1. Someone Was Crazy Enough to Interview Me Again
Sooner or later, I’m going to be interviewed and say something that offends someone, if not everyone. Chances are, I’ve already succeeded, though no one appears to have cared, which might well be the one advantage of being Michael Libling and not Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. But if there was ever a cause for concern, this recent three-part interview is probably it.
Conducted by writer/editor Gillian Pollack of Treehouse Writers in August 2022, the interview is a three-way of sorts, featuring me, along with prolific authors Amy Sterling Casil and Ron Collins. My advice is that you read Amy and Ron’s contributions and fake it when you come to mine. Of course, should you disregard this advice and come across any statement by me that raises an eyebrow (or other notable body part), please do not hesitate to keep it strictly to yourself. Nope. I don’t wanna know from nuttin’.
Nothing better to do? Click here for Interview Part One.
Feeling foolhardy? Click here for Interview Part Two.
Too late to turn back? Click here for Interview Part Three. (At the very least, you might enjoy my reading recommendations featured in this final section.)
Meanwhile, speaking of trilogies…
2. Worlds without End
Back in 2015, I attended the World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs, NY. At one point, I got to chatting with an author who had just released his tenth book in a popular fantasy series—a series with no end in sight. After much back and forth, I summoned the courage to ask, “Aren’t you bored after all this time, writing about the same characters in the same world?” He paused, his smile thin as he mulled his response, and on the tail of a long sigh, he quietly said, “Oh, God, yes. You have no idea.” His words have often come to mind ever since.
That Bloated Feeling
I grew up reading The Hardy Boys, Dale of the Mounted, and The Secret Seven, books with recurring characters and occasional references to previous installments. Each novel was self-contained, without any need to read them in chronological order. I knew in advance that when I reached the final page, the story would be wrapped up. THE END meant THE END. You know, like picking up a Jack Reacher, Hercule Poirot, James Bond, or Inspector Gamache. Same cast, different story, solid ending! But what I’m talking about here are the open-ended series, where each volume must be read in sequence and concludes with a cliffhanger or, more correctly, a non-ending. The promise is that sometime in the future, a concluding volume will tie up the loose ends. How many volumes? How far into the future? In many cases, I’m not sure either the author or the publisher knows for certain.
A Pandemic of Bloating
Thus I wonder how many writers feel trapped by the book series they’ve created, obliged to carry on with a mission that’s become more chore than joy. How do they cope with a series that runs either to Armageddon or the author’s natural death, whichever comes first? Clearly, money and fandom talk, and I surely would not dismiss either were I in such a fortunate position. At the same time, I sympathize with readers who have committed themselves to a series only to find no end in sight. I suspect “Get on with it, damn it!” has been shouted at more than a few books, no matter the series. Being a literary completist demands dedication.
For Your Reading Pleasure: Every Human Who Ever Lived
My first serious foray into the field was Philip Jose Farmer’s RIVERWORLD series, beginning in the 70s and continuing into the 80s. The concept was irresistible. As Amazon describes it: “Imagine that every human who ever lived, from the earliest Neanderthals to the present, is resurrected after death on the banks of an astonishing and seemingly endless river on an 
unknown world. They are miraculously provided with food, but with not a clue to the possible meaning of this strange afterlife. And so billions of people from history, and before, must start living again.”
TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO (Riverworld #1) remains among my favorite books. A richly deserved winner of the 1972 Hugo Award. I continue to recommend it. BODIES is an intriguing read and, for writers, an educational one, if only to see how Farmer establishes his concept. My problem was, the deeper I got into the series, the more frustrating it became. While provocative and entertaining, a definitive THE END was nowhere to be found. The tease was constant. I had the feeling Farmer wasn’t sure where to take his ever-expanding tale. I gave up on the series after THE MAGIC LABYRINTH, the fourth installment. I no longer cared whether or not there was an ending. I felt I was being played. I’ve been wary of open-ended series ever since.
Fortunately, some trilogies really are trilogies and some potentially open-ended series really do have endings. While each of the following is vastly different in genre, plot, style, and execution, I guarantee none will leave you hanging…
Three Authors Who Know How to End It
Ben Winter’s LAST POLICEMAN Trilogy is an engrossing read, a rare and clever blend of mystery and apocalyptic fiction, highlighted by Book #3 and its memorably unambiguous ending.
I was also impressed by the first two books in Matt Kressel‘s WORLDMENDER Trilogy, and am confident Kressel will maintain the same high level of skill and entertainment in the concluding PRINCESS OF ASHES, coming soon. As the Shelf-Awareness reviewer put it, “[A] fascinating first novel…King of Shards is the first entry of the Worldmender Trilogy, and its use of Hebrew culture and legend to build a complex, dynamic setting serves to imbue every page with an epic mythos.”
Should techno-thrillers in the Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton vein be your preference, you won’t go wrong with Canadian author Timothy S. Johnston’s multi-award-winning RISE OF OCEANIA series, a deftly structured hybrid of the standalone and the to-be-continued. (Keep reading. My full review of Johnston’s fifth book in the six-part OCEANIA series lurks below.)
That Bloated Feeling isn’t Exclusive to Books
Bloating is also an issue for TV, of course, where streaming demands content on top of content on top of content. Concepts that used to deliver a good two-hour movie are now stretched beyond reasonable limits, broken into six, eight, or thirteen series episodes, padded with fat, chaff, and Kate Bush classics. In effect, streaming has ballooned your one-time two-hour movie to thirteen freaking hours. And just when you think it can’t get any more tedious, that once “limited series” has been renewed for another season or two or five. At this rate, two-hour movie concepts will soon require a lifetime viewing commitment. Yup, one show for ever and ever and ever.
