Year 2036: Humanity is in a crisis. Overpopulation, climate change and terrorism are increasing the risk of war around the world. In this situation, the American astronaut Perry Rhodan is sent to the moon with three comrades – there he surprisingly meets human-like aliens…
Gaming (DVS Press): Maybe you’ve heard of cultural ground zero: 1997. Now let’s talk games, because unlike other institutions of culture, the games industry kept on growing and innovating for another 10 years. Then 2007 happened, and as far as the bigger publishers are concerned, games reached their peak and no more change or risk was required or even advisable.
Fiction (Wasteland & Sky): SuperversiveSF is putting together a list of some of the best titles of 2020 to share with readers. However, it is also reader selected, which means you can vote for anything, as well. As examples, my books Someone is Aiming for You & Other Adventures and The Pulp Mindset both released last year, so both would be eligible. Multiple folks voting for the same book is encouraged so as to allow them higher visibility on the list for more people to learn about them. In other words, go crazy. We want as many nominations as we can get!
Appendix N (DMR Books): Published in 2017 but, really started several
years earlier, was Jeffro Johnson’s book Appendix N: The Literary History of Dungeons & Dragons. The prep work that went into this book earned Johnson a best fan writer Hugo nomination. At the time, Johnson’s Appendix N was the only in-depth exploration of how the works listed in Appendix N of the Dungeon Masters Guide related to the development of D&D. It remains the only such work. Now comes along a book with a suspiciously similar title, Peter Bebergal’s Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons.
Appendix N (The Last Redoubt): You see, this new book, titled, I kid you not, Appendix N: the Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons, is not, like you would suppose from the title, an exploration of the works in appendix N and how they were woven into the rules, the settings, the assumptions, and the monsters and mythos presented in the game. Instead, it’s an anthology of N stories. In about the same way that all too many hollywood movies are “inspired by true events”, but far less faithful to said events than shining examples like the Chernobyl miniseries. Far, far less faithful.
One of life’s pleasures is a well put together anthology of genre fiction. The genre that gives me the most joy to read is sword & sorcery. Sword & sorcery has it all: adventure, supernatural, glamor within a larger than life backdrop. Great reading whether on a cold winter night or sunny Saturday afternoon on the porch swing.
DMR Books has produced another volume in the Renegade Swords series. Editor D. M. Ritzlin loves a good fantastic adventure as much as I do. So much so that he publishes both new and reprint fiction in our exalted genre. Renegade Swords II is an anthology of stories that originally appeared in magazines and long out of print anthologies. Read More
Yesterday, on April 9th, Perry-Rhodan.net announced that they have partnered with J-Novel Club to bring the reimagined Perry Rhodan NEO series to English audiences. Additionally, J Novel Club will be releasing stories of demon hunter John Sinclair and occult investigator Jessica Bannister under the imprint of J-Novel Pulp. This represents a new effort to bring long-running European pulp serials to English audiences.
The Castalia House Blog has discussed Perry Rhodan before, specifically the ACE paperbacks and the Lemuria arc. Both arcs represent the briefest glimpses into the 50-year old serial sometimes nicknamed the Perryverse, as well as the majority of what has made its way to English audiences from Germany. That the most successful science fiction book series in history has such a minimal exposure in English is criminal. But 50 years of continuous lore surrounding the first man on the moon and his galactic adventures is a daunting hurdle, especially when publishers fear that the Cold War fears and punchcard technology may not resound with today’s resurgence of China and digital streaming. So, in 2011, Perry Rhodan was reimagined into the alternate universe now known as Perry Rhodan NEO. Both Perry Rhodan serials continue to this day.
Perry Rhodan NEO moves the initial point of contact with the greater galaxy from 1961 to 2036, and redefines the near future geopolitical setting and technology to a level more familiar to 21st century audiences. More importantly, it represents a new introduction to Perry Rhodan and a way for new readers to get in on the ground floor of the Perry Rhodan “Neoverse” instead of tackling fifty years of continuity all at once. Hopefully, if J-Novel Club’s venture is successful, it may open the door to the main Perryverse returning to English audiences as well as the introduction of more European pulp series. To appeal to a wider audience, the J-Novel Club version will use the illustrations from the 2017 Japanese light novel version.
