Movie Review: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Kaguya-Hime as she first appears on Earth.

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) dir. Isao Takahata Mukashi, mukashi, long, long ago in Japan, there lived an old bamboo cutter and his wife who had no children. One day while the bamboo cutter was out in the bamboo grove, he saw one of the bamboo stalks glowing. A new bamboo shoot sprung up… Continue reading Movie Review: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Book Review: Great Black Kanba

Book Review: Great Black Kanba by Constance and Gwenyth Little A young woman wakes up on a train with no memory of who she is or how she got there. According to Mrs. Bunton, the lady tending her, the woman is Cleo Ballister, an American actress on the skids who’s come to see her Australian… Continue reading Book Review: Great Black Kanba

Comic Book Review: Over the Wall

Comic Book Review: Over the Wall  by Peter Wartman The girl shouldn’t be here.  Only boys come to the walled city, and only for their coming of age ceremony.  The city has nothing in it but demons who eat names, and bones. But the girl’s brother did not return from the ceremony.  Perhaps he got… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Over the Wall

Book Review: Peter Pan

Book Review: Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie All of us have  visited the Neverland, but relatively few remember, for most children go there only in their imaginations.  Only a handful ever come in person, and just one always returns.  He is the boy that will never grow up, Peter Pan. Peter is both beautiful and… Continue reading Book Review: Peter Pan

Book Review: London Falling

Book Review: London Falling by Paul Cornell It’s New Year’s Eve, and Operation Goodfellow is  about to end.  The years spent infiltrating Rob Toshack’s organized crime network, the money spent, it’s all produced nothing they can use to pin a charge on the kingpin.  So at midnight, the Metropolitan Police are pulling the plug.  But… Continue reading Book Review: London Falling

Comic Book Review: Zita the Spacegirl

Comic Book Review: Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke Zita and her friend Joseph are engaging in horseplay in the meadow when then stumble across what appears to be a meteorite crater.  Within the crater they find a curious device with a big red button.  Zita pushes the button, and Joseph disappears.  When Zita gets… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Zita the Spacegirl

Book Review: The Avon Fantasy Reader

Book Review: The Avon Fantasy Reader edited by Donald A. Wollheim and George Ernsberger Avon Fantasy Reader was a pulp magazine that reprinted fantasy and science fiction stories for eighteen issues starting in 1946.   It featured some doozies from authors who’d since become well-known, or were classics in their own right.  In 1968, this paperback… Continue reading Book Review: The Avon Fantasy Reader

Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic

Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab Delilah “Lila” Bard’s hometown may be London in the year 1819, but she’s pretty sure she won’t be starring in a Regency romance any time soon.  Life is tough for a pickpocket and mugger who has to disguise herself as a man to survive on… Continue reading Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic

Book Review: Old Celtic Romances

Book Review: Old Celtic Romances by P.W. Joyce The Gaelic-speaking people of ancient Ireland told tales of their mighty ancestors and great men, not unlike the people of every nation and tribe.  When writing came, they began to put these tales into manuscripts.  Out of the large body of remaining literature, in 1879 P.W. Joyce… Continue reading Book Review: Old Celtic Romances

Book Review: The Edge of Tomorrow

Book Review: The Edge of Tomorrow by Howard Fast There have been several books titled The Edge of Tomorrow, none of which have anything to do with the recent Tom Cruise movie, which borrowed most of its plot from the Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill.  (I think you can see why there was a… Continue reading Book Review: The Edge of Tomorrow