The Ragamuffin Mystery
by Enid Blyton; ill. Gilbert Dunlop (Collins, 1959)
The final ‘Barney’ mystery is a fast, pleasant read, set in Wales and introducing another memorable animal (a goose named Waddle). Although there’s a sense of adventure, the children trip along rather than detect, and have too much access to adult help.
Doctor Who: Planet of Evil
by Louis Marks; dir. David Maloney (BBC, 1975)
The overlooked classic of the Tom Baker years. Planet of Evil makes the most of its premise, combining a nuanced script with tight direction and some seriously good acting (particularly from its leads). Roger Murray-Leach’s alien jungle set constitutes a series highpoint.
Invader on my Back
by Phililp E. High (Hale, 1968)
When it came to SF ideas, High supped from the horn of plenty. Yet his prose here is amateurish, his grammar appalling, and his depiction of women beyond cringeworthy (even for the time). An alien invasion narrative in dire need of editing.
The Peanuts Gang
by Charles M. Schulz (Hodder & Stoughton, 1979)
A slim volume showcasing one Sunday comic per A4 page. While Peanuts has more life in colour (the characters’ stock outfits evince a surprising number of variations!) the selection of strips is narrow and over-magnification leads to a dotty sort of pixilation.
Protocol
by Timothy Zahn (Analog, September 2002) [Novelette]
A seemingly effortless piece of SF world-building. Colonists cut off on a frontier settlement must comport themselves by unfathomable alien rules… at pain of death. But what happens if the rituals stop working? Unsatisfyingly, the story poses but doesn’t answer this question.
The Fagin File
by Terrance Dicks (Blackie & Son, 1978)
A slight, rather hurried volume, even by Dicks’s standards. The narrative chops about more than it did in the first Baker Street Irregulars mystery, and the investigation is something of a doddle. For a middle-grade adventure, though, the stakes are surprisingly adult.
Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Me
by Charles M. Schulz (W.H. Allen 1981)
A short, simply written autobiography that extends to Schulz’s inspirations, working process and general thoughts on cartooning, illustrated piecemeal (in black-and-white) with Peanuts strips and unremarkable family photographs. Schulz is justifiably proud of his achievements but comes across rather blandly alongside them.
The Rat-a-Tat Mystery
by Enid Blyton (Collins, 1956)
The fifth ‘Barney’ mystery is, if anything, even slighter than its predecessors. Not much detecting goes on! Yet the children have fun—overseen on this occasion by Mrs Tickle—and the animals cause their usual mayhem. The story flies by pleasantly enough.
Starhunt
by David Gerrold (Hamlyn, 1985)
Not merely a reprint. Starhunt does encompass Yesterday’s Children but reboots at that story’s conclusion and ups the word count by a third, rewriting Korie from deranged and overambitious fool to master strategist and king of mind games. The psychobabble is unconvincing.
Yesterday’s Children
by David Gerrold (Faber & Faber, 1972)
A grim search for realism in depicting space warfare. Having established his antihero protagonist aboard a tumbledown ship rife with interpersonal tensions—Star Trek in other words but stripped of hope and idealism—Gerrold pins his denouement on mental breakdown and gimmickry.