Day: October 13, 2006

Flux is book two of Maps in a Mirror, the collected volume of short stories by Orson Scott Card. Of the seven stories, I found the last one, “The Originist,” the most compelling. Set in the Isaac Asimov’s Foundation world of Trantor, “The Originist” imagines some of the hinted-at creation of the Second Foundation.

More than most writers, Card seems to enjoy writing about his writing, explaining the context and the process. Since I enjoy much of his work, I appreciate the peek behind the curtain. If I enjoyed reading longer pieces online, then his website would be a treasure trove, but I can’t spend more time in front of a screen than I already do. Paper is my mental escape from the screen.

I bought Gold Mine for a bus ride home last week, and it barely lasted longer than that. Yes, another Wilbur Smith book (my previous mention), although this one is (for him) practically a short story, at only 263 pages. Only now am I noticing that this one was originally written in 1970, making it one of his earlier novels. It’s not particularly good, but it fits his pattern of historical fiction set in Africa, with heroic, roguish men winning business battles (and other kinds) at the less-than-genteel edge of civilization. This one is set in and around a gold mine (surprise!).

These are so-called guilty pleasures, but when I learn that the first two authors that Smith lists as his favorites are C.S. Forrester and Patrick O’ Brien, and Bernard Cornwell also makes the list of eight, then I suppose I know why I keep returning to his tales.

Gold Mine, though, is not his best.

I thoroughly enjoyed Bag Men, by Mark Costello. I finished this novel a few weeks ago, after picking it up this summer from a family bookshelf. I’m not sure whom I have to thank for putting it on that shelf, but I’m grateful.

At its core, the story is framed by a murder investigation, but mid-1960s Boston pops with Costello’s mix of religion, class, and (then) current events, like the criminalization of LSD. The writing is darker than, say, Dick Francis, but the vocabulary is similarly terse. Spare, even.

I’ll have to pick up Big If, his more well-known novel. Apparently Bag Men was published originallyunder a pseudonym, in 1997. His success with Big If brought Bag Men back in paperback under his own name.