Category Archives: Literature

Deus Ex Machina

March 18th, 2011 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature

I thought I’d write a somewhat more speculative article this week (with more potential for controversy, I suppose) about one of my favorite authors–Isaac Asimov. In particular, I’d like to look at whether the good Doctor might have gone one step beyond his acknowledged battle against the “Frankenstein Complex” in some of his writings. Asimov’s […]

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Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

March 18th, 2011 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature

Title: Sunshine Author: Robin McKinley Format: Hardcover, Paperback, Audio Sometimes, your beloved Zombrarian falls into despair. See, she loves her some vampire books, but vampire books are apparently really hard to write. She knows they are really hard to write because most of them really suck (and not in a good way).  She’s going to […]

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The Passage: A Review

March 9th, 2011 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature

  Title: The Passage Author: Justin Cronin Format: Available in both hard copy and e-book formats   I know I’m late to the party, but yesterday I finally finished The Passage by Justin Cronin. The story is set one hundred years in the future, after our world has been ravaged by a deadly virus that […]

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The Tone Poems Of Philip K Dick

March 2nd, 2011 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature, Movies

What makes the collective work of PDK mesmerizing, inaccessible, and at the same time almost addictively taunting in the world of film? When taken as an individual work, each of PKD’s stories becomes a nightmare to reproduce in any way faithfully and effectively on the screen, be it large or small. Whatever triumph the end […]

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In Defense of the Outlandish

February 28th, 2011 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature, TV

A frequent topic of conversation on SFSN involves the merits (or lack thereof) of new sci-fi series or movies.  In the broader universe of sci-fidom, some believe that that good science fiction must be based on only reasonable extrapolations of current scientific knowledge.  Others, myself included, believe that many of the best sci fi stories […]

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Dune Retrospective

January 5th, 2011 | Posted in Literature, Movies, TV

I recently decided to watch the Dune movie for the first time from beginning to end it was with the kind of trepidation that a true fan always has toward another take on a story they love. I knew the movie was bad, but how bad I didn’t know. I figured that, as with the Lord of the Rings movies and the Star Wars prequels, it was my job to know them. So I sat down with the movie Dune, and the miniseries Dune and Children of Dune, a few beers, and watched. Here is what I learned.

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SHATNERQUAKE: SHATNERTASTIC!!

December 9th, 2010 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature

Title: Shatnerquake Author:  Jeff Burk Format:  paperback Oh… my… God. Two days later, and my head is still reeling from this book.  Warring factions of Shatner fans facing off against “Campbellians” (they’re all missing their right hands; you do the math) in the mother of all conventions glorifying every single role that the Shat has ever […]

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You Know What Happens When One Assumes…

November 5th, 2010 | Posted in Literature

Title: My Best Friend is a Wookie Author: Tony Pacitti Format: Hardcover (also available for Kindle) I will admit that I approached Tony Pacitti’s memoir My Best Friend is a Wookie with some trepidation. The cover was adorable, but I feared that what lurked behind it would be trite platitudes and some sickening fanwank about […]

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Authors from my past: Ron Goulart

October 15th, 2010 | Posted in Literature

It dawned on me recently that there are a slew of authors that, though they were well read in my formative years, have since fallen out of favor. It happens, but when it does, we lose part of the rich landscape of our diverse literary heritage. This series is an attempt to bring overlooked authors […]

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The Return of Spider Robinson

September 12th, 2010 | Posted in Daily Rants, Literature

Words fail me at the joy I feel in reporting that Spider Robinson has returned to public life. Since the passing of his beloved wife Jeanne on May 30, 2010, Spider has been in well deserved privacy. The loss of such a beautiful soul was crushing to many of us who only knew her from […]

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