https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCOPQofBjPQ What a complex topic James Blish tackles in his 1959 Hugo award-winning novel! Father Ruiz-Sanches is one of a committee of four researchers sent to explore the world of Lithia and offer advice on what this planet’s role should be regarding humanity’s expansion. When the Father discovers that the Lithian race of perfectly rational... Continue Reading →
The classics, Dear Reader! They possess a foundational cultural force, are the prism through which we can understand much about a society at a certain point in time, and are often inextricably linked with imperial values (you can find more about this last point in Frank Kermode's book, The Classic, as David Damrosch points out... Continue Reading →
Previous || Next When I read the first volume of Thompson and Casagrande's Black Widow run last week, I was taken with the masterful way in which the Black Widow is imbued with brand new purpose. This second volume builds on the solid foundation set up in Ties That Bind by seeing Nat and Yelena... Continue Reading →
There's something delectably fun about a villain that's perfectly defined by their name, especially when that name is a monosyllabic nouns like "Pride" or "Sin" or "Ruin". Everything's on the label - you can be comfortable in your expectations as to the goals they'll pursue but how they get there is anybody's guess! It's also... Continue Reading →
Hullo, everyone, welcome, welcome to a slow, chill Monday post. It's nice and short and groovy, and it's about an Alix E. Harrow short story I listened to yesterday on Audible. It's part of Audible Plus's catalogue, and a breeze in the air at some forty-four minutes of listening time. Like everything else Harrow has... Continue Reading →
Black Widow comics don't often click with me. I've tried a few of her short-lived ongoing series and none appealed until this one. Written by Kelly Thompson and illustrated by Elena Casagrande, this is a story of Natasha Romanoff as I hadn't seen her before, vulnerable and lost to herself but also happy. The first... Continue Reading →
Previous || Next Last time, I spoke about the differences between D&D 5e and DIE - the greater degree of collaboration between DM and players, the "narrative first" approach rather than a mechanical stringency, and the accent on complex interpersonal relationships established during the first stage of the game, the persona generation. In DIE, there's... Continue Reading →
An update like this has been overdue, I think - and as I find it easier to write down my thoughts here rather than on Goodreads, here goes! David Copperfield by Charles Dickens This bulky boy is a challenging read, to be sure, but no less gripping. I've read some Charles Dickens before - Bleak... Continue Reading →
Short story anthologies are a difficult sell right now, especially ones based on existing properties. It's no surprise Josh Erikson describes Short Changed: Stories from Ethereal Earth as a passion project, one he doesn't expect will be widely read or reviewed. He is likely right; all the more shame, really, as the stories within this... Continue Reading →
I have passing knowledge of Alexis Kennedy, one of the two leaders at the head of game developer Weather Factory (the other being Lottie Bevan). I've spent several hours with Cultist Simulator, a game thoroughly disquieting and altogether too complex for me to get after three failed attempts. I've also heard enough about Fallen London... Continue Reading →
The Grimoire Reliquary 