Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories

Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories edited by Otto Penzler I have a fondness for Sherlock Holmes, as I am sure the majority of my readers do.  Unsurprisingly, there has been a ton of Holmes fanfiction over the years.  Pastiches that try to capture the feel of Arthur Conan Doyle’s prose, parodies… Continue reading Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories

Anime Review: Young Black Jack

Anime Review: Young Black Jack Black Jack was a manga series by Osamu Tezuka, about a renegade doctor who performs miraculous feats of medicine, but demands outrageous fees.  (Unless he decides to do it for free or a token.)  As Dr. Tezuka was an actual M.D. before he chucked it to become a full-time artist,… Continue reading Anime Review: Young Black Jack

Comic Book Review: Child of the Sun

Comic Book Review: Child of the Sun written by Michael Van Cleve, art by Mervyn McCoy Disclaimer:  I was provided with free downloads of this comic book for the purposes of review.  No other compensation was offered or requested. It is 1300 B.C.E., and the people of Israel have fallen into wickedness.  Thus they are… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Child of the Sun

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 18: All We Cannot Alter

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 18: All We Cannot Alter edited by Mary François Rockcastle. This is the latest volume of Hamline University’s annual literary magazine, which I picked up at the Rain Taxi Book Festival.  The subtitle comes from one of the poems in this issue, “Is This What Poets Do?” by Elizabeth Oness.… Continue reading Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 18: All We Cannot Alter

Book Review: The Great Secret

Book Review: The Great Secret by L. Ron Hubbard This is another in the line of Galaxy Press reprints of L. Ron Hubbard’s pulp magazine stories.  As always, the physical presentation is excellent.  This time, we have four short science fiction stories.  The cover doesn’t actually apply to any of them. “The Great Secret” is… Continue reading Book Review: The Great Secret

Book Review: Demons of the Night and Other Early Tales

Book Review: Demons of the Night and Other Early Tales by Seabury Quinn Seabury Grandin Quinn (1889-1969) was a prolific pulp author, producing more than five hundred short stories.  He’s best remembered for his Jules de Grandin stories appearing in Weird Tales, featuring a French-accented occult detective.  This particular collection, however, is focused around his other early… Continue reading Book Review: Demons of the Night and Other Early Tales

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents Superman Team-Ups

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents Superman Team-Ups Volume 2 edited by Julius Schwartz The dedicated rotating team-up series was a huge boon for DC Comics and Marvel back in the day.  A top-selling character anchors the book (in this case Superman) and rotating guest stars got a chance to shine.  Some appearances… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents Superman Team-Ups

Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Mad

Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Mad by E. Randall Floyd American history is full of offbeat people, some downright weird.  The author was (like many a lad) fascinated by their stories when he was young.  Then he got to interview Erich von Daeniken (Chariots of the Gods) and decided to make writing about… Continue reading Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Mad

Book Review: The Deaths of Tao

Book Review: The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu Note: This is the sequel to The Lives of Tao and this review may contain SPOILERS for the previous volume. Millions of years ago, the Quasing crashed on Earth.  They could not survive in Earth’s atmosphere, and were forced to piggyback inside the native lifeforms.  They managed… Continue reading Book Review: The Deaths of Tao

Book Review: Soldiers Out of Time

Book Review: Soldiers Out of Time by Steve White Spoiler Warning: This is the fifth book in the Jason Thanou series, and as such, this review will contain SPOILERS for earlier volumes in the story.  Starting with the very next paragraph, so you are on your own from here. The Special Operations Section of the… Continue reading Book Review: Soldiers Out of Time