we watched Psycho instead - which Rachel had already seen.

Hopefully, I'll be able to unearth Carrie by next weekend.

Now that I've cleared the mental blockage in my reading, I've got several books lined up to read next, starting with the incredibly weird-sounding Crypt of The Moon Spider, by Nathan Ballingrud, that was recommended on McNulty's Book Corral.

After that should come James Herbert's The Rats, The Tourist's Guide to Haunted Wellman by my Facebook friend Charles R Rutledge and the late James A Moore, and Stephen King's The Shining.

I haven't read The Rats since prep school in the '70s, where the book was a big hit among my young peers and caused a furore amongst the school authorities who banned us from reading it - thus making it more enticing. I couldn't find an affordable copy of the edition I read back then, but did find the 50th anniversary edition... which made me feel old.

The idea is build up a head of steam with my rekindled reading drive to give me the mental momentum to tackle The Shining.

If all goes to plan, I suspect that tome could keep my stroke-addled brain occupied for the rest of 2025 (at the very least).

I thought if I was going to give one of King's doorstop books a go, it might as well be the one whose story I'm most excited to read.

I only really know The Shining from Kubrick's 1980 movie (and Mike Flanagan's powerful 2019 sequel, Doctor Sleep), but am well aware that King didn't like Kubrick's take and much of the source material was ignored or rewritten.

So, I felt I owed to myself to discover the "real" story of The Overlook Hotel.

The Importance of Superheroes

Superman and The Amazing Spider-Man by Ross Andru

Booktube supremo Michael K Vaughan presents a 20-minute video essay on the "importance of superheroes", which I agree with 100 per cent, for the regular Epic Comic Book Wednesday slot on his channel.

Who's Ready For Some Ruff Justice?

I suspect the cover is a strong clue to the quality of the Ruff Justice series

The arrival of any eBay purchase brings with it a certain frisson of excitement, but it's been a long while since I was as hyped as I was about today's arrival of 10 trashy Western novels all the way from the Good Ol' US of A.

This was my very first purchase from eBay in the States (as opposed to the UK, where I've shopped frequently since the year 2000) and it granted me a thrilling point-by-point ability to track the parcel on its 15 day voyage from Oklahoma to my front door.

My new Ruff Justice collection

But what had driven me to make such a trans-Atlantic investment?

Booktube, of course!

Late last month, my favourite Booktuber, Michael K Vaughn, took delivery of a box of Westerns that he'd been sent ahead of June on The Range. 

Among this collection was a book from a 1980's series I'd never heard of before: Ruff Justice.

I was immediately hooked by its obvious low-brow, sex-and-violence trashiness and knew I had to get some Ruff Justice titles for my growing collection.

But it turned out that even the individual titles (and Goodreads says there's 28 in the "adult Western" series) are nigh on impossible to find over here in the UK or are ridiculously pricey when they do appear.

So, I gave up hope of ever getting to read the adventures of former army scout Ruffin T Justice, and just kept my fingers crossed that maybe one day my eBay alert would flash up an affordable edition.

But then later, just Googling the series name threw up a link to eBay in the States. Normally I'd just move on, ignore it, and keep hunting on this side of The Pond. 

But the 10 books listed in the bundle looked in decent shape and once I'd calculated the combined cost of the books and shipping it worked out at just over a couple of quid per volume. I thought that was really reasonable, and an investment that wasn't likely to come along again any time soon.

So I pulled the trigger.

And, boy, I'm glad I did. 

The books look great and I can't wait to dive into the first (Widow Creek, number four in the series).

As someone who hungrily devoured Mack Bolan: The Executioner pulp novels in his formative years, I'm braced for a certain level of glorious crassness (not that I recall any rumpy-pumpy in The Executioner, that was all just killing).

It has to be said that the few reviews I've seen online for this less well-known Western series (written by Paul Lederer under the pseudonym of Warren T Longtree and published by Signet) are a mixed bag but generally aren't exactly flattering. 

