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Big Damn Heroes? Shiny!!! – Firefly Attempting Animated Reboot

Big Damn Heroes? Shiny!!! – Firefly Attempting Animated Reboot

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Firefly

For a show that hardly anybody watched (it was reportedly 98th in the Nielsen Ratings for 2002-2003. The TV Guide Ratings page has it at 125th, and Fox’s lowest-ranked show), that one word carries a lot of weight 23 years later.

Fox famously aired the double-length pilot, which set the show up, as episode eleven, and then canceled the show, leaving three episodes unaired. It was also placed in the legendary Friday Night Death slot (where they also buried the far-more deserving The Adventures of Brisco County Jr).

The crew got to reunite and wrap things up two years later in the movie Serenity (which killed off two cast members). There were hopes to do more movies, but even after cutting the budget from $100 million to $39 million, it lost money in the US (98th) and barely broke even worldwide (111th). And  the Serenity (which is the ship: Firefly is its class) was grounded for good.

But over the years, Firefly came to be the definitive ‘cult classic,’ and the cast became fan convention staples. You can find all kinds of Firefly info on the web. And both streaming on Hulu, and Prime, the episodes are in order, which I HIGHLY recommend for viewing. Novels, board games, graphic novels — interest remained alive in more Firefly ‘stuff.’

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Forgotten Authors: Nat Schachner

Forgotten Authors: Nat Schachner

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Nat Schachner

Nat Schachner was born on January 16, 1895 in New York. He earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from City College in 1915. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I in the chemical warfare service from 1917 to 1918 and, when he returned to New York he earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence from New York University in 1919, the same year he married Helen Lichtenstein. The couple would have a daughter.  He worked as an attorney until 1933 when he became a freelance writer.

On April 4, 1930, Schachner, along with G. Edward Pendray, David Lasser, and Laurence Manning, founded the American Interplanetary Society, which would be renamed the American Rocket Society four years later. The organization designed and launched liquid fueled rockets and in 1936 the organization was awarded the Prix a’Astronautique by the Société astronomique de France.

1930 also saw the start of his career as an author with the publication of “The Tower of Evil,” which he co-wrote with Arthur Leo Zagat. The two men collaborated on eleven stories published in 1931 before both turning to their solo careers as authors.

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It’s a Scam. It’s All a Scam.

It’s a Scam. It’s All a Scam.

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Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

I’ve been receiving a great many emails of late, of a kind that I’m sure many authors are getting, and I think I should probably talk about it, because it’s all such a scam. There are several flavours of scam emails that are circulating at present, of which I have personally experienced two, so let’s talk about them. …

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What I’ve Been Listening To, February 2026

What I’ve Been Listening To, February 2026

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I’ve read 24 books so far this year, and 17 were audiobooks (we’ve already established I’m not going to say ‘books consumed.’ Listening and physically reading are distinctive, but they’re interchangeable here).

Of the 17 audiobooks, 15 were new. I re-read more than I read new books, but I’ve been using audiobooks to tackle things for the first time. 7 books were Clive Cusslers.

CLIVE CUSSLER

I first talked about Clive Cussler back in 2019. He would die a half-year later, at age 88. He had created an empire, with other authors carrying on his five sometimes-intertwined series’. I revisited his works last Summer. I’ve listened to 7 of his books so far this year, as I am well behind on my Cussler.

Isaac Bell is a turn-of-the 20th Century private eye for the Van Dorn Detective Agency. Justin Scott co-wrote the first 10. Jack Du Brul (who had been co-writing The Oregon Files), took over for the next 5. Though I liked it, for some reason the series hadn’t resonated with me in paperback. They were slow reads through the first 5. But Scott Brick reading them aloud worked for me, and I’ve listened to books 6 through 9: The Striker, The Bootlegger, The Assassin, and The Gangster. I like listening to Bell. So, audiobooks have me invested in a series that I wasn’t into in print. I will continue on. This series has run from 2007 through 2025.

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Half A Century of Reading Tolkien: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by JRR Tolkien

Half A Century of Reading Tolkien: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by JRR Tolkien

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From beside the queen Gawain
to the king did then incline:
‘I implore with prayer plain
that this match should now be mine.’

Somehow, I’ve never read Prof. Tolkien’s, let alone anyone’s, translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (late 14th cent.), an English poem written by an unknown poet. Thinking on it, I  know there’s a cheesy looking movie, Sword of the Valiant, from the eighties starring Miles O’Keeffe and Sean Connery, but it was only David Lowery’s 2021 The Green Knight and its critical acclaim that made me think it was maybe time to read the poem. Now I have. Additionally, and most valuable to me wrestling with my understanding of the poem, I’ve also read the professor’s 1953 WP Ker lecture on work.

The poem recounts the temptations of Sir Gawain, youngest member of King Arthur’s Round Table, as he attempts to meet the suicidal obligation he accepted when he entered a contest with a mysterious green knight. More precisely, as told, it’s about the conflict between chivalrous virtues  of honor and courtesy and, specifically religious, morality.

