Monthly Archives: January 2018

Making Peace Is a Deep, Pulpy Adventure

Posted on January 30, 2018 by H.P.

“Actually,” another twitch at his deep voice, and a slight hunching of her shoulders, “we are here to take you into custody, under authority of the Keepers.” The room was silent.  I wondered who would claim ownership of my estate … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Science Fiction | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Vintage Science Fiction Month: Lord of Thunder Lacks the Thematic Weight of The Beast Master

Posted on January 25, 2018 by H.P.

Lord of Thunder is the sequel to Andre Norton’s The Beast Master.  It is the much easier book of the two to find, but it is also the much weaker book.  Which isn’t to say that it is bad.  It … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Science Fiction, Throwback SF | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday: C.L. Moore

Posted on January 24, 2018 by H.P.

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme designed to highlight future releases that was formerly hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  But with Jill away and no enforcement mechanism I am free to run wild and piss all over the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Science Fiction, Sundry, Throwback SF | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Guest Review: If Anne Rice and Geraldine Brooks had a novel baby, Octavia Butler’s Fledgling would be it

Posted on January 23, 2018 by H.P.

By A. Heishman Let me explain. I am fortunate enough to work at a high school where the librarian is an amazing resource for little known gems.  So when I requested “junk reading that a isn’t about a princess and … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Horror, Science Fiction | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Vintage Science Fiction Month: What The Beastmaster lacks in Fidelity to the Source Material, it makes up for in Weirdness

Posted on January 18, 2018 by H.P.

First things first.  If you’ve read Andre Norton’s The Beast Master—or, better yet, read my review of the same—you should know that the movie adaptation—and it is, technically, an adaptation—has little to do with the book.  Of course, in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Sundry, Throwback SF | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Resolutions

Posted on January 16, 2018 by H.P.

New Year’s Resolutions—who needs them!  They mostly deal with boring stuff like diet and exercise.  I only want to talk about books.  So bookish resolutions.  Those are still cool.  So cool I gave you a bonus resolution.  [Now two!  Because … Continue reading →

Posted in Sundry | Tagged | 22 Comments

Vintage Science Fiction Month: The Beast Master is Half-Western, Half-Planetary Romance

Posted on January 11, 2018 by H.P.

I had a heckuva time finding this book.  Like any kid from the tail end of Generation X, I had seen the Beastmaster movie countless times on cable as a kid.  And I picked up at some point that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Science Fiction, Throwback SF | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Planetary Defense Command Ranks 49 SF Magazines from Best to Worst

Posted on January 10, 2018 by H.P.

Originally posted on Planetary Defense Command:
In my last post, I explained why I’ve cut off my first round of magazine reviews at 49, and described my ranking method.  So, on to the results, giving my first issue of each…

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With The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson Took a Page from Brandon Sanderson

Posted on January 9, 2018 by H.P.

I liked The Last Jedi.  But I didn’t love it.  Or, rather, I loved parts of it and had real issues with other parts (you can find those thoughts in depth here).  Opening up Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy, I was … Continue reading →

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2018 State of the Blog

Posted on January 4, 2018 by H.P.

2017 was a good year for me and a good year for the blog.  2017 also capped what was, for me, an extraordinarily eventful decade.  A decade that started with the death of my sister.  At the time, I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Sundry | 19 Comments