Monthly Archives: June 2018

Why Solo Underperformed at the Box Office: A Personal Take

Hundreds of people smarter than me and more in tune with the movie market have tried, with various success, to explain why Solo became the first seriously underperforming Star Wars movie.  I will, most likely, bring nothing new to the … Continue reading

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Book Review: Ancillary Justice

Ann Leckie’s book debut has become one of the most celebrated science fiction books of all times.  Having won almost all the important awards, including Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Clarke and BSFA among others, Ancillary Justice became by definition one of … Continue reading

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Hugos 2018 – And Then There Were (N-One) by Sarah Pinsker

What would you do if you discovered the multiverse and the means to travel from one universe to another?  Why, you’d invite lots of your alter egos to a convention.  This mind-bogglingly simple and yet very original premise starts a … Continue reading

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Movie review: 2036 Origin Unknown

2036 is a minimalistic film. Its subject matter, setting and performances all indicate a small budget.  That is not a bad thing, and in some respects the filmmakers did an admirable job putting together a working movie with the little … Continue reading

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Hugos 2018 – The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

John Scalzi is a guilty pleasure of mine.  His light-hearted, witty space romps are fun to read, and his prose flows so smoothly that I often can’t put his books down until I finish them.  I must admit that there … Continue reading

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Hugos 2018 – Novelettes

Unlike short stories, novelettes often feature fully contained tales.  They may still fit into a larger universe, but the author has the freedom to expand the world in the story, and still leave the reader happy with character development.  And … Continue reading

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Hugos 2018 – Short Stories

I find many short stories more entertaining than novels.  In my opinion, some of the best works of well-known authors, from Clarke, Bradbury and Asimov, to Brin and Gaiman, come in the form of short stories.  Naturally, I was curious … Continue reading

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Classic review: Stand on Zanzibar

John Brunner has been lauded as a visionary.  In particular, his book Stand on Zanzibar is choke-full of predictions that seem to have come true more than fifty years after the its publication.  His difficult, but addicting writing style has … Continue reading

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Movie review: Genocidal Organ

Normally, I would never touch a movie named “Genocidal Organ” with a ten-foot pole.  It seems to fall into the category of names like “Five-Headed Shark Attack” or “Quantum of Solace”, where the ridiculous title already warns off hopeful movie … Continue reading

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