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
Tag: extinction
Book Review: The Pocket Book of Science Fiction
Book Review: The Pocket Book of Science Fiction edited by Donald A. Wollheim In the introduction to this 1943 anthology, Donald A. Wollheim talks about “the theory of outrageous hypotheses” which helps science progress by asking, “this is not true but what if?” These ten stories are most assuredly fictional, but point to places to… Continue reading Book Review: The Pocket Book of Science Fiction
Book Review: Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of THE BIRDS OF AMERICA
Book Review: Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of THE BIRDS OF AMERICA by William Souder When John James Audubon arrived in Philadelphia in 1824, he carried with him a portfolio of beautiful bird paintings he hoped to turn into a book, and a backstory of childhood in Louisiana, being the… Continue reading Book Review: Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of THE BIRDS OF AMERICA
Book Review: Mammoths of the Great Plains
Book Review: Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason On an alternate Earth, the mammoth lived into historical times, abiding with the bison and the Native Americans. But then Lewis and Clark saw their first mammoth, and reported on it to President Jefferson and the teeming masses of the East. This is the story of… Continue reading Book Review: Mammoths of the Great Plains
Book Review: In Winter’s Kitchen
Book Review: In Winter’s Kitchen by Beth Dooley When Beth Dooley first moved to Minneapolis from New Jersey in 1979, she was dismayed by the poor selection of fresh food in the commercial supermarket. She’d heard that Minnesota was a farm state, yet the wilted vegetables and sallow fruit seemed to come from somewhere else… Continue reading Book Review: In Winter’s Kitchen
Comic Book Review: Oni Press Starter Pack 2016
Comic Book Review: Oni Press Starter Pack 2016 by various While I spend many of my comics-related posts on this blog talking about the Big Two’s superhero comic books, there are a number of worthy small press comics companies that put out interesting material every year. Oni Press has put out an affordable collection of… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Oni Press Starter Pack 2016
Book Review: The Naturalist
Book Review: The Naturalist by Darrin Lunde Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th President of the United States of America, was big on nature. Specifically, he had a strong interest in natural history, and wanted to become/be known as a naturalist. This new biography focuses on that part of Roosevelt’s life, from his boyhood collection of stuffed… Continue reading Book Review: The Naturalist
Book Review: Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology
Book Review: Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer As the subtitle of this volume indicates, it’s a collection of 29 short stories written from a feminist perspective. There are selections from the 1960s through the 2000s–SF, fantasy, horror and a couple of stories that seem to… Continue reading Book Review: Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology
Book Review: The Martian Chronicles
Book Review: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury Once, Mars was a place of mystery. Humans looked at it from the blue Earth with feeble telescopes, and imagined what life, if any, might inhabit that red dot in the sky. Were there canals filled with water? Bloodsucking tripod operators? Beings that had never fallen from grace… Continue reading Book Review: The Martian Chronicles
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents Superman Team-Ups
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents Superman Team-Ups Volume 2 edited by Julius Schwartz The dedicated rotating team-up series was a huge boon for DC Comics and Marvel back in the day. A top-selling character anchors the book (in this case Superman) and rotating guest stars got a chance to shine. Some appearances… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents Superman Team-Ups