Category self published
Dark Fantasies
Tonight’s post is a review of another short story collection by Misha Burnett, Dark Fantasies. It contains stories set in fantasy worlds inspired by HP Lovecraft, Ancient Rome, medieval Europe, and 1930s/40s America. I didn’t read the first two stories, “A Hill of Stars” and “In the Gloaming O My Darling”, as I had read […]
Bad Dreams and Broken Hearts
Bad Dreams and Broken Hearts is a collection of related short stories by Misha Burnett. I’ve been a fan of Misha’s writing for a while, so I knew up front that I’d enjoy this. The stories all follow Erik Rugar, a detective who investigates magical crimes for the city government. I imagined the setting as […]
Short Story News
Today, I have a few links to outside content for you. The most important is a call for submissions from Misha Burnett for a new anthology titled “Young Dragons”. This is a unique opportunity if you are a new or aspiring fantasy author, as stories are only being accepted from authors who haven’t been published […]
Reading Rundown
Job hunting and other annoying concerns have kept me from reading and posting as much as I should, but I thought I’d give everyone a quick rundown of some books I’ve read recently: Will Destroy the Galaxy for Cash by Yahtzee Croshaw is a sequel to Will Save the Galaxy for Food, which I’ve briefly […]
Series: Spiral Wars
Book 1 of the Spiral Wars Series Joel Shepherd’s Spiral Wars series fits neatly in a sci-fi style I’d love to read more of: a galaxy full of conflicts between humans, aliens, and AIs, revealed to the reader through the action-adventures of a hero or group of heroes. I’m not getting what I want […]
StoryHack, Issue Four
StoryHack, Issue Four I’ve been enjoying StoryHack magazine, and it’s a top contender to win my magazine quest once I’ve written all the second and third issue reviews and tallied the final scores. I’ve written posts about StoryHack Issue Zero and some of my favorite stories from Issues Two and Three. I’ll write full reviews […]
Cirsova issue #5
Cirsova #5 Issue 5 of Cirsova is mostly devoted to stories set in “Eldritch Earth”, a setting written by Misha Burnett in “A Hill of Stars”, which was in the first issue of Cirsova. It appears that many authors were as interested in the setting as I was, since they decided to write stories taking […]
Green-Eyed Monster
Green-Eyed Monster I’ve finally gotten a break in my road travel schedule (good for my health, but bad for my career prospects, since my driving is to job interviews these days), so I’m giving the audiobooks a rest and doing some good old-fashioned reading with my eyeballs. Well, not all that old-fashioned, since I’m using […]
More from the edge of the galaxy
Before I get to the books, I have a quick personal note. You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been posting much lately. I’ve been busy with career-related issues, including losing my job recently. I don’t want anyone to worry – I should be fine. I saw this coming some time ago, so my resume was […]
Murder on the Cosmic Express
Once again, I’m under time pressure due to my work situation, but I wanted to throw out a quick post before the Murder on the Cosmic Express kickstarter ends (in just a couple of days). Disclaimer: I am related to the game’s designer. Here’s a blurb describing the game: You are the Captain aboard the […]
Some Military Sci-Fi
This will be the last of my posts about books I’m NOT nominating for the Planetary Awards this year. My plan is to finally make my nomination for best novel tomorrow, and for best short story on Thursday. Thursday night (Feb 14) is the deadline, so get your nominations in by then! Rumors of War Rumors […]
Security Contractors vs Mutants and Aliens
This is my third post in a row about books I won’t be nominating for the Planetary Awards. (The clock is ticking — you still have a few days to get your own nominations in.) This time I’m covering two books in one post, because they’re both about security contractors up against sci-fi monsters. Extinction […]
A Last-Minute Contender
Last week, I posted a list of 2018 books I’m thinking of reading, looking for something I can nominate as the best book of the year. I’ve just noticed that a book which I thought had been released in January was actually published on December 31st, 2018. The book is Voyage of the Lanternfish, by […]
Magazine: Lyonesse Volume 2
Lyonesse volume 2 I put my street clothes into my locker, make sure my badge is visible, and clip a few more spare magazines onto my pistol belt. I’ve heard coyotes are running bootleg copies of Lyonesse over the border, and rumor is, they don’t plan to give up their cargo without a fight. As […]
Vacation Reading 2018