Currently, J-Novel Pulp is offering an introductory preview of the first chapters of Perry Rhodan NEO, as well as John Sinclair and Jessica Bannister. Subscriptions are available to read chapters online, with weekly releases planned. But for those who want to read the first book, Stardust, in one shot, it will be released to the usual ebook platforms on June 8th, 2021. Expect a review soon after, as well as one of horror icon John Sinclair.
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 10 April, 2020
Saturday , 10, April 2021 Uncategorized Leave a commentPeacemakers, dragon knights, and robot generals clash across this week’s new releases.
Acheron Salvation (Federation Chronicles #2) – Ken Lozito
Quinton Aldren thought he could leave his past behind him . . . He was wrong.
First came the development of a Personality Matrix Construct—PMC, transferring human consciousness into a machine. It changed the galaxy and the way wars were fought. Then something went wrong with PMCs and the Federation Wars toppled the galactic order. PMCs became a menace to be hunted and exterminated.
Long after the Federation Wars, the galaxy limps on. Spacers carve out an existence upon the bones of the old worlds, but things are about to change… something has begun broadcasting signals to reactivate PMCs that were stored in secret.
Quinton Aldren is a PMC. His consciousness was uploaded and stored over a century ago, before the Federation Wars. All Quinton wants is to leave his past behind, but the broadcasts keep occurring. More PMCs are coming online, and not all of them are entirely stable. Federation War machines are on the hunt for them, and they don’t care who gets in their way.
Chasing Hell (Rise of the Peacemakers #7) – Peter J. Aldin
As the Guild War spreads, two rival Zuul mercenary commanders find themselves not only at odds with each other, but with a duplicitous corporation with sinister intentions. After a disastrous mission where the majority of her Hellchasers company was destroyed, Renhahnu accepts a mission bankrolled by the Dream World Consortium to recover New Joy City on the planet Arduna. She knows better than to ask questions, especially with so many credits on the line, and—after learning that her rival Marrek’s company failed to hold the city against another mercenary threat—she’s all in.
Marrek and his lone surviving pack mate escaped from Arduna with a group of sick Altar colonists. But when opportunity knocks, they answer, even though it means a return to Arduna to serve as low-paid security guards. When he learns that the Hellchasers have arrived, Marrek takes matters into his own hands. Blaming Renhahnu for his troubles, he wants blood, and he’ll stop at nothing to get it.
The volatile situation on Arduna has also attracted the attention of the Peacemaker Guild, but instead of a seasoned Peacemaker or Enforcer, a Zuparti Peacemaker Candidate must conquer his natural timidity and become what the embattled citizens of New Joy City need, while discovering the awful truth about Dream World.
Under New Joy City, these three storylines will converge…and heroes will be born.
Dragontiarna: Storms – Jonathan Moeller
War grips two worlds as heroes rise to challenge the sinister Heralds of Ruin.
In the realm of Andomhaim, Ridmark Arban leads the armies of the High King against the brutal legions of the Heptarchy. A daring ruse might defeat the might of Warlord Agravhask, or it will bring Andomhaim crashing down in ruin.
In the Empire, the armies of the reunified Empire move to challenge the sinister necromancers of the Order of Blood. But Tyrcamber Rigamond has battled the Master of the necromancers before, and he fears a deadly unseen trap.
For behind the Heptarchy and the Order of Blood are the Heralds of Ruin, and they will burn worlds at the command of the Warden of Urd Morlemoch. Read More
Comic Books (Walker’s Retreat): Diamond Distribution not only had–had–a monopoly on comic book distribution in the United States, but also dominated distribution of tabletop games. Especially now, it is common for comic shops to sell card and tabletop games on the side or vice-versa, especially if they also furnish space for play in-house- something very common for shops tied into doing tournament play for Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40,000 or something else that needs tablespace for in-person gameplay.
Awards (Adventures Fantastic): reliminary nominations for the Robert E. Howard Foundation Awards are now open. Due to CoVid19 throwing everything into confusion last year, the 2020 Awards were not done. The Foundation now plans to remedy this by giving awards for 2020 and 2021 this year.
Review (Benespen): Hit & Fade: Forgotten Ruin book 2 by Jason Anspach
and Nick Cole is an even crazier ride than the first book, if such a thing is even possible. I thought the last book was intense and high-stakes, but this one tops it. This time around we’ll be looking at the ebook, as the audiobook won’t be ready until June, but the ebook comes out April 1st on Amazon.
