Movie Review: The General (1926) directed by Clyde Bruckman. The train pulls into Marietta, Georgia in 1861. The engine known as “The General” is driven by engineer Johnnie Gray (Buster Keaton). He loves his engine, but Johnnie also loves local girl Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack). The young sweethearts are just about to settle into some chaste… Continue reading Movie Review: The General
Tag: engineers
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: Star Trek (2009)
Movie Review: Star Trek (2009) directed by J.J. Abrams The U.S.S. Kelvin is cruising through space when a spacial anomaly opens, disgorging an unknown, highly advanced technology ship that promptly attacks. It turns out to be captained by a Romulan named Nero, who has a grudge against someone named “Ambassador Spock.” In the absence of that… Continue reading Movie Review: Star Trek (2009)
Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries Fall 2016
Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries Fall 2016 edited by Matthew Moring Every so often, someone tries to relaunch a once-popular magazine. Most of these efforts fold quickly. The subject of this review is one such, lasting a single issue. As you’ll recall from a previous review, Famous Fantastic Mysteries was primarily a reprint title, presenting… Continue reading Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries Fall 2016
Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers
Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers by W.F. Harvey W.F. Harvey (1885-1937) was born in Yorkshire, of Quaker family, and became a doctor. However, his health was poor and he was often unable to practice, so he wrote short stories on the side, many of them falling generally into the “weird” category. This volume… Continue reading Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers
Book Review: The Railway Children
Book Review: The Railway Children by E. Nesbit Life takes some odd turns. For example, one day you’re an adorable trio of children living a comfortable upper-middle class life in London. The next, your father is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit and you have to go live in a much less impressive house out in… Continue reading Book Review: The Railway Children
Book Review: The Lost Millennium | The Road to the Rim
Book Review: The Lost Millennium by Walt & Leigh Richmond | The Road to the Rim by A. Bertram Chandler It’s time, again, to review an Ace Double, one of those formats so dear to my youth that has since vanished. The Lost Millennium has as its frame story an engineer being approached by an archaeologist about his… Continue reading Book Review: The Lost Millennium | The Road to the Rim
Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales
Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz The definition of “thriller” is a little loose in this fun anthology, though most of the stories do have at least some suspense. It feels more like the compiler picked a bunch of the public domain stories he liked, but didn’t have a strong… Continue reading Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales
Book Review: Raising Steam
Book Review: Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett Moist von Lipwig has come a long way since his days as a petty con artist. He’s a (mostly) respectable married man who manages the Ankh-Morpork Post Office, Mint, and Bank. True, his management is mostly just taking a friendly interest in the employees who do all the… Continue reading Book Review: Raising Steam
Book Review: Lambda I and Other Stories
Book Review: Lambda I and Other Stories edited by John Carnell New Worlds was a British science fiction magazine that started professional publication in 1946. Despite some financial hiccups, it was a reasonably good seller, and was still going in the early 1960s when the stories chosen for this anthology were published. The editor picked… Continue reading Book Review: Lambda I and Other Stories