Book Review: The Best of Analog

Cover art by Alex Schomburg.

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

Comic Strip Review: O Human Star Volume Two

Comic Strip Review: O Human Star Volume Two by Blue Delliquanti This review contains SPOILERS for Volume One; you may want to read my review of that volume first. On a slightly alternate Earth, roboticist Brendan Pinsky finds his life turning upside down–again, when a robot that looks and acts exactly like his old partner… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: O Human Star Volume Two

Anime Review: Uncle from Another World

Uncle means well, but his face can be offputting.

Anime Review: Uncle from Another World (Japanese title: “Isekai Ojisan”) The year is 2017. Yosuke Shibazaki has just woken from a seventeen year coma he entered when hit by a truck when he himself was seventeen. The shock of all those missing years–his toddler nephew Takafumi Takaoka is now in his early twenties–is compounded by… Continue reading Anime Review: Uncle from Another World

Book Review: Deck the Pulps

Book Review: Deck the Pulps published by Brick Pickle Media Pulp magazines, like most forms of media, liked to celebrate holidays. Such as, you know, Christmas. But being the pulps, they leavened the usual sentimentality of the season with more of their usual action and excitement. This set of nine tales covers a variety of… Continue reading Book Review: Deck the Pulps

Comic Book Review: Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell

Comic Book Review: Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell edited by Russell Nohelty I hope you’re not tired of Lovecraftian cosmic horror yet, because I’ve got more to come. In this case, it’s an anthology of Cthulhu Mythos-related comics, focused on the “gods” of that cycle, and new critters that fit in with that theme. Despite… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell

Manga Review: Mao Volumes 1-2

Manga Review: Mao Volumes 1-2 by Rumiko Takahashi Now that I’ve finally caught up to the end of Rumiko Takahashi’s previous series, Rin-Ne, it’s time to look at her new shounen fantasy manga, Mao! Nanoka Kiba was in a horrific accident when she was a child. It killed her parents, leaving her in the care… Continue reading Manga Review: Mao Volumes 1-2

Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16

Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16 edited by Stephen Jones Let’s go back to 2004 for what at least one editor considered excellent short horror fiction. As with the later volume I have reviewed, there’s a lot of ancillary material. It opens with an extended look at horror and horror-adjacent… Continue reading Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16

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

Manga Review: Rin-ne #35

Manga Review: Rin-ne #35 by Rumiko Takahashi Quick recap: Rinne Rokudo is a part-human shinigami (death spirit) who helps lost spirits find the proper afterlife. Due to unfortunate circumstances, he’s poor and destined to stay that way for the indefinite future. He’s assisted by his black cat familiar Rokumon, and a female classmate named Sakura… Continue reading Manga Review: Rin-ne #35

Manga Review: Berserk #40

Manga Review: Berserk #40 by Kentaro Miura Recap: After many trials and tribulations, the cursed swordsman Guts and his traveling companions have at last reached the island of Elfheim. While the others recuperate, the elf queen Danan allows young witch Schierke and former Holy Maiden Farnese to enter Casca’s dreams in an effort to free… Continue reading Manga Review: Berserk #40