A year ago, I wrote about C. J. Chivers’ The Gun. I just read another book about the AK-47 assault rifle. This one being Larry Kahaner’s AK-47: The Weapon That Changed the Face of War. This is the earlier book (2008), while Chivers’ book came out in 2011.
AK-47 begins with the assault on Baghdad by Apache helicopters in 2003. The met a hail of thousands of rounds from Iraqi ground troops damaging most of the helicopters and cutting their mission short. I remember reading about this. Kahaner starts the narrative with Mikhail Kalashnikov wounded in the Battle of Bryansk by German submachine guns. Kalashnikov first designed submachine guns that were rejected as too complex. Kahaner segued into the development of the German Sturmgewehr and the intermediate rifle cartridge including the advantages over pistol cartridges used in submachine guns. He does explain some mechanics of firearms including blow-back and short-stroke systems. Kahaner is dismissive of the U.S. M-1 (Garand) rifle. Granted, it would have been better in the original .276 cartridge, but it still was a winner for WW2. Read More
With the Spring 2021 issue, Cirsova Magazine celebrates its fifth anniversary. To celebrate this longevity milestone, editor P. Alexander offers a collection of Cirsova mainstays alongside new offerings and surprises.
Michael Tierney’s “The Artomique Paradigm” leads off with the first of three parts of this serialized novel. Tierney continues his Wild Stars adventures in a parallel universe where Earth’s megacorporation have advanced off of reverse-engineered Wild Stars technology. As this novelization builds upon four previous graphic novels, I admit to getting lost in the unfamiliarity of the setting. However, Tierney is always a welcome sight, as his Wild Stars books, his official Tarzan collaboration with Edgar Rice Burroughs, and his partnership in reprinting Julian Hawthorne’s The Cosmic Courtship have contributed much to the shaping of Cirsova Magazine and the Cirsova imprint. This raygun star opera certainly lives up to its name, but a better introduction might be in the Cirsova-reprinted graphic novels. Just look for the flying shark. Read More
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 03 April, 2021
Saturday , 3, April 2021 Uncategorized Leave a commentFantasyland meets Army Rangers, space elves lie, and the Wild West gets strange in this week’s new releases.
Bedlam (Dragon Wars #16) – Craig Halloran
Blind-sided by the enemy is one thing, but side-blinded by your own cuts twice as deep.
The mission is simple, lay low until the time to reveal themselves comes, but when a quick trip for a hot meal leads into the heart of unexpected danger, Grey Cloak and Dyphestive must suffer severe consenquences.
Talon undertakes a treacherous journey into the bowels of the Nether Realm to find the Flaming Fence and recover the Dragon Helm. But there is a betrayer among them and one slip and the last hope to defeat Black Frost will be lost forever.
Guardian (War Angel #1) – David Hallquist
A war between the planets would be unthinkably destructive, yet Jovian Republic Navy pilot Michael Vance is recalled to his host carrier for just that reason.
The Jovian Republic Navy relies on an elite corps of warriors to fight their battles anywhere in the air, on land, or in space. They’re known by a simple name: Angels. These cybernetically enhanced warriors pilot the giant Guardian exo-frames that are able to fight in nearly any environment. In their prime, they were the best…but that day is long past. Now the old Guardian frames are obsolete, and Michael’s flight goes to war already down one member due to a training accident.
Even worse, the Angels will have to fight the best forces the Solar System has to offer. The Saturnine Union seeks to dominate the system and transform everyone into cybernetic drones under the control of the Saturn Undermind. Utterly ruthless, relentless, and with terrifying technology, the other planets can’t stop Saturn…only Jupiter can. If it’s lucky.
The Angels are on the way…but will they be enough?
Hit & Fade (Forgotten Ruin #2) – Jason Anspach and Nick Cole
As an overwhelming army of skeletons, wraiths, ghouls, and other dark creatures—all serving a powerful undead sorcerer—advance against Forward Operating Base Hawthorn, the Rangers must now do what they do best: go on the extreme offense.
It’s time to Hit and Fade. Attack, withdraw, and outmaneuver the enemy.
PFC Talker, attached to the weapons team section of a Ranger recon patrol led by Captain Knife Hand, recounts the harrowing attempt to destabilize this surreal and horrific nightmare force with everything the snipers, master breachers, and stone-cold killers of the Ranger regiment have in their bag of lethal tricks.
