Monthly Archives:
sSensor Sweep: Paperback Fanatic, Ben Bova, Tros of Samothrace, Warhammer
Monday , 29, April 2019 Sensor Sweep 4 CommentsPopular Culture (Men’s Pulp Mags): Justin Marriott and Paul Bishop are two of my favorite pulp culture mavens. (“Pulp culture” is a term I borrowed from the book of that name by Frank M. Robinson and Lawrence Davidson and expanded to encompass both early pulp magazines and pulp art and later magazines, books and movies that have pulpy DNA, such as men’s adventure magazines and action/adventure […]
The interwar period of 1919 to 1939 in the realm of small arms has two distinct periods. The first half 1919-1929 was a time awash in WW 1 surplus. The Polish-Soviet War, the Freikorps action in the Baltic States were all fought with WW 1 weaponry. The British and French Empires were enlarged by territory […]
J. Manfred Weichsel: Going Native and Other Stories
Saturday , 27, April 2019 Uncategorized Leave a commentJ. Manfred Weichsel has been a regular in the independent short fiction magazines that have sprung up in recent years. His short works have made the cut and graced the pages of Crisova, Fierce Tales, and Milhaven’s Tales of Wonder, and reading them back to back in an anthology like Going Native and Other Tales it […]
Fighter jocks, secret conspiracies, elemental academies and Cleopatra’s tomb all feature in this week’s roundup of the newest releases in fantasy and adventure. Alt-Hero: Q #1: Where We Go One – Chuck Dixon and Helix Haze When federal agent Roland Dane is sent to Peru to escort a U.S. Cabinet member, he has no reason […]
Short Reviews – The Green Dream, by Bryce Walton
Friday , 26, April 2019 Uncategorized Leave a commentThe Green Dream, by Bryce Walton, appeared in the Winter 1949 issue of Planet Stories. It can be read here at Archive.org. Even though I took Walton to task for his 5-point letter on illogical themes in STF, I’ve got to admit that between Savage Galahad and The Green Dream, I’m fairly impressed by his […]
Sensor Sweep: Windy City Pulp Show, King Arthur, Star Wars Target Audience, Model T in Combat
Monday , 22, April 2019 Uncategorized 5 CommentsConventions (DMR Books): The 19th annual Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention took place this past weekend in Lombard, IL. It was a three-day affair, but unfortunately I was only able to attend for part of the day on Saturday. Five hours may seem like a good amount of time, but it wasn’t nearly enough […]
Last week, I mentioned a mistake in the novel Skylark Mission with the mention of Japanese automatic rifles in World War II. I thought I would discuss small arms of World War II with some emphasis on “automatic rifles.” I started writing and ended up with multi-part series. Modern firearms have their origin in the […]
At a time where many are trying to claim the mantle of what Dangerous Visions should have been, J. Manfred Weichsel’s Going Native brings a pulpy horror to six speculative fiction tales that stray perilously close to the live wires of impolite society without resorting to preaching or morality tales. These tales originally appeared in Cirsova, Fierce Tales: Savage Lands, Weird Mask, […]
Science Fiction New Releases: 20 April, 2019
Saturday , 20, April 2019 Uncategorized Leave a commentThe titans of military science fiction rise to duel with mecha and starships in this week’s new release roundup. Absolution (Blood Runners #1) – George S. Mahaffey Jr. and Justin Sloan In a futuristic New Chicago where justice is meted out via a barbaric system called Absolution, you can either level up or check […]
Short Reviews – The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, by John and Dorothy de Courcy
Friday , 19, April 2019 Uncategorized Leave a commentThe Night Has a Thousand Eyes, by John and Dorothy de Courcy, appeared in the Winter 1949 issue of Planet Stories. It can be read here at Archive.org. There have been a number of husband and wife team throughout SFF history. And we’ve long-since put to bed the myth that pulps weren’t publishing stories by […]
SUPERVERSIVE: “No Game, No Life” isn’t superversive, but I’ll take Sora over Kirito
Tuesday , 16, April 2019 Superversive 1 CommentMy issue with shows like “The Rising of the Shield Hero” and “Sword Art Online” largely have to do with the incredibly unhealthy wish fulfilment aspect. The shows are designed for preteens to place themselves in the shoes of Naofumi and Kirito. Naofumi is a random otaku nerd who gets transported to a video game-style […]
Sensor Sweep: John Carter Miniatures, The Metal Monster, Carcosacon, Call of the Wild Art, Robot Man
Monday , 15, April 2019 Sensor Sweep 1 CommentRPG (Modiphius): The John Carter Swords of Mars miniatures line is made up of 32mm scale high quality multi-part resin miniatures which come complete with resin scenic bases. The Swords of Mars campaign book includes a set of rules to play out battles involving squads and heroes, fighting across moving airships, desolate ruins or the […]