My wife and I recently returned from a hiking trip to Patagonia and the Andes. I’ll try to do a vacation post later (although I still haven’t posted about last year’s vacation…), but today’s post is about the books I read on the flights there and back. This year, I decided to read books written […]
The Galaxy is a Dumpster Fire
The Galaxy’s Edge series is a mix of military sci-fi and space opera, set in a Universe that draws heavily on Star Wars without using any of its proper names. At first, you’ll find yourself spotting all the Star Wars similarities (or reversals, such as the stormtroopers being crack shots, or a Han Solo-style character […]
Magazine: Fantasy Scroll issue #11
Fantasy Scroll Magazine, issue #11 My doorbell chimed, and I opened my front door to find an enormous, bright-red dragon blocking my entire field of view. The dragon puffed smoke from its nostrils and reached out with a talon to poke me in the chest. “So, dragonslayer, the tables have turned. How does it feel […]
Magazine: Cirsova #4
Cirsova #4 Cirsova’s fourth issue isn’t part of my magazine quest/contest, but I decided this would be a good time to blog about it. Cirsova launched a Kickstarter campaign recently, covering issues 9 and 10, and a friend of the editor is doing a Gofundme fundraiser to cover some unexpected veterinary bills. Lately, my job hasn’t left […]
Magazine: Astounding Frontiers #2
Astounding Frontiers, Issue #2 With its second issue, Astounding Frontiers moved almost entirely to a serial-story format. I’ve seen very few serious attempts to bring back serials, so it will be interesting to see how this magazine does. I don’t think it’s fair to compare episodes of a serial to stand-alone short stories, so I […]
Mini-Review: Salamander Six
Salamander Six Salamander Six is a near-future short story set on Saint Martin at the moment it gains independence from a newly-imperialist France. The hero character is an entrepreneur/inventor, developing new forms of aerial firefighting to be used in hard-to-access fires, such as those in tall buildings or on oil rigs. Our hero gets a […]
Thoughts on best SFF short story of 2017
Earlier this week, I posted my thoughts on the best novel of 2017, and now its time for short stories. I’ve been reading lots of them lately, wrapping up round one of my magazine quest, reading for rounds two and three, and working on another reading project that I’ll announce when the magazine quest finishes. […]
Thoughts on best SFF novel of 2017
It’s time for my annual realization that while I read many books in 2017, I read very few novels that were released in 2017. I generally read a non-fiction book for every work of fiction I read, and my fiction reading tends to jump around the years and decades. So, it’s time for me to […]
Vacation Reading
On Sunday, I returned from a two-week vacation (My last couple of posts were set up to run automatically while I was away). I’ll eventually do an off-topic post with vacation pics, but I’m a bit weak thanks to catching a virus or something on the flight home, plus some pre-vacation injuries, so I’m doing […]
21st-Century SFF Publishers
If you’ve been following this blog, you know that I’ve been struggling to find good science-fiction stories in magazines. Although I haven’t blogged about longer fiction lately, I also have trouble finding good sci-fi and fantasy novels. I normally don’t pay any attention to a book’s publisher. I usually decide what to read based on […]
Mini-Review: The Thorne Legacy
The Thorne Legacy I’m still being crushed (under a mountain of paperwork) at my job, so I don’t have time tonight to write up another magazine review and continue my last Four Apes story. Instead, I thought I’d put down a few words about a story by fellow blogger JD Brink. While thinking about […]
Guest post by CS Boyack
I’ve been crushed at work for the past few weeks, so I haven’t had much time to write original content here, or even to visit other blogs. My company hired three new people to take over some of my duties, but showing them the ropes increased my workload in the short term. Fortunately, this guy […]
Ichabod Brooks
Ichabod Brooks is a character written by fantasy author and fellow blogger Charles Yallowitz. He’s a monster-hunter who’s been around the block a few times and knows the monster-hunting game inside and out. Ichabod Brooks is, I mean. I have no first-hand knowledge of Charles Yallowitz’s monster-hunting credentials. I’ve only read the first short story […]
Magazine: Storyhack, issue zero
Storyhack, issue zero On the Fourth of July, I feel it’s my patriotic duty to write another Four Apes intro story: Traffic around the Department of Agriculture headquarters in Washington DC slows to a crawl, as drivers gawk at the Eight Apes on the sidewalk outside. Samantha looks into my eyes. “We don’t have to go […]
For Steam and Country