Abating, channelizing, and leading the enemy into a series of devastating traps involving everything from kinetically violent ambushes to immensely explosive crater munitions, the Rangers strike at the enemy as death personified, fading like ghosts only when the dead are dead once again.
When facing Rangers, even nightmares are afraid.
Home on the Strange (Cowboys & Cthulhu #2) – David J. West
Louis L’Amour Meets Lovecraft Again!
Porter Rockwell is hunting for a missing girl near a haunted mountain but is forced into tagging along with unfriendly cavalry troopers. The cavalry doesn’t seem very intent on finding her alive or administering justice, wanting only vengeance on the suspected Indian renegades. When they get attacked by inexplicable means, it becomes every man for himself.
But Porter isn’t about to roll over and let madness take him. He has a job to do, and nobody can handle death the way he does. He’ll find the girl, administer justice, and get to the bottom of the haunted mountain’s terrible mystery, no matter who or what gets in his way. Read More
Sensor Sweep: William Shatner, Harold Lamb RPG, Forgotten Ruin
Monday , 29, March 2021 Sensor Sweep 3 CommentsWriting (Wasteland & Sky): The strangest aspect of entertainment today is how absolutely slow it has gotten. This isn’t a new problem, but an old error that always returns during times of decadence and bloated egos seizing control of the arts. On Cannon Cruisers we constantly use the term “1970s pacing” to refer to movies with needless padding that take far too long for the ball to get rolling, and there is a reason for that.
Anime (Pulprev): he sub-genre of the harem anime is well-known to anime
fans. Most people recognize it for what it is: a wish-fulfillment fantasy for males. But what is less obvious, and much more interesting, is what these and other anime say about the creators’ attitudes towards male social hierarchies. In a primitive society, the duty of childrearing is the domain of the womenfolk.
Review (Benespen): Yes, Forgotten Ruin book 1 has only been out for two days, but thanks to my internet friends at the Blasters and Blades podcast, I know that more books set in the Ruin are coming in hot! Nick Cole was a guest on last night’s episode of Blasters and Blades, and he said that the Rangers are going to f**k things up all over the world they find themselves in. Read More
The movie Blade Runner (1982) was the first cinema adaptation of Philip K. Dick based on his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Last month, I picked up the novel out of town at a Half Price Books. The store had a few copies of a U.K. Orion Books trade paperback edition.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was published in 1968 by Doubleday in hardback. It got a Hugo nomination. Signet reprinted the book as a mass-market paperback in 1969. There was a 2nd printing in 1971 and then the book was not in print until the movie in 1982. Read More
“If you can survive Reaper Platoon in the Strange, then Ghost or Dog Platoons will get you for their own. Best to steer clear of the freaks in Voodoo, kid.”
Out on the far away world known as Crash, a civil war brews. One side desperately wants to throw off the yoke of the Monarchs of Earth. The other just wants to preserve its power. Both sides know that it is just a matter of time before the Monarchs and their Ultra Marines show up to take direct control and strip mine Crash into a glassy wasteland. But while the farce of control continues to play out, there are plenty of opportunities for mercenaries like Strange Company to fight, die, make money, and commit war crimes before that last panicked evacuation off world. But nothing is ever as it seems in the Strange.
Just ask Sergeant Orion, the record keeper for Strange Company. His impassioned recounting of the fall of Crash and the near destruction of Strange Company lives up to the name. And that fateful last mission, part Fall of Saigon, part Planet of the Apes, and completely under the influence of powerful hallucinogenic chemical weapons, certainly counts as Strange.
In Strange Company, Nick Cole creates a seedier counterpart to his Galaxy’s Edge series. After all, science fiction has long been obsessed with why men fight. But most of these explorations, from Heinlein to Ringo, fall in the realm of those who would defend their own lands as professional soldiers. Even Cole’s recent and riveting account of Rangers in Middle-Earth, Forgotten Ruin, examines the motivations of the elite soldier. But what of those men who fight and kill for pay? Turns out they have stories, too. Each and every one of them.
But the soldiers of the Strange Company only tell those stories when they sense death coming, and only to Sergeant Orion. Cole uses Orion as the central character of the novel, and, if there is one thing Cole does best, it is creating a singular and unmistakable voice. Orion is no exception, so the novel reads almost as an interview, like one of those rambling war stories your grandfather or uncle suddenly tells you one night over drinks while the women are out. And now that you’re old enough, none of the warts are spared. And there are plenty of warts to this motley collection of thrill-seekers, misfits, psychopaths, and not-quite human lab experiments. So Strange Company reads like the best of John Ringo’s war stories, just without Ringo’s hang ups and logistics obsessions.
