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sIn 1939, while science fiction was on the cusp of its first successful bid for recognition, a small fanzine, Futuria Fantasia, presented the first story by the legendary Ray Bradbury. Titled “The Pendulum”, this story hinted at Bradbury’s future works, which Leigh Brackett declared as not science fiction, but too wonderful not to be included. More Gothic Weird […]
Time-traveling warships, giant robot rebels, and virus hunters feature in this week’s science fiction new releases. A Gulf in the Past (The Progenitors’ War #2) – Chris Kennedy Lieutenant Commander Shawn ‘Calvin’ Hobbs and the crew of the Vella Gulf have gone back in time to get the technology they needed to beat the Enemy […]
Sensor Sweep: Pulp on Pulp, Sabatini, Jirel, Weird Westerns
Monday , 11, May 2020 Sensor Sweep 3 CommentsNew Project (Misha Burnett): A reminder that the collection of essays that Cheah Kit Sun and I are putting together is open for submissions. I don’t know that Pulp On Pulp will be its title when it comes time to publish it–I just needed to call it something. I am looking for essays from writers, […]
In early January 1932, Robert E. Howard in a letter to H. P. Lovecraft had this to say: “I love peace, yet I wouldnt [sic] mind a war right now such a hell of a lot, if the country was prepared; but it isnt [sic]. Japan knows it; that’s why she thinks she can kick […]
In 1950, towards the end of Weird Tales‘s run, yet just before his first John the Balladeer story, Manly Wade Wellman turned to the forest for inspiration for a ghost story, “The Pineys”. For amid the dense longleaf pines lives a strange folk known as the Pineys, and those who trespass into their lands vanish. The […]
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 09 May, 2020
Saturday , 9, May 2020 Uncategorized Leave a commentThis week’s science fiction and fantasy new releases feature alien chi cultivators, intergalactic skip tracers, dragon riders, the Legion, and the Four Horsemen. Awakened (The Quintessence: Crucible #1) – C. M. Carney Cultivation. Progression. Ascension. On the world of Crucible, where humanity’s spiritual artists train to fight in a war of universal proportions, Aryc Tal […]
Sensor Sweep: Derleth, Elemental Evil, Tarzan, Weird Tales
Monday , 4, May 2020 Sensor Sweep 1 CommentCthulhu Mythos (Innsmouth Free Press): August Derleth has been the whipping boy for HPL fans since 1939, when he created Arkham House with Donald Wandrei, a publishing concern specifically created to get the works of H.P. Lovecraft into hardcovers. Like many Mythos fans, I have read the “posthumous collaborations” and find them middling-to-dull. What I […]
The Sand Pebbles is a great movie. Before the movie was a great book. Richard McKenna, author of the novel had been in the U.S. Navy for 22 years. Part of his service was on the Yangtze River Patrol. The U.S. Navy had been navigating the river since 1854. The patrol was organized in 1919 […]
Several authors, including many former Castalia House blogger and guests, got together to provide a free anthology for those itching for adventure and the thrill of the unknown during this time of distancing and quarantine. Inside are a collection of short stories and even four novels filled with tales of high adventure, escapist fantasies, and […]