For Steam and Country Fellow blogger Jon Del Arroz recently released his first steampunk novel, For Steam and Country. I haven’t read it yet, so this post won’t be a review. (I will point out that there must be some humor in it, as one of the characters is named Baron Von Monocle.) I’ve only […]
Mini-Review: Snapshot
Snapshot Snapshot is a novella-length story, roughly two and a half hours of audiobook, which I’m estimating would make it about 80 pages long if it were offered as a paperback (ebook and audio are the only current options). Although Brandon Sanderson has published many books through the big houses, he chose to self-publish this […]
Planetary Award Winners – 2016
The winners of the 2016 Planetary Awards have been announced. The winning short story was “Athan and the Priestess” from the collection Thune’s Vision by Schuyler Hernstrom. I’ve purchased a copy, and I’ll review it once I’ve read the entire book. I’ve only read the winning story so far, but I enjoyed it. I found it very Conan-esque, […]
SFF Magazine News
I don’t have time to write up a magazine review (or a silly intro story) this week, but I thought I’d mention some news concerning two of the magazines which are competing for the top spot in my magazine quest. Red Sun Magazine’s third issue is out. I haven’t read it yet, but it looks […]
Award Thoughts – Indie Reading
I’ve already posted my award thoughts concerning short stories, and the better novels I read last year. At the start of 2017, I made an effort to read some self-published books (and a couple of traditionally-published I hadn’t gotten to) to see if they might be worth nominating for best SFF book of the year. (I […]
Award Thoughts – Novel
I’m having trouble picking my favorite novel of 2016, just like I’m having trouble picking a short story. I don’t have as many novels to choose from, so I’ve expanded my candidates to include books that aren’t the first in a series. Joel Shepherd’s Drysine Legacy was in the lead, until I realized that although the […]
Award Thoughts – Short Story
I haven’t made my choice for best short story yet, so I thought I’d share my top contenders with you. I read around 40 issues of SFF magazines in 2016, as well as several anthologies and a couple dozen stories off the web. I haven’t reviewed issue 125 of Space and Time Magazine yet, but I […]
Review: The Second Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack
The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack II CS Boyack‘s second experimental notebook is the perfect book to read just before Halloween. It has vampires, a haunted house, murderers, grave robbers — What? I missed the Halloween deadline? OK, I can work around that. Let’s try something else: CS Boyack’s second experimental notebook is the […]
Something for writers, something for readers
First, some news: I received a rejection letter for my first short story submission. I was originally going to give this post the pessimistic title of “Rejection #1”, because I’m a ‘glass is 96% empty’ kind of guy, not ‘glass is 4% full’. (According to The Grinder, 96% of stories are rejected at Analog magazine, […]
Interview: S. C. Flynn
I’m crossing the campus of Kakadu University to deliver my latest thesis draft to my advisor. He insisted on the topic of my doctoral research: I allow myself to be bitten or stung by Australia’s venomous creatures, and rate the pain from one to ten. Ants and wasps, centipedes and scorpions, snakes and spiders, jellyfish […]
Review: Children of the Different
Children of the Different Three flying saucers (3 out of 4 rating) Fellow blogger SC Flynn gave me a copy of the audiobook version of his first self-published novel, Children of the Different. I enjoyed listening to an Australian-authored audiobook with an Australian narrator — most Aussie audiobooks I’ve run across are read […]
PDC on Facebook
I’ve bitten the bullet and created a Facebook page for Planetary Defense Command. Facebook considers PDC an “artist, band, or public figure”. I’m certain I’m not a band, and I’ve never considered myself an artist, so I guess that makes me a public figure — and I didn’t even have to put on a tie! […]
Today is the day
Originally posted on Entertaining Stories:
Well, it’s one of the days. My newest book The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack II is now available for purchase on Amazon. It’s a pre-sale, and the books will deliver on August 31st. That is the other day. I wanted to do a short pre-sale, but Lisa my…
Last Week
I was on vacation in Maine last week. I logged in here, posted a pre-written article, and responded to a few comments, but otherwise stayed away from email and blogs. I’ll write up a full travelogue of my trip this weekend or next week, including a few photos. The alien rover has already broadcast one […]
Cirsova #2 at Kickstarter
Cirsova’s second issue now has a page at kickstarter. If you haven’t heard of Cirsova, you can read my interview with the magazine’s founder, or my review of Cirsova #1.
