Clark Ashton Smith and D&D: It’s a Trap!

August 6, 2021 Bushi 5

It’s always a little bit of a pot-stir to grouse about a particular author having been wrongfully omitted from Appendix N. I know, because I’ve gotten into it over C. L. Moore in the past! Of course Appendix N can’t be wrong. I like how Michael Curtis put it at the […]

Prydain Pickups

June 12, 2019 Bushi 10

I live! If one can call existence without regular reading “living.” Ah, the demands on a startup pickle farmer! Despite my lack of disposable time, I’ve still been adding to my collection and building up a stock for my progeny. It’s yard sale season, and I’ve been hitting some up […]

Micro-SFF: Quick Musing on Vance’s Characters

April 12, 2019 Bushi 2

Status: Alive I know no one cares about unjustly obscured SFF these days, but man Jack Vance’s stories would make for some awesome movies or TV shows, especially with the big budget productions we see so frequently today. I guess the real question is – who would be unwoke enough […]

Herbert

Frank Herbert on Message Fic and Dune

March 21, 2019 Bushi 3

Interviews with SFF masters of yore can be quite fascinating and insightful, and I like to watch or read them every now and then. The other day a couple clips of Frank Herbert interviews popped up in my recommended YouTube videos, and I just wanted to quickly share them.   […]

Moon Pool

The Moon Pool Has Merit

March 13, 2019 Bushi 3

I’m not sure what it is about The Moon Pool. I’ve been picking at it for weeks. I read a few pages before bed most nights, and it feels like I’ve been doing so forever. A. Merritt is an author of the old school, with every connotation the phrase brings. His […]

The Scifi Totally-Not-Galileo

March 5, 2019 Bushi 3

I’m almost done with Brother Assassin, but wanted to share this nugget. The third part of the book is about defending this indispensable historical figure from the berserkers, and this guy is Totally Not Galileo! I recently discovered that Saberhagen was a practicing Catholic. It also appears he was historically […]

JC

Burroughs by the Numbers

January 28, 2019 Bushi 3

I recently shared some thoughts on The Mucker, one of Edgar Rice Burrough’s not-SFF adventure stories. While it wasn’t among my favorites, so far as his work goes, it wasn’t a bad read, and in some respects I’d even say it gives Tarzan a run for its money. Returning to Burroughs did […]

Outlaws of Mars

Cirsova on Kline and Getting the Girl

January 24, 2019 Bushi 3

Yesterday Alex at Cirsova posted a little piece on O. A. Kline’s “Doc Morgan” series. Interesting observation about Kline’s handling of his protagonists’ love interests: Unlike Brackett’s bad-boy heroes who often end up with the bad-girl (if he didn’t kill her), Kline’s heroes may go after the good one and […]

Burrough’s The Mucker

January 18, 2019 Bushi 6

So I just finished reading The Mucker, and it was…not bad. I may have liked it better than Tarzan, or maybe I should say I liked certain elements better. [Tasty spoilers ahead] Ladies first – Barbara Harding was a way better character and love interest than Jane Porter. It kind of felt […]

Pigeons from Hell

Howardian Horror

January 9, 2019 Bushi 14

I was recently gifted The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard. I’ve had my eye on this one for a while, perhaps since Alex of Barbarian Book Club wrote about it. I’m not sure if the copy he’s got features that sweet illustration of a guy fighting a sea monster, but […]