Fantasy
The Other Guys Bioware no longer possesses a monopoly on CRPG romance. In recent years, many studios have left their mark upon the pantheon of video game beefcakes. Outside the Bioware frame, designers have found the opportunity to get a bit weirder with the beef, sprinkle a little variety onto
Fantasy
The Bioware Edition I am once again hitting the listicle well, and this time we clamber over an even lower bar. Have you ever wondered why the hot guys of video games, especially the ones that are narratively sexually available to the player, make so many straight male gamers piss
Book Review
A 1950s Collection Which Rips We’ll start with the cover: A beautiful blonde woman staring wistfully past a green scaly alien who has a big green conehead. Behind them looms a rocket ship and a purple glowing planetoid. I believe this image to be derived from one of the
Book Review
Every year I read The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy (BASFF) collection to see what’s going with (relatively) mainstream SFF. What I enjoy most about BASFF is the cycling guest editor. Every year the survey comes in at a fresh angle, the beam of our attention guided by
Book Review
Approaching Samuel Delany’s Conan/Semiotics Slash Fiction Have you ever wished Conan the Barbarian were the kind of guy to read critical theory? No? Too bad, because today we’re discussing the first volume of Samuel Delany’s Nevèrÿon stories. Nevèrÿon is a sword-and-sorcery-and-semiotics series heroically compiled by Wesleyan
Book Review
Architectonically Sublime, or What? After many years of manifesting it into the used bookstore shelves before me, I finally located and acquired John Crowley’s Little, Big, in a lovely, aged first paperback edition. You might ask, “Why didn’t you just buy the book online or something, if you
Book Review
Of late, friends and advisors have provided me with leads on books about fantasy versions of Italy, to provide touchstone references for a manuscript I’m preparing which also involves a type of made-up Italy. Of these, I have recently completed The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch, the third
Book Review
I encountered the work of Peter S. Beagle for the first time recently. Yes, I’ve never even read The Last Unicorn. Am I a Fake Fantasy Fan? Indubitably. I have seen the animated film, which is weird and yet touching and yet baffling. I know that Peter S. Beagle
Book Review
I Have Been Obliterated By 1 Million Words of Power In September I set off on an epic journey which I only barely survived. This journey was a walk from beginning to end through the three (sometimes four) volumes of Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow, & Thorn series. I chose to
Book Review
Dutifully I have continued reading 2025 Hugo nominees, but I did not enjoy them. This won’t stop me from telling you about them! Far from it… The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley In the interest of total honesty, the “Good Morning America Book Club Pick” sticker on the
Book Review
One thing long-time readers of the blog will know about me is that I’m incapable of starting a book series at the beginning. Another thing about me is that I am really good at avoiding touchstone pieces of media. The films of Martin Scorsese? Never seen’em. Super Mario?
Book Review
Because there are many SFF novellas at the library. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells Par for the course for me, I pulled down a random Murderbot book from the library shelf and started reading the series there. My goal was to prepare myself for the upcoming AppleTV+ series. You might