an interesting theoretical idea, that of introducing and partially developing multiple plots and plot devices one upon another in ever-more intensively recomplicating succession, but resolving none - until the final moment/final paragraphs of the final chapter, where all of the climaxes occur one after another in rapid succession, hopefully leaving the reader - if any have stuck it out this far - and, doubtless, the author, weak from the breakneck speed of the ultimate arrival of the long-delayed multiple climaxes.

(yes, the symbolism is obvious, and was equally doubtlessly intended.)

unfortunately, it doesn't work: the absence of even minor plot resolutions along the way make for a deeply unsatisfying slog of a read, which the pyrotechnical piling-atop-one-another of the multiple climaxes doesn't adequately reward.°

it arouses some interest to begin with, but it's too boring, for far too long, so that one's lost interest even in the plot lines one can remember, by the time the niagara of denouements commences, and continues, and continues. . .
.
.
° - and probably inherently never could have, unless it were possible to reward readers synaesthesiastically along the way, with interwoven sensory evocations of the equivalents of polyphonic melodies moving through chords and passing dissonances by means of written descriptions of smell, touch, hearing, and sight - which yr hmbl srppnt. suspects might well potentially constitute the ultimate in sensual (and probably erotic) writing. which this most decidedly is not, alas.

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mildly humorous, mildly erotic (yr hmbl srppnt. supposes) account of the sexual odyssey of a pretty strictly hetero male human spaceman amongst an assortment of mildly modified humano-form, mildly alien, also pretty strictly heterosexual societies. it incorporates vonnegut's short piece in "god bless you, mr. rosewater", q.v., quoting from a then-unwritten novel by his fictional best-selling but permanently bread-lined sf author.

he undergoes occasional body modifications, mostly/more-or-less voluntarily, to fit in with his hostesses (as it were), the most interesting (?) - at least memorable - of which is the extension by a couple of more-or-less consciously-controllédly steerable yards (or metres) of his penis, after the body pattern of all (undisfigured) men on the particular planet.

the cover of the 12/1974 issue of the magazine of fantasy & science fiction, q.v. featuring the first half of the two-part serialisation of "venus" is a (rather more interesting than that by gadino on the star uk p/b and the dell merkin mmpb original book publication) painting by ron walotsky quoting the boticelli painting. part two was in f&sf 1/1975, q.v..

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#1 of far too many; they start off as competent sub-burroughsian, with a little idiocy, rapidly start filtering in heavier stupidity along the lines of "all modern women need for true happiness is to be enslaved by a powerful man, so they can be fucked sufficiently hard and often they can forget all the nonsense of trying to use their brains" - and they manage to go downhill from there!

the first three are worth the time taken to read them, but do not continue very much further. yhbw!

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awful. was written to complete the andre norton alphabet of novels - a fan pointed out she'd almost the entire alphabet, missing "q" and (iirc) one - or two - other letter/s: but that doesn't justify this pale, thin fictionalisation of a frpg adventure. even though it's probably the first use of an frpg world as the setting of a fantasy novel - avoid.

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A lovingly researched book which should appeal to all 45catters! Brian's enthusiasm for the hidden treasures on budget labels comes across clearly and he has unearthed the entrepreneurs and artists behind many of the best examples.

Brian continues to research his subject and welcomes contributions from other knowledgeable collectors, which promises a symbiotic alliance with 45cat and its Worlds. I look forward to his forthcoming book on R&B budget albums.

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"Most books on the subject of film noir cover only well-known movies in their filmographies, such as The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and so on. But these were all A productions. What Mr. Lyons has done is dust off those B films that have been sitting on studio shelves, those which rarely, if ever, appear on television, even at three in the morning, and has some fun doing it. Thankfully, the terms 'mise-en-scene,' 'aesthetic reversals,' and 'rhetorical form' do not appear in his text."

-- Gerald Petievich, author of the books To Live and Die in L.A. and Shakedown

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William K. Everson's seminal and thoughtful re-examination of horror films previously relegated to the arena of juvenile interest. Everson single-handedly jump started an entire cottage industry with this, inspiring publications such as Starlog, Fangoria, Scarlet Street, and Filmfax, not to mention publishers McFarland Press, and Midnight Marquee.
Should be the cornerstone of every fan of fantastic film.

