While the bulk of his written work was general fiction and commentary, Herbert George Wells is remembered today along with Jules Verne as one of the fathers of modern science fiction. I first encountered his work somewhat secondhand, as part of the script for the Orson Welles version of War of the Worlds; this was published in a marvelous anthology called simply Contact!, a collection of "first contact" stories (humanity's initial encounter with alien intelligences). It was many years later that I was looking [ Continue reading... ]
PORTAL: Chapter 6
January 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Our castaways were working on getting things working... Chapter 6. "I'm not seeing much of a lightshow," Joe observed as he watched A.J. hard at work. Of course the "hard at work" was more conceptual than actual; much of A.J.'s work looked more like a man reclining in one of Munin's pilot chairs, wearing a pair of reflective sunglasses and waving his gloved hands semi-aimlessly in the air in front of him. "Give this iceball a decent atmosphere and you'd be seeing a pretty good one," A.J. [ Continue reading... ]
PORTAL: Chapter 5
January 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Let's check back on what's going on at home. Or at least a few hundred million miles closer to home... Chapter 5. Nicholas checked himself in the camera-eye view once more. Every stitch in place, every line correct. And my hair going mostly white, I have to admit, has added an extra soupçon of dignity to my appearance. He also checked the VRD display, making sure the "augmented reality" display of his announcement would allow him to focus on the attendees while still able to see the [ Continue reading... ]
PORTAL: Chapter 4
January 16, 2013 By 2 Comments
Our heroes seemed to have things well in hand, but there are things they don't know... Chapter 4. I am the only living thing within hundreds of millions of kilometers, thought General Alberich Hohenheim. The thought was not, he admitted to himself (there being no one else to admit it to) strictly true. There were undoubtedly a number of bacteria, possibly fungal spores and such, still living on the remains of the giant mass-drive vessel Odin, and there was the possibility that the water-oceans [ Continue reading... ]
PORTAL: Chapter 3
January 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The most immediate danger had been dealt with -- now comes some more long-term planning! Chapter 3. "All right," Madeline Fathom said, her voice just slightly amplified by the walls of the common room of Munin. "Now that we're all reasonably safe for the next few days, we need to evaluate the entire situation and come up with a real schedule of action." "Were you able to contact Dr. Glendale, Madeline?" Horst Eberhart asked. "I was. He relayed a quick acknowledgement of our message [ Continue reading... ]
PORTAL: Chapter 2
January 11, 2013 By 3 Comments
We now begin regular snippeting! Look for new chapters on the usual days (M-W-F) until the eARC comes out! Chapter 2. "Pull – gently, dammit, smoothly, don't jerk!" A.J. couldn't keep the tense exasperation from his voice as he barely reacted in time, commanding one of the three autonomous "Locust" drones, Hopper, to ease the tension on the all-too-vital cable. "No need to snap," Dan Ritter said mildly. The dark-haired former environmental systems tech for Odin spoke English with only a trace of his [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
January 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The Gundam series is one of the longest-running and most successful anime/manga franchises in Japan. Starting with Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, the Gundam franchise spans multiple television series, OAV series, movies, video games, novels, manga, and virtually any sort of merchandise one can imagine (and probably some you can't). Gundam itself is credited with changing the old "giant robot" genre from stories about a boy with some inexplicable and often personified superweapon to a story of war and politics which happened to feature [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Count of Monte-Cristo
January 7, 2013 By 3 Comments
There is perhaps no more famous account of love, betrayal, and revenge in literature than The Count of Monte-Cristo by Dumas. I first encountered the story in my mid-teens and was instantly captured by it. The basis of the story is simple: young Edmond Dantes is a sailor with a bright future – soon to be made Captain of a profitable merchantman, engaged to Mercedes, a Catalan girl noted for her beauty, having just completed an extremely profitable trading voyage for his employer, Morrel. It seems that he has already reached his [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Persona 4 Arena
January 4, 2013 By 2 Comments
WARNING: Completely uncritical raving ahead! When I saw that the Persona series was going to have its own fighting game, I was pretty skeptical; what's an RPG series going to do with a fighting game that makes it worth getting as such? But hey, I didn't have any fighting games for PS3, so I put it on my Christmas list; at least it would feature characters I knew, so that was a plus. Before I go on, I will state that as a fighting game, it's a solid entry. It's of the "Street Fighter" style, [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Airwolf
January 2, 2013 By 8 Comments
File A56-7W. Top secret. Subject: AIRWOLF, a Mach-1 plus attack helicopter. Sought by governments friendly and foreign, AIRWOLF has been hidden by test pilot Stringfellow Hawke - to be returned to the government only if his brother, St. John, an MIA in Vietnam, can be found… Backed by unmatched firepower, AIRWOLF is a weapon too dangerous to be left in unenlightened hands. Finding AIRWOLF is your number one priority. END OF FILE. The 1980s saw several "gadget as star" shows, with the most well-known probably being Knight [ Continue reading... ]
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