Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in /home/linweb28/c/castaliahouse.com/user/htdocs/wp-content/plugins/page-theme/pageTheme.php on line 31
September – 2019 – castaliahouse.com - Page 2

Monthly Archives:

s

Swords & Dark Magic (Eos/Harper Collins, 2010). Edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders. This was a book that I read over eight years ago and came across this review while looking for an old file. This was a sword-and-sorcery fiction anthology of original fiction from a mainstream publisher. I really enjoyed Andrew Offutt’s Swords […]

Alexander Hellene’s The Last Ancestor follows the last remnant of Christianity in the galaxy, now on the alien planet of Yxakh. Refugees from persecution on Earth, the survivors of the long flight across the stars. But they are not alone on their new home. A lizard-like race nicknamed the Growlers shares the planet, and  their […]

This week’s fantasy and adventure new releases feature dungeon samurai, xianxia magical cultivators, the return of the Slayer, and a rare, almost forgotten novella from Leigh Brackett. Dungeon Samurai: Seisen (Dungeon Samurai #3) – Kit Sun Cheah The war for the dungeon reaches its climax! A hero has fallen. The threat of famine looms over […]

That’s right, I broke down and finally watched “Toradora”, an upbeat anime rom-com about teenagers and their romantic drama. And I don’t regret it one bit. Note: There will be some spoilers below the cut, because to discuss the show properly I need to discuss character development, and that connects directly to the relationships that are […]

To save a world… …he must rely on God. After years of fighting for justice with his deadly nanotech, Templar Drin abandons his post, crash landing on a desert world controlled by a tyrannical alien empire. Its inhabitants are forced into slavery, broken where a once-proud race cultivated its lands. For the first time in […]

Horror Fiction (Old Style Tales): When H. G. Wells first published “The Invisible Man” in 1897, the title alone ensured its success. Invisibility fascinates, attracts, and terrifies. It’s allure rests in the ability to escape notice (and with it criticism, self-consciousness, and the power of the other’s gaze), to be freed from social pressures (to […]

One of my favorite science fiction anthologies is Sensuous Science Fiction edited by Sheldon Jaffery. This is a trade paperback from 1984 published by Popular Culture Press at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. I had bought Sheldon’s Horrors and Unpleasantries: A Bibliographical History and Collector’s Guide to Arkham House. I saw in Horrors and […]

Fenton Wood’s Yankee Republic series returns in Tower of the Bear, sending radio engineer Philo Hergenschmidt into the depths of the sea, across the amber waves of grain, and into legends half-remembered to search for the secrets of an impossible metal alloy. Tower of the Bear continues to create a world where all the legends […]

The week’s science fiction new releases feature an ancient mech standing ready for its just as ancient foe, the dread fall of a legion of post-human warriors, and a young radio engineer’s travels in search of an impossible metal hidden in an America that never was, but should have been Archangel One – Evan Currie […]

Nothing causes more headaches, backaches, and heartaches for gardeners than weeds: these many-petaled, many-seeded, and many-rooted fiends. Stealing sunlight, water, and nutrients, they may leave our gardens looking grim and growing poorly. The chemical army is losing. Resistant weeds are spreading. Soil health is suffering. Drift and overspray destroys thousands of adjoining farms, homesteads, and […]

Slice of life was never my favorite genre, but there are a surprisingly large number of excellent slice of life anime out there, some of them among my favorite shows of all time. Below I’ll highlight some of the best. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable Yes, this is slice of life and […]

Science Fiction (Kairos): Congratulations to Analog for coming up with a more concise and even lamer award name than the Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence. Then again, that award was created because Burns accidentally emasculated someone. The Astounding Award specifically recognizes emasculation. Cinema (Walker’s Retreat): This is not just corporate fan fiction. This […]