I previously discussed Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series, and I may later talk about his Deathworld trilogy. Here I'd like to discuss one of his less well-known series, which in some ways I found a more interesting work than either of the others: To The Stars. To The Stars is a trilogy, composed of Homeworld, Wheelworld, and Starworld; despite its title, it isn't concerned with getting people to the stars per se – that is, it isn't one of the many works in which the protagonists are part of the first journey(s) of mankind [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Avengers
March 25, 2015 By 2 Comments
Marvel's recent push into the systematic production of high-quality superhero movies – Captain America, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor – was clearly moving towards one of the most ambitious movies ever made: The Avengers. Anyone who was a comic fan could see that this was a likely goal… and anyone who had watched the history of comic-book movies could see how that could be an incredible train-wreck. On the positive side, Marvel had taken the time to do one of the most important things first: establish the key characters of the [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Harry Potter
March 23, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Looking back over my prior posts, I find myself startled to discover that I have not yet discussed the single most successful and perhaps influential fantasy series written since I was born: Harry Potter, by J. K. Rowling. The vast majority, if not all, of the people reading my columns will know the story of Harry, but just in case: the basic concept of the series is that Harry Potter was left as an orphan with his only relatives, the Dursleys, and raised (poorly) by them for eleven years; at that point he discovers [ Continue reading... ]
On My (Virtual) Shelves: Homestuck
March 11, 2015 By Leave a Comment
"A young man stands in his bedroom. It just so happens that today, the 13th of April, 2009, is this young man's birthday. Though it was thirteen years ago he was given life, it is only today he will be given a name!" So begins Homestuck. Homestuck is a phenomenon. It's not precisely a webcomic, although it started as one. It's not a video game, although there are games embedded in it and it starts with the obvious conceit that you are playing a videogame called "Homestuck"; the opening quote is the text of the first page [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Magic Kingdom of Landover
March 9, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Terry Brooks is best known – by far – for his Shannara series, which I have written about previously. However, he has written other books in other settings, and the ones I have enjoyed most have been the Landover novels. There were three volumes in the original Landover series; these are the ones I have read, although I intend to purchase the remaining ones after the seventh and final is completed. Thus this review covers the first three novels: Magic Kingdom for Sale – SOLD!, The Black Unicorn, and Wizard At Large. In [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Cometeers/One Against the Legion/Nowhere Near
March 4, 2015 By 2 Comments
Jack Williamson's The Legion of Space was only the first in the Legion series. As I read the Legion stories in a single omnibus edition, Three From the Legion, containing The Legion of Space, The Cometeers, One Against the Legion, and the novella Nowhere Near, I had originally planned to review the omnibus as a single book. However, I found that reviewing The Legion of Space itself was worth a complete entry. Thus, I complete my review of that omnibus in this second entry. There was a fourth Legion novel – Queen of the Legion – which I will [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Legion of Space
March 2, 2015 By 2 Comments
Jack Williamson published his first story in 1928. His last novel was published in 2005. His writing career thus spanned *nine decades* -- from the 1920s to the 2000s. Of all his works, the tales of the Legion of Space may be the most enduring. (Note: that link goes to the omnibus edition Three From the Legion, which is OOP but apparently widely available, and happens to also be the edition I first read the novel in) The original Legion tale, The Legion of Space, was first serialized in 1934, a contemporary of the Skylark and Lensman series [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Dazzler
May 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Back in the 1970s, Disco was King. This is widely regarded in retrospect as having been a mistake, but it's a part of history that we must acknowledge. (Actually, I like some disco from that era. But let's not get too distracted here) Commercializing the current hot fad has always been an interest of comic companies. Casablanca Records asked Marvel to work with them in developing a disco-themed character – Casablanca would provide an actual singing artist, Marvel would provide the comic book,and they'd collaborate on [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Godzilla 2014
May 19, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I have previously written on Godzilla as a franchise and what he meant to me from my childhood onward. Now Legendary has finally released the second American-made Godzilla movie (after the disastrous 1998 movie) and I have seen it. THIS is what Godzilla is intended to be. Before I move into detailed and possibly spoilery discussion, I want to just say that this was a great Godzilla film, one of the best of the entire franchise. It includes all but one of the elements I outlined as key elements of Godzilla, and the one it [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Dante’s Peak
May 14, 2014 By Leave a Comment
One of the landmark events of my youth happened in the early morning of May 18th, 1980, during my senior year of high school. On that day, Mount Saint Helens suffered one of the largest recorded landslides in modern history – resulting in a cataclysmic volcanic blast which unleashed a pyroclastic cloud in a lateral detonation that scoured the landscape for up to twenty kilometers from the mountain. It was the first volcanic eruption on the U.S. mainland in two generations (the last being Mount Lassen in 1912) and one [ Continue reading... ]
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