Blog Archives
sImagine you were a Yankee and had to visit your family who are in the South. One day during your visit, you were told about a great town which is said to be the heart of the South. After hearing so much praise you were like, “Hey, this town I keep hearing about is just […]
E.E. Smith: The Doc Is In
Saturday , 27, May 2017 Before the Big Three, Book Review, Fiction 17 CommentsLast week was #SpaceOperaWeek, so I’m a bit late to the party. Still, any time is a good time for space opera! Being a relative newcomer to both Appendix N and the pulps is a mixed bag. On the one hand, oh man – what an embarrassment of riches! Of what I’ve been able to […]
I reviewed the first Swords of Steel anthology earlier this year. A second volume came out in 2016. Swords of Steel III had a release of Friday, May 19th. Dave Ritzlin sent me a file of the book to review. Good timing for me. Seems like life is full of putting out fires constantly leaving […]
My Favorite Conan Story: Shadows in Zamboula
Saturday , 20, May 2017 Appendix N, Authors, Book Review, Fiction, Short Fiction 9 CommentsI don’t profess to be an expert on the excellent Robert E Howard. In fact, it was over two decades after Conan the Barbarian became a favorite character of mine that I read Howard’s stories about the Cimmerian! My first exposure to the pulp titan was in the form of Saturday morning cartoon Conan the […]
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 […]
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 […]
THROWBACK SF THURSDAY: Changa’s Safari by Milton Davis
Thursday , 11, May 2017 Book Review 15 CommentsTeen boys get a bad rap. David Hartwell sneered that “the Golden Age of Science Fiction is 12.” John Rogers gibed that “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading […]
There’s a New Kid in Town! Broadswords & Blasters is a newly launched magazine under editors Matthew X. Gomez and Cameron Mount that promises “pulp with modern sensibilities” – more on that later, but suffice to say that I found the first issue to be not quite what I thought it was offering, but also […]
James Desborough returns to his vision of pulp fiction with Stain – Dead and Gone, the story of a hard boiled detective called up from “administrative duty” to work a murder case that nobody wants solved. Stane, the drunk with a disturbing tendency to wind up as the partner of a dead cop, is your […]
Every other month, the Castalia House blog showcases books published by independent authors and small presses. This month, we take a look back at the new releases published in February and March to offer a sample of the science fiction and fantasies waiting for those readers who are willing to look beyond the brick and mortar […]
The Forsaken Sequel: The Unforsaken Hiero
Monday , 1, May 2017 Appendix N, Authors, Book Review, Fiction, Uncategorized 8 CommentsAppendix N entry Hiero’s Journey by Sterling Lanier is one of my favorite books. A thrilling masterpiece of fast-paced creativity and high adventure from start to finish. Its protagonist is Hiero Desteen, a powerful telepathic Christian warrior riding a “morse”, a mutation of a moose and a horse, in a post-nuclear wasteland filled with oddities, horrors, and […]
Robert Ervin Howard was an incredibly prolific writer, and produced a bibliography so full as to make those of us with limited reading time weep.[1] Some modern (and not so modern) critics have apparently dismissed Howard as a kind of idiot savant who was able to succeed despite his lack of education and training mainly […]