Escape (Not the Piña Colada Song): musings on escapist fiction and people who don’t like the taste of chocolate

For me, science fiction—as a fiction genre—is speculative fiction about the possible. By comparison, fantasy—which is science fiction’s close cousin—is speculative fiction about the impossible. A proverbial fine line exists between the two genres, a line which often gets crossed. So often, in fact, that we see both genres lumped together under the SFF banner, […]

Welcome to Twin Peaks:/\/\ First-Watch Recap: Season 2: Ep. 2.1 “May the Giant Be with You” (Original airdate Sunday, September 30, 1990) — a review (Part 2 of 2)

Welcome to my First-Watch of the original 30 episodes of the 1990-91 television series Twin Peaks. Below are the bulletpointed notes I jotted down while watching the episode “May the Giant Be with You.” This is the second part of a two-part recap. Over at the Double R Diner, HANK JENNINGS is busy bussing tables […]

NOS4A2: Season 1 — a review

I reviewed the premiere episode of NOS4A2 way back at the beginning of June. It was titled “The Shorter Way,” and it gave the viewer a quick glimpse into what this series was going to be all about. You don’t need me to tell you whether or not this show is something that will appeal […]

The Killing Moon, by N.K. Jemisin — a book review

N.K. Jemisin was the author—with Bioware creative director Mac Walters—of the novel Mass Effect: Initiation. I read that video game tie-in because it was Mass Effect, not because it was Jemisin. But, I discovered that I liked the story and the writing a lot, and anyone who could make Lt. Cora Harper a more interesting […]

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Book IV: The Journey of the Ringbearers – a review

During at least one iteration of J.R.R. Tolkien’s massive novel The Lord of the Rings the fourth book (and second half of the second volume) was known as “The Journey of the Ringbearers.” In case you had any doubts about Tolkien’s intentions, that is exactly what Book IV is about. We’ve had some excitement […]

Game of Thrones: Season 7 — a review

I waited until after the seventh season of Game of Thrones had finished airing before I watched it. True confession time, here. Although I’ve been a fan of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, which began with the 1996 publication of A Game of Thrones, I still haven’t read A Dance […]

LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring: a book review

I know that The Lord of the Rings is not a true trilogy. Any self-respecting nerd knows that. It is one long novel (very long, actually) that is typically separated into three volumes. My writing a review of the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring, may be considered premature. You may think that I […]

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman— a book review

American Gods is a quite terrific novel written and published by Neil Gaiman nearly two decades ago. It is a genre defying work of fiction that, rather than confounding the reading public, went on to win major awards across the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror, because good storytelling trumps everything. I read […]

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