Book Review: After the Vikings

Book Review: After the Vikings by G. David Nordley This collection of “tales of future Mars” was first published as an adjunct to a conference on possible first contact and the planet Mars.; the stories had individually appeared in Analog and Asimov’s magazines.  When the author realized he’d written them from furthest in time to closest, he decided… Continue reading Book Review: After the Vikings

Manga Review: Afterschool Charisma

Manga Review: Afterschool Charisma by Kumiko Suekane Shiro Kamiya is an ordinary high school student until the day his father takes a job as headmaster of St. Kleio Academy, and enrolls Shiro in that exclusive school.  A very exclusive school indeed, as all the other students are clones of famous historical figures.  As the only… Continue reading Manga Review: Afterschool Charisma

Book Review: Glitter & Mayhem

Book Review: Glitter & Mayhem edited by John Klima, Lynne M Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas Disclaimer:  I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This volume is an anthology of speculative fiction short stories,  themed around dance clubs, loud parties, roller skates, sparkly light and glitter.… Continue reading Book Review: Glitter & Mayhem

Comic Book Review: The Thrilling Adventure Hour

Comic Book Review: The Thrilling Adventure Hour by Ben Acker & Ben Blacker The Thrilling Adventure Hour, it turns out, is a continuing theatrical performance and podcast in the style of old-time radio.  As such, it’s full of action, comedy and thrilling adventure.  This is their first illustrated tie-in graphic novel. The contents range from straight-up science… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Thrilling Adventure Hour

Book Review: The Jewels of Aptor

Book Review: The Jewels of Aptor by Samuel R. Delaney This is the first novel by Samuel R. Delaney, published in 1967.  He was one of the first successful African-American science fiction authors, as well as one of the first openly gay SF writers, and certainly the most successful person so far to be both.… Continue reading Book Review: The Jewels of Aptor

Anime Review: Suisei no Gargantia

Anime Review: Suisei no Gargantia In the future, Earth became uninhabitable due to extreme cold, so much of the human race took off to space.  Somehow the remainder survived through the freezing, and now Earth is a water world, where the word “land” is a legend.  The remnants of humanity live on interconnected fleets, the… Continue reading Anime Review: Suisei no Gargantia

Book Review: Masters of the Lamp | A Harvest of Hoodwinks

Book Review: Masters of the Lamp | A Harvest of Hoodwinks by Robert Lory This is another Ace Double, two small books combined into one upside-down from each other so they make a fair-sized paperback.  In this case, a short novel and several short stories by former ad executive Robert Lory. Masters of the Lamp… Continue reading Book Review: Masters of the Lamp | A Harvest of Hoodwinks

Manga Review: A*Tomcat

Manga Review: A*Tomcat by Osamu Tezuka A perennial comic book idea is animal versions of previously created superheroes, such as Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny for Captain Marvel.  It turns out that manga creators can do it too.  Back in the 1950s, Osamu Tezuka created Tetsuwan Atom (“Mighty Atom”), the story of a super-powered robot that looked… Continue reading Manga Review: A*Tomcat

Book Review: The Weird Ones

Book Review: The Weird Ones by Frederik Pohl, Poul Anderson, Milton Lesser, Eando Binder, Mack Reynolds, Sam Sackett & L. Sprague de Camp This is an anthology of 1950s science fiction published in 1962.  In the Fifties, SF became more “thinky” than in the pulp era, with an emphasis on the soft sciences like psychology… Continue reading Book Review: The Weird Ones

Book Review: Warrior of Scorpio

Book Review: Warrior of Scorpio by Alan Burt Akers This is the third in the Prescot of Antares planetary romance series.  For newer readers who might not have seen the term before, a “planetary romance” is a subgenre of science fiction in which an Earthling (or someone of Terran extraction) is transported to and stranded… Continue reading Book Review: Warrior of Scorpio