PUSADIAN REWRITE: L. SPRAGUE DE CAMP 1
Two things happened in 1950. One: L. Sprague de Camp read his first Conan story. And two: L. Sprague de Camp would try to direct Sword & Sorcery down another track altogether. Those two don’t […]
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Summer 2013 Anime Preview
So, you heard about that Sailor Moon reboot everyone is all excited about? It’s been pushed back to 2014 at least. Instead, here are the more notable examples of what you’ll have to tide you […]
Erring On the Side Of Love: A Review of The Melancholy of Mechagirl by Catherynne M. Valente
Catherynne M. Valente’s new collection teems with floating lanterns and fox spirits, gods and baku and bears and animated calligraphy brushes, all revolving around the recurrent figure of a Western woman dreaming about a country she can never quite reach, even when she’s there.
Finding a Path to the Stars at the 2013 Campbell Conference
Friday, June 14, 2013, arrived without much fanfare. My yard gnomes were chained and securely staked in my garden, while the lazy, overweight alligators lounged at the edge of the moat with their mouths open, […]
Female Heroes in Literature
For my birthday last year, I went to the cinema to watch the popular—and somewhat controversial—Hunger Games. Well, controversial among some critics and followers of critics, anyway. I came across a particularly juicy tidbit by […]
The Artful Collector: Vulgaris Triumphus? on Judging (SFWA) Magazines by Their Cover
Judge books by their cover? Everyone does it. That’s why – and despite the mis-marketing, agenting “horror stories” (both artist and author) and egregious lack of talent (cover-wise) – books and yes, magazines, still get […]
Anime roundup 6/21/2013: The Great Chain of Beating
Hunter x Hunter #84 – One of the recurring features of shōnen series is a tendency to look at characters exclusively through who they can and can’t defeat in a fight. The shōnen world can […]
Interview with Bestselling Author Daniel Abraham (James S.A. Corey and M.L.N. Hanover)
Today we are joined by bestselling and award-winning author Daniel Abraham. Daniel publishes science fiction as one half of the two-headed giant, James S.A. Corey. He satisfies readers with his urban fantasy as M.L.N. Hanover, […]
The Lasting Impact of Miyazaki’s Princess
There are some artists who leave a lasting impression on every life their work touches. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Hayao Miyazaki is one of those artists; I know that his […]
The Artful Collector: On Sensitivity to Negative Reviews
How many times have we read negative reviews by (mainly) newspaper- employed critics about books or films in the science fiction/fantasy genre that either were completely off base, once we read the book, or which […]
Anime roundup 6/14/2013: Strange Aeons
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet #10 – So the magical glowing trails from which all the fleets of Earth draw their electricity are, basically, squid dandruff. Next it will probably turn out that the lightbugs […]
World Underground
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I recently signed myself up for a Horticulture Certificate with the Open Polytech, and have been assiduously studying the physical and chemical properties of soils […]
A Game of Drama
Well season three of Game of Thrones is over, and I have to say after the Red Wedding episode I had prepared myself for a dramatic season finale, which thankfully didn’t come. Don’t get me […]
Hobbit 2 Trailer
Steve DavidsonSteve Davidson is the publisher of Amazing Stories. Steve has been a passionate fan of science fiction since the mid-60s, before he even knew what it was called.
Haunted by Demons
Da Vinci’s Demons has been the unexpected highlight of the last three months. The life of one Leonardo da Vinci given a mysterious new age spin which turns an already fascinating historical concept into compelling […]
Anime roundup 6/9/2013: Meeting the Enemy
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet #9 – Now Ledo knows what, or rather who, he’s been fighting… almost. The descendants of the human/squid symbionts went to space, copied the wormhole technology, put on some better […]
MCM Expo (Comic-Con) Part Deux
I was recently in London – less than a week ago to be exact – and had the great pleasure of once again attending another MCM Expo at the Excel Centre in east London. It […]
The Artful Collector: Collecting Ahead of the Curve
When we started framing F/SF calendar pages to hang on our walls in the 1960s (the days before commercial prints or posters were available) original Victorian “fairy paintings” by the likes of Fitzgerald, Cruikshank, Doyle […]
Sexism and the SFWA
So there’s a brouhaha brewing around the Science Fiction Writers of America and accusations of blatant sexism within that organization. (Actually it’s more like a raging storm in some corners). The controversy surrounds the 200th issue of […]
Girl, You’re In the Army Now
Why do authors write equal opportunities for women into fantasy worlds with pre-modern technologies and societies? Unless they are Terry Pratchett, they’re only making themselves look silly.
A Tale of ConQuesT, Magic, Mystery, and Mayhem Part 2
At last the day arrived, and I broke the seal on my compression chamber, releasing an exotic blend of oxygen and nitrogen with a bold taste of helium into the atmosphere. I confess to feeling […]
Game of Thrones and the Curse of the Ninth Episode
Traditionally, episode 9 of Game of Thrones has been The Big One. Something HUGE happens which has been building up for an entire season and so it is looked forward to by all with glee, […]
Anime roundup 6/2/2013: Graduation Day
Hunter x Hunter #81 – Watch that fight scene in isolation, and it’s just another case of insanely exaggerated martial arts. But watch it with the weight of 80 previous episodes of struggling and training, […]
Understanding the Sexism of Fantasy
Thank you to Kate Elliott for her involvement with the inception and development of this post. One of the little pleasures of my life is that I have easy access to several of my favourite […]
Your Majesty, I’m So Over You
Ranks and titles are powerful tools in the fantasy writer’s toolkit. What a shame they are used so unimaginatively in general. I offer some inspiration alongside your weekly dose of young fogeyishness.
Anime roundup 5/26/2013: In the Long Run We Are All Dead
Hunter x Hunter #80 – The Chimera Ant queen has just collected the brain of a man so misanthropic that he founded an entire country just to give him a base from which to make […]
The Fantasy of Fashion
The clothes make the fan. Is extreme fashion a form of fandom? I say yes, but hesitate to approve of it.
A Tale of ConQuesT, Magic, Mystery, and Mayhem
While riding my keyboard and mouse across the infinite electronic pathways of the world, I discovered something quite surprising. At first when I stumbled upon it, I sloughed it off as just another coincidence. But […]
Anime roundup 5/19/2013: Ant Misbehavin’
Space Brothers #57 – Everyone caught that piko-piko is the Japanese onomatopoeic equivalent to “beep”, right? So we all know how the author picked Pico’s name? Well then, let’s talk about a slightly less obvious […]
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