Randall Garrett (1927–1987)

I think I might be in love with Lord Darcy, although I feel I am cheating on both Sherlock Holmes and Lord Peter Wimsey. The time is the mid-1960s; the place, the Anglo-French Empire, ruled by John IV, by the Grace of God, King and Emperor of England, France, Scotland, Ireland, New England, and New France; Defender of the Faith, et cetera. Yes, it is an alternative history where the Plantagenet dynasty of England never fell and magic works! So while it is science fiction, the collection show more feels much like fantasy.

The four stories in this collection play fair with the reader. Magic reveals clues, just as forensic science does in our world. Lord Darcy uses his intellect, clues, and observations to ferret out the wrongdoer in each story. I thoroughly enjoyed the collection.

Highly recommended for fans of science fantasy and mystery. show less

Start with a base of Sherlock Holmes, add a drop of Lord Peter Wimsey, stir in a healthy serving of Brother Cadfael, and season with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell—it all adds up to the highly satisfying diet of Lord Darcy stories by Randall Garrett.

Lord Darcy is the Chief Forensic Investigator for the Duke of Normandy, in an alternate history where the British Empire in the 1960s consists of England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and the New World. The Plantagenets are still in power, and the show more Church is still a visible and integral part of the culture.

The four stories that make up this collection are enjoyable not only for the mysteries that have to be solved, but also for the sheer pleasure of exploring this world that might have been. Elevators and guns exist alongside gas lamps, carriages, sorcery, and sword-play. I loved the mixture of medieval and Victorian England, and the way the Church was such a significant part of daily life.

This is exactly the kind of book I love reading for pleasure: quick moving, intelligent, imaginative, and filled with personable characters.

I look forward to reading the full length Lord Darcy novel, Too Many Magicians, and the final collection of stories, Lord Darcy Investigates. show less

Read: Brain Twister, Randall Garrett & Laurence M Janifer

Originally published under the name Mark Phillips (the two authors’ middle names), and under the title ‘That Sweet Little Old Lady’ in Analog in 1959, and despite being a novella managed to be nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960. It lost to Heinlein’s Starship Trooper and much as I hate that book it was a better winner than Brain Twister would have been. (It was published in book format under the new title in show more 1962.) Kenneth Malone is a FBI agent, and has been tasked with discovering the identity of the telepathic spy at the secret Yucca Flats research facility, where the US is developing a new spaceship drive. The story is set in the 1970s, although everyone still wears hats, and the only piece of invented everyday tech mentioned is a videophone. JFK is also referred to as the “youngest living ex-president”, which was weird. Malone surmises that any telepath is likely to be insane, and so scours asylums and sanatoriums across the US, eventually finding Miss Thompson, who seems perfectly lucid, other than insisting she is immortal and Queen Elizabeth I. She agrees to help the FBI identify the spy, which results in a car journey across the country, with a stopover in Las Vegas. Malone, fellow FBI agent Boyd, nurse Barbara and Miss Thompson all wear Elizabethan dress during the trip. For reasons. Malone eventually figures out who the spy is - Miss Thompson knew who it was all along, of course. It’s hard to describe quite how bad this novel is. It’s meant to be comic but is not in the least bit funny. The world-building is non-existent - it might as well have been set in 1959. And the final reveal depends on two clues dropped earlier in the narrative that weren’t, well, clues at all. Avoid at all costs. show less

Good. I hadn't realized this series was Vicki Heydron writing from Randall Garrett's outline. Hmmm - Steel, the book he actually wrote, comes more or less to an end; the others are pretty much a multi-volume novel (lots of near-cliffhanger endings). There's not even much of a break between the first and second three (the separation between the omnibuses). I wonder if it would have been different if Randall wrote them.
Still, rich stories, and remembering (vaguely) what happens didn't impede show more my enjoyment of them at all. Not buying them, though - I can borrow them if I want to re-read in a few years. show less