From the In Box
Irish Wake for Jan Howard Finder. Legendary fan Jan Howard Finder passed away recently from complications from cancer and chemo therapy. His friends and fellow fans are honoring his request that they hold an Irish […]
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Defending Quality Over Popularity
It is to my ever increasing frustration that I continually see true literary talent dismissed as ‘too complex’ or ‘deep’ in favour of the mildly-talented easy-way-out authors who have become ‘popular’ in a day and […]
MONSTER EARTH- A Book Review
I grew up watching kaiju. Well, back then I didn’t know that’s what it was called. I just thought it was cool watching giant monsters duke it out at the peril of many a balsawood […]
Woman, You Make Me Sick and Other Adventures in Freefall
These offputting objects killed the novel. Let’s dance. ‘Cos it’s more fun reading in freefall.
Crossroads: The Western Hero in Speculative Fiction
Someone once said that every story starts with someone either coming to town, or leaving town. And there is no genre for which this adage holds more true than the western. It probably takes us […]
From the In Box
ATOMIC BARK! explores all types of Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, Surrealism, and alternative/subversive culture, in all media, including literature, cinema, art, comic books, music, theatre, philosophy and science, and much more. The ATOMIC BARK! Radio […]
Synthetic Voices #15 – February 2013 Top Picks
Woweewow, I love February’s crop of Top Picks! There is so much goodness I can hardly contain myself! I think all tastes will be sated this month. [powerpress] Discuss on:
The Myth of Science
Welcome internet traveler. I will be stockpiling neatly organized bits into a collective known as a blog along this portion of your journey. Do not fear for your personal safety, as I will take great […]
The British Are Coming…Again
I’ve always thought that US TV shows have the ground covered when it comes to science fiction TV shows (although the UK has the longest running show Doctor Who to brag about). But occasionally the […]
Mangling the works of Jules Verne
In a recent post about Jules Verne and his translators for English editions, I included a few examples of how those translators mangled Verne’s stories, so that for generations his authorial abilities were maligned by […]
The Martian Chronicles and Other Metaphors
They came because they were afraid or unafraid, happy or unhappy. There was a reason for each man. They were coming to find something or get something, or to dig up something or bury something. […]
In Magnificat, There’s a New Pope. And She Changes…Everything
The lead article in the Review section of the March 9 Wall Street Journal began “The next pope should be a man who…” But, wait. Before you start to fill in the characteristics: What if the […]
Sequential Wednesdays #4 – The Off Week
Sorry folks, looks like this week got the better of me! I was travelling for work during the I would normally put together a post, so this Wednesday is just a pretty picture and my […]
We’ve Gone to See the Wizard and Tra La Tra La Tra La: A review of Oz The Great and Powerful
About five minutes after leaving the theater I ended the title take of the Wizard of Oz’s signature song with “…and we’re not happy at all.” (‘We’ve gone to see the Wizard and we’re not […]
From the In Box
Our own Felicity Savage informs us that: Felicity Savage, writer and AMAZING STORIES blogger, and Japanese illustrator Hiroko Katayama have released their first picture book: Shotaro, the Ants, and the Big Earthquake. Targeting preschoolers, Shotaro […]
We Can Hear You Scream: An Overview of SF/Horror Literature
The fear of the dark, the unknown, the monster standing right behind you ready to tear you limb from limb…is part of the human condition. Since the dawn of civilization we have been terrified by […]
Deconstructing Horror: Moving Pictures, Silent Films – Haunted Houses on the Screen
Moving Pictures, Silent Films; Haunted Houses on the Screen Seeing as how Western society is predominantly visual, it stands to reason that we begin with the presence of Haunted Houses in movies and on television. […]
Characters: Swan Er Hong from 2312
Most reviewers seem to agree, Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312 is a book with well thought out science, beautiful descriptions, and a bold, interesting look at the future of humanity. Most also seem to agree that […]
The Good and Bad Sides of Digital Minimalism
I strive to be a minimalist, that is, someone who has few physical possessions. For a geek and an Aspie with OCE, this scenario is fraught with problems. For example it’s taken me a good […]
Reviews of Unknown or Underappreciated Books Post #4 Her Majesty’s Wizard by Christopher Stasheff
Hello again, and welcome back! So – what, exactly, do I mean by ‘unknown or underappreciated’? To put it simply – not everyone is a Kevin J. Anderson or David Weber or Eric Flint or […]
From the In Box
UPDATE: Boy Howdy! are we getting closer to the day when someone not a character in a novel will be head to say “yeah, the tube linings are shot, we’re going to have to replace […]
A PROPOSED TAXONOMY FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCIENCE FICTIONNESS OF SCIENCE FICTION
OR An Introduction to The Modified Brotherton-Troughton-Davidson-Scale-of-Science-Fiction-ness. The other day R.K. Troughton opened up a discussion on the line (if there is one) between fantasy and science fiction. R.K., having an affinity for games, offered […]
Debunking Lolita Fashion and the American Otaku Myth
[Author’s Note: This article deals with defining the differences between Lolita fashion and the “lolita complex.” As such, there is some discussion of sexuality and pedophilia, which may not be appropriate for children under a […]
I’ve Got This Idea…
When I was a kid I was awed by the adult section of the library. So many books! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them. Where would I start? I was a voracious […]
Interview with John McClure
As I am preparing to self-publish my first novel, I thought I would talk to some friends who have gone down this road ahead of me, to see what they did, what they think now […]
A Good Old Fashoined Alien Invasion
The Battle for Eden Mark E. Burgess Wildside Press tpb $15.99 ebook $2.99 Kindle Nook Last week we looked at one half of a double novel. If case you aren’t familiar with the format, they […]
Where is My Augmented Reality Vision?
The blogosphere has been abuzz with Google Glass. In case you haven’t seen what this is, check out Google’s page on it here. Looks cool/nerdy, right? The idea is that you can constantly monitor a […]
Sense of Wonder #1
We are drawn to science fiction and fantasy because of what Damon Knight called its “sense of wonder”. This is a hard term to define exactly, but you know and I know exactly what it […]
Three is a Magic Number
Yes, I’m old enough to remember “Schoolhouse Rock” and that ditty, along with “Conjunction Junction,” still is taking up storage space for reasons I’m not 100% sure of. But I agree with creator David McCall […]
About Author
Michael J. Sullivan is a speculative fiction writer who has written twenty-five novels and released nine. Eight of his fantasy books (The Riyria Revelations, and The Riyria Chronicles), were published by Hachette Book Group’s Orbit imprint. Hollow World, a science-fiction thriller was released by Tachyon Publications. The first four books of his new series, The First Empire, has sold to Random House’s Del Rey imprint, and the first book is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2016. He can be found on twitter, through his blog www.riyria.com, and on his facebook page and his publisher’s page for the series.
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