Magazine Review: Fantastic Universe October 1955

Magazine Review: Fantastic Universe October 1955 edited by Leo Margulies Fantastic Universe was a digest-sized science fiction and fantasy magazine that ran from 1953 to 1960, originally coming out from King-Size Publications.  Its quality is considered to have fallen off after 1956, with lesser stories and more emphasis on pseudo-science articles, but this particular issue… Continue reading Magazine Review: Fantastic Universe October 1955

Book Review: Tiger by the Tail

Book Review: Tiger by the Tail by Alan E. Nourse Alan E. Nourse (1928-1992) was a medical doctor and science fiction/fact author.  His professional training often showed in his stories, perhaps best exemplified by the novel Star Surgeon.  He also wrote The Bladerunner, about a dystopian future where medical care is rationed.  Hollywood optioned the title and… Continue reading Book Review: Tiger by the Tail

Book Review: The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume 9: The Millennium Express (1995-2009)

Book Review: The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume Nine: The Millennium Express (1995-2009) by Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (1935-still alive as of this writing) is one of the longest-running science fiction authors, having made his first sale in 1953.  Especially in his early years, Mr. Silverberg has been prolific, with his non-series short fiction… Continue reading Book Review: The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume 9: The Millennium Express (1995-2009)

Comic Book Review: 2000 AD #2020-24

Comic Book Review: 2000 AD #2020-24 Edited by Tharg As I’ve mentioned before, 2000 AD is a weekly comic paper with a speculative fiction bent that’s been published in Britain for over forty years.  It keeps up the schedule by featuring several short stories in each issue, most of them serialized.  A while back I c… Continue reading Comic Book Review: 2000 AD #2020-24

Book Review: The Sundered Worlds

Book Review: The Sundered Worlds by Michael Moorcock (also published as The Blood Red Game) In the distant future, Jon Renark comes to the wretched hive of scum and villainy known as Migaa, where the criminals and misfits of the galaxy have gathered.  It’s the closest world to where the Shifter System will at some point… Continue reading Book Review: The Sundered Worlds

Magazine Review: If May 1961

Magazine Review: If May 1961 managing editor Frederik Pohl If was a science fiction magazine that ran from 1952 to 1974.  It was considered a “second tier” magazine due to frequently low sales, but that should not be confused with “second-rate.”  By 1961, If had become a sister magazine to Galaxy, publishing in alternate months.  Under editor… Continue reading Magazine Review: If May 1961

Book Review: The Buried Life

Book Review: The Buried Life by Carrie Patel Centuries after the Catastrophe that made living on the surface of Earth too dangerous for most humans, Recoletta is a thriving underground city.  Conditions have improved on the surface enough so that there are farming communities up there, but the vast majority of people would rather stay… Continue reading Book Review: The Buried Life

Book Review: Space Opera

Book Review: Space Opera  by Jack Vance It’s not that Roger Wool doesn’t want to work, as such.  It’s that he doesn’t want to be tied down to a single job day after day, the same desk in the same office.  And he’s too well-bred for most work that involves wandering from place to place… Continue reading Book Review: Space Opera

Book Review: Octavia’s Brood

Book Review: Octavia’s Brood edited by Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha One of the many uses of science fiction is to talk about current issues in a speculative setting.  One can posit a world in which current trends have become exaggerated to dystopian levels, or where a solution has been found to a current… Continue reading Book Review: Octavia’s Brood

Book Review: The Rebellion’s Last Traitor

Book Review: The Rebellion’s Last Traitor by Nik Korpon Once upon a time, the Morrigan brothers formed a group called Tathadann to make Eitan City a refuge from the Resource Wars that were killing the planet.  But then one of them betrayed the other, and the Tathadann became dictators.  Now it was their turn to… Continue reading Book Review: The Rebellion’s Last Traitor