An Unhappy Burtiversary
Ten years ago this past March, I enjoyed the greatest TV moment of my lifetime- the debut of Tremors: the Series, on the Scifi Channel. Two hours of heady, Burt Gummer-fun. Just a few months […]
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Review: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by HP Lovecraft
A supernatural murder mystery is probably the best way to describe “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward“, the short novel by H.P. Lovecraft. Published after Lovecraft’s death in 1941, this tale combines tropes from horror, […]
No. 12 Alfred Elgin van Vogt, Weapons Masters, and The Big Three.
$1995.00. For 15 pages. That’s how much a copy of A. E. van Vogt’s speech, Tomorrow on the March, goes for today. He delivered this speech as the guest of honor at PACIFICON, July 4, 1946. […]
SWORD & SORCERY BECOMES A SUB-GENRE: HENRY KUTTNER’S ELAK AND PRINCE RAYNOR
Henry Kuttner deserves our thanks. If things had been left to Clifford Ball, Sword & Sorcery would have fizzled out in the pages of Weird Tales. Ball, who we know very little about, was the […]
Foxes, Cultural Appropriation, and Japonisme
Here’s how to do cultural appropriation right. Look at the man and his fox bride; you can tell he loves her.
Book Review: Skull Island, by Will Murray
This is going to be a first for me- I’m going to review a book BEFORE I finish it. Hold on! You might be thinking. How can I pass judgement on a book without finishing […]
You Can Still Catch the Runaway Skyscraper
The Runaway Skyscraper is a classic representation of how early twentieth-century Science Fiction was written, and how it should still be done today.
The Fury – Blu-ray and Expanded Soundtrack
Those difficult teen years. A time when you have no money, power or influence, and have to spend your day going to school without getting paid for the privilege. Have to do what adults say […]
How Science Fiction Can Save the World
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 […]
Jules Verne and Amazing Stories
As a writer whose work exerted a mighty influence on science fiction, it is entirely appropriate that Jules Verne and Amazing Stories had a tight relationship. That relationship began, of course, 21 years after Verne’s […]
Review: At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft
While delving into the realm of science horror, I had the goal to read all of HP Lovecraft’s work. Having already read or listened to a significant portion of his fiction, I thought it would […]
No. 11 Ursula Le Guin, Darkness, Exile, Dispossessed, and Human Sexuality.
Dear Miss Kidd, Ursula K. Le Guin writes extremely well, but I’m sorry to have to say that on the basis of that one highly distinguishing quality alone I cannot make you an offer for […]
Is Ender’s Game Really Any Fun to Read?
Troll the internet for “the greatest science fiction novels of all time” and Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game will be at the top of every list you’ll find. (Or it was last time I checked.) […]
No. 10 Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Self-Reliance
No. 10 – 2013Mar10 – Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Self-Reliance. As a Navy man, Heinlein recruited Isaac Asimov and L. Sprague de Camp into working at the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard. […]
ASM Blog Horde Interview with Diane Severson
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A Blog Horde Interview with C.E. Martin
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 […]
American Gothic: Bellefleur by Joyce Carol Oates
As I mentioned in my post Stephen King: A Beginner’s Guide I became interested in the work of Joyce Carol Oates because of her association with King. As early as Danse Macabre (1981) King was […]
Review: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
My final (for now) look into SF detectives brings me to the classic SF novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Most people know of this novel as the basis of Ridley Scott’s […]
No. 9: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, and Who’s The Real Monster?
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley, while on holiday, visited Lord Byron’s Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva in 1816. Percy Shelley, her lover and future husband, and two close friends entertained Lord Byron, over several days, with […]
The Monster Makers
The spotlight last month fell on the special effects wizards who make SF monsters come to life. The crowning glory was the award of the Best Picture Oscar for Argo. This spy drama focuses on […]
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 […]
The Impossibility of Escaping the Palm of Buddha’s Hand
“Mortal, you have angered Shaka-sama and now Pigsy will eat your face.” This is one of the improbable lines that is never spoken in the foundational saga of Buddhist fiction. Many other improbable lines are. Further out on the improbability spectrum: Shingo Katori costumes up as a monkey.
Review: The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
Alright we are back with my coverage on SF detectives and we return with the classic SF/mystery novel, written by the grand-daddy of SF himself, The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. This first novel in […]
No.8 Isaac Asimov, Psychohistory, Robot Crimes, and Positronic Brains.
2013Feb24 Isaac Asimov, Psychohistory, Robot Crimes, and Positronic Brains. Isaac Asimov, aka: Isaak Yudovich Ozimov, aka: Исаак Юдович Озимов, is another member of the Big Four of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Isaac Asimov […]
How to Begin a Short Story
Maybe I’m just impatient, but I’ll generally stop reading a short story if the first two paragraphs don’t answer the following questions: Who is this story about? (Character) Why should I care about that character? […]
No. 7 Andre Norton, Telepaths, Telempathic Animals, and The Entrepreneurial Spacer.
2013Feb17 – Time spent in front of a computer will suck you into a rift in the space-time continuum. You doubt this? Leave a clock near your computer and voila … tempus fugit. (If you […]
Halo Jones Interview with Ian Gibson
Before From Hell, before Watchmen, before The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, there was The Ballad of Halo Jones. Co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Ian Gibson, Halo Jones was a space opera about a young woman who is swept up in […]
Stephen King – A Beginner’s Guide
For a long time I paid no attention to the writing of Joyce Carol Oates. But I kept seeing her mentioned in the context of modern American Gothic, being recommended by writers whose work I […]
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…is a freelance editor, writing consultant and story structure expert. To find out more, including hiring me to work on your writing project, read my profile or visit my website, To The Last Word.
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