As usual, Cole’s exquisite command of voice and action cover a thinner setting. But then all of his settings boil down to the same one: a futuristic reflection of a dystopic California run by the same so-called elites that gave the world Silicon Valley, Laurel Canyon, Jonestown, and the Biden Administration. As such, Strange Company is one of the first science fiction works to deal with the COVID and election fallout of 2020, through the eyes of the Monarchs. The psychedelic haze that lingers on the battlefield is fitting for a universe that’s all living in California, and gives a different flavor to the grimdark genre than the typical British influences. After all, American writers gave the world Catch-22 and MASH. But Strange Company offers no solutions to the grimdark present save one: accelerationism. And the wisdom of burning down an already burning wreck even faster has yet to be proven.
Come for the gripping action, stay for the gut-wrenching personal stories and utterly surprising secret history behind the Monarchs’ history. Strange Company may not be perfect, but with it, Nick Cole has usurped the title of Bard of the Fighting Man from his predecessors.
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 27 March, 2021
Saturday , 27, March 2021 Uncategorized Leave a commentThe Mongoose and the Meerkat, the mercenaries of Strange Company, and the Black Harrier’s sidekick grace this week’s new releases.
Cirsova Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense Spring 2021 – edited by P. Alexander
“The Artomique Paradigm” – Michael Tierney
Earth is now in contact with their intergalactic cousins! But during recent conflicts with aliens and pirates, the Artomiques, fascist refugees from an alternate timeline, have become Terra’s dominant faction using stolen Wild Stars technology!
“The Grain Merchant of Alomar” – Jim Breyfogle
The Mongoose & Meerkat have set up in the city of Alomar—in spare rooms of a wealthy merchant who has no idea they’re living there, even after he’s hired them!
“The Book of Dark Sighs” – Robert Zoltan
Dareon and Blue, the Rogues of Merth, find themselves in the crosshairs of an old foe! They must find for him a powerful tome, or Blue’s love will perish at his hand!
….and more!
Empire Reborn (Taran Empire Saga #1) – A. K. DuBoff
Jason Sietinen lives in the shadow of greatness. He’s worked hard to become a TSS officer in his own right, but having war heroes for parents is hard to top.
When Jason is assigned to investigate a mysterious attack, he finds evidence of powerful transdimensional beings never before seen. Or so he thought.
Jason soon learns that critical information was lost through the millennia: Tarans had an ancient treaty with the aliens. Unfortunately, rogue actions by a shadow faction within the Empire just broke the peace.
With the future of the Empire hanging in the balance, Jason must find a way to unite the Taran worlds, including the lost colony of Earth, against the mounting threat. There’s just one problem: how do you fight an enemy you can’t see or touch?
Lifeboat (Earth’s Last Gambit #2) – Felix R. Savage
Bearing Earth’s hopes for deliverance from the alien threat, Jack Kildare and his fellow astronauts successfully complete the long journey to Jupiter. But someone on board is trying to sabotage the mission. As they approach the mysterious alien spaceship orbiting Europa, the crew fractures into rival factions.
Without warning, a long-range attack cripples the human ship.
Now the broken crew is the least of Jack’s worries.
The alien spaceship isn’t a wreck, after all.
And whoever is on board wants the humans dead.
As the mission unravels into a desperate fight for survival, Jack struggles to decode the enemy plot. If he fails, the astronauts will all perish… and so will Earth.
The Lost Dragon (Cycle of Dragons #3) – Dan Michaelson and D. K. Holmberg
The cycle of dragons has changed Ashan. Now he must use it to save the kingdom.
After stopping two attacks on the kingdom, Ashan yearns to master his connection to the dragons and finally serve as a dragon mage. He has connected to a cycle of dragons, but he’s still only a student and doesn’t understand what it truly means to be a dragon mage.
When word spreads about Vard movement near his homeland, Ashan learns a terrifying truth about the Vard and the devastating steps the king will take to stop them. Worse, he’s the only one who believes that more than the Vard are involved. He needs to find proof, but this time his cycle of dragons might not be enough.
If he can’t stop the attack, not only will his family and friends suffer, but he’ll lose the dragons and the kingdom will be destroyed. Read More