Manga Review: Rin-ne

Manga Review: Rin-ne by Rumiko Takahashi Sakura Mamiya is not quite your normal high school girl.  Due to a near-death experience as a child, Sakura can see spirits.  One day, she meets the new boy in her class, Rinne Rokudo.  She mistakes him for a spirit at first, but the truth is a bit more… Continue reading Manga Review: Rin-ne

Open Thread: She’s Back!

Back in the early 1990s, Naoko Takeuchi  created a character named “Sailor V.”   While mahou shoujo (magical girls) had been around for decades in manga and anime, ever since Bewitched was imported from America, Sailor V was a unique blend of stereotypical girly interests and action heroine.   This attracted the notice of Toei Animation, who… Continue reading Open Thread: She’s Back!

Book Review: To Ride Hell’s Chasm

Book Review: To Ride Hell’s Chasm by Janny Wurts The small, isolated Kingdom of Sessalie is about to celebrate a wedding.   Princess Anja is about to marry the High Prince of Devall, which is not only politically advantageous, but a love match.  But on the eve of the wedding, Anja goes missing. It falls… Continue reading Book Review: To Ride Hell’s Chasm

Anime Review: Urusei Yatsura

Anime Review: Urusei Yatsura Ataru Moroboshi is not precisely your average teenaged boy.  For one thing, he’s an incurable skirt-chaser, constantly hitting on any pretty lady who happens by.  Also, he’s incredibly unlucky.  So unlucky, that when alien invaders declare that a random person from Earth must compete against their champion in a game of… Continue reading Anime Review: Urusei Yatsura

Book Review: Deathless

Book Review: Deathless  by Catherynne M. Valente Marya Morevna is not like the other girls in Saint Petersburg/Petrograd/Leningrad.   She sees the husbands of her sisters while they are still birds.   But times are changing in Russia, now the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics.   The People have no time for magic, and Marya… Continue reading Book Review: Deathless

Open Thread: Minicon 49

This past weekend, I went to Minicon 49 at the RadiShTree Hotel in Bloomington.   It’s a book-oriented science fiction convention with an older-skewing crowd, running around 500 people.  So it’s not overcrowded and a good place to talk to your once a year friends. This year’s theme was “Pirates and Airships” largely because the… Continue reading Open Thread: Minicon 49

Anime for Speculative Fiction Fans

Wolf Children

This last weekend at Minicon 49, I moderated a panel on “Anime for Speculative Fiction Fans.”   As is common at this sort of thing, a lot of series and films were mentioned very briefly, and not everyone had the opportunity to write them all down.  Therefore, I promised to put up a list.  I… Continue reading Anime for Speculative Fiction Fans

Open Post: Top Ten as of Right Now

I’ll be away from my computer for the next little while, so let’s have a Top Ten list post! These are the top ten content posts for the last year. Anime Review: Labyrinth of Magic Manga Review: Vagabond Volume 1 Book Review: Good Advice from Bad People (really rocketed up the charts!) Manga Review: Ayako… Continue reading Open Post: Top Ten as of Right Now

Manga Review: Magi #1

Manga Review: Magi #1 by Shinobu Ohtaka In a setting not unlike the Middle Eastern tales of the Arabian Nights, there is a boy named Aladdin.   He’s lived in isolation until now, so he doesn’t know much about the outside world, or how society works.  Soon, Aladdin meets a drifter named Alibaba, who’s a… Continue reading Manga Review: Magi #1

Book Review: Weird Golf: 18 Tales of Fantastic, Horrific, Scientifically Impossible, and Morally Reprehensible Golf

Book Review: Weird Golf: 18 Tales of Fantastic, Horrific, Scientifically Impossible, and Morally Reprehensible Golf by Dave Donelson Disclosure: I received this book through a Firstreads giveaway in the expectation that I would review it. To make where I’m coming from clearer, I’m not a sports fan, and in specific not a golf fan. I’ve played… Continue reading Book Review: Weird Golf: 18 Tales of Fantastic, Horrific, Scientifically Impossible, and Morally Reprehensible Golf