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November – 2021 – castaliahouse.com

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Review (Easily Distracted): There are Victorian tales here; there are contemporary tales; there are near-future tales, in which the very prescient threat of environmental collapse lurks in the background. There are supernatural and non-supernatural stories; there are stories of ancient magic and dark mysticism; there are stories that defy categorization. Writing (Alexander Hellene): He spots […]

My favorite Jerry Pournelle series are the John Christian Falkenberg stories and the Janissaries books. I reread The Mercenary a few years back when I picked up a new copy at a library book sale. I had originally read it back in 1988. I knew The Mercenary was a fix up of a novella and […]

Doc Savage’s secrets revealed at last! And by a villainous mind of insatiable greed! A new Rasputin, called John Sunlight, escapes from a Siberian prison camp in an icebreaker, only to run aground next to the big blue dome of Doc Savage’s Fortress of Solitude. After a brazen theft, Sunlight is selling the weapons Doc […]

Ozark fantasy, mercenary guilds, and swashbuckling provocateurs grace this week’s new releases. Anvil Dark (Backyard Starship #3) – J. N. Chaney and Terry Maggert The guild is under attack, and Van is right in the middle of it all. When Master Yewlo is abducted by unknown forces, the Peacemakers are thrown into chaos as the […]

I previously reviewed on here Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Ultra Sun, the fan game Pokemon Uranium, and Pokemon Sword and Shield. I am a longtime fan of the series, so on opening day, gift card in hand to cut the cost down by a cool 20 bucks, I got my copy of Shining Pearl. Yet as […]

New/Art (Lulu): This book is a collection of articles about the early history of the art and the illustrators who made the works of Robert E. Howard come to life. Contents include: A heavily illustrated article on some of the best artists who worked for Weird Tales by Frank Coffman. A look at Roy G. […]

This has been a productive year for the small press. The Big 5 publishers ignore areas of genre fiction to their loss. Technological change has allowed an inspired fan to produce a professional publication that would have been a dream a generation ago. The latest small press offering crossed off from the to be read […]

The figure was fifteen inches in height, and carved from that ancient ivory that comes down to China from the islands off Siberia. The image was that of Kuan-yin, the Chinese goddess of mercy, protector of shipwrecked sailors, and bringer of children to childless women. It lay upon the sand near Teo’s outstretched fingers, its […]

The Legion returns, alongside pixy monster hunters, western canine scouts, and refugees from alien attacks in this week’s new release. Convergence (Galaxy’s Edge #13) – Jason Anspach and Nick Cole As the galaxy marches headlong toward the greatest threat to peace since the Savage Wars, the flames are lit in the most unlikely of places. […]

T.V. (Arkhaven Comics): The growth of Disney Plus is tortoise-like and it’s all in the wrong markets. Disney Plus needs to get subs in the West where they can charge decent prices that will actually turn the company a profit. Instead, the only place anyone is signing up is in India, where the business model […]

The 1990s were a great decade for vintage crime anthologies. There were some bargain hardbacks of pulp magazine detective fiction – Hard Boiled Detectives and Tough Guys and Dangerous Dames. There was the Oxford Press Hard-Boiled. Trade paperbacks were represented by The Mammoth Book of Pulp Fiction and American Pulp. I have been reading horror […]

Débrouillard is what every plongeur wants to be called. A débrouillard is a man who, even when he is told to do the impossible, will se débrouiller-get it done somehow. -George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London Brawn versus brains. It’s an old complaint about adventure and science fiction stories by a certain audience more comfortable with […]