Julian at Deltona, Phony Online Store... and Beyond

Orson Scott Card: IMHO, the best Science Fiction and Phantasy writer alive. Not only because of the quality and interest of his tales (populated with very human characters that face important moral decisions) but also because they make you a better human being. He always touches me. Which of his novels I would recommend? Many! I'll mention some that went deep into my heart. I won't put in the first place the famous "Ender's Game" (I didn't cry with that one) but "Speaker for the dead", "Lost Boys" (the one I have read more times) and the Alvin Maker saga

Agatha Christie: For Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler , will be always "the woman". I could say the same about Agatha. Nobody like her for making you know, and love, the small English towns like St Mary Mead, where Miss Marple used to live. But why the other classics from the golden age of mistery novels, like William Irish, John Dickson Carr or Ellery Queen have COMPLETELY dissapeared from the shelves only for being replaced with a lot of dull books (with exceptions) is a mystery that only Hercule Poirot could solve. Only Perry Mason has managed to keep a little place in the bookstores.

J. K. Rowling: Yes! I confess it with pride. I'm old enough for not having to prove anything or for following the criteria of the main stream pundits. I'm a great fan of Harry Potter. I've read all the novels and watched all the movies several times and I'll continue doing that. If they are a product of the merchandising, as some people say, I don't care: I just like it. Besides, I became a Harry Potter fan from the first book, before the movies and before the big merchandising boom.

Isaac Asimov: It was 1992 and I was in Mexico when the sad news arrived: Isaac Asimov, the good professor, the author more prolific than Lope de Vega had passed away. I still remember the emptiness of knowing that no more Foundation novels will appear in the shelves and that Daanel Olivaw would not act as deus-ex-machina again. Fortunately, he left books enough for centuries of pleasant reading. The movies based in his works had not made him justice yet, perhaps because Asimov is not very "cinematographic". And now, adding insult to injury they are going to spoil Foundation ("I Robot" it's a very entertaining movie, but it's NOT Asimov).

Richmal Crompton: I met William Brown when I was a boy and I don't know how many times I read all of those books. The thing is that I continue reading them from time to time. If you have sense of humor you cannot be old enough for not enjoying the William, Douglas, Henry and Ginger (the "Outlaws") adventures. It's not easy to find them nowadays (not many reprints are made), probably because some of them are not very "politically correct".

P.G.Wodehouse: And Richmal Crompton takes us to Wodehouse because I found them closely related due to the scene of their stories and their sense of humor (that I know not everybody is going to share). But I recognize it. I always have a lot of fun with Bertie Wooster, Jeeves and all the characters in Blandings Castle.

William Shakespeare: The universally recognized classics that had passed the test of time don't need advertisement. But I also have to pay my debt with them so one was selected to be in this list. Which one touches me the most? No doubt: the "Bard of Avon". But, just in case they feel offended, I'm offering my excuses, for example, to Mark Twain (almost the selected one), Dickens, Poe, Dostoyevsky and many others that also put a bit of them in me.

The Beatles: They not need presentation. I have to include it because they were an important part of my youth and I still listen (and enjoy) them from time to time. I'm a bit old fashioned and I remain faithful to The Beatles, Queen or Simon and Garfunkel, seldon listening more recent stuff.

Star Wars: It's true that the 2nd Trilogy was below the expectatives (also the expectatives were too high). It's also true that the special effects replaced the ideas and the script was dull. But... I can forgive all that. I still believe in the story of the fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker. If the world is divided in "Ringies" (my neologism for the "Lord of the Rings" fans), Trekkies and "Starkies" (another neologism) I'm a bit of all them. (But only a bit: I don't speak Klingon neither Elvish like some characters of 17 again)

Columbo: "One more little thing, just for my report..." And here comes the fictional friends, headed by Columbo, the man with the trench coat and the old and always breaking car.("Have you considered buying another car?" "I already have another: my wife drives it.") Could other than Peter Falk be able to convert him in the unforgettable character it was? I doubt it.

Monk: The fictional parade continues with Adrian Monk, his phobias, his interesting murder cases and --the heart of the saga--. his beautiful and eternal love to Trudy and the affection-exasperation relationship that he establishes with his assistants, first Sharona Fleming and later Natalie Teeger. No more new Monk chapters after this season, announced definitively as the last (the producers are mean!). And we all are going to miss him a lot.

Superman: It seems that I share this with Jerry Seinfeld but the truth is that, from my childhood, I've liked Superman stories and I still like them. I haven't missed a chapter or Smallville, I have in DVD all the movies and TV series and now I'm collecting the DC archives. Not a very refinate taste? Who cares!

Steven Spielberg: I had some issues with this inclusion. Since Spielberg decided to make "serious" movies, looking for Oscars, somehow part of his magic touch was gone. But then I thought: he is still the man of unforgetable works as E.T, Duel, Close Encounters, Hook, Jurasic Park, Jaws and Indiana Jones (I'm not counting all the films he produced and have his "touch", like Gremlins ". And the magic was back in the last Indiana Jones... It would be unfair to exclude who made me dream that much. So , remembering that St Exupery dedicated his Little Prince (that should be included here, but I'm not including single books: otherwise this would be endless) to "Leon Werth, when he was a little boy", I'm dedicating this to "Steven Spielberg, when he was the E.T. and Indiana Jones man".

Disney: I enjoy a lot most of the Disney pictures. Half of my DVD shelves are filled with them. Why then is Disney in the last place of this list? It happens that I'm very upset with their decision of not continuing with the Narnia saga after two awesome movies. Fortunately Fox saved the day and at least "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" will be released.