Torture Cinema Poll: September Revenge of the 90s!
Well, you did it guys. You picked an absolutely awful movie last month, so hopefully you enjoyed our screams of agony as we reviewed Battle Beyond the Stars. Now you have a chance to take your revenge on us for whatever it is we’ve done to deserve all this torture. We imagine it was something truly terrible, like eating the last cookie. Actually, we just picked all 90s movies to take revenge on Shaun for being ridiculously picky about what appeared in the poll this month. SUCK IT, SHAUN! Have at it, folks! TORTURE US WITH ALL THE AWFUL THINGS WE ALREADY ENDURED IN THE 90s!! (It’s no wonder we’re so messed up)
Guest Post: The Hobby-Writer’s Tale by Basil Mahon
I took up book writing after retiring from regular work. It’s a wonderful hobby, but a harsh one. Being able to write well is not enough. To gain even the most modest success you need passion for your subject, great perseverance, and a measure of luck. I am one of the lucky ones, having had three books published which together have sold about 50,000 copies and been translated into five languages. This hasn’t made me rich but I have the tremendous satisfaction of knowing that every day someone, somewhere in the world, is getting enjoyment from reading my words. Perhaps something of what I’ve learned on the way may be useful to someone setting out on a similar path. I hope so. There’s something paradoxical about writing a book. It’s a solitary activity—there’s no escaping the sense of isolation when one faces the first blank page. Yet, to me, the joy of writing lies in the fellowship with readers, in the sharing of enjoyment.
Book Review: Buried Heart by Kate Elliott
All good things must come to an end, and with Buried Heart, author Kate Elliott brings to a conclusion the YA Court of Fives trilogy. Talking about plot developments in the third and final volume of a trilogy is difficult and perhaps foolish to try, so I will instead discuss the essential theme of this volume, one that has been slowly surfacing through Court of Fives and Poisoned Blade, but here gets its full fulminating flowering: Revolution. In Buried Heart, Efea’s oppressed status, something that the author has been delineating from the very first chapter of Court of Fives, comes out in full force. Of course within the potential revolution of Efea against the tyranny that holds it is the struggle of powers around it, and the struggles of the current royal occupants to hold the throne against kin and family. The first two novels, which suggested that Jessamy, the Spider, would be subsumed into that dynamic entirely, prove to have been a false flag. In the third volume, Jess finds herself caught between father and mother, her lover and her land, and must make often difficult choices as the people of Efea struggle to reclaim their freedom.
#PollMondays: Which of these 80s fantasy movies rules them all?
It’s time for yet another poll! This time, we’re going to focus on a fantasy question. You know the drill!
Back with a Burb'l Burb'l: A review of Beanworld Book 4
Welcome to the latest installment of my comics review column here at Skiffy & Fanty! Every month, I use this space to shine a spotlight on SF&F comics (print comics, graphic novels, and webcomics) that I believe deserve more attention from SF&F readers. This month, I’d like to direct your attention to the original graphic novel Beanworld Book 4: Hoka Hoka Burb’l Burb’l! (This review contains spoilers!)
Book Reviews: Martian Girls, Home and Abroad
Martians Abroad by Carrie Vaughn & Mars Girls by Mary Turzillo Two young adult (YA) novels featuring feisty teen heroines from Mars recently landed in my to-be-read pile. Beyond the surface similarity between their protagonists, the two novels diverge completely, each with unique focus and drive, and different kinds of success. Newly out in trade paperback from Tor, Martians Abroad by Carrie Vaughn is the simpler of the two, written with familiar themes (adversity-conquering intellect, exceptionalism) that recall YA science fiction adventures from ‘Golden Age’ writers like Heinlein. The plot of this stand-alone novel from Vaughn is even more broadly recognizable as a typical coming-of-age setup. A teen leaves the familiarity of home to enter an institution populated by antagonistic peers and aloof adults. The ridiculed outcast slowly proves the utility of her or his outsider perspective/experience, showing-up the cliques and saving the day.
