Agent Palmer

Douglas A. Anderson’s collection of stories gathered in Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy appears to be more from before Tolkien’s works were published than “classic stories that inspired the author of The Lord of the Rings” but I can’t fault the publisher for trying to drum up sales.

Of the 21 stories that make up this collection, there were only a handful I enjoyed and four that I truly loved…

On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at 6:18pm the world lost legendary musicmaker Andrew Belling.

Belling was a stranger to me until I was first introduced to Ralph Bakshi’s seminal work Wizards, for which he composed the entire electronic score. From then on, I was a fan of his work.

Merriam-Webster defines wisdom as the “ability to discern inner qualities and relationships;” “good sense;” “generally accepted belief;” “accumulated philosophical or scientific learning” which could be summarized as insight, judgment and knowledge.

It continues on to define it as “a wise attitude, belief, or course of action” and “the teachings of the ancient wise men.”

I have read the collection of stories known as “The Monster Book of Zombies” edited by Stephen Jones, which is more than just Tales of the Walking Dead as the subtitle suggests. It’s variations on a theme. Perhaps that’s the standard as I’m not often a short story collections reader.

I’m also not much of a horror reader, so to attempt to properly review this collection would be folly. However, I have chosen my favorite short stories from this collection to share with you.