ROBERT E. HOWARD and the Many Faces of CONAN
Conan, from Weird Tales to remakes – with a dash or two of Frazetta thrown in for verisimilitude.
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Review: Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest
For those who know the work of Cherie Priest, you know she can write. For those not familiar with her work, you’re missing out on something special. The novel Fiddlehead may be billed as the final installment in her “The Clockwork Century” Steampunk collection, but the author’s talent for story telling also makes it a worthy place to start if you’re so inclined.
Return to Ink Mage by Victor Gischler
Let’s take a return trip back to Ink Mage by Victor Gischler. This time around, we look at the completed work originally reviewed here at Amazing Stories. Through the Amazon.com “Kindle Series” format, readers were originally piecemealed episodes of the story over time until the book was completed. So let’s look at the final product.
ABSOLUTE ZERO: Cool Websites, Very Cool
Websites Devoted To SF’s Greatest (Serialized) Heroes – Buck Rogers & Flash Gordon
Krakens and Spiders and Zombies, Oh My!
Monsters have always been with us in genre fiction, in ancient myths, and fairy tales. But are they ever new?
Review: Try to Remember by Frank Herbert
Try to Remember by Frank Herbert is a fitting finale to the 1969 edition Best of Amazing anthology and a fitting story to represent what is best about Amazing Stories. First published in the October 1961 issue, the novella is one of those stories that makes the reader think.
The Science Fiction Hall Of Fame Retro Read: A Martian Odyssey (Part 2)
Steve Davidson continues his examination of Stanley G. Weinbaum’s ground breaking tale – A Martian Odyssey.
Characters: Arlen from The Painted Man
Jack Dowden examines the unfulfilled promise of Arlen from Peter V. Brett’s The Warded Man.
Sixties, Science Fiction and Secret Agents
Secret agent tales have always carried a hint of science fiction with them – futuristic gadgets, threatened world-wide annihilation. Steve examines Bond’s 60s rival – Flint – and reminds us that James Coburn was COOL.
On Writing SF Theatre Part 2: Minding the Info Dump
Susan Gray explores the mix of worldbuilding and dramaturgey – the art of bringing science fiction concepts to the live stage.
A Review of Dangerous Women, an Anthology Edited by Gardner Dozois and George R.R. Martin
I was absolutely delighted when I received a review copy of the highly anticipated Dangerous Women. Dozois and Martin have produced a blockbuster anthology with an all-star lineup of authors.
Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep?
A discussion of Philosophical Zombies. One really does not need to provide any additional teaser to that…
Six Scientist Myths That Books and Movies Love To Perpetuate
There tends to be some mystique attached to the image of the scientist in fiction. The scientist is mostly a tool, an antagonist, a source of information or a vehicle through which we learn things. […]
Characters: Devi from Fortune’s Pawn
Sometimes when you’re looking for the ordinary, a badass girl will have to do.
Characters That Will Always Remain
Is anime a way for some of us to retain our childhood fancies? Or do we recognize ourselves in the characters we’ve chosen to admire? Morgana Santilli discusses her reasons for her favorite characters when she was younger and how her preference have changed with growing up.
8 Reasons Ancient Egypt is an Awesome Place to Set your next Fantasy
Looking for a place to set your story? Here are some things to recommend ancient Egypt
We Can be Heroes
The conversation got me thinking about heroes and what characteristics are expected of a hero from generation to generation.
Interview with Carl Critchlow, artist, illustrator and inventor of Thrud the Barbarian
Carl Critchlow has been an artist and author on the SF and fantasy scenes for almost thirty years, during which his work has appeared in DC Comics as well as 2000AD.
Battle Fever J! This Is Why I Love Japan (and You Should, Too)
Battle Fever J was a forerunner of the Power Rangers: four guys and a girl in superhero suits, saving the world from “the mysterious deity Satan Egos.”
Creating Great Characters in Fiction
Characters in fiction fulfill a dramatic function in the story for the reader and are, therefore, more logically laid out. They may, as a result, be more coherent, consistent and clear in their actions and qualities than a person in real life.
To Expose Or Not To Expose…That Is the Question
In fiction, exposition breaks away from the ongoing action of a scene to give information. It can be a paragraph or go on for several pages. Exposition often provides contextual information critical for the reader to buy-in to character-motivation or the ideas promoted in the story.
It’s Halloween!
Need some scary, macabre, bizarre inspiration for all hallows eve? Look no further!
Characters: Cazaril from The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold is your typical medieval fantasy. There’s magic, and knights, and people in distress and political schemes. On the surface, it doesn’t seem much more than a carbon copy of everything else out there. However, Curse of Chalion does have a lot to make it stand out from the crowd. Among them, is Cazaril, the protagonist. He is not your typical, heroically minded, buffed-up warrior, handsome features hero. The interesting thing about Cazaril, is that he used to be.
Review: The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson
There is a lot more to Richard Matheson’s The Shrinking Man than giant spiders and cats. It is the discovery that the amazing journey of life continues on infinitely, no matter how miniscule we become.
Book Review: Tell My Sorrows to the Stones
It’s week five of Six Weeks of Scares. This time out, our subject is a single author collection, namely Tell My Sorrows to the Stones by Christopher Golden. Golden’s work has been highly acclaimed and in horror circles he’s well respected. This book contains a dozen reasons why that’s the case. Golden’s work is of the quiet school of horror, much like that of the late Charles L. Grant. The selections presented here have a wide range of tone and subject matter.
Lisbeth Salander
We’ve been having some pretty wild weather here in the Wairarapa lately, which meant that I’ve been sitting without power for over 24 hours earlier this week. While sitting around waiting for the contractors from the power company to turn up and put me back on the grid, I’ve managed to read myself through a substantial chunk of Stieg Larsson’s “Millenium” trilogy*: finally! I should say!
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