Shakespearean Conspiracy Theories – All the Things we Say About the Bard of Stratford
Shakespeare is a weirdly divisive figure, because people like to say all kinds of things about him, some benign, some ridiculous. Another one has been...
Galactic Issues
Review: Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear This is very much the kind of space opera I like. There are big dumb objects. There are big smart objects. There...
Bookish Stuff
So, first up the news - I’m confirmed as a program participant for Philcon. The Mists of Cairn Gorm will be featured in the eSpec launch party (which will...
Monsters!
Avengers 3.11 “The Golden Fleece” What happens when Steed picks up the wrong coat? He finds a ton of money..and an illegal gold smuggling ring. An illegal...
When the Trope is a Spoiler – Talking About the Earth All Along Trope
One of my favorite tropes is “It was Earth all along.” And its variants. The touchstone example is, of course, the original Planet of the Apes. The problem...
Airship Explosions and...Necromancy
Recap: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison I read this book some time ago, but re-read it again for this year’s Hugos. It remains very good of its type....
Phewf
This is one of those weeks when I don’t have much to say. Sometimes, my life just isn’t that interesting. It’s my anniversary this weekend, but we’re still...
Fascists and Explosions
The Avengers 3.10 “The Grandeur That Was Rome” I have to admit, a tainted food episode was…a tiny bit on the nose for this week. Oops. But it also involves...
Take me to the Stars – Thoughts on the Sentient Starship Trope
We’ve personified ships for a long time. They’re gendered female in English and the Latin languages, but male in Russian. This is part grammatical gender,...
To Fairyland
Review: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett This book falls into the niche subgenre of “fake naturalist narrative in which the...
Summer Heat
It’s too hot again. And wildfire smoke. None of this is particularly fun. To think I used to like summer. Now I like fall.(Honestly, I’ve never much liked DC...
Monsters and Medicine
The Avengers 3.7 “The Gilded Cage” This aired in 1963, and for once it shows. We have a guy in a wheelchair and a Black guy. They are both bad guys. John P....
Government By Lot? What Is Sortition - And Could It Work?
I’ve been exposed to government by lot twice in my reading lately – first as a speculative proposal in Elizabeth Bear’s Ancestral Night, second in real...
Everlasting War
Review: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow I recognized this book as Arthuriana within pages, even though the word “Arthur” never appears in its pages. (I...
Get Ready for July
Wouldn’t mind a walk in the woods, but it’s hot and I’m in the city. I have three releases this month! The Hearts For Hounds anthologies are pretty much...
Shadows and Masks
The Avengers 3.3 “Man with Two Shadows” In this episode Steed has to impersonate…Steed. He doesn’t do the best job of it. There isn’t often much truly SFnal...
The Sad Fate of the Westinghouse Atom Smasher
There are a few sad things in Pittsburgh. One of them is the Westinghouse atom smasher. It currently lies on its side in the middle of a field of debris in...
Soul Eating Things
A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff First of all, this book is very Jewish and makes no bones about it. Lukoff has a strong history as a writer of children’s...
Hot as...
I don’t have a printable way to describe these temperatures. Let’s just say my 4th of July celebrations are going to take place…indoors. I think I have some...
Movies, Good and...Less So
Review: Mickey 17 I missed this one in theaters. I wish I was more disappointed. First of all, lighting. This is the second movie in a row that needed more...