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Excellent book covering 39 films including White Zombie, I Walked with a Zombie, Weird Woman, Angel Heart, and The Serpent and the Rainbow.
Two appendices: Pseudoo-Voodoo films (borderline films), and Boob Toob Hoodoo (made-for-television films).

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Of the killings in this mystery Richard Starnes says, "These murders are motivated by lust for money or lust for somebody else's woman. But I would not say they are typical murders. Typical murders are sordid; these are fun."

-from the very first page of the book

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Interesting book beginning with the Country Swing bands like Spade Cooley, Hank Penny and Tommy Duncan but strangely arrives quickly in California and Capitol Records..rather than the titled "South West"
Capitol's Lee Gillette and Ken Nelson are included along with Tennessee Ernie, Buck Owens and Cliffie Stone.
Guitarists Jimmy Wyble, Roy Lanham and Speedy West are discussed along with the constantly moving gangs of sidemen. Even Willie Nelson closes out the book

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Interesting history of the Chelsea Hotel in New York,for me,personally the interest starts about half way through,from the sixties,seventies and on (music wise).A place that was home/temporary home to many of the day's musicians,artists,poets etc,and where Sid and Nancy had an apartment,until she was knifed to death,"Sid reportedly said (high)"I killed her....can't live without her"but he also seemed to mutter through his tears "she must have fallen on the knife".Plenty of tales of excess as you can imagine,drug-fuelled parties,orgies,etc,etc,also (unbelievably) where Jimi Hendrix got mistaken for the hotel bell-boy (cringe:(.Worth a look.

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if you greatly enjoyed the lensmen series of books by e. e. smith in your youth, still enjoy re-reading them, and wish for more, these three novels° by david a. kyle are well worth investigating - but n.b. the standard of writing, as well as the style thereof, does not improve upon "doc" smith's own.

- elsewise, you'd prob'ly be best-advised to pass these honest hommages by; the revisiting of "creaky classics" by other hands rarely pays dividends to those who "were not there at the time".

° - not a trilogy: not linked by aught more than background setting of the lensmen universe; the title of a fourth alien lensmen novel, "the red lensman", was rumoured, but no such novel was published, and no ms. has ever come to light.

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I'm always reluctant to give up on a book but a third of the way through this one I had to ditch it. I wasn't sure about it from the first page really, but I persevered hoping it would improve. The writing style is a bit basic, and although parts of the plot are potentially quite intriguing, it's all just a bit daft and not entirely believable. Main character Angel's sudden transformation from battered prostitute to streetbound ass-kicking mercenary isn't properly explained and just seems slightly ridiculous. Mark's realisation about what happened to him as a child is all too convenient, coming as it does after (we're told) years and years of him remembering nothing at all - but then, because the plot requires it, he remembers - just like that. Just not convincing at all. Added to that some of the dialogue is laughable.

Not a bad story as such... just badly realised, and way too linear as well. Difficult to recommend this one.

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This is Nietszche's masterwork... And great source of bother, to say the least.

It discusses issues of morality, and how a superior morality from that which ages of Christianity calcified into dogma might be achieved.

His great proposal here was the proverbial "Breaking of the tables", a phrase which has passed from this book into modern culture to describe the perilous undertaking of breaking up old patterns of thought, of overcoming the habit of living according accepted, and long established understandings of moral virtue, as described in scriptures, and living by rote, in compliance with the superficial knowledge of those virtues long since "set in stone"

(You might equate this then with the smashing up of the Ten Commandments).

He describes race of people (you can begin to see where the trouble comes from already) of superior moral worth, able to live according to their own moral determinations, and who can as cast aside a set of morals in favour of some new moral understanding when such appears, and suits them to do so.... A kind people able to live according to a an ever evolving morality.

Supermen.

The Superman.

This, of course, was the idea from this book that later Nazi Germany seized upon to describe their "Master-race", and justify their abominable deeds.

A wilful misunderstanding!

...as can be plainly seen from even a cursory read of this book, where Nietzsche is at pains to differentiate between this "superman", and another species he calls: "The Ultimate Man".

