I have embarked on Edgar Rice Burrough's Mars/Barsoom series, which I last read in the 1970s, when, like this edition, they could be found in every W.H. Smiths (a company I may also have to explain in the future) in every town high street.

I have just finished the 'complete' Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock, except I haven't because after the conclusion there are three more novels that include Elric (sort of). Like all Moorcock it is variable in quality, but some fantastic ideas and images.

Welcome to the great experiment, where the USA finds out if nineteenth-century ideas of protectionism and isolation work in the twenty-first century. I don’t want to give the ending away here but…

So the best thing we can hope for is that Trump crashes the US economy and that his supporters realise he has no idea what he is doing. It would be better if they realised he is a narcissist who is removing their rights and corrupting government, but I guess that would be a win, if we all survive.

I’m not saying that the USA is on the same road as 1930s Germany, but a lot of landmarks look familiar.

I have just finished my epic reading of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser Sword and Sorcery series. That was 37 short stories, novellas, novelettes and novels. It was great in places, but to be honest some portions, particularly at the end, were hard going.

I am spending the morning in the 1980s.

Filmmaker David Lynch, who created surreal shows and films such as "Twin Peaks," "Mulholland Drive" and "Blue Velvet," has died. He was 78 years old. https://on.wsj.com/3PEwzCY

Weird how those who argued so hard for ‘sovereignty’ during Brexit are happy to sell off their country to an authoritarian dictator. That’s patriots for you. www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-...

And Happy New Year to you too.

When your birthplace becomes Atlantis.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DccM...

My reading report is a bit thin, having been away and then ill. I am finding The Swords of Lankhmar a bit trying, as the characters keep acting like idiots. I am finishing up my Marvel Conan the Barbarian comics collections and continuing the 'new' Titan comics Conan, which is pretty fantastic.

My reading report for this week is that I am now at the end of the 4th of the 7 Fritz Lieber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser omnibus books and half way through Moorcock’s Revenge of the Rose (not to mention 2 volumes into Marvel’s Werewolf by Night and the seventh of Conan). I may be reading too much.

On my classic fantasy turn I started with all of the Robert E. Howard Conan stories, I moved on to Moorcock' Elric saga, and with an enforced break I have taken up the Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series.

I am roughly half way through reading Michael Moorcock's Elric Saga. I read a lot of Moorcock when I was a teenager, although not that much Elric. It has all the strengths and weaknesses of Moorcock, but it is keeping me engaged so far.