Blog Archives
sPraise for the Short Fiction of Misha Burnett
Saturday , 8, July 2017 Pulp Revolution, Short Fiction 5 CommentsMisha Burnett’s story in Cirsova #5 continues to turn heads. Here’s only the latest positive review: Five issues on, and Cirsova is keeping up with its high standard. Even tho the large chunk of this issue is based around this same shared fictional background, stories are as varied in theme, tone and style as ever, […]
JUST RELEASED: A Fistful of Credits
Sunday , 2, July 2017 Just Released, Short Fiction Leave a commentIt’s the Twenty-Second Century. The galaxy has opened up to humanity as a hyperactive beehive of stargates and new technologies, and we suddenly find ourselves in a vast playground of different races, environments, and cultures. There’s just one catch: we are pretty much at the bottom of the food chain. Enter the Four Horsemen universe, […]
Leaning into Leigh Brackett
Saturday , 24, June 2017 Appendix N, Authors, Before the Big Three, Pulp Revolution, Short Fiction 20 CommentsLeigh Brackett is something of a staple here at Castalia House and for the Pulp Revolution crowd at large, but I must admit it’s taken me quite a while to get to her stuff. I’ve seen Alex’s reviews, of course, and I’ve noted her constant exclusion by the “women have historically been excluded from SFF!!1” […]
Regress harder. The phrase has become something of a motto for the Pulp Revolution, describing a look back to the giants of pulp and beyond for inspiration to create something new for today. But who stands in the shadows behind the pulp fictioneers of the 1920s and 1930s? What characters inspired the heroes and villains […]
Rocket’s Red Glare – Double Stuff Short Reviews
Wednesday , 14, June 2017 Short Fiction, Uncategorized 5 CommentsFreeman’s Stand, by Sarah A. Hoyt, brings the theme of Rocket’s Red Glare back to the forefront with a vengeance. Molly is a teenaged girl who is literally a rebellious teenager. She has joined a loose organization dedicated to overthrowing a vaguely defined despotic regime with the goal of implementing an equally vaguely defined New […]
Son of the Pulps: Philip Jose Farmer, Part 1
Saturday , 3, June 2017 Appendix N, Authors, Fiction, Short Fiction 4 CommentsIt’s often been asked what later science fiction writers the pulp masters influenced. I wager there were many, even when it’s not directly obvious from the works themselves. For instance, the adventurousness of Heinlein’s stories and his classic heroes remind me strongly of the best pulp authors. But speculation aside, of all the great science […]
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 […]
Softie by Noel Loomis appeared in the October 1948 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. Thrilling Wonder Stories dips its toes into some space adventure with Softie, and despite being a comic short rather than a srs biz space opera, it delivered some worthwhile stealables. You could maybe try to run Softie as a one-off, but […]
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 […]
Short Reviews – Date Line by Noel Loomis (as Benj. Miller)
Friday , 28, April 2017 Short Fiction 2 CommentsDate Line by Noel Loomis appeared in the October 1948 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories and is the first in the Orig Prem series. I’ve read stories that have made me think “Wow, this seems like it probably inspired an episode of the Twilight Zone” and stories that have made me think “Wow, this seems […]