According to Nietzsche, the Ultimate man is one who believes himself to be the ultimate expression of moral virtue, the end point of the process, and the ultimate reference point of such moral considerations... he says it, thinks it, or does it, therefore it is just and right, because it is he who does it.

Whereas the superman takes his reference from truth alone... external to himself, and not determined by himself.

So Nazi Germany took the idea f the "Superman", and applied it to themselves, and in so doing, simply became the "Ultimate" men... a curse, and danger to the world, and all and any in it.
Of Course, there were many other such ingredients borrowed, pilfered, and stolen from other works, from other cultural histories besides this work, and all, along with this, were bakes up in their hideous cake according to their own ends, and to their own purpose, as suited them best.

But even on an individual basis, a reader must take great care when reading this, as to adopt this philosophy wholesale is to abandon established moral considerations altogether, even if they are correct, and simply by virtue of the fact that they are old...

Nietzsche himself, through this, and other works, attempted to do so... and died, insane.

In short, it's one thing to look to new horizons of moral possibility, but you can't just let go of everything to do it... you won't know where you are, if you burn the old landmarks to the ground.

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Genius.

A very simple and elegant idea that is endlessly meaningful and poignant in any age:

It is the story of a square, who lives in a two dimensional world, with other geometric shapes (triangles, and other assorted polygons), who believes his world to be the only possible manner of existence.... until one day, a three dimensional shape enters his world:

A sphere

...who presence is detected by the square only as a circle of increasing and decreasing circumference as he passes through his two dimensional plane of existence, which the sphere does to prove to the square that he is of the extra-dimensional variety.

To prove that other manners of existence, um... exist, he takes the square to a one dimensional world which is organised as a line, and each of the inhabitants is a piece of that line of varying length, and who jostle for position on the line to organise their social structure, just as the square, in his two dimensional world must feel the edges and corners of the other two dimensional inhabitants to know each other, in what shape each other is.

After taking the square high above his own world, to offer him an overview of it, in a perspective he'd never seen before... the square asks the sphere:

"What about a Four Dimensional World?"

to which the sphere essentially replies:

"Don't be silly... there's no such thing!"

Edwin A. Abbott (1838-1926), was a school headmaster, and "Teacher of Genius" at the City Of London School.

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the not-entirely coherent memoirs of one engendered by the devil upon a woman, so half-human, half devil and intended by his father to be the antichrist key in his revenge upon heaven for the harrowing of hell, but saved - or, half-saved? - by the intervention of heaven, constantly re-involved by his demonic relatives in their plots and schemes, ever-hopeful of winning him back to the one true infernal path, whilst he is - by his account - striving to - mostly - do right, whilst definitely not immune to succumbing to the most appealing, delightful - or appalling - temptations, told from his final imprisonment which, having essentially been brought upon himself, by himself, may yet prove to be eternal. . .

- not to be recommended to proponents of the one, true, heroic and even knightly way of the round table.

- not entirely serious.

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A fascinating insight into a great man's mind, whilst in the midst of great historical events.

This is an "autobiography" constructed from Martin Luther King's personal writings, articles, and letters, and assembled in chronological order, that very much feels like a pre-planned memoir or autobiography, and certainly offers a very open, honest, and candid testament of a great man of peace.

The abiding impression that you take from this, is that he was far from a superhuman icon of the ages, which most of us will only see as an historical figure, but rather, quite simply, a man...

...A man of course, of great conviction and faith, but weak and fragile too... having had a great path laid before him, he often has his moments of doubt, about how to walk that path, or even if he should, as well as struggling with the odd moments of ego, that comes from being lauded constantly as the great hero.

And so, his true heroism as he himself presents it here, is not that of being infallible, or not susceptible to fear, but finding the courage to endure, and overcome his own fears and doubts, even when those around him were wavering and seemingly were prepared to abandon a non-violent path to freedom, and also the very evident self-awareness of his own ego, which left unchecked, might have gotten the better of him, as it has many other great men of "destiny"...

...Indeed, this for me, is the most impressive thing about him that I took form this book, his constant self examination, recognition, and correction of his faults... a constant self-redeemer.