Magazine: Cirsova #1
Cirsova Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine Issue #1 My magazine quest has gotten expensive, so I’m driving an 18-wheeler to make some money. I speak into my voice recorder. “Trucker’s log. Date: 6-6, midnight. Weather conditions: clear, but no moonlight. Cargo: timber products. Many rigs headed same direction.” The chimpanzee in the passenger’s seat […]
Review: The Awakening
The Awakening One dung Beetle (1 out of 4 rating) Abducted humans wake up aboard an alien spaceship. The aliens have been collecting apex predators from various planets, but for some reason the predators are waking up and running loose on the ship. Plus, an automated defense system is trying to kill all life on […]
Planetary Awards and Dragon Awards
The winners have been announced in the 2015 Planetary Awards. The winner for best short story was “Something in the Water” by C. S. Boyack. I wrote a little about the story when I nominated it, and I also reviewed the collection which contains the story. I ‘ve read the winner for best novel, Torchship, […]
99 cents: Wild Concept
Followers of this blog should be familiar with C. S. Boyack. I’ve interviewed him, reviewed his experimental notebook, and posted an excerpt from his latest novel, The Playground. For just a couple of days, his first novel, Wild Concept, is on sale for 99 cents at Amazon. I’ve picked up a copy — get one […]
Meet Clovis
Clovis is a character from C. S. Boyack‘s new novel, The Playground. (If I’m not mistaken, Clovis is on the short-list to receive a Nobel Peace Prize this year.) Here is an excerpt from The Playground which introduces him: The tweaker rushed around the corner behind the bushes, tried to slam the gate shut, and […]
Cover Reveal: The Playground
Freqent PDC visitor C. S. Boyack will release “The Playground” soon (pre-orders now being taken at Amazon). I’ve previously interviewed him on this blog, and also reviewed his short story collection, The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack. Watch for the book’s release by following Boyack’s author page on Amazon, on Goodreads, or, if you […]
Free: Cirsova issue #1
The kindle version of issue #1 of Cirsova magazine is free at Amazon through Saturday, March 19th. I recently interviewed P. Alexander, Cirsova’s founder/editor, and I plan to review issue #1 in a couple of weeks. Get your free copy so we can compare opinions of the stories!
Announcement, Announcement, Announcement!
Originally posted on Entertaining Stories:
I’m bringing a new feature to this blog. I don’t often pander for social media shares and re-blogs, but tomorrow is the day. Not this post, tomorrow’s post. Do what you will with this one, it’s just the announcement. The best way to explain it is by telling you how…
Nine novels down, five to go
I read nine novels in my search for planetary awards nominees, so I thought I’d give you a rundown of them before I resume my magazine quest. I’ll also lay out my plans for reading other bloggers’ nominees. Traditionally-published, from best to worst: #1) Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia was my nominee. […]
Interview: P. Alexander
I’m in the back of a speeding van, loading a light machine gun. “How’d they find us so fast?” Cara looks over her shoulder from the driver’s seat. “Yeah, how did they spot four heavily-armed, ethnically-diverse strangers in a small town, driving a van with your logo on the side?” “Shut up, fool!” I kick […]
Cirsova Issue 1 Kickstarter is Live! (please share!)
Originally posted on Cirsova:
The Kickstarter for Cirsova Issue 1 is a go! Issue # 1 is done and paid for. We’re just taking orders and raising money for the future so I can start work on Issue #2 right away! Basic pledge rates are as follows: Individual Copies $2 – PDF $10 + Shipping…
Rath’s Deception – my choice for best self-published novel of 2015
Last week, I posted my nomination for the Planetary Awards in the short story category. In that post, I mentioned that I found a couple of surprise gems in my December novel-reading binge. The best of these was Rath’s Deception by Piers Platt. I wasn’t familiar with the author, and the polished writing and page-turning quality […]
My 2015 Planetary Awards Nominations
The 2015 Planetary Awards have three categories open for nominations: shorter story (including novelettes and novellas), traditionally published novel, and self-published / small press novel. It wasn’t too hard for me to find a short story nominee. I’ve read a dozen 2015 science fiction magazines as part of my magazine quest, and I’ve also read […]
Free: Pearseus
Nicholas Rossis‘ book, Pearseus, Rise of the Prince, is free at Amazon from November 17th to the 20th. Nicholas is in Europe, and I’m not sure if the 20th cutoff applies to his time or to your local time, so don’t wait until the last minute to pick up your copy!
