Earthling's Halloween Book Reviewed

 

 MIDAS by Tyler Jones, Earthling Publications, Limited signed edition, $60, ISBN:9781736928479.

I'm sure that the title might give you an idea about the subject matter of this years addition to the annual Halloween volume from Earthling Publications. It is always a welcomed addition to the season and one I look forward to every year.

This one is a bit different in that it is a western themed story about the search for the cause of the Midas touch and the cost you have to pay to possess it.

Jeremiah Pevensie, a former preacher, and his wife are suffering the loss of their young son when a dead man and his brother arrive at their farm.The dead man has a map that leads to an impossible location and promises great riches.

Solomon and his group of followers are also seeking for the map and will not let anything get in his way to find it.

After Jeremiah returns from his journey, he begins a building project that refurbishes the town and begins a construction project on a mansion that seems to have no end.

Jeremiah is also working on a project of his own that will return his wife to her former happier self.

The story is well written and has a different take on greed and how it can come in different ways. A husbands sacrifice, a zealots plan to rule the world, and a mothers love all lead to a story of terror the likes I have never read before.

Here is another winner from Earthling and you need to get a copy before they are gone. www.earthlingpub.com

Facebook message from Mike Bishop, June 30, 2023

 

It's been a long while -- our adult daughter Stephanie informed Jeri and me recently -- more than a year, in fact, since I've posted any sort of comment on Facebook. My apologies to those who have deserved replies, explanations, pleas for forgiveness.

 

Earlier this week I consigned myself to hospice care, with the advice and consent of my family. I did so to escape the maddening anxiety-producing roller-coaster of contemporary medical care. 

 

This doesn't mean that I am at death's door, only that I recognize the inevitability of its opening for me in the (relatively) near future. I hope, for example, to last at least as long as our hospice-pent (albeit at home) former president Jimmy Carter. But there are no guarantees. 

 

I wish you all well and hope to create at least one more Fairwood Press title, with the help of my nearly lifelong friend, Michael Hutchins, something like "Stolen Faces and Other, Briefer Science Fiction Tales." Blessings on you all.

 

Reposted from Facebook, wiithout permission (forgiveness is asked). Coppyright 2023

John Romita, Sr has passed.

 John Romita, Sr has passed at the age of 93. He was instrumental in developing the First Marvel Super Hero age. He may have drawn many characters, but he will always be the man who made Spiderman the most famous and and loved character in comics.

I haven't kept up with comics in my later years, but Romita has always been a favorite of mine and willbe remembered by myself and others as one of the best.

Rest in peace, your mark on comics history is secure.

Coming August 22

 

 

New from Angry Robot

 

March's End by Daniel Polansky A multi-generational portal fantasy of strange magics, epic warfare, and deadly intrigue, in which the personality conflicts and toxic struggles of the Harrow family are reflected in the fantasy world they’ve sworn to protect.   File Under: Fantasy [ Not Narnia | Secrets will out | Growing up | Love is all ] ­ Order now! ­

Myriad by Joshua David Bellin Myriad has been in so many time streams she’s lost count – hiding from her feelings about her brother’s death she works to prevent crimes from happening but finds herself committing one instead…   File Under: Science Fiction [ Myrioi | Baked In | Three Ravens | The Dark Backward ] ­ Order Now! ­

Herald of the Black Moon by Stephen Deas

The epic conclusion of Stephen Deas fun fantasy series of misfits grifting their way to the top.   Book 1- Moonsteel Crown Book 2- House of Cat and Gulls   File Under: Fantasy [ Tough crowd | i-Spy | Forbidden fun | End of an era]

­ Order Now! ­

TINA TURNER IS GONE

 

BREAKING NEWS Tina Turner has died at 83. The powerful soul singer was one of the most successful recording artists of all time.

CHINESESE HACKERS AFTER MILITARY SYSTEMS

 

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES, COPYRIGHT 2023

Chinese Malware Hits Systems on Guam. Is Taiwan the Real Target?

The code, which Microsoft said was installed by a Chinese government hacking group, set off alarms because Guam would be a centerpiece of any U.S. military response to a move against Taiwan.

The Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Telecommunications networks are key targets for hackers, and the system in Guam is particularly important to China.Credit...Thibault Camus/Associated Press

By David E. Sanger

Reporting from Washington

May 24, 2023Updated 3:15 p.m. ET

Around the time that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was examining the equipment recovered from the wreckage of the Chinese spy balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast in February, American intelligence agencies and Microsoft detected what they feared was a more worrisome intruder: mysterious computer code that has been popping up in telecommunications systems in Guam and elsewhere in the United States.

The code, which Microsoft said was installed by a Chinese government hacking group, raised alarms because Guam, with its Pacific ports and vast American air base, would be a centerpiece of any American military response to an invasion or blockade of Taiwan. It was installed with great stealth, sometimes flowing through routers and other common internet-connected consumer devices, to make the intrusion harder to track.

But unlike the balloon that fascinated Americans as it performed pirouettes over sensitive nuclear sites, the computer code could not be shot down on live television. So instead, Microsoft and the National Security Agency were set on Wednesday to publish details of the code that would make it possible for corporate users, manufacturers and others to detect and remove it.

The code is called a “web shell,” in this case a malicious script that enables remote access to a server. Home routers are particularly vulnerable, especially older models that have not had updated software and protections.