Tag Archives: books without pictures

A couple of very fun sci-fi books

Posted on October 18, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

The early Cold War era was a time not just of great sci-fi cinema, but also of awesome sci-fi literature… and, contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t all doom and gloom either. Here are a couple of books, by two … Continue reading →

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A couple of grim sci-fi novels

Posted on April 14, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

Gotham Calling is still primarily a blog about comics, but I’m also enjoying posting about other books on my bedside table. They’re genre narratives as well – and many of their themes and concepts overlap with those of the comics … Continue reading →

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Another couple of British spy novels

Posted on March 8, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

Along with Eurocomics and old TV shows, I also like to use Gotham Calling to highlight cool spy novels. Here are a couple of British contributions to the genre that should please any self-respecting afficionados: BERLIN GAME (Len Deighton, 1983) … Continue reading →

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A couple of very cool space adventure novels

Posted on February 9, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

So, I finally started watching Andor and it’s as neat as I’d heard. It’s Star Wars as a taut cyberpunk heist, compelingly acted and with enough of a distinct vibe to feel more satisfying than the endless retread of the … Continue reading →

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A couple of deservedly acclaimed futuristic novels

Posted on September 28, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

Another post about science fiction, but this one looking beyond comic books… Reading old novels set in the future can be fun in different ways. On the one hand, it’s fascinating to see how other eras imagined (accurately or not) … Continue reading →

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A couple of vintage spy novels

Posted on May 12, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

I’ve written extensively about John le Carré in this blog, but today I want to go further back into the roots of spy literature. Here are a couple of very different novels by a couple of very different writers who … Continue reading →

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A couple of mind-bending novels

Posted on June 17, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

It’s been a while since I’ve discussed books without pictures in this blog… And since the world seems to be struggling to return to a form of normality these days, let’s have a look at a couple of remarkable novels … Continue reading →

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John le Carré (1931-2020)

Posted on December 14, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Although his work had little to do with Batman comics, John le Carré was a foundational writer for some of the other stuff I cover in this blog. Between the Circus series and his other novels, he became one of … Continue reading →

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On John le Carré’s non-Circus novels

Posted on September 24, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Earlier this year, I discussed John le Carré’s Circus novels as the perfect counterpoint to the James Bond branch of spy fiction. Yet there is much more to le Carré’s writing, which has taken this genre into all sorts of … Continue reading →

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A couple of old-school detective novels

Posted on June 11, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Because I also like books without pictures, this week let’s switch gears for a bit and look at a couple of very cool non-comics detective novels: THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS (Eric Ambler, 1939) “A Frenchman named Chamfort, who should have … Continue reading →

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