FREE SCI-FI NOVEL
You may remember that I’ve interviewed author Paul Spence on this blog. His first novel is free for a few days at Amazon.
Review: The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack
The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack Four Royal Crowns (4 out of 4 rating) I had trouble reviewing this collection of 12 short stories. Deciding on a rating was easy — I enjoy short-format stories, and was totally immersed in 9 of the 12. My problem was what to write about each of them– […]
Interview: Paul Spence
There’s still no sign of Paul Spence – author, archaeologist, and twin brother of editor Thomas Weaver. Swatting at the mosquitos covering my bare legs, I cross the jungle clearing to a stone temple. I walk along its walls, looking at carvings of fishermen using spears to catch some kind of cephalopod. I used to […]
Blurb Doctor: A Ransom of Flames
Anela has asked me to look at the first draft of a blurb for her upcoming work, “A Ransom of Flames”. A deadly blight. A crownless queen. A journey to the edge of the world. A mysterious blight is destroying the world of Aeden. At the return of each full moon the Vehlek, immortal men […]
99 cents: The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack
C. S. Boyack is a long-time follower of this blog, and the second author I’ve interviewed. He has written novels in several science fiction and fantasy subgenres, and now he’s releasing a short story collection: The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack. The collection is available for pre-order now, and will be released September 15th. […]
Sale: Book of Lost Doors Series
Until next Thursday (August 13th), Misha Burnett‘s Book of Lost Doors Series is on sale. There is a post on Misha’s site which links to the books on Amazon. Long-time followers of this blog will remember that I’ve reviewed Catskinner’s Book, Cannibal Hearts, and The Worms of Heaven. I’ve also interviewed Misha. If you’ve been […]
Bookends: Leyfarers and Wayfarers
Leyfarers and Wayfarers is a collection of 16 stories (in a variety of genres) by G L Francis. As usual for my bookends series of posts, I read the first and last stories, then made a decision whether to continue. First Story: Tools of the Trade In this steampunk tale, Russian water spirits are killing […]
Interview: C. S. Boyack
It’s midnight, and I’m standing in a snow-covered field, waiting for C. S. Boyack. Something howls in the distance. The light of the full moon reflecting off the snow is almost as bright as daylight. Almost. A man approaches, and I spot fur sticking out from the top of his jacket. This guy has definitely […]
Interview: Misha Burnett
Misha Burnett asked me to meet him at this riverboat casino. I’m taking shallow breaths to protect my lungs from cigarette smoke, but my sense of smell is shot. I can’t pick out sounds over the musical ringing and dinging of slot machines. I’m down two senses – is this a trap? I spot Misha, […]
Review: The Worms of Heaven
The Worms Of Heaven Three flying saucers (3 out of 4 rating) The Worms of Heaven is the third book in Misha Burnett‘s “Book of Lost Doors” series. I’ve previously reviewed the first two books, Catskinner’s Book and Cannibal Hearts. The stories focus on James, a young man who shares his head with Catskinner, who […]
Status Update
You may have noticed that I’ve been away from the blog for the past month. The fact that 30 days is the minimum time required for aliens to clone a fully-grown human is purely a coincidence. I just had something pop up at work, and then decided to spend my few spare hours planting a […]
Review: The Might of Fortitude
The Might of Fortitude Two nuclear missiles (2 out of 4 rating) This military science fiction story follows an officer as he moves from ground combat to command of one of his space navy’s most specialized high-tech warships. I think I need to follow the good, bad, and ugly format: The good: The author paints a picture […]
Flash Fiction: Attica 2071
I was browsing the site of one of my recent followers, ZombieSymmetry of Trustus Pharmaceuticals, and I ran across an interesting story. It’s 1,500 words, which places it kind of on the border between flash fiction and a short story. Before reading my comments about the story, you may want to read it yourself. However, […]
Flash Fiction: 365 Tomorrows
You might enjoy 365 Tomorrows if you like your science fiction in small, regular doses. Every day, it posts a new story that doesn’t take long to read (600 words or less). I don’t visit the site as often as I’d like to; I’m not the “visit every day” type, I’m more the “guy who […]
Microfiction: 101 Fiction
