In the tradition of Heinlein, The Colors of Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley is a provocative space adventure for young adults. But upon closer look, there is a lot more to the story as it becomes a prime example of an archetypical hero’s journey.
Not all witches are always out to suck a child’s soul – or fatten them up and eat them
As far as main characters go, Zinzi’s got a lot of problems before the book even starts.
our story lives and breathes through your characters. Through them your premise, idea and your plot come alive. Characters give your story meaning; they draw in the reader who lives the journey through them. Without them you wouldn’t have a story—you’d have a treatise.
The book is like those rare courses some of us are lucky enough to take–the ones you don’t want to end.
Like many good journeys, Lara’s begins with disaster which thrusts her into the unknown
Robots are supposed to follow three laws that will maintain their loyalty to humanity. But as we all know, even a bunch of nuts and bolts can go bad. So let’s take a look at some of the bad robots we’ve grown to love.
It reminds me of watching the Incredible Hulk when I was growing up. Bill Bixby was awesome, but I wanted to see a green-painted Lou Ferrigno tearing stuff up
The novelization of Pacific Rim by Alex Irvine is more than just a book based on a movie. This is a book that stands alone by allowing fans to appreciate the literary value not always expressed through film.
This is a post for the writers. And for readers who enjoy a bit of a rant. Warning: contains religion.
I don’t know about you, but I really liked Pacific Rim. I found it a delightful tale about how humanity can overcome any problem so long as we put our differences behind us. It also […]
There’s nothing better than a good monster movie. The problem is, most monster movies these days suck. Some intentionally (Sharktopus, I’m looking at you). The Syfy Channel seems to specialize in these CGI stinkers that […]
I’ve been reading Mike Madrid’s The Supergirls, a really fantastic look at the history of superheroines in mainstream American comics. I just reached the 1970s, and the karate-chopping, white-pantsuit-wearing, depowered Wonder Woman era that came with […]
Just so you all know, I didn’t intend this series to feature so many anime characters. I wanted to talk about the characters from books I’d read, movies I’d seen, and television shows I’d watched. […]
Free-Fall by Graham Templeton is a thought provoking story from the June 2013, Issue 18 of Clarkesworld Magazine with precise character utilization, and a pleasure to stumble upon.
Rounding out the characters from Cowboy Bebop, we end with Jet Black, the Black Dog. Yes, there’s still Ed, but what else can be said about her than, he’s a seven foot ex basketball pro, […]
I don’t want to destroy the damsel in distress. I don’t want to destroy the sleeping beauty. Or the femme fatale. Or the pollyanna. Or the ditz. Or the girl next door. I watch attempts […]
My last article talked about Spike from Cowboy Bebop. I decided to write this week’s article on Bebop’s other fan-favorite character, Faye Valentine. Originally a theif who trusts no one, Faye becomes an important […]
James Bama single-handedly introduced the entire world to Doc Savage (he and his editors at Bantam Books and art director Len Leone). Doc Savage, as most of you know, was the greatest of the pulp […]
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 […]
Ask someone to name the most important SF anime of all time, and chances are they’ll say Cowboy Bebop. It’s hard to argue. The sometimes-drama-sometimes-comedy about spacefaring bounty hunters had most of what you could […]
Hotaru Tomoe is abused by her father. She suffers from an illness that leaves her breathless, weak and wracked with pain. She is picked on by her classmates. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are planning […]
Everything I know about writing science fiction, reading it, and understanding it, I learned from Edgar Allan Poe, specifically his one story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”. This goes for all of world […]
(Note: This is from the perspective of someone who has watched the Game of Thrones TV show but is only 120 pages into the first book.) I’ve spent a serious chunk of my first week […]
Among fantasy titans, Patrick Rothfuss shocked just about everyone by carving a place for himself with his book, The Name of the Wind. It centered on Kvothe, a character of a hundred different stories and […]
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 […]
Let’s talk about Firefly. Remember Firefly everyone? That show we all love? The one FOX cancelled? The one about the scrappy band of space cowboys by the guy who did The Avengers? Hell yeah. Let’s […]
Claymore is one of the more interesting anime I’ve seen in a while. It’s a pretty standard story. Monsters, known as yoma, feed on humans, and the only ones who can defeat them are swords […]
Minako Aino revels in frivolity. She loves pop music and cake, she trades shoujo manga with her friends, she wants to be an idol singer someday. She loves fame and glamour and if she existed […]
For better or worse, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series is filled with characters. Encyclopedia WoT has the total at around 2200. Most, thankfully, are minor. Some have small roles. Others are given a single […]
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