In Defence of the “Romantasy Girlies”

In Defence of the “Romantasy Girlies”

Comments 0 Comment
A typewriter with paper with the phrase “words have power” typed on it.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

So, once again I have entered the world of TikTok. This one is very old now, in the lightning fast news cycle that is that particular platform, so I’m rather behind the ball on commenting on it. For a few reasons for this. One, I’m old (ish. In internet terms, I mean). I simply cannot move at the speed TikTok seems to demand. Two, the one really got under my skin, despite not being one of the group targeted. So I wanted to take the time to calm down before approaching it. And third, I feel like I’ve covered this topic more than once, and I’m very annoyed that I feel compelled to tackle it once again. But here we are.

It is, of course, the weird, irritating, and erroneous snobbery between genres.

…

Read More Read More

Bob’s Books – Shelfie #13 (More Douglas Adams!)

Bob’s Books – Shelfie #13 (More Douglas Adams!)

Comments 0 Comment

I don’t do much science fiction. I have Asimov’s Foundation books, and the first several Dune books (though The White Plague is my favorite Frank Herbert). And there are a few other assorted books from folks like Robert Heinlen, Philip K. Dick, and Arthur C. Clarke.

But man, I LOVE Douglas Adams, and The Hithchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I revisit Hitchhiker’s periodically, and the most recent dive down the rabbit hole led to me adding three more books to my bookshelf.

I’ve got a collection with Adams’ five Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novels, as well as the lone Hitchhiker’s short story. With Adams, it all starts here, of course. I mean, how else are you gonna learn how to see the universe on less than 30 Altairian dollars a day?

There’s also Eoin Colfer’s good-enough official continuation novel, And Another Thing…

I’ve re-read the Hitchhiker’s series several times. I also listen to the audiobooks. They used to be available read by Adams himself, though those seem to be pretty much phased out. The current ‘in’ series has Stephen Fry doing book one, and Martin Freeman the other four.

Hitchhiker’s is ALWAYS fun. This series has never grown stale, or aged poorly, for me. I’ve been revisiting it for decades.

…

Read More Read More

The Sword and Planet of Andrew J. Offutt

The Sword and Planet of Andrew J. Offutt

Comments 7 comments


My Lord Barbarian (Del Rey, April 1977). Cover by Boris Vallejo

Andrew J. Offutt (1934 -2013) wrote a lot of books and I’m going to talk about him more as I go along. He wrote several Conan pastiches and a whole series of pastiches about Robert E. Howard’s character Cormac Mac Art. He also wrote porn or near porn in several genres under pseudonyms, which I’ll get around to. He has several S&P novels to his credit. Here’s one.

My Lord Barbarian was billed as a Sword and Planet novel, but it didn’t have much of the feel of such a novel to me. It was indeed set on another planet (several in fact), and the setting is S & P — an artificial solar system created by an advanced human civilization which has fallen into decay. Most worship “Siense” (Science) as a God now.

…

Read More Read More

Just When You Thought It Was Safe, Part 2

Just When You Thought It Was Safe, Part 2

Comments 0 Comment
The Reef: Stalked (Shudder, July 28, 2022)

We’re back!

The film choices are limited to Prime and Tubi, because I’ve cut back on streaming services, but rest assured, there’s still a lot of rubbish to come. Yes, I’m returning to shark movies, because there are still around 17,000 I haven’t watched yet.

The Reef: Stalked (2022) – Prime

Much confusion surrounding this one. First of all, I thought this was a follow-up to the Blake Lively film, but that one was The Shallows. Then I felt like I recognized certain scenes and panicked thinking I’d seen it before. When I looked at my Letterboxd diary, it said I watched it last week and gave it 3.5 stars, but no review.

But I didn’t watch it last week.

Perhaps they are all blending together.

…

Read More Read More

Tor Doubles #34: Damon Knight’s Double Meaning and Rule Golden

Tor Doubles #34: Damon Knight’s Double Meaning and Rule Golden

Comments 1 comment
Cover for Double Meaning and Rule Golden by Wayne Barlow

Originally published in May 1991, Tor Double #34 includes two stories by Damon Knight that had previously appeared together (along with three other stories) in Knight’s 1979 collection Rule Golden and Other Stories, published by Avon. Although listed as Tor Double #34 on the copyright page, this volume was published the month before Tor Double #33, which was discussed last week.

Double Meaning was originally published in Startling Stories in January 1953. It was reprinted as one half of an Ace Double in 1965, appearing with the Damon Knight collection Off Center. When reprinted as an Ace Double, it was retitled The Rithian Terror. Over the years, it has been reprinted using both titles.

Knight tells the story of Thorne Spangler, an investigator for the intergalactic human empire. Based on Earth in the mid-twenty-sixth century, he is given the task of finding an enemy Rithian who has managed to make it to the home planet. The Rithians are an alien race who can disguise themselves as humans. A group of either were known to have landed on Earth, seven of whom have been killed, but the final one has gone missing.

