davidkm | Entries tagged with pamphlet

Cox, Cardinal, 2014, From Space, Starburker Publications, c/o 58 Pennington, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough PE2 5RB United Kingdom, unpaginated saddle stitched chapbook. Available from the publisher for a C5 self-addressed envelope, or email cardinalcox1@yahoo.co.uk. This collection states that it was inspired by the exhibition "Space Fact and Fiction" held at Peterborough Museum June to October 2013, and by the National Space Centre in Lericester.

This chapbook has the same format as the numerous Cthulhu Mythos themed booklets that Cardinal Cox has written recently. In contrast to those books, most of the poems here owe their genesis to golden age science-fiction books and movies, with some real life space science and politics thrown in. The usual bottom-of-the-page notes explain where some poems came from, and dedicate others to notable SF fans. The poems vary from rhymed and metered to other forms and even free verse. This works, I think, as the chapbook's space theme ties them together.

I particularly like the (to me) new insight of “Orbital Observatory”

And as we look into the past
Because the Universe has grown
Those distant vistas are smaller
Than the space we inhabit

If we could look far enough, would we see a tiny post-Bang blaze? Another science poem, “Space Suit,” also appeals to me. An excerpt:

We can't imagine what drove
The fish first onto land
Had a pool dried?
Did it chase an arthropod?

These by no means represent the range of this pamphlet, but do, I hope, indicate its quality. Get it before it's too late!

Cardinal Cox, 2010, Black Sands/White Rock, pamphlet given away at NewCon 5. For information e-mail cardinalcox1@yahoo.co.uk. White paper, saddle stitched with a single staple.

I'm not sure why I was sent this small chapbook. Since it is not for sale a review doesn't seem all that important. I am reviewing it because it may still be available and I like it very much. 100 numbered copies were printed. If they were not all given away at the convention I assume you can get them from the author at the above e-mail address.

What I like best about this chapbook is that for many of the poems there is a note from the author at the bottom of the page. In some cases Cox tells us why or when he wrote the poem. In other cases it's just something autobiographical that may be related to the poem somehow. There are 12 poems total.

Here is an excerpt from "21st Century Centaurs"

The fillies?
Find 'em selling their tails
On the black back streets
Sure, they'll tell you that
You're hung like a stallion

The juxtaposition of a high-fantasy creature with backstreet city life is masterfully done. It works well on several levels, ranging from shock to pity to outrage.

From "Thursday night shift"

Writing history books to
Make sure people believed we won
No, he'd been with the Resistance
Supplying M60's to Attila

Don't we do this anyway? Science fiction allows one to be literal about the metaphoric, while retaining, implicitly, all the complexity of the treatment of, say, the politics of war, that is commonly found in mainstream literature.

There is plenty more, but I'm confidently assuming you can track the book down. Other poems investigate cloning, becoming lost in space, Martian flora, children, and more.

Cox's poetry investigates well-known science-fiction tropes, but lyrically. Familiar ideas are expressed with innovation and creativity, but they are still familiar. It's like reading the science-fiction novels of our childhood again for the first time. I don't think I've read anything by Cardinal Cox before, but now I see why British fans are always praising his ability. If you can get this or any other chapbook by Cardinal Cox, do so.

Cox, Cardinal, 2010, Codex Dagon, 12 page but unpaginated saddle-stitched pamphlet to be given away at Weird Winter, Reading Central Library, United Kingdom, December 2010. Numbered edition of 100 on plain white paper. For information: 58 Pennington, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough PE2 5RB United Kingdom or e-mail cardinalcox1@yahoo.co.uk

I don't know why I have started getting Cardinal Cox's free chapbooks or what have you, sent winging across a pond so wide I have no hope of attending the events at which the booklets are to be distributed gratis. Of course I'm grateful; they are very nice publications. I only hope the readers of Star*line, perhaps months after the fact, have a hope of getting copies themselves. E-mail Mr. Cox and offer to send him money. I will hope for the best.

This is the second Lovecraftian chapbook from Cardinal Cox. It is witty and humorous, and that's the way I like them (chapbooks of Lovecraftian poetry I mean). There may be some folks reading this review who don't know that Dagon is an aquatic old one, a supernatural being who, while not precisely evil, is nevertheless inimical to humans and human society. Dagon is worshiped by a race of intelligent fishlike creatures who live a very long time and inhabit cities in some of the deepest parts of the world ocean. The literature referring to Dagon is somewhat ambiguous about the question of evil versus alien, but Lovecraft was pretty clear that what seemed evil to us was really more like indifference.