The steadfast support of family, friends, colleagues, his faith, and the teachings of Ghandi, which he frequently references, also deserve the credit he bestows upon them.

A great opportunity to look at such a figure from the inside out, rather than the more traditional presentation of a cardboard cut-out archetypal hero, or worse, a self-mythologizing piece of self promotion, as and when such megalomaniacs occasionally choose to confer a testament of their own perfect brilliance on us.

A great read too, about the events around him, as witnessed from his point of view.

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Houses don't get haunted... People do.

I found the modern Penguin edition of this a couple of weeks back, so was pleased to finally read it at last...

...And I've got to say, it's an odd one.

The basic set up (which most may know by now), is that a Doctor conducting a scientific experiment in the supernatural phenomena of "Hauntings" leases an old house with a reputation for such goings on, and then invites people to apply to come and stay there, to be the subjects / observers of this experiment.

Other than the Doctor, and Luke, a relative of the family who owns the house, only Theodora, a bit of a flake, and Eleanor actually arrive.

So there's only four of them in the house, along with the brief appearance of Mr. Dudley, the gatekeeper, who lets them in, and his wife Mrs. Dudley, who cleans, makes the meals, then clears out as fast as possible.

(The doctor's wife - a pain in the arse who has delusions of spiritual sensitivity and expertise, and her rather stiff friend, a school headmaster, are the only other characters who appear in the book, and they arrive rather late in the proceedings)

But mostly this is a story about Eleanor; A 35 year old single woman who has spent most of her life caring for her mother (recently deceased) and so she has had a rather cloistered life, and is pretty meek, and subservient, but is trying to break out after her mother's passing, and live a little - seek a little adventure, though she is very timid and afraid at doing so.

The house, seems to single her out, and wants her for it's very own in some capacity, and the narrative focuses entirely on her point of view... we are privy to her thoughts, as well as words and actions, in a way we are not with the other characters.

This is perhaps the most impressive element of this story, in how Shirley Jackson perceives, and captures that thing we all do, in thinking one thing, then immediately saying something else - frequently the opposite!

How Eleanor thinks and feels about the others grows in diverging from what she says to them as the story progresses, and she begins to feel more herself, with her subservience and compliance conditioned into her over a lifetime ebbing away, and as the influence of the house begins to take hold, and act on these characteristics.

And this is the odd thing, because while the house, and it's architecture are a real presence in the story, there's not actually much by way of actual haunting "Events" in it.

....There's no "beings", or manifestations that appear "in the flesh" so to speak, although the previous occupants / owners / residents are referred to and their stories told. So if you are looking to get creeped out / chilled or have the willies scared out of you, you probably won't get that here, in the way you might with say, a Stephen King Novel or a more modern horror / ghost story book.

The haunting events don't get going until about two thirds of the way in, and are more pronounced, and cursory.

No, this is more a character study of one lonely, lost young woman after she has lost whatever dissatisfying reason for living she once had, and trying to reach out into a new life, however strange...

...And it's about her baggage, guilt (?), and timidity.

It might be said, she brought her own hauntings with her to the house.

The story is startling in that it doesn't end in anything like the way you think it might, and like Shirley Jackson's brilliant description of the house itself, it's full of odd angles that don't add up, or make conventional sense... but it does catch in the mind, perhaps the more so, because of all this.

The writing style is superb, cracking along, at times almost poetic, but quickly read.

(I read this in two days - which is good by my standards >Mr. Snail Brain!!!< :)

A very enjoyable, if tragic story.

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Apart from their choices (to which certain would take issue), this book is chock full o' errors in some instances. For example:
- In their review of Van Dyke Parks' Song Cycle, they cited "She made perfume in the back of the room" as an example of Parks' particular poesy. Only that line came from "Vine Street," written by Randy ("Short People") Newman. (Only the line about an Alabama country fair they quoted was Parks, from "The All Golden.")
- When reviewing David Bowie's Never Let Me Down, they were going on about how Bowie was "abstruse" as a lyricist - but they made him out to be even more so by mistitling one of the songs on the LP, "New York's In Love," as "New York's In Life."
- They listed The Beverly Hillbillies co-star Irene "Granny" Ryan's "Granny's Mini-Skirt" single as from 1965. It was issued in 1968.
- When reviewing what they considered Ringo Starr's two worst LP's (Stop And Smell The Roses and Old Wave), they noted that afterwards, he stopped making any records. It should be noted that this book came out one year before he released Time Takes Time and a slew of new albums for the next nearly three decades. In short, Mr. Guterman and his co-author, Owen O'Donnell, really jumped the gun on that one.

