Book Review: The Vanishing Airliner by Van Powell Rodney Ellis is the son of an aircraft designer whose firm is on the verge of bankruptcy after the Crash of 1929 and the crash of a previous airplane designed by his company. Mr. Ellis’ one hope is his new airliner, the Oakland Queen. He hopes to demonstrate… Continue reading Book Review: The Vanishing Airliner
Month: April 2015
Book Review: The Black Spider
Book Review: The Black Spider by Jeremias Gotthelf It is a beautiful day in rural Switzerland, sunny and warm–a good day for a christening. As the guests digest the first part of the feast, one of them notices an anomalous piece of wood built into one of the window frames. The infant’s grandfather tells the… Continue reading Book Review: The Black Spider
Book Review: The Emperor’s Soul
Book Review: The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson Shai is a Forger, an artist with the mystical ability to change the past of objects; mostly used to create copies of other artworks, but with larger implications that cause fear and loathing in the minds of others. When she is captured while trying to substitute a… Continue reading Book Review: The Emperor’s Soul
Book Review: One of Our Asteroids is Missing | The Twisted Men
Book Review: One of Our Asteroids is Missing | The Twisted Men by Robert Silverberg (writing as Calvin M. Knox) and A. E. Van Vogt, respectively. This is another Ace Double, two books in one, upside down from each other. According to Larry Niven, during the 1960s Ace Books was known for being particularly skinflint… Continue reading Book Review: One of Our Asteroids is Missing | The Twisted Men
Book Review: The Art of the Dragon
Book Review: The Art of the Dragon edited by Patrick Wilshire & J. David Spurlock One of the most enduring symbols of the fantasy genre is the dragon. It evokes a primal response and is really fun to draw and paint, so it shows up all the time in fantasy art and sometimes manages to get… Continue reading Book Review: The Art of the Dragon
Comic Strip Review: The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume Ten: The Junior Commandos
Comic Strip Review: The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume Ten: The Junior Commandos by Harold Gray Little Orphan Annie was one of the all-time great comic strips, debuting in 1924. The story centered on a plucky orphan girl with curly red hair (which was considered unattractive at the time) and her attempts to get by… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume Ten: The Junior Commandos
Book Review: The Pirate Princess
Book Review: The Pirate Princess by Tawn Krakowski Penelope Puffinstuff is the ninth child of the royal family of Pufftania, so everyone calls her “Princess Penny.” She’s a sweet, well-behaved girl, but is feeling slightly bored with the life of a princess. So when it turns out that a centuries-old prophecy requires her to acquire… Continue reading Book Review: The Pirate Princess
Book Review: Barry Blake of the Flying Fortress
Book Review: Barry Blake of the Flying Fortress by Gaylord Du Bois World War Two is raging, and the Army needs pilots desperately. Enter Barry Blake and his buddy Chick Enders, straight out of high school and patriotic volunteers. They’re to receive their preliminary flight training at Randolph Field in San Antonio. … Continue reading Book Review: Barry Blake of the Flying Fortress
Open Thread: Minicon 50 Report
Over the Easter weekend, I went to Minicon, the Minnesota Scientifiction Society’s yearly convention. This was the 50th convention, although not the fiftieth year, as a couple times early on it was held twice yearly. To mark the milestone, the convention ran four days instead of the usual three, and had a whole bunch of… Continue reading Open Thread: Minicon 50 Report
Anime for Speculative Fiction Fans (2015)
Once again this year I participated in the “Anime and Manga for Speculative Fiction Fans” panel at Minicon. As promised at the panel, here’s a list of the items mentioned–I make no representations regarding the quality of the ones I have not seen. .hack: A series of interlocking video games, anime, manga and light novels… Continue reading Anime for Speculative Fiction Fans (2015)