Book Review: If I Were You

Book Review: If I Were You by L. Ron Hubbard Before L. Ron Hubbard got involved in…you know, he was a middling-good and prolific pulp author. The Golden Age Stories line is reprinting many of his stories in attractively designed paperbacks. This volume contains two short stories, , a preview of another, a glossary (really… Continue reading Book Review: If I Were You

Manga Review: Anesthesiologist Hana

Manga Review: Anesthesiologist Hana by Hakua Nakao and Kappei Matsumoto One of the manga genres that doesn’t get a lot of press in the US is “work manga”.  These are more realistic looks at an unusual career, showing the day-to-day life and challenges, as well as what it takes to get and keep the job.… Continue reading Manga Review: Anesthesiologist Hana

Open Thread 12/23/12

Open Thread I’ll be off until after Christmas.  When I return, I hope to have reviews of several books handy, including the manga “Anesthesologist Hana.”  (I might even get an interview with the translator!) In the meantime, if you have any relevant questions or  statements, such as what you’d like me to put in the… Continue reading Open Thread 12/23/12

Book Review: Blood Lance

Book Review: Blood Lance by Jeri Westerson This is the fifth Crispin Guest novel, featuring a disgraced knight of the Fourteenth Century who takes up a career of detection, earning the nickname “Tracker.” I have not read the previous volumes. Guest happens to witness a man falling from a bridge into the Thames. By the… Continue reading Book Review: Blood Lance

TV Review: Northwest Passage

TV Review: Northwest Passage This 1958 television series is set during the French & Indian War (1756-1763).  A Colonial militia named Roger’s Rangers battle the perfidious French and their Native American allies in what later became upstate New York and Quebec.  Both this series and the 1940 movie were based on a 1937 novel.  (The… Continue reading TV Review: Northwest Passage

Book Review: The Avenger #7 (Murder On Wheels, The Three Gold Crowns and Death To the Avenger)

Book Review: The Avenger #7 (Murder On Wheels, The Three Gold Crowns and Death To the Avenger) The Avenger is one of the classic hero pulp characters, a man so strongly affected by a horrific crime that all color drained from his skin and hair, and his face became frozen.  Determined that no one else… Continue reading Book Review: The Avenger #7 (Murder On Wheels, The Three Gold Crowns and Death To the Avenger)

Comic Book Review: Demon Knights Vol. 1 (Seven Against the Dark)

Comic Book Review: Demon Knights Vol. 1 (Seven Against the Dark) by Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves & Oclair Albert When DC Comics rebooted their mainline universe in 2011, this left them free to rearrange the past of that universe .  To fill in part of that timeline, we have this title. After a brief moment… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Demon Knights Vol. 1 (Seven Against the Dark)

Comic Book Review: Ghosts #1

Comic Book Review: Ghosts #1 After the Comics Code  was revised in the 1970s, DC Comics had a small explosion of horror anthology titles.  One of these was “Ghosts”, which had the gimmick of being almost entirely allegedly true ghost stories.  Even as a teenager I realized that these “true” stories were bull, but it… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Ghosts #1

Book Review: A Planet of Your Own/The Beasts of Kohl

Book Review: A Planet of Your Own/The Beasts of Kohl Back in the day, science fiction and fantasy novels tended to be much shorter than they are now.  In some cases, so short that they didn’t make a decent-sized paperback.  So Ace Books came up with the Ace Double, two novels (or short story collections)… Continue reading Book Review: A Planet of Your Own/The Beasts of Kohl

TV Review: The Adventures of Jim Bowie

TV Review: The Adventures of Jim Bowie I watched several episodes of this 1950s television show via a Mill Creek DVD.  As you might have guessed, this series is a heavily fictionalized story about the famous land speculator and knife fighter, Jim Bowie, popularizer of the blade that bears his name. The series is primarily… Continue reading TV Review: The Adventures of Jim Bowie