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sSUPERVERSIVE: Why Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time Felt Like Fan Fiction
Tuesday , 19, December 2017 Superversive, Uncategorized 4 CommentsLet me start off with this. I LOVE the Sly Cooper series, which was arguably the single most underappreciated series of games in the PS2 era (which also happened to be the golden age of 3D platforming, what with the Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter games coming out at the same time). The […]
The Last Jedi Is Star Wars for People Who HATE Star Wars
Monday , 18, December 2017 Movies 40 CommentsIf Rogue One was Star Wars for people who didn’t like Star Wars, then The Last Jedi is Star Wars for people who HATE Star Wars. By, for, and of. “But I like Star Wars!” That’s fine. They still didn’t make this movie for you. This is a movie with contempt for you, the audience, contempt for […]
An Excerpt from QUANTUM MORTIS: A MAN DISRUPTED
Sunday , 17, December 2017 Fiction, Publications 2 CommentsThe independent planet of Rhysalan provides Sanctuary to 1,462 governments-in-exile. It is the responsibility of the Xenocriminology and Alien Relations department of the Military Crimes Investigation Division to keep a firm leash on the hundreds of thousands of xenos residing on-planet. Assassinations, revolutions, civil wars, and attempted planetary genocides are all in a day’s work […]
Don Maitz (b. 1953) is yet another artist to emerge in the middle 1970s with a legacy of sword and sorcery illustration. His website has this biography: “A native of Plainville, CT showed an early interest in drawing and received initial art training from the Famous Artist’s Correspondence School at age thirteen. Maitz attended the […]
Star Wars Rip-Offs: The Good, the Bad, and the Weird
Saturday , 16, December 2017 Movies 26 CommentsAs a major, SJW-infested corporation trots out another installment of a beloved franchise, devoid of excitement and fresh ideas but pumped to the gills with Social Justice, it’s interesting to go back to an earlier, more innocent time, shortly after the first Star Wars (1977) came out. Not only was it legitimately excellent, it also became an […]
Fantasy and Adventure New Release Roundup: 16 December 2017
Saturday , 16, December 2017 Fiction 1 CommentThis week’s roundup of the newest releases in fantasy and adventure features the sole male wizard in his world pressed into an international magical tournament, an American soldier inheriting his family’s Welsh holdings, even more litRPG adventures, and a young Chinese officer facing down a supernatural rebellion. * * * […]
Short Reviews – The Smoking Land, by Frederick Faust (As George Challis)
Friday , 15, December 2017 Uncategorized 2 CommentsThe Smoking Land by Frederick Faust as George Challis was originally published in Argosy; the version reviewed was reprinted in the February 1950 issue of A. Merritt’s Fantasy Magazine. It can be read here at Archive.org. Even during the Pulp-era there were Pulp Revivals going on. One such effort to keep classics of the pulp […]
The Disney revival of Star Wars has been riven with controversy and growing discontent. For every Rebels, there has been an Aftermath or three–and host of blogs, podcasts, and videos from fans searching for that lost feeling of a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Fortunately, in the frontiers of independent science fiction, a […]
On Popular Entertainment: The Missing Ingredient
Thursday , 14, December 2017 Uncategorized 16 CommentsWhen diagnosing the illness that pervades modern mainstream entertainment in the US, most armchair oncologists point to symptoms of the disease. Consumers recognize the wealth of titles that present all the shine and appearance of timeless classics, but have all the weight and import of ephemeral bits of fluff. Somehow, the increased volume of offerings has […]
Castalia House New Release: THE LAST CLOSET: THE DARK SIDE OF AVALON
Wednesday , 13, December 2017 News, Publications 8 CommentsMarion Zimmer Bradley was a bestselling science fiction author, a feminist icon, and was awarded the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement. She was best known for the Arthurian fiction novel THE MISTS OF AVALON and for her very popular Darkover series. She was also a monster. THE LAST CLOSET: The Dark Side of Avalon is […]
WARGAME WEDNESDAY: Avalon Hill’s The Battle of the Bulge (1981) – Part II
Wednesday , 13, December 2017 Wargames 2 CommentsPlay 1 | Allies – Me/Axis – Dad | Outcome – Overwhelming Allied Victory (Axis forfeit) This play-through we used the advanced game with the following variations and special rules: No roll required for Paratroopers to drop. No roll required for 150 Commando armor to make 1st turn movement. 2 x Day 1 SS Panzer […]