Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024

Cover art by Julie Dillon

Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024 edited by Trevor Quachri Let’s look at a recent issue of this long-running science fiction (and fact) magazine. The opening editorial by Howard V. Hendrix, “Machines Passing for People Passing for Machines”, which among other things discusses the Turing Test, where a simulated person tries to… Continue reading Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024

Magazine Review: Oh Reader, Issue 001

Magazine Review: Oh Reader, Issue 001 edited by Gemma Peckham So it turns out publishers are still starting new print magazines in this calamitous year of 2020. Fittingly, it’s a magazine for and about people who like to read. The primary focus, at least in this issue, is essays on various aspects of reading. The… Continue reading Magazine Review: Oh Reader, Issue 001

Magazine Review: Astounding Science Fiction July 1939

Magazine Review: Astounding Science Fiction July 1939 edited by John W. Campbell Astounding Science Fiction is now Analog, which is still being published; see earlier reviews on this blog. Today I’m looking at a key issue from the pulp days, July 1939. First, there’s this classic cover by Graves Gladney. Up front is “Addenda”, an… Continue reading Magazine Review: Astounding Science Fiction July 1939

Book Review: Uncle Sam’s Attic: The Intimate Story of Alaska

Book Review: Uncle Sam’s Attic: The Intimate Story of Alaska by Mary Lee Davis There was a time, not so long ago, when Americans knew little about the territory of Alaska. In the popular imagination, it was a desolate land of perpetual ice and snow, inhabited mostly by gold miners and “Eskimos.” Indeed, many people… Continue reading Book Review: Uncle Sam’s Attic: The Intimate Story of Alaska

Book Review: The Pocket Book of Science Fiction

Book Review: The Pocket Book of Science Fiction edited by Donald A. Wollheim In the introduction to this 1943 anthology, Donald A. Wollheim talks about “the theory of outrageous hypotheses” which helps science progress by asking, “this is not true but what if?” These ten stories are most assuredly fictional, but point to places to… Continue reading Book Review: The Pocket Book of Science Fiction

Movie Review: Operation Condor (1991)

A shocking experience.

Operation Condor (1991) directed by Jackie Chan Back during World War Two, a large shipment of gold was concealed at a secret German base somewhere in the Sahara. The officer in charge of the mission, and the eighteen men assigned to assist him, mysteriously vanished, and anyone who knew the exact location of the base died… Continue reading Movie Review: Operation Condor (1991)

Book Review: The Third Chimpanzee for Young People

Book Review: The Third Chimpanzee for Young People by Jared Diamond, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff Disclosure:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This is a young adult version of Jared Diamond’s The Third Chimpanzee, originally printed in 1992.  I have not read that book, so will… Continue reading Book Review: The Third Chimpanzee for Young People

Book Review: Global Friendship Vol 5 United Kingdom – Zambia

Book Review: Global Friendship Vol 5 United Kingdom – Zambia by H. Aitoro Disclosure:  I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.   (Technically I won Vol 3, but I’m certainly not going to complain about a free book!) This is a part of a series of… Continue reading Book Review: Global Friendship Vol 5 United Kingdom – Zambia

Book Review: Where the Cherry Tree Grew

Book Review: Where the Cherry Tree Grew by Phillip Levy Full Disclosure: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway, on the premise that I would review it. This is something a little different for me, a geographical “biography” that traces the history of a particular place. In this case, the piece of land that… Continue reading Book Review: Where the Cherry Tree Grew