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sOkay, I actually quite enjoyed this one. Everything was gorgeous. The bad guys were evil and decadent. The world building was extravagant. The life of every human being on earth was at stake. There were androids, rat men, humanoid dragon-people, guys with bird wings… all the staples from the pulp science fiction tradition, really. There […]
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER: A Moon Full of Stars by Jon Mollison
Friday , 19, May 2017 Just Released 2 CommentsAll Rome ever wanted was to earn a place in the village as a hunter, so that he could explore beyond the safe confines of the village farm fields, but when monstrous slavers destroy his village he is forced to head west into the irradiated wastelands in search of anything that might give him the […]
Short Reviews – No Winter, No Summer, by Damon Knight and James Blish (as Donald Laverty)
Friday , 19, May 2017 Uncategorized 2 CommentsNo Winter, No Summer, by Damon Knight and James Blish (writing as Donald Laverty) appeared in the October 1948 Issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. While there were a couple stories in this issue that I didn’t like, particularly Bradbury’s “crazy people aren’t crazy if you stick them in an environment that nurtures and caters to […]
Classic Traveller: Gearing Up for a Campaign
Thursday , 18, May 2017 Tabletop Games, Traveller, Uncategorized 11 CommentsSpace Opera seems to be in the air these days. And, I gues I’m not immune. I’ve been talked into it. It being running a Classic Traveller game. Which is the original and first Space Opera role playing game. The wrinkle we are taking is to play Proto-Traveller (term coined by this blog’s el jeffe […]
#SpaceOperaWeek: We Are All Groot by Misha Burnett
Thursday , 18, May 2017 Uncategorized 12 CommentsI recently saw Guardians Of The Galaxy 2. I loved it, it was a great big multi-colored thrill ride of a film, pretty much non-stop from the ELO-fueled dance/combat sequence that opens the movie to the final post-credits sequence. (You don’t have to be told not to leave until the ushers physically drag you out, […]
After pulp fiction died out in the United States, other countries continued the tradition of publishing cheap and entertaining stories of adventure. In France, the pulp spirit contributed to bande dessinée comics such as Valerian and Laureline. Japan married the manga art style to pulp adventures aimed at adolescents and created the light novel. In China, pulp-style […]
#SpaceOperaWeek: Wonder and the Soul’s Desire by Dominika Lein
Thursday , 18, May 2017 Pulp Revolution 6 CommentsEver since humanity looked upon the stars, there have been stories of space. Rhapsodies spoken, drawn, and written about a place that is impossible to know, yet filled with infinite wonder. The “Space Opera” aesthetic is predominant in stories of alien beings, heroic earthlings, and tales rendering time and distance into mere playthings. Filled with […]
This is huge. Nine scenarios for Ogre: Designer’s Edition– most of which can also be played with Ogre Sixth Edition and Ogre Reinforcements— and all of them by the game’s original designer: Steve Jackson!!! Here’s what’s included: GEV Escort — The classic “kill the CP scenario”, but with G.E.V.s added to both sides. Gauntlet — […]
Pulp Nova: Ace Slamm: Space Bastard – Turn on a Dame
Wednesday , 17, May 2017 Book Review 4 CommentsAce Slamm: Space Bastard – Turn on a Dame will be the last story this reviewer reads from Pulp Nova. It’s clear after this third strike that James Desborough’s work is mired in fashionably modern nihilism and deconstructivism rather than a forward looking attempt to recapture the magic of the pulp era. The grim and […]
#SpaceOperaWeek: Realism is Dumb by Jon Del Arroz
Wednesday , 17, May 2017 Pulp Revolution 9 CommentsEverything that we’ve been told about science fiction and fantasy writing for the last couple of decades is a lie. All we hear is ‘you have to make it more real’ and ‘that needs to be realistic dialogue’ or ‘it wouldn’t really happen that way’. It’s led to the genre changing from John Carter leaping […]
The Truth About Women and Science Fiction
Tuesday , 16, May 2017 Appendix N, Before the Big Three 17 CommentsOver at Tor.com, Judith Tarr weighs in on a well trod discussion point: Every year or two, someone writes another article about a genre that women have just now entered, which used to be the province of male writers. Usually it’s some form of science fiction. Lately it’s been fantasy, especially epic fantasy (which strikes […]
Powers Boothe died, and I grieved somewhat. CNN wanted me to remember him for—and they’ll burn in hell for this—”Agents of S.U.C.K.”. You soulless bastards.