Cover art by Larry Blamire – “Louis Wu Making Good His Escape” I’m going to start my review of the November 1979 issue of Galileo magazine by talking about Omni. I’ve heard people, people of a certain age — people who were there, man — talk about Omni like it was the second coming of Christ. I bring that up because Galileo magazine was like Christ rolled the stone out of the way and was serving up fancy drinks in the tomb….
I didn’t really pick the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction to begin my November 1979 survey of sf/f magazines, it just happened to be on top of the stack. Overall I have to say that I was disappointed. Lord Valentine’s Castle, Part 1, by Robert Silverberg. Given how much I enjoyed Downward to Earth in the November 1969 Galaxy, I was eager to see how Mr. Silverberg had evolved over a decade. … Lord Valentine’s Castle was a big…
When you’re seven years old, you do not see what’s coming next between these two I’m about to get into the November 1979 science fiction magazines. Dive Deep. But, there is a fundamental difference between November 1969, and November 1979 — I was born in 1969, but by 1979 I was 10 years old. I remember 1979. Or pieces of it anyway. Before I got into the magazines I thought I’d see what I could recall from my younger years….
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction has put some delightful old content on their website for those who care to look, and earlier this month I came across their reprint of Thomas M. Disch’s Book column from the February 1981 issue, in which he compares the three Best of the Year volumes published the previous year. 1979 was a marvelous year for short SF, with many stories destined to become classics — including George R.R. Martin’s brilliant “Sandkings,” and…
My peak Star Trek watching years came in the seventies. Those of us who were too young to catch the show when it first aired in the mid-sixties could gorge ourselves on seemingly endless reruns of three seasons worth of shows. It was a far cry from Netflix and calling up any episode any time but we made do. As the seventies wound down my interest in Star Trek waned and I wasn’t really cognizant of what came along later —…
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons CB1: Conan Unchained! by David “Zeb” Cook (TSR, 1984) Before TSR created the Conan Role Playing Game with its own rules and conventions, they released two Conan adventure modules for use with AD&D, but with a few interesting rules additions, including Fear Checks, Luck Points, and more lenient Healing rules. This adventure was written by the legendary David “Zeb” Cook and illustrated by the incredibly talented Jeff Butler. As I’ve had the pleasure of meeting both…
The 23rd Hero (Castle Bridge Media, August 13, 2024) Hybrids are hardly unknown in the long history of fantasy and science fiction literature. It could easily be argued that the genre itself is a hybrid. In the case of Rebecca Anne Nguyen’s The 23rd Hero, this mixing of literary media is an essential element, baked in from the ground up. The story begins by wearing its dystopian stripes firmly on its sleeve. The characters we meet in near-future Vancouver, including…
Inseminoid (Jupiter Film Productions, 1981) and Alien: Reign of Man (Pikchure Zero Entertainment, 2017) This is Part II of a new, 20-film marathon. The rules: Must include aliens Cannot take place on Earth I haven’t seen it before Free to stream Inseminoid (1981) Prime Aliens? Bug-eyed baby gravy donor, murderous spawn. CGI heavy? Nope. Any good? Released overseas as Horror Planet, this British film is just another of the Alien rip-offs that dominated video store shelves in the early 80s….
Dray Prescot 20: A Sword for Kregen (DAW, August 1979) and Players of Gor (DAW Books, March 1984). Covers by Richard Hescox and Ken Kelly My second exposure to Sword & Planet chess came in one of my favorite Sword & Planet books, which I’ve mentioned in this series already a couple of times. This was A Sword for Kregen, by Alan Burt Akers (aka Ken Bulmer). In this book, Dray Prescot, our earthman hero, becomes a living Jikaida piece…
Some of the print SF magazines of November 1999: The 50th Anniversary issue ofThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, and the October-November doubleissue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. Covers by Chesley Bonestell, Kim Poor, and Jim Burns With the ‘69, ‘79 and ‘89 magazines behind me I prepare to delve into 1999. On the one hand, my memories of 30-year-old-me (30 YOM), while closer in time than 20YOM, are perhaps a bit hazier because unlike 20 YOM, 30 YOM…