But who cares, right?

I wonder if Ruffin T Justice will find his way into my Dead Man's Hand games or possibly some future roleplaying game scenario?

Only time will tell.

Before we go our separate ways, I must point out that I was incredibly impressed with the packaging of these books (I guess I'm used to Amazon's often 'devil-may-care approach to shipping books).

Here's a photo-record of my unboxing experience:

Robert E Howard: The Life and Times of a Texas Author

The last estimate I got from Amazon for a delivery date said Robert E Howard: The Life and Times of a Texas Author might not show up until November - it arrived today!

While I have a lot of Howard's work in paperback form, I find as I get older I'm more comfortable with hardbacks (the text is usually larger for one thing).

Willard M Oliver's The Life and Times of a Texas Author is the latest addition to my growing library of hardback books by or about Howard, and comes highly recommended from a number of Howard aficionados whose opinions I value.

This tome is published by University of North Texas Press, while the rest of my Howard hardbacks are from The Robert E Howard Foundation, which appears to be putting out gorgeous new collections monthly.

 I will probably dig into the lovely new fiction books first, but this biography is on the "to be read" list for later in the year. Its speedy arrival across The Pond rather caught me off-guard.

My growing collection of REH hardbacks

Michael K Vaughan Launches 'June On The Range'

My favourite Booktuber, Michael K Vaughan, has officially launched his annual Western reading "challenge" for next month: June On The Range.

Reading Goals 2025

I'm reading Westerns again... for the first time in decades

For the last 18 months or so I'd hoped that I could convince myself to do do more 'constructive' things with my free time. 

Ultimately, though, I found myself spending a lot of time watching television. And I mean a LOT.

I've always enjoyed TV and movies at home, but really this got out of hand. 

I certainly wasn't helped by the constantly expanding library of channels available to us, through Sky and various streaming platforms.

So, it wasn't as though I was consuming mental garbage, but still the number of shows I became addicted to ended up eating into my time more than I could really justify.

I also watched a lot of movies (although possibly not as many as usual... for reasons), and was particularly impressed by the second part of the epic Dune adaptation.

This convinced to take another crack (my third or fourth?) at trying to read the book. So I acquired the gorgeous new edition from Gollancz, then got Dune Messiah from Rachel as a Christmas present (see below).

The third of the original trilogy, by Frank Herbert, comes out later this year, so I have set myself the possibly overambitious goal (given how slow I actually read these days) of reading the three books in 2025.

My new editions of the first two Dune novels

However, in recent months I've also discovered a pair of "booktubers" who have inspired me to focus more on reading, beyond my usual "I have to read stuff that informs whatever gaming project I'm thinking about at the time".

Both McNulty's Book Corral and and Michael K Vaughan (who is not the same person as comic book writer Brian K Vaughan, despite what my addled brain kept trying to tell me) love pulp books, horror, old sci-fi, westerns, and vintage comics, which corresponds to my own preferences.

The Book Corral even piqued my interest in reading Westerns again (something I haven't done seriously for decades).

So, following the show's recommendation, I picked up Peter Brandvold's Nordic & Finn, the first book in a new series, as it tells the tale of a rugged mountain man who adopts a stray dog, and the scrapes they get into.

Rather chaotically, as is my wont when I'm suddenly "inspired" in this manner, I've also started listening to an audiobook of another of Brandvold's books, Bloody Joe.

I know it's kind of 'cheating' but I still consume a majority of books via the audio format, which allows me to "hear" a story in the bath or last thing at night, before I grab a few hours of sleep.

This also allows me to revel in the many, many Doctor Who (and Whoniverse-adjacent) audio dramas being produced by Big Finish. Currently this is the best source for new Who material, the present run of televised episodes being very underwhelming.

Comics-wise, my pull-list continues to get whittled down, but, unexpectedly, DC is making a strong comeback these days, which - along with indies such as Mad Cave's excellent Flash Gordon range - are now dominating Marvel.