Blog Archives
sMay 18 was the beginning of the 450th anniversary of the Siege of Malta (1565). The Siege was one of the great clashes of civilization between Christian Europe and Moslem Asia. The Ottoman Turks had set Islam on the road of conquest again pushing into the Balkans and then into the central Mediterranean Sea. Standing […]
REVIEW: Christian Horror, by Mike Duran
Thursday , 21, May 2015 Book Review, Uncategorized 8 CommentsMuch has been written here about the decline since the early 1990s of Science Fiction, and the evaporation of certain subgenres, such as Sword & Sorcery and Sword & Planet, and the co-option of others by dopplegangers, such as hard science fiction. However, if the Nielsen bookscan figures are to be believed, the popularity of […]
Some of the histories of fantasy fiction will mention that fantasy in general and sword and sorcery in particular disappeared during the 1940s. While this is technically true if given a strict interpretation, it is a mischaracterization. Sword and sorcery was disguised as adventure science fiction. There were writers including Leigh Brackett, Gardner Fox, and […]
“With 21st Century Science Fiction, David Hartwell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden give us a vivid snapshot of the fast-changing world of SF. Long recognised as trusted arbiters of the genre, these multiple award-winning editors showcase recent stories by science fiction’s brightest up-and-coming talents…” Back in the 20th century, Hartwell and Hayden were interviewed in Publisher’s […]
F. van Wyck Mason was well known for sailing ship, American Revolution, and American Civil War historical novels. Before he was a best selling novelist, he wrote for the pulp magazines. His Captain North, a sort of proto-James Bond series appeared in Short Stories before the hardback novels. He wrote adventure stories as F. V. […]
The Windy City Pulp & Paperback Show is one of my highlights of the year. I find all sorts of paperback books and pulp magazines at that show. My most interesting find last weekend was Heritage of the Flaming God by Frank J. Brueckel and John Harwood. This is a collection of essays about Edgar […]
Review: Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia
Friday , 24, April 2015 Book Review 4 CommentsOn one otherwise normal Tuesday evening I had the chance to live the American dream. I was able to throw my incompetent jackass of a boss from a fourteenth-story window. Unless you hate guns, urban fantasy, and pulpy one-liners, you’ll recognize these opening lines to the Monster Hunter series. John C. Wright ranks them high in the pantheon of […]
Review: The Ghost Box by Mike Duran
Tuesday , 21, April 2015 Book Review, Fiction, Uncategorized 3 CommentsLast week, Scooter revisited the origin novel of Harry Dresden, Jim Butcher’s Storm Front. That series is 15 books in and counting. I thought it would be a good time to review another urban fantasy; one that is just getting started. The first book in the Reagan Moon series, The Ghost Box came out a […]
Jim Butcher is the author of the bestselling urban fantasy series The Dresden Files. “Skin Game”, his latest addition, was nominated for a Hugo in the Best Novel category. As much as I wanted to dive right into “Skin Game”, my chronological compulsion got the better of me and I was forced to start at the beginning of the series […]
Something I have noticed – hardcore readers of sword and sorcery fiction generally also read blood and thunder historical fiction. Sometimes the boundaries of the two genres are very blurry. Vikings appear to be popular right now with the History Channel’s very historically muddled Vikings show. Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Chonicles take place during the Viking […]
While doing some searching at the Internet Speculative Fiction Data Base on anthologies, I noticed one called Warrior Fantastic. Turns out I have it but forgot about it. I forgot about it because I read one story at the time and the book got shoved behind others on one of my bookshelves. Martin H. Greenberg […]
REVIEW: A History of Strategy by Martin van Creveld
Saturday , 4, April 2015 Book Review Leave a commentI am unfamiliar with the subject of military strategy, other than what can be gleamed from a casual study of history and a healthy dose of military science-fiction. Nor am I a war-gamer, or even that good at laser tag. But like his other recent Castalia House release “Equality: The Impossible Quest”, Martin van Creveld delivers a commendable […]