Hmm…now that I think abut it, maybe I should write a series. Hmm…hmm…. THE SERIAL KILLER’S SON TAKES A WIFE (coming fromAutumn 2023, WordFire Press) just might be an ideal starter. Hmm…hmm…hmm… what if…
Afterthought: Philip Jose Farmer, Kurt Vonnegut, and Kilgore Trout
Despite the above, the somewhat subversive Farmer remains a favorite author, especially for his connection to another 
favorite, Kurt Vonnegut. If you’re a Vonnegut fan, the name Kilgore Trout will be be familiar. Trout is the science fiction writer created by Vonnegut, and a character who appears in several of his novels. In 1975, VENUS ON THE HALF-SHELL was published in paperback, garnering much attention because of the author who was credited for having written it: Kilgore Trout! Yup, Vonnegut’s fictional SF writer.
While many believed Vonnegut to be the author, it was, in fact, Philip Jose Farmer. It’s a funny book as I recall, with my favorite line being: “Never stand downwind of an Earthman or a Shrook” or something to this effect. Should I ever manage to dig out my copy of VENUS, I’ll quote the line exactly. Meanwhile, check out this obituary and this tribute to Farmer that appeared in The Guardian at the time of his 2009 passing.
3. Book review: THE SHADOW OF WAR by Timothy S. Johnston
With respect to full disclosure, I know Timothy S. Johnston personally. We met in the fall of 2019 at London Ontario’s ComicCon, each of us at the booth of our publisher at the time, ChiZine Publications. Although we are drastically different writers in terms of storytelling and subject matter, we hit it off and have remained in touch ever since. The more I’ve read his work, the more I’ve come to appreciate his skills and discipline. Indeed, much like the characters in his “Rise of Oceania” series, Johnston is laser-focused on his mission: to create no-nonsense, action-packed, science fiction thrillers that up the ante with every turn of the page. With THE SHADOW OF WAR, the fifth and penultimate entry in the Oceania canon, Johnston delivers the goods yet again.
The Twenty-Second Century is All Wet
The series is set in the early years of the twenty-second century, when the full impact of climate change has arrived and Earth’s waters have risen to catastrophic levels. Within this scenario, undersea colonies have emerged, providing both hope for the future and crucial resources for the terrestrial population. Alas, these same colonies are suppressed and exploited by their land-based, military-minded overseers. In keeping with this planet’s sorry history and the innate nature of humankind, war and rebellion continue to dominate. Finding an edge against the enemy is a never-ending pursuit, a reality Truman McClusky and his team of freedom fighters from the Trieste colony know all too well.
Johnston Does More than Entertain, He Illuminates
As usual, Johnston doesn’t mess around. His opening is as audacious as it is horrifying, establishing page after page of cinematic thrills and derring-do his many fans have come to count on. In the past, his novels have brought to mind Tom Clancy, Ian Fleming, and James A. Corey (THE EXPANSE). This time, it is Andy Weir and THE MARTIAN. Johnston does more than entertain, he illuminates, with scientific, technological, and historical research woven seamlessly throughout. Indeed, Johnston so cleverly incorporates facts, data, and developments, you barely realize there is an educational component. It all goes down so easily.
Among the topics THE SHADOW OF WAR touches upon are laser weapon technology, neutral particle beams, kelp forests, tectonics, and even the xenophobic movement led by UK politician John Tyndall in the 1990s. Those familiar with Johnston’s work will not be surprised by any of this. Another element, however, might catch some readers off guard.
Bodies Here, Bodies There, Bodies Bodies Everywhere
The body count throughout the Oceania series is high, ranging into the upper thousands. Readers of techno-thrillers and fans of action movies, John Wick and Marvel included, take human loss in their stride. Victims are fodder. Here, Johnston departs from expectations, forcing his protagonist, McClusky, to confront the human toll his quest for Trieste independence has cost and how many more must fall before his rebellion succeeds. It is a welcome evolution of the McClusky character and the hero trope. The introspection (and guilt?) also sets up the final book in the series, A BLANKET OF STEEL. Should McClusky’s dream of independence be realized, what will the ultimate price be? True victory or a pyrrhic victory?
Action scenes are Johnston’s greatest strength. It’s a large part of what makes reading his work so entertaining. Time and again, he puts his characters into heart-pounding, life-or-death situations with no evident means of escape. And time and again he finds a way, without resorting to deus ex machina. And this brings me to Johnston’s other strength: The total lack of pretension.
His novels do not pretend to be anything other than what they are—thrilling, science fiction adventures that propel the reader from first page to last. As I said at the outset, his goal is to tell a good story—period! With THE SHADOW OF WAR, his eighth published novel, Timothy S. Johnston maintains both his objective and justly growing reputation.
4. Coming Soon: The Most Mundane Blog in Blogging History, Featuring…
• Brilliant Opening Sentences for Short Stories, Novels, and More! Absolutely Free!
• The Sad Fate of a Cherished Drinking Companion I Picked Up at a Local Gas Station
• Why I Have Come to Hate Sinks (Yes, sinks—those things in your kitchen and bathroom))
• Blogs and Bloggers that Easily Put Me to Shame
• Something About Me You Will Wish I Never Told You
…In other words, I’m not offering much for you to look forward to. Till then, see you on Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn or (ugh!) Twitter.