Tag Archives: Mars
Review: Alien Landscapes
Kevin J Anderson’s Alien Lanscapes In my last post, Kevin J Anderson and me, I mentioned that I would review this collection, which consists of three short stories and a novelette, all by KJA. So, here we go: Short Stories Landscapes – Two pals are dropped off on an uninhabited (but habitable) planet to do some […]
Side Quest: from Underbridge to Goodnight Moons
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Six OK, I didn’t have good luck with the first nine stories in this collection, or the next ten, but here are the last twelve anyway: Underbridge by Peter Beagle. A troll statue eats small animals and, eventually, people. Relic by Jeffrey Ford. A story about a […]
Magazine: Astounding Frontiers #1
Astounding Frontiers, issue #1 Astounding Frontiers is a magazine put out by Superversive Press. “Superversive” is the name of a recent literary movement you may not be familiar with. This quote from author L Jagi Lamplighter serves as a nice, quick summary: You know how subversive means to change something by undermining from below? […]
NaNoWriMo wrap-up
November’s over, and I achieved my NaNoWriMo goal of 30 novels in 30 days. I posted about my first 17 novels earlier, here are the remaining 13: Running Ragged — A street urchin witnesses a crime in an illegal drug lab, and goes on the run from the perpetrators. Can’t Eat This — A prototype android responds to […]
Side Quest: from The Copenhagen Interpretation to a Response from EST17
The next 10 stories in my Side Quest: The Copenhagen Interpretation by Paul Cornell. A steampunk espionage story, where the great powers have learned to fold space-time. The Invasion of Venus by Stephen Baxter. Two alien species fight a war in our solar system, but ignore Earth. This could have been a nice flash fiction, but instead […]
Side Quest: from The Choice to The Ice Owl
This is the first post in my Side Quest, where I read collections of the “best” sci-fi/fantasy stories from 2011. Here’s my take on the first 10 stories: The Choice by Paul McAuley. While Paul McAuley would appear to be a mild-mannered author, apparently at night he fights crime as CAPTAIN INFODUMP. Seriously, if you […]
Magazine: Nonlocal #2
Nonlocal issue #2 I help the other castaways push the raft into the ocean. It’s a big raft that took us an entire week to build — we used the wood from the signaling tower that I’d pulled down the week before, waving too enthusiastically to a passing cruise liner. The others gasp, scream, and […]
Magazine: Phase 2, Issue 3
Phase 2 Magazine I open my front door in response to the ringing doorbell. A man in a suit holds up a badge. “I’m Detective-Sergeant Joe Friday. I’d like to ask you a few questions about Phase 2 Magazine.” “Great, because I have this really elaborate story about how I-” “Just the facts, sir.” — […]
Magazine: Analog Dec 2015
Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 2015 I’m in the space station’s control room, watching two progress bars on a computer monitor. One is labeled “Analog magazine download”. The other is labeled “Space station auto-destruct”. The two appear to be perfectly synchronized. — Novelette: A Case of Identity by Edward Lerner. An AI private detective […]
Planetary Defense Command 