Book Review: Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories

Book Review: Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories by Naomi Kritzer This is the first collection of speculative fiction stories by Naomi Kritzer, headlined by the title piece, which won a Hugo Award in 2016.   There’s seventeen stories in all. “Cat Pictures Please” is a sweet story about an artificial intelligence accidentally created from a… Continue reading Book Review: Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories

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

Book Review: The Lost Millennium | The Road to the Rim

Book Review: The Lost Millennium by Walt & Leigh Richmond | The Road to the Rim by A. Bertram Chandler It’s time, again, to review an Ace Double, one of those formats so dear to my youth that has since vanished. The Lost Millennium has as its frame story an engineer being approached by an archaeologist about his… Continue reading Book Review: The Lost Millennium | The Road to the Rim

Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volumes 21, 24 & 26

Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volumes 21, 24 & 26by Rumiko Takahashi Quick recap:  Rinne Rokudo is a shinigami, a psychopomp who helps lost spirits find their way to the afterlife.  He’s part-human, and must use expensive tools to make up for his weak powers.  Between these expenses and debts saddled on Rinne by his deadbeat father Sabato,… Continue reading Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volumes 21, 24 & 26

Manga Review: Tokyo Mew Mew, Volume One

Manga Review: Tokyo Mew Mew, Volume One by Mia Ikumi & Reiko Yoshida At the turn of the millennium, Ichigo Momomiya is a junior high school student with a crush on her handsome, smart and athletic classmate Masaya.  He seems to be a bit oblivious to her feelings though, being consumed with a passion for… Continue reading Manga Review: Tokyo Mew Mew, Volume One

Book Review: The Invisible Man

Book Review: The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells The sleepy village of Iping doesn’t get many visitors in the middle of winter, so when Mrs. Hall gets a new customer (and one that pays on time!) for her boarding house, it’s not polite to look a gift horse in the mouth.  It’s true the guest… Continue reading Book Review: The Invisible Man

Anime Review: Devilman Crybaby

Anime Review: Devilman Crybaby War, pollution, crime, climate change, general immorality–it sure seems like the world is going to Hell these days.  According to Ryo Asuka, a teen genius professor, it might be because an increasing number of humans are becoming possessed by demons.  He’s come up with a plan, though.  Ryo theorizes that by… Continue reading Anime Review: Devilman Crybaby

Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 25

Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 25 by Rumiko Takahashi Quick recap:  Rinne Rokudo is a shinigami, a psychopomp who guides stray spirits to the afterlife for rebirth.  But he’s part-human, so he has to use (often expensive) tools to make up for his weak powers.  That, plus debts his deadbeat father Sabato saddled him with, and being… Continue reading Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 25

Movie Review: The Chinese Cat (1944)

Movie Review: The Chinese Cat (1944) directed by Phil Rosen Six months ago, Thomas P. Manning, businessman and chess expert, was shot to death in his study, the door locked from the inside.  The police have been unable to solve the case.  Daughter Leah Manning (Joan Woodbury) is dismayed to discover that a new book… Continue reading Movie Review: The Chinese Cat (1944)

Manga Review: Bleach Volume 10

Manga Review: Bleach Volume 10 by Tite Kubo Ichigo Kurosaki is not your typical Japanese sixteen-year-old.  For one thing, he has naturally orange hair which makes him look like a delinquent.   But more importantly, he can see ghosts.  For some reason, his home city of Karakura Town is particularly inhabited by ghosts, and he can… Continue reading Manga Review: Bleach Volume 10