But a few of those whose works were cited came to be in agreement. Bowie practically disowned Never Let Me Down for years, and Roger Waters came to regret (in a way) putting out Radio K.A.O.S.

In this sense, a mixed bag. At least this version (unlike its UK Virgin-published counterpart Slipped Discs) lets you read their views of Phil Collins, Genesis, and the one Mike + The Mechanics hit that were all edited out of the UK version and replaced with other "worst" records. A few of their comments are good for a laugh or two - or more . . .

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Despite the provocative cover art this is not a sexploitation novel. Jac Kennon, space sailor veteran from the planet Beta and recently graduated veterinarian, signs a five-year contract to work for a large commercial farm business in a remote area of the planet Kardon. He doesn't know that this includes a remnant of original Kardon inhabitants called Lani, who despite being intelligent and looking like humans, except for having tails, were declared animals centuries ago. The males are bred for aggressiveness and are kept separate from the docile females. The Lani do not like or wear clothes. Eventually, Jac and his witty Lani secretary Copper Glow, whose tail has been "docked," fall for each other. Worried about "bestiality," Jac avoids her until they discover that the Lani are descended from Christian missionaries who crash-landed on the planet long ago. The tails had to have been a later mutation. When she becomes pregnant, they plan their escape. The book is well-written and the dialogue intelligent. There is a bit of hard science, mostly in the medical area, but not too much action. The conflicts arise from moral choices. A good, short, readable novel typical of its era.

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the very poor sequel to ''dinosaur planet'' (q.v.), this reads as though it was a hastily and uninspiredly-completed contractual obligation novel, compressing the events of the outlined second and third books in an intended trilogy into one novel, and getting the pain out of the way quickly.

avoid, if you can tear yourself away from completing a series.

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first quarto publishing plc quid publishing imprint h/cvr printing, first edition

cover art none, exactly; cover design with cartoons and internal spot colour (yellow, green, blue, mauve, orange etc.) on b+w cartooned illustrations by michael windsor (credited)
cover price rrp £12.99
224pp. including 7pp. titles, indica, table-of-contents, introduction etc, 5 end pp: 2pp. bibliography, 3pp. index; sewn in signatures and bound with green endpapers between printed, non-gloss laminated boards, distributed without d-j


organised by five themed chapters or sections: everyday life, being human, the rules of the universe, in space, the natural world; the editorial department publishing category/genre/term is "a bog book" - which, for obvious reasons, is not emblazoned - or even mentioned - anywhere upon or in the book: it's not designed to be read from cover-to-cover (though it could be), but to be dipped into for diversion, for brief entertainment, and then put down again - 'til next time...

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uninspired gags mostly translations of non-sfnal standards, the b+w cartoons by will eisner drawn to a considerably better standard than the ''material'' deserved - but, even so, not really worth a second read-through, even for his illustrations.

browse if you're an eisner fan, but don't buy unless you're an incurable completist

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

very poor reproductions of josh kirby's paintings, blown up far too far from the colour separations done for the corgi p/b covers - fundamentally, they're all fuzzy.

some indication of quite how poor these reproductions are: although yr hmbl srppnt. loves many of his paintings, and have sometimes been known to buy a p/b for his cover art upon it, with no intention of ever reading the contents, i didn't bother to keep a copy of this - and advised customers and browsers considering buying it, to check the printing quality of the pictures before doing so.

avoid.

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Absolutely moving. A beautiful story told by a brilliant young writer. I would suggest everyone to read it.