For the next six weeks, I’ll be overwhelmed by career-related stuff. I have detailed reviews and “settings” articles I’m eager to write, but I’m going to stick to shorter posts until things slow down. This seems like an obvious time for a couple of posts about microfiction (100 words or less) and flash fiction (1,000 words or […]
Bookends: Wyrd Worlds
Wyrd Worlds is a collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories by self-published authors. The book is free, as is its sequel, Wyrd Worlds II. The authors of these stories are hoping that you’ll enjoy their work, then seek out something else they’ve written. As usual for my Bookends series, I have read the […]
Review: 1000
1000 One dung Beetle (1 out of 4 rating) I haven’t written a negative review in a while, and I thought it was time, before people start to think I’ve gone soft. [I mention why I’m doing fewer negative reviews on my revised About Page.] So, beetles, roll this ball of dung away: A combination […]
Review: Cannibal Hearts
Three flying saucers (3 out of 4 rating) Cannibal Hearts is the sequel to Catskinner’s Book, which I reviewed last year. Although paranormal/urban fantasy isn’t my favorite sub-genre, I enjoyed Catskinner’s book. To me, the best aspects of the story were a world where it felt like anything could happen, and the dual nature of […]
Science Fiction Podcasts
SCy-Fy posted a list of science fiction podcasts last month, and more recently has been running a series of interviews with sci-fi podcasters. Despite being a regular consumer of audio content, I haven’t started listening to podcasts yet. A friend recommended a non-fiction podcast, Hardcore History, and I became aware of several of the sci-fi […]
Free: Into the Wazoo of Death
My review of Eat Fish and Die was one of the first posts on this blog, and the first review where I gave out my top ranking. There is now a sequel to the story, Into The Wazoo Of Death, which is free at Amazon this week, as is the original story: Eat Fish And […]
Christmas Science Fiction
I didn’t have time to get each of you that present you really wanted, so instead I browsed Amazon for some Christmas-related science fiction: Last January, I reviewed Merry Christmas, Mr. Babbers In April, I reviewed The Mighty Peculiar Incident at Muddy Creek, which is not Christmas-themed, but the author has another short story which […]
Bookends: Quantum Zoo
In an earlier review of The Power of Six, I mentioned my plans for a new feature where I read the first and last short story from a collection. In each post of this feature, I’ll briefly describe the two stories, and then indicate whether I’m inclined to read further in the collection. My theory […]
Boardgame: Tomorrow
Four Royal Crowns (4 out of 4 rating) In this game, the world’s major powers have gotten together and decided that there are just too many people in the world. It would be a lot of hard work to slow population growth, but you know what would be easy? Unleashing an arsenal of biological weapons […]
Review: The Fallen Race
Three flying saucers (3 out of 4 rating) Fellow blogger Kal Spriggs responded to my last call for authors, and provided an audiobook version of The Fallen Race. In doing so, he’s given me a bit of a puzzle: I don’t think I can write a one-size-fits-all review; whether you’ll enjoy this story or […]
Review: The Power of Six
Three flying saucers (3 out of 4 rating) I’ve been wanting to read something by Nicholas Rossis for a while, as he’s a frequent visitor to this blog and seems like a really nice guy. I had planned to write about The Power of Six, his short story collection, as the first post of a […]
Review: Adam
Three flying saucers (3 out of 4 rating) Fellow blogger Justine Allen has been a frequent visitor here, so I made sure to include some of her work in my latest reading binge. I’m glad I did so; I was reading a long string of stories which didn’t really go anywhere (not bad enough to […]
Review: Spikebreaker
Four Royal Crowns (4 out of 4 rating) Spikebreaker is a story about a police unit which partners regular officers with telepaths. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it; I’m a sucker for anything which combines sci-fi and cops, but I wasn’t so sure about the psychic angle. After reading, I was impressed enough to […]
Calling all Authors
In August, I’ll be making several long international flights, so it’s time to load my kindle and ipod with reading material. If you’re an author and would like me to review one of your stories, leave me a message in the comments section below. If you’d rather speak privately, send me a direct message via […]
Review: Moment of Extinction
Two nuclear missiles (2 out of 4 rating) I can’t say anything about this story without spoilers, so here’s the dragon: MINOR SPOILERS BELOW – ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK There are two types of characters here: workers for a relief agency which rescues people from alternate universes / parallel dimensions, and the refugees. (The […]
