Manga Review: Ikigami the Ultimate Limit Volume 10

Manga Review: Ikigami the Ultimate Limit Volume 10 by Motoro Mase Quick recap: Thanks to the National Welfare Act, every child in the country is given their vaccinations when they come of grade school age. One in one thousand of these vaccinations also contains a nanocapsule that migrates to the heart, where it lodges. Some… Continue reading Manga Review: Ikigami the Ultimate Limit Volume 10

Book Review: Away and Beyond

Book Review: Away and Beyond by A.E. van Vogt This paperback anthology is a partial reprint of the first hardcover collection of A.E. van Vogt short stories from 1952, with 7 of the 9 1940s tales. It’s not explained why two stories were dropped, but my research suggests they were lesser works. “The Great Engine”… Continue reading Book Review: Away and Beyond

Manga Review: Attack on Titan Volume 3

Manga Review: Attack on Titan Volume 3 by Hajime Isayama Note: This review contains SPOILERS for the first two volumes. Three children were in the village of Shigashina on that fateful day. Eren Yeager, an aggressive young fellow who chafed under the restrictions imposed by the fifty-meter walls that protected his village and by extension… Continue reading Manga Review: Attack on Titan Volume 3

Book Review: Scarecrow

Book Review: Scarecrow edited by Rhonda Parrish This anthology is part of the “Magical Menageries” series, each volume focusing on a different type of critter. A previous volume, Corvidae, dealt with crows of various types. Thus it’s not surprising that there’s a collection featuring their archenemies. While the aesthetic of humanoid beings of straw lends… Continue reading Book Review: Scarecrow

Book Review: The Pocket Companion

Book Review: The Pocket Companion edited by Philip Van Doren Stern This 1942 paperback anthology was designed for people who wanted a lot of reading in a pocket-sized book, so has a novel, short stories, articles, poetry and trivia. The closest thing to a theme is the connection between the British and Americans, now allies… Continue reading Book Review: The Pocket Companion

Book Review: Galaxy Jane

Cover by Boris Vallejo, and it's probably a publicity still of the actress playing Jane.

Book Review: Galaxy Jane by Ron Goulart Galaxy Jane: adventurer, space pirate, freedom fighter, and one of the most interesting persons the Barnum System ever knew. A book about her would probably be awesome. But this isn’t that book. Instead it’s about NewzNet reporter Jack Summer, who’s ostensibly been assigned to write a story about… Continue reading Book Review: Galaxy Jane

Book Review: Envy and the Geek

Book Review: Envy and the Geek by Natalie Falkenwrath “Hey, so there was this really cool show, High School Bites, about teen vampires, ten years, maybe it was fifteen years ago? Man, I’m getting old. Anyhow, it was one of those teen dramas on the CW or the WB, doubt it was the Disney Channel.… Continue reading Book Review: Envy and the Geek

Comic Book Review: Fleetway Picture Library Classics Presents: Rick Random

Comic Book Review: Fleetway Picture Library Classics Presents: Rick Random art by Ron Turner In the far future of the 2040s, Earth belongs to the Interplanetary Board, a coalition of worlds both in the Sol System and beyond. As it just so happens, it’s headquartered in what used to be the country of Great Britain.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Fleetway Picture Library Classics Presents: Rick Random

Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973

"Astronauts on Deimos" by David A. Hardy. Not illustrating any of the interior stories.

Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973 edited by Ejier Jakobsson This issue of the magazine also known as “If” opens with the “Hue and Cry” letter column. One reader was especially impressed with the negative review Lester del Rey gave of a book on cloning, which taught the reader something to look for in… Continue reading Magazine Review: Worlds of If August 1973

Movie Review: Serenity (2005)

The Serenity's crew doesn't always agree on the best course of action.

Movie Review: Serenity (2005) directed by Joss Whedon This is what we are told: It is around 500 years in the future. Life on Earth That Was became unsustainable, so humanity went looking for new worlds to live on. At least one place they found was a trinary star system with multiple planets and planetoids in… Continue reading Movie Review: Serenity (2005)