This book contains seven poems and an essay about the evolution of the Deep Ones, Dagon's aquatic worshipers. The poems refer to literary traditions ranging from traditional Japanese legends to the short stories of HG Wells. From "Haploteuthis Ferox" (which should be italicized and the specific name should be in lower case)

Arms welcome him to the dark wet world
Mollusc muscles pull the helmet apart
The tight embrace of the fatal sweetheart
Eyes roll as though in ecstasy pearled

Referencing a short story by HG Wells. Another refers both to Lovecraft's "Pickman's model" and to worldwide legends of dogheaded people. The book opens with an hymn to Dagon. One poem conflates the idea of the Deep Ones with Irish mythic history with interesting results. And why wouldn't Japanese myths be turned into Japanese monster movies and then perhaps Hollywood remakes? The essay is entitled "An evolution of the Deep Ones." Cox here considers the well-known theory that humanity's hairless condition might have evolved as a response to living in the sea. If it did, are the Deep Ones our sister group? Maybe that's why we can interbreed with them, even though we cannot interbreed with our closest relatives known to science, the chimpanzees.

Any fan of Cardinal Cox or of the Cthulhu Mythos or indeed of fantasy/mythic poetry would probably enjoy this book. And the transformations of various forms of literature into annals of the cult of Dagon are charming and amusing. There is definitely something in Codex Dagon for the irreverent.

Cox, Cardinal, 2013, Codex Ponape, Starburker Publications, c/o 58 Pennington, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough PE2 5RB United Kingdom, 12 pages, saddle stitched, probably available for a stamped digest sized envelope (large enough to hold a few pieces of A1 paper, folded in half), but if you don't have any UK stamps I suggest you send a couple of euros worth of your local currency. Or something to trade.

This is the latest in Cox's series of thin white pamphlets of poetry based on the writings of HP Lovecraft. As the title suggests, Codex Ponape focuses on the greatest malevolent deity of them all, or at least the one with the most cachet: he who waits dreaming in the drowned and otherwise deserted city of R'lyeh, under the Pacific Ocean near the island of Ponape. There are 11 poems, and as usual, there is some sort of “description” at the bottom of most of the pages. However, in contrast to previous publications in this series, these bottom of the page descriptions are not part of the game. Instead, with one exception, these are actual explanations of how the poems came to be written.

This is not one of my favorites of these small lovecraftian offerings. The first poem, entitled “Just read what it says on the card,” is priceless. If your ophthalmologist was an adherent of the cult of Cthulhu, this would probably be on his wall. Several of the poems in this collection, such as “Trout Mask Replicas,” seem like great ideas that are not adequately realized. I should also mention that a couple of the poems in Codex Ponape are actually songs. The last poem is a piece of flash fiction. If you are familiar with the Cardinal's work, it is enough to know that these are typical of it. If you are not familiar with his work, this review is not going to convince you to get it.

Why am I reviewing a small-press publication about which I have so many reservations? First, it is part of a series and there may be some people who want to read every one in the series. Second, I really like two of the 11 poems a lot. Third, there may be other people who, for various reasons (Cthulhu fans, lovecraftian completists, etc.), want this booklet even though I am lukewarm about it. Finally, this review will have a small environmental footprint because only an excerpt will be printed on paper and the rest will become phosphors. In conclusion, this little book is not without merit and I hope I have told you enough to let you know whether you will like it.

This is likely no longer available, but who knows?

Cox, Cardinal, 2012, Codex L'ng, Starburker Publications, c/o 58 Pennington, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough PE2 5RB UK, saddle stitched, white paper, 100 copies, 12 pages, price unlisted, the Cardinal is on Facebook: ask him.

This codex follows the format of its predecessors. Each page bears a short poem and description. The descriptions links lovecraftian mythology with history. This codex seems more successful in this than the others. Perhaps because I am less familiar with Central Asia, or because Leng (here, L'ng) has always seemed as though it really could be in Central Asia. In any case, the descriptions have the ring of truth (or at least, of historicity). For example:

“Among the oldest Tibetan legends of the terrestrial land of L'ng is that of Gesar, who has aspects of a Bonist sacred king.” Or “described in Herodotus in the fifth century B.C. as gold digging ants, the curious insect-daemons of the outer darkness... pose many questions.”

According to Cox, there are two L'ngs: one in Central Asia, another in dreamland. This accords with Lovecraft's writing, but Lovecraft never said there were two. Cox does not repeat Brian Lumley's and August Derleth's errors in making the Mythos so matter-of-fact that it isn't even mythic anymore. No crimefighting Justice League style struggle between technocrats and eldritch horrors. Instead, Cox mimics the tone of anthropologists describing in matter-of-fact terms something they clearly don't understand. Something which, as is plain to the cognoscenti, is anything but mundane.

From Beast Men:

Enslaved by Moon frog-folk
Still they keep faith with the
Distant, cold, Sleeping God
Creatures crushed beneath chaos

Remember that the price is right, you have to act fast if you want it at all, and it's a charming little foray into the narrative as faux history genre, one that Lovecraft used all the time.