Gravity and the Issue of Art vs. Science
I saw the visually stunning movie Gravity last week and overall enjoyed it very much.
Octavia Butler, o el peso de la diferencia
Octavia Butler era una chica negra, pobre, inusualmente alta, tímida, tartamuda, disléxica y lesbiana. Desde muy joven tuvo una idea bastante clara de lo que era la discriminación en sus muchas formas y utilizó la ciencia ficción para explorar temas sociales antiguos y modernos.
Alternate History on the Small Screen
With shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, fans have a lot to be happy about with the modern age of genre television. If you are like me, however, you like a little history on the boob tube. Don’t fret, 2013 has seen a lot of announcements of upcoming projects, some that may even […]
World Building: To Market, To Market
I was getting all excited last night over the idea of making my next purse. I can work with leather, and I don’t want something that looks like what everyone else has, so… But as I went to bed and was mulling over everything I needed and this post I needed to write, and an […]
Book Review: Sever, Slice, and Stab by Ty Johnston
Sever, Slice, and Stab Ty Johnston trade paper $9.99 ebook $2.99 Kindle, Nook, Apple, Sony, Kobo, Smashwords The selection for this, the third week of Six Weeks of Scares, is a collection of horror tales by Ty Johnston. Originally published as three separate e-books under the titles Sever, Slice, and Stab, this volume brings all […]
Noticias Literatura 2-9
Crisis en la colección RBA fantástica Hace unos días se anunció mediante un comunicado en su web la desaparición de la colección de literatura fantástica de RBA. Pocas horas después de publicar dicho post, se suprimió la entrada y se sustituyó por otra nueva en la que mencionan que se “replantean el diseño de la […]
Book Review: “Bad Sanctuary”
The weird western is alive and well. Or should that be undead and well? No matter, this subgenre seems to be enjoying a surge in popularity. After reading “Bad Sanctuary”, it’s easy to see why.
When Science Fiction is Not Science Fiction
s\Some writers who might have started off in science fiction soon reveal their true selves when they start publishing what they really want to write about.
Stuck for a Story Idea? Go Old School. As in Old Testament.
If you really want a character to react in a way that would seem alien, then trap her in an impossible situation with only one way out.
A Review of Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword
Sword and sorcery has gone through some lean decades since the boom of the 70s and early 80s, but things have been turning around in recent years
Audiobook Review: World War Z: The Complete Edition by Max Brooks
I’m not a fan of audiobooks in general. I tried listening to some short stories I download over iTunes, but in reality I prefer holding a book in my hands and allowing my imagination to give voice to the characters. This isn’t a technology thing, I actually buy more e-books than hard copies due to […]
Zombies Out West
Those Poor, Poor Bastards (Dead West #1) Tim Marquitz, J. M. Martin, and Kenny Soward Nine Worlds Media Trade Paper, 212 pp., $6.99, Ebook $2.99 Kindle Nook Smashwords While I’m not exactly what you could call a zombie fan, I am a fan of good writing and good writers. When I first heard about Those […]
A Pair of Witchy Weird Tales
Witchery: A Duo of Weird Tales Keith Chapman Black Horse Books Kindle ebook $0.99 I’ve been on something of a pulp bent lately, especially Weird Tales type pulp. So I’m glad to mention there are a couple of stories that have just been released in ebook form that carry on that traditional, only with less […]
ASM Blog Horde Interview with Matt Mitrovich
Welcome to the Amazing Stories BLOG HORDE INTERVIEWS! The ASM Blog Horde is a diverse and wonderful species. I have the privilege of talking with all of them, and I get to share those chats with you. In this long-running series, you will have the opportunity to peek inside the minds of the ASM bloggers to […]
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 work has been with me since I was about eight years old, and that I intend on exposing my own […]
A Commissioning Editor Speaks: David Moore of Abaddon Books
Britain’s Abaddon Books is a seething brew of villainous steampunk, sleek spaceships, cruel sorcery, and blood-soaked horror. I tracked their commissioning editor David Moore down to his lair, where I forced him to unravel a cracked and crumbling papyrus to reveal an ancient secret: what does a commissioning editor do all day? Thanks for speaking to Amazing […]
The Real Manga Blues: A “Me and the Devil Blues” Review
Of all the potential stories to succeed phenomenally in manga form, not many people expect a story centering around blues music in the deep American South to qualify. Even less likely is a story about blues great Robert Johnson – the black man who purportedly sold his soul to the Devil in order to play […]
The Alternate History Masterpiece You’ve Never Read
Satire is no longer being written in America. It’s still on television via Saturday Night Live, South Park, and the great, unsung animation series Squidbillies. (I’d lump Superjail in there, but it’s not for the squeamish and satire works best if anyone with a brain can tune in.) We’ve become a culture that mostly has […]
The Empty Art of Onmyodo
We’re all living on borrowed time, but it can take a fox to remind you that what you should fear most may be the very thing you desire. What does moe culture have in common with black magic? A lot, actually.
Crossroads: World-building in Westerns and Speculative Fiction
Speculative fiction gives my imagination space to play. Whether it’s a strange, fascinating city, an entire alien world, or a different time/reality, the genre’s ability to transport offers both escapist entertainment and the insight into our own existence that only a skewed perspective can provide. This capacity isn’t unique to speculative fiction. Even the most […]
Crossroads: Riding into Space – Westerns and Speculative Fiction
March is here, and that means it is time to move into a new Crossroads series. For some reason, March always brings to mind melting snow, spring’s inexorable creep across the plains, cold mountains withstanding the coming warmth. In other words, March puts me in a western frame of mind. Which is why this month, […]
Why Sorcerers Have Long Grizzled Beards
Ever notice that fictional sorcerers always seem to have long, grizzled beards? Ever wondered why? Well, probably you haven’t, but you’re about to find out. The sorcerer “look” originally comes from a real-life sorcerer named Doctor John Dee. Grand Mal Press has recently published my new novel about John Dee entitled “Sorcerer: A Novel of […]
War and Dreams – Two Novels by Kathleen Ann Goonan
Kathleen Ann Goonan’s In War Times, originally published in 2007, won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel and the ALA’s Best Science Fiction Novel of the Year. A complex exploration of the political implications of alternative history, In War Times begins in 1941, with Sam Dance being given documents that lead to […]
Sequential Wednesdays #2 – To Stand The Gap: The Secret Truth of S.H.I.E.L.D.
This is not how the World ends. This oft-spoken mantra, among others, repeated throughout the narrative of the Marvel comic S.H.I.E.L.D. is a tried and true indicator of how much I adore this work. Created by heralded writer Jonathan Hickman and mesmerizing artist Dustin Weaver, this series is wholly unlike anything I’ve ever read and hope to […]
Dark History: Bran Mak Morn
Robert E. Howard, more than anything, wanted to sell to Adventure Magazine. This publication of the Buttrick Co. was considered by many the best Pulp of all the hundreds of cheap magazines published between the 1920s and 1950s. It featured writers like Talbot Mundy, James Francis Dwyer, Rafael Sabatini, H. Bedford-Jones, Arthur Howden Smith, Arthur […]
Crossroads: Where Genres Meet in the Night
Speculative fiction’s ability to stay fresh is a direct result of its ability to blend with other genres: the mash-up, the hybrid, the literary crossroad are where science fiction has always found innovation. We’re a magpie genre, and I think that should be celebrated and explored.
