Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024 edited by Janet Hutchings Despite the cover date, this issue of the venerable mystery story magazine hit newsstands in December 2023, so is the Christmas issue as well as the Sherlock Holmes tribute. I bought this issue and promptly had it buried under a to read pile,… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024
Tag: dark secrets
Book Review: The Castle of Otranto
Book Review: The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole Today is a particularly bad day at the castle. Worst of all for Conrad, sickly son of Prince Manfred, who is crushed to death by a mysterious giant helmet. This is taken hard by his mother Princess Hippolita and sister Matilda. Prince Manfred is beside himself,… Continue reading Book Review: The Castle of Otranto
Book Review: The Best of Analog
Book Review: The Best of Analog edited by Ben Bova After the death of long-time editor John W. Campbell in 1971, Analog Science Fiction and Fact needed a new person at the helm. The winner of the selection process was Ben Bova (1932-2020), who intended to stay only a few years, those years winding up… Continue reading Book Review: The Best of Analog
Book Review: Soon I Will Be Invincible
Book Review: Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman There are two narrators for this story, neither of whom has all the pieces. The first is Doctor Impossible, a supervillain and mad scientist who has a compulsion to take over the world. The other is Fatale, a cyborg who used to work for the… Continue reading Book Review: Soon I Will Be Invincible
Book Review: Wicked West
Book Review: Wicked West edited by Abigail Linhardt and J.H. Fleming The combination of Western and horror genres is a popular one; those wide open spaces in which people and entire towns can just disappear make for a setting that allows a lot of spookiness. This bespoke anthology has eleven stories in this subcategory. “The… Continue reading Book Review: Wicked West
Manga Review: The Rose of Versailles #1
Manga Review: The Rose of Versailles #1 by Ryoko Ikeda In 1755, three children of destiny were born. Hans Axel von Fersen of Sweden, Oscar Francois de Jarjayes of France, and Maria Antonia Josephe Jeanne de Lorraine D’Autriche of Austria. The latter would become famous under her transliterated name of Marie Antoinette, the Queen of… Continue reading Manga Review: The Rose of Versailles #1
Manga Review: Cat-Eyed Boy The Perfect Edition 1
Manga Review: Cat-Eyed Boy The Perfect Edition 1 by Kazuo Umezz The “Cat-Eyed Boy” is the son of a nekomata cat monster who for reasons unknown but probably involving infidelity, was born far more humanoid in appearance than his parents. His mother died in childbirth and his putative father abandoned him some months later at… Continue reading Manga Review: Cat-Eyed Boy The Perfect Edition 1
Manga Review: Mao Volumes 14 & 15
Manga Review: Mao Volumes 14 & 15 by Rumiko Takahashi Recap: Nanoka Kiba is a modern girl who was cursed by the cat ayakashi (monstrous spirit) Byoki. Among the results is that she can travel between the 21st Century (it’s currently 2020) and the Taisho Era of Japan. In that 1920s setting, she became involved… Continue reading Manga Review: Mao Volumes 14 & 15
Anime Review: The Apothecary Diaries
Anime Review: The Apothecary Diaries As with the manga volume previously reviewed, and the web and light novels the manga was based on, this anime is set in a country that is heavily based on ancient China. Maomao is a promising young apothecary who’s kidnapped and sold into servitude in the “rear palace”, the Emperor’s… Continue reading Anime Review: The Apothecary Diaries
Manga Review: Tezucomi Vol. 1 & 2
Manga Review: Tezucomi Vol. 1 & 2 by Various Creators 2023 would have been Osamu Tezuka’s 95th birthday year, and in commemoration of the great manga and anime creator, this series was commissioned to show other artists’ take on his famous (and not so famous) works. For reasons, most of these were French and Spanish… Continue reading Manga Review: Tezucomi Vol. 1 & 2