Monthly Archives:
sScience Fiction and Fantasy Reviews – April 2017
Thursday , 13, July 2017 Book Review, Fiction 2 CommentsLet’s look back at the month of April at some of the science fiction and fantasy books released that you might have missed. * * * * * For We Are Many (We Are Bob #2) – Dennis Taylor Bob Johansson didn’t believe in an afterlife, so waking […]
High Contrast Fantasy: A. Merritt’s Burn, Witch, Burn!
Wednesday , 12, July 2017 Appendix N 25 CommentsThe problem with post-Christian fantasy authors is that their works are inherently flat. Not being able to conceive of protagonists that are truly good, they settle for whoever happens to catch the spotlight. Not being able to conceive of monstrosities that can threaten the soul, they rely on gore, psychosis, and/or the demonization of their […]
The copyright on this book says 2015, but I have my doubts. My theory is that the author opened up a wormhole, reached through, and pulled this book from the slushpile of a 1950’s publishing house. The tone and tenor of this book would not be out of place sandwiched between the covers of a […]
The first episode of this series stumbles out of the gate, but I had to wonder… does it eventually find its stride? After all the hue and cry last time, I had to stop and think: maybe whatever it is that this series’s fans love so much comes along later and it’s worth giving this […]
Friends and neighbors, I’ve come to tell you this: there is discontent stirring across the land. Yea, behold, upon yon Facebooks the cry has gone out: “Why do you hate everything, Warpig? Why do you criticize the things I like?! HAVE YOU NO HEART NOR SOUL?!” (The answer is “No, I don’t.”, as it turns […]
SENSOR SWEEP: Finger-wagging Schoolmarms, Mush-mouth Bleatings, Larger-than-life Heroism, and Reskinned Tolkien Fascimiles
Monday , 10, July 2017 Sensor Sweep 22 CommentsTraveller (Tales to Astound) An Improvised Classic Traveller Convention Game — “And I type all this up to say–the game was written and designed to play this easy, fast, and loose play–and you can play this way too. No long, detailed introduction by the Referee about politics that the Player Characters can’t influence anyway. No thoughtfully […]
Great artists and thieves are similar; they both know how to steal your soul.–Lupin III In 2015, Japanese and Italian investors collaborated to present the fourth main TV series in the Lupin III franchise. Reflecting the Italian involvement, Lupin traded his world-spanning heists for an Italian base of operations, and the targets of his heists, […]
The Dead Zone. A classic Christopher Walken film from 1983, featuring not just one of Stephen King’s better stories, but also a gorgeous Brooke Adams, a heart-wrenchingly beautiful Apple II, and the awe-inspiring 1970’s edition of Mastermind– they one whose cover features a cunning high powered business man doing the Mr. Burns while his sultry […]
Ken(neth) Barr (1933-2016) is a guilty pleasure of mine. He was a fixture of the 1970s into the early 1980s for many paperbacks and comic book covers. He was originally born in Scotland. He had some early work for Nebula Science Fiction in the U.K. in 1958 and 59. He did comic book work in […]
Praise for the Short Fiction of Misha Burnett
Saturday , 8, July 2017 Pulp Revolution, Short Fiction 5 CommentsMisha Burnett’s story in Cirsova #5 continues to turn heads. Here’s only the latest positive review: Five issues on, and Cirsova is keeping up with its high standard. Even tho the large chunk of this issue is based around this same shared fictional background, stories are as varied in theme, tone and style as ever, […]
There are two myths about scifi/fantasy that refuse to die and must need be repeatedly bludgeoned back down – that women have historically been excluded from the industry and that there is a serious lack of strong women characters in the genre. In my last post I talked about the Queen of Space Opera, Leigh Brackett, […]