Otis Adelbert Kline’s Planet of Peril bears a copyright notice of 1930. It is the first of a three book Peril series, which, I discovered while reading the first, is connected to his Mars books, The Swordsman of Mars and the Outlaw of Mars. I don’t feel that I missed anything essential by not reading… Continue reading Otis Adelbert Kline and Homage
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Semiquincentennial
Spell checkers do not approve of the word “semiquincentennial.” I however, approved of the event, as I demonstrated by consuming bacon-wrapped hotdogs and drinking a moderate number of cans of beer. Well, borderline immoderate, perhaps. I was only seven during the bicentennial, so my memories are scattered and vague. I believe that was the year… Continue reading Semiquincentennial
Black Vulmea’s Vengeance. REH Hoists the Skull and Crossbones.
Black Vulmea’s Vengeance is a collection of three Robert E. Howard stories (novellas and/or novelettes–I didn’t perform a word count.) Two feature the title character, Black Terence Vulmea, an Irish pirate of the sixteenth century. The third, while not a Vulmea story, carries on the piratical theme. As you’d expect, Howard sinks his teeth into… Continue reading Black Vulmea’s Vengeance. REH Hoists the Skull and Crossbones.
Happy Father’s Day
The Summer Solstice is upon us. As is Father’s Day. And we’re closing in on the 250th Independence Day, here in the rebellious colonies (and later additions.) So, huzzah. As I watch my savings dwindle and the job application rejections mount (most recently I learned that the ten year experience requirement was a hard cap… Continue reading Happy Father’s Day
The Web Log is Taking a Sick Day
No post today as I am under the weather. And not, to be precise, under good weather. I’m not lolling under the sun beachside. If you are need of something to read, and don’t mind subsidizing my purchase of zinc and vitamin C, why not pick up something of mine? Thick As Thieves is a… Continue reading The Web Log is Taking a Sick Day
NTRPG 2026
Ken, you ask, aren’t you looking for work? What are you doing at a gaming convention, you spendthrift fool? Excellent questions, imaginary questioner. Allow me to address them. Point the first: I had already paid for the badge last year. As far as I know, membership fees are non-refundable. Point the second: Despite that, I… Continue reading NTRPG 2026
ERB’s The Mad King
Re-reading rolls on. I just finished Edgar Rice Burrough’s The Mad King for the second time. If you’ve read Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda (or any of the other entries in the Ruritanian Romance genre) you have a pretty good idea of what ERB is dishing up in Mad King. Now, this is ERB.… Continue reading ERB’s The Mad King
The Texas-Israeli War: 1999. Another Fun Swing and Miss from the 70s.
Back to the re-reads. Damnation Alley (the film adaptation) came out in 1977. Mad Max was released in 1979. Escape from New York in 1981. The not-quite-apocalyptic collapse of civilization enjoyed a vogue. Not all post-apocalyptic stories took place thousands of years later after survivors mutated and began to rebuild. One example is 1974’s The… Continue reading The Texas-Israeli War: 1999. Another Fun Swing and Miss from the 70s.
David Drake Welcomes You to The Jungle.
The re-reading took a short hiatus because someone gifted me a book. That in itself was pleasant. Even better was that the book in question was written by David Drake. The Jungle is, unsurprisingly from Drake, a work of military science fiction. What is a trifle unexpected is that the setting is not original to… Continue reading David Drake Welcomes You to The Jungle.