Book Review: Cooked to Death

Book Review: Cooked to Death edited by Rhonda Gilliland and Michael Allan Mallory Let’s return to the world of themed anthologies, a quick way to get a sample of various authors writing on a particular topic. In this case, it’s primarily Minnesota and other Midwestern writers doing crime and mystery short stories around the topic… Continue reading Book Review: Cooked to Death

Comic Book Review: Uptown Girl: The Lazarus Heart

Comic Book Review: Uptown Girl: The Lazarus Heart by Bob Lipski Thirty years before “now”, three men were exploring a South American jungle, Alvarez Tuesday, Billy, and Mack. They found the hiding place of the legendary Lazarus Heart, but the cave collapsed and only Alvarez escaped. Ten years later, Billy caught up with Alvarez in… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Uptown Girl: The Lazarus Heart

Comic Strip Review: Peanuts 2000

Comic Strip Review: Peanuts 2000 by Charles M. Schulz Peanuts was a long-running newspaper comic strip (1950-2000) created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000). This volume is a collection of the strips during its final year. At the time it was introduced, Peanuts was an innovative strip, starring children but meant for a “family” audience.… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Peanuts 2000

Book Review: Enter the Jackal

Cover by Krocker Klaus

Book Review: Enter the Jackal by Jonathan W. Sweet As you may have noticed by now, I’m a fan of the pulps. But I’m certainly not the most enthusiastic one, or most knowledgeable. Some folks have made the pulp magazines their main focus. Jonathan W. Sweet runs a reprint press, Brick Pickle Pulp, and does… Continue reading Book Review: Enter the Jackal

Book Review: Rod String Nail Cloth

Book Review: Rod String Nail Cloth by T. Aaron Cisco The subtitle of this book is “An Afrofuturist Mixtape.” You can read more about Afrofuturism at this Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism but for the purposes of this review, it’s the intersection of speculative fiction with the African Diaspora experience and cultures, and in particular the experience… Continue reading Book Review: Rod String Nail Cloth

Book Review: Dirty Doc Ames and the Scandal That Shook Minneapolis

Book Review: Dirty Doc Ames and the Scandal That Shook Minneapolis by Erik Rivenes City government corruption is a recurring problem in American politics. Some cities are notorious for their local corruption levels, while others have it come and go. Minnesota cities are no exception, though it has seldom reached the level of Mayor Albert… Continue reading Book Review: Dirty Doc Ames and the Scandal That Shook Minneapolis

Book Review: Roar at the Universe

Book Review: Roar at the Universe by Danith McPherson In her introduction, the author states that bad stuff happens, and people can deal with it in different ways. This anthology, then, is eleven stories and poems about characters who struggle with the bad stuff in their lives, not always successfully. “Folds of Blue Silk” starts… Continue reading Book Review: Roar at the Universe

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails edited by Mary Francois Rockcastle It is time again to look at Hamline University’s annual literary magazine. This issue is from 2006. It’s dedicated to Frederick Busch, author of Girls, who had visited the university shortly before his death the previous year. The subtitle, borrowed from one… Continue reading Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails

Book Review: Seeking the Storyteller

Book Review: Seeking the Storyteller by Jessica Walsh & Briana Lawrence Alix Andre DeBenit and Randall Fagan are Hunters, tracking down and killing monsters called “demons” that harm humans.  They’re experienced and work well together, and the Twin Cities are surprisingly monster-infested so they’re doing quite well for themselves, with a warehouse headquarters and full-time… Continue reading Book Review: Seeking the Storyteller

Book Review: Mammoths of the Great Plains

Book Review: Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason On an alternate Earth, the mammoth lived into historical times, abiding with the bison and the Native Americans.   But then Lewis and Clark saw their first mammoth, and reported on it to President Jefferson and the teeming masses of the East.   This is the story of… Continue reading Book Review: Mammoths of the Great Plains