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The story of the US Musicians Union's elitist attitude through the years ...that demanded a prospective member must be able to read music before admittance.
Beginning with members who were Clasically trained -through to Jazz musicians who also thought themselves to be so much higher than Pop and Rock and Roll musicians - and how they fought to keep their ranks unsullied by these untrained newcomers. They may be selling lots of music but were not thought of as "Musicians" but "Entertainers"

Interesting to read correspondence between the Union and Government about restricting English Pop Groups like The Beatles from touring the USA "as there are many musicians here in the US who can do the job - probably more effectively"

The Union's publications never once mentioned Rock and Roll in any form until well into the late 1960's..and then only as a passing comment

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A review from Amazon.com by "Acute Observer":

5 out of 5 stars
31 October 2014 - Published on Amazon.com
Ian Fleming: The Spy Who Came in With the Gold

Henry A. Zeiger is a writer and playwright who analyzed the career of Ian Fleming, and wrote this 1965 biography. Zeiger tells how many of Fleming's experiences in Naval Intelligence during the War were used in his fictional exploits about "James Bond". This book lacks an index. Chapter 1 tells about Fleming's early life. His father came from a wealthy banking/stock broker background, and died in World War I. This explains Bond as a conspicuous consumer of the finer things of life, and as a Conservative. Chapter 2 says Fleming was educated at Eton, and became "an athlete of exceptional power" (p.27). Fleming then went to Sandhurst, but refused a commission in the cavalry. He chose the Foreign Service and studied languages at Geneva and Munich, but failed to get an opening. He then got a job at Reuters, and succeeded by "his attention to detail and his willingness to take on little assignments" (p.34). Fleming's first story was to cover the trial of British engineers arrested in Moscow in 1933 as spies. "Sabotage" could be the usual problems found at the low end of the learning curve (p.45). The OGPU method for extracting confessions is on page 52. After his success, Fleming left for a job as a merchant banker and more money.

Chapter 3 tells of Fleming's talents for intelligence: good languages and business knowledge. Fleming oversaw various activities and reported to the Director of Naval Intelligence (p.65). The early days of the war saw mistakes, but these were replaced by successes (pp.70-72). Pages 76-78 tell of Fleming's intelligence unit "30AU". His wartime background was used to write his adventure novels. After the war Fleming returned to journalism. Chapter 4 discusses Fleming's life after the war, and his career as a novelist. Fleming admired the American writers of the modern thriller, and the importance of pace (keeping the reader's interest). Concrete details were used to add verisimilitude to the fantasy plot, set in interesting and exciting place. Fleming's favorite car was the two-seat 1955 Thunderbird (p.103). Sales of Fleming's novels soared after JFK's recommendation (p.114).

Chapter 5 presents Zeiger's analysis of Fleming's stories. Like some Eric Ambler stories, they show an individual struggling against superior forces, and winning via personal fortitude. (As if life were that simple!) Does this popularity tell something about our society? Popular literature has always dealt with violence (the Iliad, Beowulf, the Song of Roland). Other novels deal with sex more than Fleming does. Was James Bond a hero in an age of anti-heroes (p.125)? Zeiger critiques "Casino Royale" for its death of Le Chiffre before the end of the story (pp.126-137). Was Fleming toying with conventional plots? Wasn't his style different from Raymond Chandler's (p.128)? Why does Bond travel by train rather than plane (p.129)? But that's what Fleming did in the 1940s, and Bond would do in 1950s Europe. Drax's cheating at cards is a sign that he is not an English Gentleman (p.131). Zeiger comments on other Fleming stories. Zeiger describes the villain as basically a none upper-class Englishman, who lacks good manners and correct tastes (pp.142-143); none are from inherited wealth (p.145). Does this reflect the fears of a declining upper-class world (p.146)? This is the background of Ian Fleming (p.148). Does James Bond represent a fantasy life that Ian Fleming wanted (p.149)? Zeiger's analysis will shine a new light on these old stories. Read Dusko Popov’s autobiography for the facts behind the fiction.

