What’s New for the 25th of May: new and notable SFF books; Murderbot on TV, and some Star Wars prequel movies; new jazz music and some tasty archival selections; food & steelworker strikes; and a novel Tarot deck

‘I’m different and I’m happy,’ Calvin said. ‘But you pretend that you aren’t different.’ ‘I’m different and I like being different.’ Calvin’s voice was unnaturally loud. ‘Maybe I don’t like being different,’ Meg said, ‘But I don’t want to be like everybody else, either.’ –Madeleine L’Engle’s  A Wrinkle in Time

Hear that piper playing off in the distance toward the edge of the Wild Wood? Whoever it is is a damn fine piper and has apparently come this time of year for decades now. No one can say with any certainty who it is, though many of us have our suspicions based on the style of their playing and their choice of tunes, which lean heavily towards Northumbrian tunes such as those composed by Billy Pigg and Kathryn Tickell.

The Library, all six levels of it (or is it seven? It keeps changing), is getting a once-in-a-decade thorough cleaning and painting from the wee House brownies and the more-or-less human staff. So that’s why I’m outside this morning listening to that piper. Gus and Reynard insist it’s a green man, one that they’ve met and played with several times. Might be, might not be.

So let’s take a look at this edition…

Jennifer reviews three fine new 2025 titles: Egyptian Motherlode by David Sandner and Jacob Weisman, A Far Better Thing by H.G. Parry, and One Level Down by Mary G. Thompson. Some aren’t her cuppa, but they’re all  gripping and remarkably well written.

Jack dove into Daniel Karaczun’s Out of This Kitchen: A History of the Ethnic Groups and Their Foods in Steel Valley. ‘It contains history, interviews and over 200 recipes, household tips and home remedies from newspapers dating back 100 years. It mixes brief but illuminating histories with recipes, creating an ethno-historical cookbook that celebrates the infamous lockout and strike of 1892 at the Carnegie Illinois Steelworks in Homestead, Pennsylvania.’

Gary was pretty excited to watch the first two episodes of the new TV adaptation of Murderbot. ‘It’s a little too soon to tell after two episodes, but so far this adaptation by Chris and Paul Weitz is getting a lot of things right. Especially the wryly snarky tone, which sometimes reminds me of that first superb season of The Mandalorian.’

Michael and Denise reviewed the second and third Star Wars “prequels” and as you might expect their reviews were mixed. Regarding Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Michael said, ‘Overall? Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones is a damn fine film. Visually, it’s extraordinary. Plot-wise, it meanders and clunks like a Yugo in city traffic. … Sit through the bad parts, and you’ll be rewarded by the end, which answers some questions, and opens the floodgate for a lot more. And of Episode III, Revenge of the Sith, Denise said, ‘Do I think that George Lucas is a man who took the childhood memories of millions of his fans, ripped them into shreds then fed those visions back to us, demanding that we like it? Yes, but not because of this film. I’ll go see Revenge of the Sith again, and again. Why? Because it’s the end of an era. It’s the transition piece that fans like me have been waiting for.’

In new music, Gary reviewed two new albums from jazz drummer and composer Phil Haynes, Return To Electric, and Transition(s). He particularly liked the former, which has several originals and a handful of classic jazz rock fusion covers. ‘The covers include a couple of my favorite of the era, John McLaughlin’s “A Lotus on Irish Streams” from the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Inner Mounting Flame, and the final track, Wayne Shorter’s “Paraphernalia” from Miles Davis’s Miles in the Sky.’

Donna was intrigued by a set of Tarot cards drawn in the style of the Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. ‘The minor arcana depict sturdy peasants engaged in their daily activities, planting and harvesting, cooking and praying, slaughtering livestock and drinking out of large tankards. Marchesi has organized the four houses to correspond to the seasons — swords with spring, wands with summer, pentacles with autumn and chalices with winter. I had a lot of trouble trying to make sense of the meaning of these cards.’

This is off  from an obscure folk group, The Skirlers‘ Cutting the Bracken. ‘Take Lorraine Kelly and Marion Storey both on fiddles, add Allen Bowling on highland and border pipes, Bob Smith on vocals, mandolin, guitar, tin whistles and bodhran, Chic Judge on highland pipes and vocals, and Tom Docherty on guitar and vocals, and there you have it — Celtic folk music blended in a single malt style. But is this the real thing from Scotland? Err, not exactly — the album was recorded live at The Golden Lion public house in Prittlewell, Southend.’

Cat Eldridge

I'm the publisher of Green Man Review. I do the Birthdays and Media Anniversary write-ups for Mike Glyer’s file770.com, the foremost SFF fandom site.

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