Double Meaning is a buddy story, of sorts. Spangler is paired up with Jawj Pembun, an investigator from one of the human colonies who has more experience dealing with the Rithians than anybody on Earth. Spangler views Pembun as a hick and an amateur who refuses to investigate following protocol, instead going off on tangents and jumping to conclusions. The fact that Pembun is quickly proven right in most cases, only makes it harder for Spangler to accept the man or his methods. …

Read More Read More

Sci-Fi Dystopias We Should Learn From

Sci-Fi Dystopias We Should Learn From

Comments 0 Comment


Hardwired (Tor Books, June 1986). Cover by Luis Royo

Sci-fi has long been home to nightmarish views of the future as thrilling as they are frightening. The genre simply would not be the same without our post-apocalyptic wastelands.

But for every Handmaid’s Tale there’s a dystopian vision that doesn’t get the appreciation it deserves. Some have certainly sold millions of copies but are more recognized for drama or action as opposed to what they have to say about the challenges facing us tomorrow.  Here are several such examples that definitely deserve a bit more love from readers. Not for how epic or cool they are but for the underlying ideas their authors hoped we would absorb.

Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams

Hardwired is rightly celebrated for its contributions to cyberpunk. So much of the verbiage, flare, and aesthetic of the subgenre can be traced back to this relatively short novel. A future where the lines between man and machine are blurred? A ruined Earth? The illicit struggle to survive despite overwhelming odds? It’s all here, the ingredients many a choom would run with over the years.

…

Read More Read More

An Uplift Classic: Aldair by Neal Barrett, Jr.

An Uplift Classic: Aldair by Neal Barrett, Jr.

Comments 14 comments


Aldair in Albion and Aldair, Master of Ships (DAW Books, May 1976 and September 1977). Covers by Josh Kirby

My feature today is what I call an “honorary Sword & Planet series.” The Aldair series by Neal Barrett, Jr. (1929 – 2014) not only doesn’t have a human hero, but it’s set on Earth.

But it has the feel and charm and adventure that defines S&P fiction. It also has some great covers and illustrations by artists who worked on the Dray Prescot series. DAW did it right in those days. I just love their paperbacks of that time.

…

Read More Read More

Quatro-Decadal Review: Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 1999, edited by Stanley Schmidt

Quatro-Decadal Review: Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 1999, edited by Stanley Schmidt

Comments 2 comments
Cover Art by Kim Poor

Editorial, Technological Temptation by Stanley Schmidt

Cameras at stop-lights, that is the issue that has rubbed Schmidt’s libertarian streak wrong. Very wrong! He soon spins a future of nanny-state-over-arching-safety-protocols.

I’m not an expert at the art of rhetoric and argument, but even I am immediately pick up on several logic holes, beginning with his fundamental argument, “That if it leads to a reduction in crime it must be good, therefore there should be more of it.” Thus, more cameras, cameras everywhere, in your home even! Then he wraps it up with a little of the ol’ argument from authority with the Ben Franklin chestnut about “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
…

Read More Read More

What I’ve Been Reading: November, 2025

What I’ve Been Reading: November, 2025

Comments 12 comments

I continue to listen to audiobooks throughout my day, as evidenced by two What I’ve Been Listening To entries this month. With writing, gaming, and working daily (boooooo), actually sitting down and reading a book doesn’t happen like it used to. But I have been on a bit of an actual reading kick lately. And since I’ve recently told you what I’ve been listening to, watching, and playing, you might as well know what I’ve been reading, as well!

Kindle Unlimited remains a useful subscription, and I’ve been digging into some things on my Fire Tablet. I had a Nook for years, before switching over to a Fire (I didn’t really consider switching to a Kindle – that’s less versatile). After all these years, I still like owning a physical copy of a book: Fills out the shelves. But for digital, borrowing them with KU, or my library app, works totally fine.

So, let’s look at mix of print and digital books which I’ve been reading lately.

DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL – Matt Dinniman

I have looked down my nose at LitRPG since I heard about it a few years ago. I didn’t really understand what it was, but that didn’t stop me from having a condescending attitude towards it as some kind of cheap fantasy.

Having recently jumped yet again back into the amazing Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy world, I was in something of a humor mood. I was going to re-read Johny Nexus’ Game Night (see below). Somehow my (ir)rational thought processes convinced me to check out a LitRPG book. I did a little quick research, and Dungeon Crawler Carl (DCC) seemed to be about the most popular book in the entire genre. So, I borrowed it with Kindle Unlimited and read it.

…

Read More Read More

The Chain Story 2 – Sword and Sorcery – Episodes 9-13

The Chain Story 2 – Sword and Sorcery – Episodes 9-13

Comments 2 comments

This August, 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 will be released every few weeks, so check the Chain Story website. We have guides to Episodes 1-3 and Episodes 4-8, and this post introduces Episodes 9-13!

…

Read More Read More