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sLike so many science-fiction and fantasy readers these days, roping back into modern works took some doing. Steve Rzasa’s writing was one of the things that helped steer me back into reading contemporary science-fiction and fantasy. His Hugo nominated Turncoat provided the proof of concept that these Rabid Puppy maniacs maybe had a point, and his […]
Retro Fandom Friday – Denying Human Nature and Filthy Commies in the Sci-Fi Fandom
Friday , 23, March 2018 Uncategorized 2 CommentsA lengthy letter from Bryce Walton in a previous issue kicked a real hornets nest in La Viz, it would seem, so I’ll go ahead and include the relevant part of it along with some of the letters that respond to it from the Winter issue. After some commentary on the previous issue, he gets […]
He is a child of ink and quill, the figurehead of R. L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island. He has lived on crimes and dreams, knows the galleons of Madeira, the sack of Maracaibo, and the buccaneer uprisings. He will mix gold and blood to seal his destiny, deep inside the lost kingdoms of the Amazon. He […]
An Excerpt from BATTLESUIT BASTARDS
Wednesday , 21, March 2018 Fiction, Just Released, Publications 1 CommentTommy Falkland is proud to be a Wardog. And he’s delighted when WDI’s executives sign a massive contract to arrange for a little regime change on a no-account low-tech planet that looks like a highly profitable cakewalk. But when the transportation company unexpectedly fails to deliver their armor and artillery dirtside, Tommy and his fellow […]
The Stars Entwined is the first installment in an epic space opera series by multiple award-nominated science fiction writer, Jon Del Arroz. The Aryshan Empire and Earth are on the brink of war! After several recent attacks along the border of Aryshan space, internal affairs agent Sean Barrows is brought to Palmer Station to ensure […]
Castalia House New Release: WARDOGS INC.: BATTLESUIT BASTARDS
Tuesday , 20, March 2018 Just Released, News, Publications Leave a commentAll war is murder for profit. Some organizations are just more open about it. WARDOGS INCORPORATED is one of the largest and most professional mercenary corporations operating in the Kantillon subsector. If you need a bodyguard, an assassination team, or an armored cavalry regiment complete with air support, WARDOGS Inc. can provide it for you… […]
Jessica Jones, an ostensible superhero, is a compulsive narcissist, a miserable bitch who spreads misery wherever she goes. The first season of this Netflix Marvel show tried to justify her miserable narcissism by blaming it on her dead family and her insanely-tragic-in-an-over-the-top-adolescent-way past history with a mind control psycho. Fair enough. The funniest thing about […]
Sensor Sweep: Weird Book, Freedom Squadron, Shaver Mystery, and Wasteland Warfare
Monday , 19, March 2018 Sensor Sweep 3 CommentsFiction (Scifi Movie Page): “Paul Ganley’s Weirdbook was one of the best small press publications of the 1970s. Modeled very much on Weird Tales, it featured “weird” fiction of all kinds. “Weird fiction” was a catch-all term used by Lovecraft and others in the early 20th century to describe everything from fantasy to horror to […]
Ireland has produced more than its quota of writers in the realm of the fantastic: Lord Dunsany, James Stephens, Maurice Walsh, Lady Gregory, Joseph O’Neill etc. A book that had a profound impact on me is Seumas MacManus’ The Story of the Irish Race. My dad had a copy forty years ago. Curiosity made me […]
Having read all the Fleming Bond stories with the exception of the posthumously completed The Man with the Golden Gun, I figured it would be interesting to look at them through the lens of pulp. While usually characterized as spy fiction, it’s clear they were heavily influenced by pulp stories, as well as American (rather than […]
New Release Roundup: 17 March 2018 – Science Fiction
Saturday , 17, March 2018 Just Released, Uncategorized Leave a commentThe last man on earth struggles to make sense of an alien invasion, a beheaded astrophysicist explores the landscapes of the soul, a shoe-string British space navy defends a colony from alien assault, and more in this week’s roundup of the newest releases in science fiction. Bender of Worlds (Star Warrior #2) – Isaac Hooke […]
Short Reviews – The Jewels of Chamar, by Raymond F. Jones
Friday , 16, March 2018 Uncategorized 9 CommentsThe Jewels of Chamar, by Raymond F. Jones, appeared in the Winter 1946 issue of Planet Stories. It can be read here at Archive.org. “When you have looked into the blue depths of a stone that is like the eye of all the universe you’ll never be able to turn your back upon it. You’ll […]