Gawain was written in Middle English, the evolution of the language used between the Conquest in 1066 and the late 15th century. Gawain, son of Morgause, one of King Arthur’s half-sisters, is a major figure in many of the assorted Arthur tales. His roots descend back into older Welsh tales, where he was known as Gwalchmei. Pre-Christian elements, including the Beheading Game and the Wild Hunt, are integral parts of the story, despite the tale’s overt Christianity. The Beheading Game is a recurrent motif that tracks back to at least the Irish tale Fled Bricrenn featuring the hero Cú Chulainn and the Wild Hunt occurs across various Northern European myth cycles.

The poem begins with a recounting of Britain’s founding by Brutus of Troy. Noble as he was, young King Arthur of Camelot was nobler still. One Christmas season, as Arthur’s knights were celebrating with a games and contests, a strange figure entered the hall.

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Forgotten Authors: Theodora Du Bois

Forgotten Authors: Theodora Du Bois

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Theodora Du Bois

Theodora McCormick was born on September 14, 1890 in Brooklyn, New York. Her father died when she was a year old and she was raised by her mother and stepfather. She attended the Barnard School for Girls in Manhattan and the Halsted School in Yonkers. Although she wanted to attend Vassar College and was accepted in 1909, her parents did not support her attending the school. Her plans to go anyway were dashed when she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and she found herself in a TB sanitarium instead. Eventually, in 1916, she enrolled in the Dartmouth Summer School for Drama.

While in the sanitarium, McCormick began writing poetry, although most of her poetry was written during this time and after she was healthy she focused on various forms of prose writing. In 1918, she married Delafield Du Bois and took the name Theodora Du Bois. Theodora gave birth to a daughter, also named Theodora, in 1919 and in 1922 had a son, Eliot.

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Once We Were Spacemen

Once We Were Spacemen

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Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk have become geek icons. A Knight’s Tale, Castle, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Resident Alien, The Rookie: they’ve built successful careers over the years. Their real-life friendship, and their nerdy idol status, tracks back to Firefly.

Some day I’ll go in depth on this ill-fated cult classic. Fox aired the episodes out of order, switched nights, then canceled it with some episodes unaired. A ‘tie up some loose ends’ movie (Serenity) followed. Firefly developed a dedicated following and Fillion and the actors became popular at fan conventions around the country. Fillion’s profile skyrocketed when Castle ran for eight hit seasons on ABC. And as his mainstream popularity soared, he became one of the most recognizable figures in the geek world.

Tudyk and Fillion had worked together several years ago on Alan’s hilarious web series, Con Man (mentioned below). Three months ago, they started a podcast together, and it’s fantastic. Episodes of Once We Were Spacemen are 45 minutes to 1 hour long, and it’s two long-time buddies hanging out. They share stories from their friendship, acting careers, and geek experiences. And they are as likable and funny as you hoped. Even more so.

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The Translators Enriching SFF

The Translators Enriching SFF

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The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski, translated by Danusia Stok and David French (Gollancz editions)

If there is one group of people that deserve more praise in the literary community, it’s translators. Recent years have shown us just how vital they are to our bookshelves and TBR lists. Its them we have to thank for every Roadside Picnic and Eternaut that dares to tantalize English speakers the world over.

Make no mistake, theirs is a challenging, sometimes even thankless job. The difficulty of translating an entire novel into another language should not be underestimated. Finding the right expression, the correct syntax, ensuring the lyricism of a work is properly communicated are just a few of the challenges translators face. Calling it an art of its own would be no exaggeration. And as a result of that art, we as readers, have been gifted a Smaug’s hoard of titles. Think entire subgenres, fresh visions of tomorrow, and treasure troves of inspiration. Our beloved speculative genre is so much richer thanks to the riotous rogues and deadly dames translated works have introduced us to.

Here are seven translators who have had a massive impact on the SFF community over the past two decades.

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Forgotten Authors: S.P. Meek

Forgotten Authors: S.P. Meek

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S.P. Meek

Sterner St. Paul Meek was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 8, 1894. He earned as associate of science degree from the University of Chicago in 1914 and continued his education at the University of Alabama, becoming a member of Phi Beta Kappa and earned a bachelor of science in metallurgical engineering. In 1916, he transferred to the University of Wisconsin, but joined the army in 1917. Although he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 1921 and 1923, he remained in the army for his entire career.

While attending college, he also served as a football coach at Kirkley Junior College in Texas, as a chemist for the Western Electric Company, and at Deuvitt Laboratories, all of which went by the wayside when he joined the military. Originally stationed in the Philippines, he would go on the direct small arms ammunition research from 1923 to 1926, serve as the chief publications officer for the Ordnance Department from 1941-1944. He retired from the military in 1947 due to disability. He holds patents for tracer ammunition.

Meek married Edna Burnadge Nobel in 1927 and the couple had one son.

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Dark Muse News: Sword & Sorcery Chain Story (#14-#18)

Dark Muse News: Sword & Sorcery Chain Story (#14-#18)

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In August 2025, we hailed the emergence of a second Chain Story project championed by Michael A. Stackpole. This is a Sword & Sorcery-focused, contagious set of connected (“chained”) stories. Each is:

  • A standalone tale
  • Readable in any order
  • Free to read
  • Interconnected via a theme involving a Crown

Stories are being released every few weeks. We’ll round up groups, but check the Chain Story website. for the latest. In this post we highlight the latest set of five, Episodes 14-18:

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