Summer Calm
It’s always hard to queue multiple updates. When you get this, I’ll be in Wilmington, NC, getting some much needed R&R. Almost through Astounding at this...
Kaboom!
The Handmaid’s Tale 2.6 “First Blood” The first blood here is Serena Joy’s…we see a flashback of her being deplatformed and then shot in the time before. Or...
The Queen is the (Is)land - Female Power in Black Sails
Black Sails is a series about pirates. As I mentioned in another blog, there were very few women pirates in historical reality (many more, of course, in...
Drift Compatible...Dragons?
Review: So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole Apparently, mecha that bond with their pilots is…a fashion now? Although, unlike in Moonstorm, the mecha aren’t the...
Musings on the Hugo Awards
This is a queued post - and the picture is from Pittsburgh. I’m ALMOST done with my reading for the Hugos at the time of writing. I only have Astounding to...
Fire Bad
Black Sails 4.9 Fire on a sailing ship is bad. Shame. I liked that ship. I was highly amused by the Highlander-style interspersed training montage.Also,...
Dangerous Currents - Beaches, Tides, and Rips
Ever swum in the ocean? I have. It’s not the safest thing to do. But thousands of people jump in the ocean (or, almost as bad, a very large lake) every year,...
Is it Science Fiction or Fantasy?
Review: In Spite of the Inevitable by Morgan Biscup First of all, this is a competently written book, solidly executed. It belongs to that subset of science...
Summer? Not Always A Fan
It’s been awfully muggy this week…although a bit better today. Lots of storms, though. Including a massive clap of thunder and lightning with opened heavens...
Bad Decisions and Broken Hearts
Black Sails 4.6 CW: Sexual assault Bad decision to end all bad decisions: Allying with Spain. And giving them permission to sack Nassau And who pays the...
Are Dogs Really Our Best Friends?
Dogs. Love them or hate them…few are indifferent to them. And most people find it hard to resist a wagging tail and big eyes. Many of our dog breeds bear...
Princess Stories!
Review: Wishing Well, Wishing Well by Jubilee Cho This is a cute little middle grade princess story. It’s clearly written by an author who was into...
Happy Fourth!
Celebrating America not as it is, but as it could be and should be…and if we play our cards right will be. Have a good summer. Have some fireworks (but be...
Bad Decisions to End All Bad Decisions
Black Sails 4.4 Bad decisions: Ignore Eleanor Guthrie. Bad decision to end all bad decisions: Ally with Spain. Because that’s what Rogers is doing in his...
Is Dungeons & Dragons Good For You?
Those of us who have been in the hobby for a long time remember the satanic panic in the 1980s when D&D was encouraging Satanism, anti-social behavior, and...
On the Silver Screen
Review: November Rain by Shannon S. Thompson This is a short YA novel that reads like it might have started out as X-Men fan fic. This is not at all a...
Origins Roundup
Origins was fun, although I didn’t get in on the game I wanted. My fault, I left it too long. Board games, though. Got to try Spirit Island, which is by the...
Will Nassau Burn?
Black Sails 4.2 Bad decisions: Mutiny. It’s always a bad decision. Long John Silver is caught by somebody with a grudge against Teach. “You talk too much.”...
Herbivores are not Vegetarians
Horse people are constantly shocked when they find out their beloved grazers are not, in fact, above supplementing their diet. Herbivores are optimized to...
Fighting the Darkness
Review: The Failures by Benjamin Liar This is the kind of debut novel you know has at least a dozen novels in the trunk behind it. The Failures reminds me of...