Book Review: Pulp Adventures on the Moon edited by Jonathan W. Sweet Once upon a time, humans went to the moon. Yes, the moon up in the sky! It was awesome, but then other matters took precedence, and there wasn’t the budget, and we just never went back. But we still dream of moon exploration… Continue reading Book Review: Pulp Adventures on the Moon
Tag: astronauts
Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024
Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024 edited by Trevor Quachri Let’s look at a recent issue of this long-running science fiction (and fact) magazine. The opening editorial by Howard V. Hendrix, “Machines Passing for People Passing for Machines”, which among other things discusses the Turing Test, where a simulated person tries to… Continue reading Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024
Manga Review: The Crater
Manga Review: The Crater by Osamu Tezuka In the late 1960s, Osamu Tezuka’s career was facing a crisis. He was still popular, with publishers quite willing to buy more of the kid-friendly material he’d become famous for. But he wasn’t a trend-setter anymore. The new generation of manga creators was into gekiga, more serious and… Continue reading Manga Review: The Crater
Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973
Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973 edited by Ejier Jakobsson This issue of the magazine also known as “If” opens with the “Hue and Cry” letter column. One reader was especially impressed with the negative review Lester del Rey gave of a book on cloning, which taught the reader something to look for in… Continue reading Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973
Book Review: Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Volume 2 (1953-1957)
Book Review: Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Volume 2 (1953-1957) edited by Gideon Marcus As the introduction by Janice L. Newman points out, women have written science fiction all along. The percentage of them getting published at any given time in the magazines and books waxed and waned, but they were always there. In the… Continue reading Book Review: Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Volume 2 (1953-1957)
Book Review: Dangerous Visions and New Worlds
Book Review: Dangerous Visions and New Worlds edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre Subtitled “Radical Science Fiction, 1950-1985” this book is a collection of essays about how science fiction (or perhaps “speculative fiction” is a better phrase) changed and adapted to reflect the changing issues and social concerns of the Cold War period, and… Continue reading Book Review: Dangerous Visions and New Worlds
Movie Review: Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women
Movie Review: Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968) directed by Peter Bogdanovich In the far future of 1998, a three-rocket expedition to the planet Venus begins. The first rocket hits a meteor and explodes. The second rocket carries Howard Sherman (Yuriy Sarantsev) and Alfred Kern (Georgiy Teykh) as well as Robot John, a mechanical… Continue reading Movie Review: Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women
Book Review: World’s Best Science Fiction: Third Series
Book Review: World’s Best Science Fiction: Third Series edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr (also printed as “World’s Best Science Fiction 1967”) The introduction to this volume of science fiction stories from 1966 mentions that there was a tendency to longer stories in the field, perhaps because many of the ideas required more… Continue reading Book Review: World’s Best Science Fiction: Third Series
Comic Book Review: Catstronauts: Mission Moon
Comic Book Review: Catstronauts: Mission Moon by Drew Brockington When Earth is threatened by a global energy crisis, the president. Of the United States. Of America. Calls upon the World’s Best Scientist for a solution. The answer is simple: build a solar power collection plant on the Moon, which will then beam enough energy to… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Catstronauts: Mission Moon
Book Review: Nova 2
Book Review: Nova 2 edited by Harry Harrison In the introduction to this 1972 anthology, Mr. Harrison talks some about the internationalization of science fiction beyond North America and Western Europe. In recognition of this growing trend, he’s included a Brazilian author’s story. “Oh, and we have one story by a woman.” In reality, there… Continue reading Book Review: Nova 2