Note: My read but “waiting to be reviewed pile” is growing. Short rumination/tangents/impressions are a way to get through the stack before my memory and will fades. My website partially serves as a record of what I have read and a memory palace for future projects. Stay tuned for more detailed and analytical reviews. 1. George … Continue reading Short Book Reviews: George Alec Effinger’s The…
I appeared on the podcast DickHeads (i.e. Philip K. Dick fans) to discuss one of his most underrated (in my opinion) short fictions: “Foster, You’re Dead” (1955). If you want to read the short story before you listen to the quite detailed discussion, it’s available online here. I’m a sucker for science fiction satires of … Continue reading Updates: Podcast discussion of Philip K. Dick’s “Foster,…
The following reviews serve as the 38th installment of my series searching for “SF short stories that are critical in some capacity of space agencies, astronauts, and the culture which produced them.” Some stories I’ll review in this series might not fit or are poor quality. And that is okay. I relish the act of literary archaeology. I’ve previously covered … Continue reading Short Story Reviews:…
Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed? 1. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s Roadside Picnic (1972, trans. Olena Bormashenko, 2012) From the back cover: “Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those misfits who are compelled, in spite of the extreme danger, to venture illegally into the Zone to collect the mysterious artefacts … Continue reading Updates: Recent…
In 2019, I reviewed and adored David Ely’s science fiction thriller Seconds (1963), the source material for John Frankenheimer’s similarly brilliant 1966 film. I did not know that Ely got his start in genre magazines under the editorship of Cele Goldsmith Lalli (1933-2002), known for “discovering” SF luminaries like Ursula K. Le Guin, Thomas M. … Continue reading Short Story Reviews: David Ely’s…
Clifford D. Simak’s “The Future of Science Fiction” appeared in the fanzine Fantasite, No. 2, ed. Phil Bronson (February 1941). You can read it online here. As the quality of the scan at the link is quite poor and close to unreadable in spots, I’ve transcribed the entire article below. In a few instances I … Continue reading Exploration Log 15: Clifford D. Simak’s fanzine article “The Future of…
What pre-1985 science fiction adventures have you started this summer? Any great reads? Disappointing ones? Intriguing discoveries? Here’s the April installment of this column. In a conversation on Blueksy, someone asked for my history of science fiction recommendations (including a few general surveys). I scoured my shelves and came up with an all-too-large pile (with some notable volumes ……
“Write a story that will give a few bigots the jolt they need. Write a story that will open the eyes of the unconsciously bigoted” (8). Chandler Davis (1926-2022) strikes a fascinating figure. He was a communist activist, science fiction author, fanzine editor, a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Michigan, and political prisoner. … Continue reading Exploration Log 14: Anti-Racism in…
The following review is the 37th installment of my series searching for “SF short stories that are critical in some capacity of space agencies, astronauts, and the culture which produced them.” Some stories I’ll review in this series might not fit or are poor quality. And that is okay. I relish the act of literary archaeology. I’ve added an extra … Continue reading Short Fiction Review: Clifford…