I am laboriously tapping this out on my phone at my daughter’s robotics completion because I forgot my computer’s power cable at home, which is five hours away. I would say that is emblematic of how my week has gone, but that would not do justice to the magnitude of events ensuing in the life… Continue reading End of an Era
Author: admin
Writer of two-fisted fabulism.
Convention After Action Report
I’m sitting in the Nashville airport waiting for my flight out. With a few more minutes to spend, thanks to a delayed departure, I figure I’ll take the extra time to write today’s post. This weekend Michael Z. Williamson hosted his seventh ConFinement convention. I believe this was my fourth attendance. I saw many of… Continue reading Convention After Action Report
Convention Weekend
This coming weekend, the end of February, I will be attending a convention in Tennessee, just outside of Nashville. ConFinement VII runs from February 27 through March 1st. As usual, I’ll be lowering the collective IQ on a couple of panels. You can hear me mumble inanely about such topics as: Guilty Pleasures: Books You… Continue reading Convention Weekend
The Valentine’s Day Post
Confession: I don’t read “romantasy.” Though I did read some Anne Rice novels in the late 80s and early 90s, if that counts. But given that yesterday was Valentine’s Day (digression into my simple V-Day: I took MBW and the HA out for barbeque and gave them both boxes of chocolates) I thought I might… Continue reading The Valentine’s Day Post
Rereading Firelord.
I have intended to reread Parke Godwin’s Firelord for years. But somehow I always picked something else. Perhaps I wasn’t in the mood for yet another retelling of the King Arthur legend. More likely it was just the length. At almost 370 pages it is healthy chunk of paperback. That in itself is no hindrance;… Continue reading Rereading Firelord.
Poul Anderson Opening Markets
Memorable characters can be hard to come by in classic science-fiction. The stories may be memorable. Authors were invested in the scene, the problem to be overcome, and the solution. Characters (sometimes: this isn’t a blanket indictment) could often seem mere afterthoughts. Poul Anderson created an unforgettable protagonist when he invented Nicholas van Rijn, head… Continue reading Poul Anderson Opening Markets
Plasma Pulp: Lost Worlds
There are times to sink into the philosophical depths or the detailed, scientifically grounded world building of a thoughtful work of speculative fiction, whether on the page or the screen (big or small.) Other times, however, we want Buck Rogers. We want Brian Daley’s Han Solo novels. We want the scorched ozone burn of blaster… Continue reading Plasma Pulp: Lost Worlds
The Kull Dialectics
It had been some time since I last read the collection King Kull. Picking it from the shelf was rewarding. The general impression and memory of a Kull story is one of blood soaked battles, with a half-naked Kull butchering a dozen men with an ax. But while there is the occasional red-mist set piece,… Continue reading The Kull Dialectics
Musings on the Lord of the Rings. An Appendix.
You read “‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.” and close the book. Or do you? There is more if you just turn the page. But why would you read material that isn’t part of the novel? If it was important, it would have been in the story. Allow me to offer some reasons. If you were… Continue reading Musings on the Lord of the Rings. An Appendix.