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

Movie Review: 20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End

Cho-san is about to suffer retirony.

Movie Review: 20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End (2008) directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi When Kenji Endo (Toshiaka Karisawa) was a teenager, he loved rock music, especially “20th Century Boy” by T. Rex. He thought rock, and in particular his own music, could change the world. But some twenty years on in the late 1990s,… Continue reading Movie Review: 20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End

Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact December 1984

The cover by Jack Gaughan for "The Elemental" is more symbolic than an actual scene from the story.

Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact December 1984 edited by Stanley Schmidt Continuing to dig through my pile of stuff that I’ve been meaning to reread, I found this issue from the year I actually subscribed to Analog.. This was an indulgence as I was underemployed at the time, but a magazine in the… Continue reading Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact December 1984

Manga Review: Ran and the Gray World 1

Manga Review: Ran and the Gray World 1 by Aki Irie Ran Uruma misses her mother Shizuka. It’s not that she doesn’t love her calligrapher father Zen and her big brother Jin (though they often quarrel,) but Mom is so often away at her job in her home village. Shizuka’s visits are rare and much appreciated, even if they’re a hassle to explain… Continue reading Manga Review: Ran and the Gray World 1

Book Review: How We Came to Know the Cosmos: Space & Time

Book Review: How We Came to Know the Cosmos: Space & Time by Helen Klus Disclaimer:  I received a download of this book through a Goodreads giveaway to facilitate this review.  No other compensation was requested or offered. The universe is very large, while humans are very small.   We inhabit only an infinitesimal fraction of… Continue reading Book Review: How We Came to Know the Cosmos: Space & Time

Book Review: The Periodic Table

Book Review: The Periodic Table by Tom Jackson Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway to facilitate writing this review.  No other compensation was requested or offered. The periodic table was developed in 1869 by Dmitri Mendeleev   as a way of categorizing elements, substances that cannot be refined or purified… Continue reading Book Review: The Periodic Table

Book Review: The Edge of Tomorrow

Book Review: The Edge of Tomorrow by Howard Fast There have been several books titled The Edge of Tomorrow, none of which have anything to do with the recent Tom Cruise movie, which borrowed most of its plot from the Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill.  (I think you can see why there was a… Continue reading Book Review: The Edge of Tomorrow

Book Review: The Mystery Men of Mars

Book Review: The Mystery Men of Mars by Carl H. Claudy Dr. Isaac Lutyens, Professor of Physics and Higher Mathematics, has created what amounts to a gravitic engine.  His first thought was to create a spaceship in his attic and orbit the moon.  This being successful, Dr. Lutyens decides that the next step is to… Continue reading Book Review: The Mystery Men of Mars

Book Review: Tiger by the Tail

Book Review: Tiger by the Tail by Alan E. Nourse Alan E. Nourse (1928-1992) was a medical doctor and science fiction/fact author.  His professional training often showed in his stories, perhaps best exemplified by the novel Star Surgeon.  He also wrote The Bladerunner, about a dystopian future where medical care is rationed.  Hollywood optioned the title and… Continue reading Book Review: Tiger by the Tail

Book Review: The Physics of Everyday Things

Book Review: The Physics of Everyday Things by James Kakalios Disclaimer:  I received an uncorrected proof of this book for the purpose of writing this review.   No other compensation was offered or requested.  The final product,  due out May 2017, will have some changes, including a full index. Today is no ordinary day.  While… Continue reading Book Review: The Physics of Everyday Things