Category Archives: Throwback SF

Rings of Power Redux

Posted on October 20, 2022 by H.P.

I finished season one of Amazon’s The Rings of Power show adapting material from the appendices to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.[1] I also did two other things since my last post on the show that affect how … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Sundry, Throwback SF | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Throwback SF Thursday: Firestarter by Stephen King

Posted on April 14, 2022 by H.P.

Firestarter is the story of Andy McGee, possessing mild powers of mind domination, and his young daughter, Charlie McGee, possessing very un-mild powers of pyrokinesis.  The story begins with Andy and Charlie on the run from agents of a mysterious … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Horror, Throwback SF | Tagged | 5 Comments

Vintage Science Fiction Month: Fire Time by Poul Anderson

Posted on February 3, 2022 by H.P.

It’s not exactly Vintage Science Fiction Month anymore, but just because I let this one slip last week doesn’t mean I’m not going to post a review of Poul Anderson’s Fire Time.  As I remember it, I picked up Fire … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Science Fiction, Throwback SF | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Vintage Science Fiction Month: Conan the Valorous by John Maddox Roberts

Posted on January 20, 2022 by H.P.

I’ve said before that John Maddox Roberts is neck-and-neck with Robert Jordan for best writer of Conan pastiches, but that he gets Conan better than any other writer of pastiches I have read.  Conan the Valorous helps firm up my … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Fantasy, Throwback SF | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Vintage SF Month: A Fighting Man of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Posted on January 13, 2022 by H.P.

Goodreads used to give you nifty little pie charts divvying up your books read in a year by genre or however you categorized your books in shelving them.  Google (as Google does) discontinued the tool they used to generate the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Fantasy, Throwback SF | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Throwback SF Thursday: The Verdant Passage by Troy Denning

Posted on August 26, 2021 by H.P.

Troy Denning was one of the primary game designer for Dungeons & Dragons’ Dark Sun setting, so it is no surprise he got tapped to pen the first Dark Sun novel, The Verdant Passage.  Dark Sun is one of D&D’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Fantasy, Throwback SF | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Throwback SF Thursday: Scott Oden Presents The Lost Empire of Sol: A Shared World Anthology of Sword and Planet Tales, edited by Jason M. Waltz and Fletcher Vredenburgh

Posted on July 30, 2021 by H.P.

Can writers today still produce stuff with the verve and the flavor—the outright joy—of the pulp and pulpy tales of yesteryear?  The Lost Empire of Sol is evidence they can.  A collection of otherwise unconnected tales set in a far-future, … Continue reading →

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

Throwback SF Thursday: Conan the Rogue by John Maddox Roberts

Posted on June 10, 2021 by H.P.

John Maddox Roberts is probably my favorite of the Conan pastiche authors, but Conan the Rogue isn’t my favorite of his Conan books.  It is a fun book, and the concept of Conan as the greatest rogue of all in … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Fantasy, Throwback SF | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Throwback SF Thursday: A Moon Full of Stars by Jon Mollison

Posted on January 28, 2021 by H.P.

There are a lot of different kinds of post-apocalyptic novels, from Fahrenheit 451 to Hiero’s Journey.  Jon Mollison has graced us with a story much more in the spirit of Hiero’s Journey with A Moon Full of Stars.  Rome is … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Dystopian/Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Throwback SF | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Vintage SF Month: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Posted on January 14, 2021 by H.P.

It is accepted that we live in an Early Dystopian State.  Claiming that we are merely decadent is what passes for optimism these days.  The real debate is not whether things are bad but over which dystopian novel best reflects … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Dystopian/Apocalyptic, Throwback SF | Tagged , , | 11 Comments