Collection
Literature
An Introduction to the Epic Poul Anderson
The illustrious Poul Anderson is another one of those scifi/fantasy grandmasters who you’ve probably never heard of if you were born after 1980. Although he was writing until…
The Lost Virtue of Lean Prose
As much as I talk about older scifi and fantasy, I like some contemporary fiction. I’m a fan of the Witcher stories. I like Harry Potter (is that…
ChristmaSFF: A Santa Story
When I was a kid, I loved the old Rankin and Bass holiday specials (I mean I gobbled up all their stuff, but). They produced a number of…
The Cost of Magic
I’ve been thinking lately about magic. In fiction, its treatment varies widely, but I feel like there are a few generalizations I can make. First, I don’t agree…
John Bellairs and the Face of Magic
I’ve been thinking about magic lately, and I’ve got a post brewing…but it’s not quite ready yet. It did bring me back around to thinking about John Bellairs,…
The Maid and Butler and Swordsman of Mars
Sometimes characters explain things to one another that they should already know. “My lord, your brilliant plan – to poison the ambassador’s wine and then blame it on…
Koshchei and the strange, black, turbaned lady
I just finished reading James Branch Cabell’s Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice, and it’s absolutely overflowing with references to lore and myth and legend, and plenty of couched philosophical…
Not-Quite-Solomon Kane: The Movie
I’ve written before about Solomon Kane, the original Caped Crusader. Though Conan the Barbarian, with his own merits, is Robert E. Howard’s most famous creation, Kane is my personal…
Andre Norton’s Gray Scifi
“All Cats Are Gray,” by “Andrew North,” is another story I was turned onto by Audio SFF’s Reading, Short and Deep podcast. I’ve written about Andre Norton before,…
Dark Pulp: The Words of Guru
These days I don’t have as much time and energy for reading (or many other things) as I’d like. My cravings for SFF, then, have been in large…