Well, the penultimate Lord Darcy story was fucking awful, so the final one has to end things on a more positive note, right? Right?
Continue reading#1472: Little Fictions – ‘The Spell of War’ (1979) by Randall Garrett
Randall Garrett
#1469: Little Fictions – ‘The Napoli Express’ (1979) by Randall Garrett
With an uptick in quality in the previous two Lord Darcy short stories, I was very much looking forward to the penultimate one — also the longest, by a significant amount — continuing this trend. And, wow, was I mistaken.
Continue reading#1466: Little Fictions – ‘The Sixteen Keys’ (1976) by Randall Garrett
And so, a new-to-me story from Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy oeuvre, since I definitely didn’t read these last three in this collection at first encounter (no, I’m not sure why).
Continue reading#1463: Little Fictions – ‘The Ipswich Phial’ (1976) by Randall Garrett
Upon first encounter, some 15 years ago, I left four of Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy stories unread for reasons which now elude me; and those reasons seem even more elusive when you realise that the last one I did read was possibly the strongest of the lot.
Continue reading#1460: Little Fictions – ‘The Bitter End’ (1978) by Randall Garrett
Five Tuesdays in June means that I have sufficient time and space to read and write about the five remaining Lord Darcy short stories by Randall Garrett which, given that I reviewed the novel Too Many Magicians (1967) back in January, means the full canon will then be covered on The Invisible Event.
Continue reading#1403: Too Many Magicians (1967) by Randall Garrett
When The Invisible Event hit 1,000 posts — ahh, back in the day — I put up a list of 100 recommended impossible crime novels and short story collections for those of you wishing to be a little more discerning when reading the best subgenre in the world. TomCat was disgruntled with my inclusion of Too Many Magicians (1967) by Randall Garrett, but I stood by it as an interesting take on both the crossover mystery and the impossible crime, with a neat little, expectation-subverting idea at is core, and I vowed to reread it in due course to reinforce these impressions. Well, I’ve reread it now, and while I stand by the locked room murder as clever and fun, the book itself is frankly so tedious that I wonder how I ever saw anything in it in the first place.
#1352: Little Fictions – ‘A Matter of Gravity’ (1974) by Randall Garrett
Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy stories, where murder and magic mingle in an alternate-history Europe, being a closed set, I had never really thought to consider the gaps between them before now.
Continue reading#1349: Little Fictions – ‘A Stretch of the Imagination’ (1973) by Randall Garrett
A gap of six years followed Randall Garrett’s sole Lord Darcy novel Too Many Magicians (1967) before he returned to the universe. Was that time well-spent in creating another strong fusion of mystery, magic, and murder?
Continue reading#1346: Little Fictions – ‘The Muddle of the Woad’ (1965) by Randall Garrett
More magic, mummery, and misdirection from Randall Garrett’s alternate history Europe, and this time a bit of an impossible crime thrown in to boot. Not that he makes much of that element.
Continue reading#1343: Little Fictions – ‘A Case of Identity’ (1964) by Randall Garrett
Another Tuesday, another Lord Darcy story, in which Randall Garrett mixes magic and detection in an alternate-history Europe.
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