Monthly Archives:
sInvincible, by Kit Sun Cheah
Thursday , 19, October 2017 Book Review, Fiction, Short Fiction 2 CommentsIn an Empire beset by internal rebellion and ferocious yaomo, the elite Shenwujun stand ready to defend human civilization. Among the Shenwujun there is none finer than Ensign Zhang Tianyou, who earned the nickname Zhang the Invincible. During a mission to quash a nascent rebellion, a Shenwujun detachment discovers evidence that the Grand Union is […]
GUEST POST: Alex Stump on The Chronicles of Narnia
Thursday , 19, October 2017 Book Review 12 CommentsI never read the Chronicles of Narnia as a kid. The movies were good but I didn’t read the books until early this year. And after reading them all I wish was still a kid. Okay, a lot of people know the story so I’ll make it quick. It’s World War 2, the Nazi Germans […]
The latest issue of Astounding Frontiers is here! Check it out and you’ll find an all new retrospective by yours truly. If you got to the end of Appendix N and just wanted more, then this (along with Cirsova issues 1 and 3) is the place to go! One of the things I did as […]
Fear ripples through human galactic society in the third volume of Peter Bostrom’s The Last War series. Another ship travels from humanity’s bleak future, targets a populated planet … and lays it waste in a fiery apocalypse. Nothing survives, and the ship disappears. In the midst of the recovery, Admiral Jack Mattis finds more questions […]
ALT-HERO: Avalon Dreams
Tuesday , 17, October 2017 Comics, News, Promotions, Publications Leave a commentThis is genuinely exciting. It means that Chuck Dixon, the author of the Alt★Hero series Avalon, will be constructing a detailed city map of Avalon in cooperation with a highly skilled cartographer, bringing the fictional city to life in more ways than one. Later today, we will add a reward with various poster options, one of which is […]
E. E. Doc Smith’s Galactic Patrol opens up with a tremendous brain dump. But what a brain dump! If you want to know what science fiction was like before it became ashamed of the superlative, this is it. Note the nature of this patrol and how it differs from practically every science fiction series since: “You […]
SUPERVERSIVE: What was the Appeal of Harry Potter?
Tuesday , 17, October 2017 Uncategorized 16 CommentsWith Harry Potter having so saturated popular culture, to the point where it has become the main cultural touchstone among millennials, I’ve heard some people wonder this. They’re good books with some great moments, but heavily flawed. So why them? What did Harry Potter tap into? How did it turn into the juggernaut that it […]
Ghost in the Shell Kinda Sucks, but Still Beats the Original
Monday , 16, October 2017 Movies 13 CommentsIt’s Halloween, which means it’s the season for unpopular opinions: The Ghost in the Shell live action was better than the anime. (Yeah, I said it. COME AT ME, BRO!) I saw GitS way back in 1996, shortly after it was released in the States (remember Blockbuster?), and again Saturday, for this post. My reaction, both […]
Sensor Sweep: Paper Tigers, Pretty Men, Bossy Patrons, and Overarching Omnipresent Threats
Monday , 16, October 2017 Sensor Sweep 13 CommentsPulp Revolution (Jon Mollison) Energizing Inspiration — “The constant string of successful ventures and growing army of content producers on the side of truth, justice, and the American way provides real sustenance and inspiration to those of us who enjoy laboring in the trenches. Watching guys like Jon del Arroz and Brian Niemeier and Nick […]
New ALT-HERO Pledge Add-ons and Stretch Goal
Monday , 16, October 2017 Comics, News, Promotions, Publications 1 CommentA number of people have asked for a way to buy Alt★Hero Novel #2, so we have created two new ways to do so as part of the Alt★Hero campaign. We have also found two of the three cosplay models for the promised photo shoot. $5.00 Novel Ebook #2 This is to receive a copy of […]
So an Emissary of the Last Tribe of Man has left Yamtown taking 15 pure strain humans with him. He’s promised to send back 15 pallets of Venusian delicacies. Meanwhile a group of very angry Badders have declared that they will be back soon in order to demand tribute again– and if Yamtown doesn’t pay […]
Forgotten Sword and Sorcery Artists: Virgil Finlay
Sunday , 15, October 2017 Uncategorized 4 CommentsVirgil Finlay (1914-1971) was one of the first artists of sword and sorcery fiction. Hugh Rankin and Vincent Napoli are almost the only ones who proceed Finlay in the genre. Finlay started in the pages of Weird Tales in 1935. He illustrated Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith. Finlay illustrated early […]