Book Review: Naked to the Stars

Book Review: Naked to the Stars by Gordon R. Dickson Section Leader Calvin Truant of the 91st Combat Engineers has not slept in two days, his unit is at less than half strength and their translator is dying, and all the officers have been killed, leaving Cal in command.  The truce with the alien Lehaunan… Continue reading Book Review: Naked to the Stars

Book Review: Insurrections of the Mind

Book Review: Insurrections of the Mind edited by Franklin Foer Disclaimer:  I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.  The copy I read was an uncorrected proof, and changes will be made in the final edition.  (Specifically, a second introduction by Leon Wieseltier–an index may also be forthcoming.)… Continue reading Book Review: Insurrections of the Mind

Movie Review: Stage Door Canteen

Movie Review: Stage Door Canteen (1943) A troop train carrying soldiers to a base near New York City has typical troopers California, Dakota, Jersey and Tex on board.  Only Jersey has a steady girl, and he’s hoping they have some time before being shipped overseas to see her.   California’s never even kissed a girl,… Continue reading Movie Review: Stage Door Canteen

Book Review: The Elfstones of Shannara

Book Review: The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Long ago, before even the rise of the old humans, the good and evil faerie creatures had a great war.  At the end of it, the evil beings who… Continue reading Book Review: The Elfstones of Shannara

Book Review: White August

Book Review: White August by John Boland It is one of the hottest Julys on record in Worchestershire.  In a time before air conditioning became common in Britain, the people are roasting in the summer heat.  So they are more bemused than frightened when it suddenly begins snowing.  English weather, isn’t it funny? Except that… Continue reading Book Review: White August

Book Review: Tigerman

Book Review: Tigerman by Nick Harkaway Disclaimer:  I received an uncorrected proof of this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Mancreu is dying.  This island in the Arabian Sea was once a quiet backwater, last colonized by the British Empire.   But a combination of industrial waste and volcanic… Continue reading Book Review: Tigerman

Anime Review: Matchless Raijin-Oh

The fifth-dimensional Jaku Empire (literally, “the Evil Empire”) has decided to conquer the third dimension, starting with Earth.  Good thing Earth has a powerful guardian spirit named Eldoran.  Or perhaps we should say had a powerful guardian spirit, as Eldoran blocks the invaders’ one-shot superweapon at the cost of crippling himself to a near-death state. Eldoran… Continue reading Anime Review: Matchless Raijin-Oh

Comic Book Review: Top 10: The Forty-Niners

Comic Book Review: Top 10: The Forty-Niners written by Alan Moore, art by Gene Ha In an alternate America with science heroes and other weird or wonderful “characters”, it’s been decided to move everyone who isn’t “normal” to one city, Neopolis.  It’s 1949, and war veterans Jetlad and Sky Witch are reunited on the relocation… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Top 10: The Forty-Niners

Book Review: Native Silver

Book Review: Native Silver by Blake Hausladen This is a sequel to Mr. Hausladen’s Ghosts in the Yew and will contain some spoilers for the earlier work. Prince Barok has brought the sleepy backwater province of Enhedu from a shameful place of exile to a thriving young nation in little over a year with the help… Continue reading Book Review: Native Silver

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights

Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights by too many to list.  Trust me, a lot of great names. Between the late 1940s and somewhere in the 1990s, one of the most pervasive fears of the American public was atomic war. For the first time in known history, humans were… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Featuring the Atomic Knights