Review: The Energy Scavengers
Three flying saucers (3 out of 4 rating) This is an ambitious story, as every character is a robot; there are no humans or bugs or squids, only metal parts and circuitry. Two human-built robots (a lander and a rover) touch down on what was once an alien mining colony, and interact with the […]
Review: Catskinner’s Book
Three flying saucers (3 out of 4 rating) The author of Catskinner’s Book, Misha Burnett, gave me a copy of the audiobook version and asked me to review it. I’ve decided to try something a little bit different with this review, dividing it into the good, the bad, and the ugly. Fortunately, the story pulled […]
We have a “winner”
New Beginnings (Vitalis) has won the first Radioactive Dung Beetle Award! I think this victory provides an important lesson for authors: make sure your marketing blurb matches the genre, style, and tone of your story. Don’t bait-and-switch, and don’t assume that the customer has read your previous work and therefore knows what to expect. If […]
First Radioactive Dung Beetle Award
It’s time for Planetary Defense Command’s first ever Radioactive Dung Beetle Award. So far this year, the blog has featured six stories awful enough to be balled up and rolled away by my dung beetles. Now, it’s time to choose the worst of the worst. This will be done in a democratic fashion; it’s your […]
Review: Seventy
One dung Beetle (1 out of 4 rating) I’ve given this story a dung beetle rating for its content rather than its writing style. I have two major problems with the content. First, the failure of certain terraforming technologies is a key plot device, yet the author fails to explain why those technologies were being […]
Blog: the parasite guy
In my blog’s first post, I mentioned that 62,597 science fiction titles were available at Amazon’s Kindle store. That total is now up to 70,246 (a change of 7,649, or almost 65 per day). During the same time period, I inspected 17 titles for bad science fiction. Even if I had reviewed only new releases, […]
Review: The Mighty Peculiar Incident at Muddy Creek
Two nuclear missiles (2 out of 4 rating) This story throws a science fiction twist into a western setting. The story is written well, and the western setting will seem familiar to anyone who has watched western movies, but I didn’t feel that the science fiction element was taken far enough. The author has a […]
Review: Making a Gilling
One dung Beetle (1 out of 4 rating) This is a marginal story, buried under some of the worst writing I’ve seen. I realize that the author isn’t a native English speaker, but if someone is going to publish short stories and novels in English, they can at least take the time to turn on […]
Review: Toy Planets
Two nuclear missiles (2 out of 4 rating) The concept and main character of this story are outstanding, worthy of inclusion in any collection. Unfortunately, the writing and editing don’t rise to the same level, dragging the Asimov/Clarke class concept down to produce a story which is just average. The story also goes on a […]
Review: Redtooth
Two nuclear missiles (2 out of 4 rating) This story is written well, has a distinctive main character, and makes good use of humor; I wouldn’t hesitate to read another story by the author. So, why didn’t I give it one of my top ratings? I would have preferred slightly more development of the plot, […]
Computer Game: Grim Dawn
Unrated On a recent inspection tour of North American defenses, I played an alpha version of Grim Dawn. Although I enjoyed the game, I’m not giving it a rating, as I only played it briefly, and it wasn’t a finished product. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic version of Victorian Britain. It is an […]
Review: Empty Sea
Two nuclear missiles (2 out of 4 rating) This story begins with several tourists hiding in a resort on an out-of-the-way planet. They are hiding because some sort of armed conflict is taking place / has taken place outside. The early part of the story is written well; if you’ve ever been holed up in […]
Review: Le Morte d’Arthur
Unrated Once again, I am psychically tuning in to my readers’ thoughts: “Two unrated stories in a row? You are worthless and weak. We welcome our new alien overlords.” Wait, don’t surrender yet! This is another story which is a bit light on plot: A captain welcomes a replacement crew member on board the ship. […]
Review: From the Ice Incarnate
Unrated I am using my psychic powers to tap into my readers’ thoughts: “Your entire purpose in life is to rate things, and you chose ‘unrated’? You are lazy and pathetic. Is this what my planetary defense taxes are paying for?” Wait, let me explain! This story is a vivid description of two people being […]
Planetary Defense Command 