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set in an arm of a galaxy containing at least seven mutually alien space-faring species that may have evolved from obligate carnivore stalkers like the hani, who don't generally go looking for a fight - but can really enjoy one if it comes to them; or from pack cursorial hunters, who delight in long distance chases, and happily pile in en masse upon the slightest provocation or excuse, drawing no distinctions between trade, piracy and war; or from herd herbivores, who have to be at least slightly mad by their own species' standards, to have any direct dealings with carnivores, no matter how intelligent and civilised they may be, so who must employ members of one such species or another to defend them from the other races more or less unreliably in the trade compact - and cannot trust them, even then. . .

in this setting, where mutually alien space-faring species meet mostly at trading stations in space, at a station controlled by the herbivore s'stsho, p'yanfar chanur, a trader captain of the most-recently space-faring species, and in most ways the weakest, with but their home planet to their name, who would quite like her crew to finish the loading and unloading of cargo and get on with the job of making a - reasonably honest - profit for their clan, learns that a hunter-killer ship of the kif, a culture that draws no distinctions between trade, piracy and war, is at the same station - so she'd like to finish and get away as soon as possible now. . .

- when something they've never seen or heard the like of before on previous journeys succeeds in running onto their ship, and tries to hide. it's definitely intelligent, seems to be sapient, and it could be a member of a new space-faring species - which might upset the uneasy balance of power between the races of the compact, such as it is - if it's a space-faring species - but they can't understand it, it's almost naked, it's filthy and frightened. . .
- and the captain of the kiffish hunter-killer ship contacts her and demands his escaped pet, his property, back now - "or else. . ."

(and as a minor, almost completely trivial and irrelevant detail, it happens to be a human being.)
.
.
this is just the set-up for one of the best adventure sf novels i have ever read.
.
after this, things start happening (!) - and they barely stop for breath as p'yanfar chanur and her crew - and ''tully'' - have to find out what is happening, and who to trust, all the while they are under pressure to take decisions fast, knowing they don't know enough to be sure they're making the right choices, but knowing they have to make those decisions now, if they're going to live - and if they're going to have a chance of letting their own clan and species' leaders know what they've found. once, that is, they know what they've found. . .
.
.
and if you like this - and if you like adventure sf, it's almost unimaginable that you won't° - there's a very substantial sequel to look forward to - once you've recovered from how "the pride of chanur" ends. . .
.

.

° - "almost":

some guys can't cope with a female captain(!) - even though she's a female of an alien species;

and seemingly some readers simply can't adjust to knowing no more than particular viewpoint characters themselves know, at the time they have to jump, one way or another. . .

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'Horowitz is a worthy successor to Ian Fleming, putting 007 back in his true domain... This New Bond is up there with the better Old Bonds... The denouement is a very fine piece of action writing... Horowitz has done splendidly.' - The Scotsman

'Straight away Horowitz is able to capture Fleming's flowing style and intricate details from how Bond likes his eggs in the morning to the cars he drives... He's just as faithfully suave as in the original novels.' - Daily Express

'A novel that feels very like a film... fast-paced, skilfully written... leaves you wanting more, and for serious Bond junkies [it] is the next fix in a long tale of addiction.' - The Times

'An enjoyably compact thriller, with an absolutely killer last line.' - The Guardian

'A timeless Bond... has all the elements of a rollicking read.' - Irish Examiner

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a dreadfully poorly-plotted, uninspirédly-written drag of a book that both authors should've been too embarrassed to allow james baen to go ahead and publish. baen books even allowed a hardcover edition to escape and sully bookshop shelves and vict^W customers' minds the year before this mmpb slithered through the distribution system and hopefully paid off a significant part of baen books' historic debt (if any yet remained).

in a feminazi utopian future°, one woman decides to fight for the rights of men - but mostly, for lurve... - i.e. his irresistible sex appeal. or something.

- don't get me wrong: a feminist utopia could be a perfectly cromulent starting-point for setting your protagonists major problems that result from choices made by its founders; or a feminist dystopia, investigating how a utopia established with the best possible reasons, and with a constitution designed to ensure equal rights, might over time decay, or have decayed, into a society that gives your protagonists major problems they must overcome: cf, ursula le guin's "the dispossessed" (1974), q.v. for an anarchist example of this latter; but this farrago of idiocies piled upon stupidity is not it. alas.

° - to hide its origin, the authors - or just anthony? - cunningly named it "mazonia"; snigger away. . .

avoid.

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