#PollMondays: Which of these super people would win in a game of Risk?
We’re rolling out a new thing on the blog. It began as a new thing on our Twitter account: #PollMondays. People seemed to like it, so we’re going to do more of it! The premise for today’s poll is simple: if these super people sat down for a game of Risk, who do you think would win? To make things more interesting, we’ve taken out all of the obvious contenders for smarts and tactics, such as Batman, Professor X, Nick Fury, Brainiac, and basically anyone who can reliably see the future. Instead, we’re giving you big, beefy superheroes — known for their ability to punch other people in the face more than their ability to strategize (mostly). Vote away!
Top 10 Posts and Episodes for June 2017
June was an interesting month for us. Our Twitter account was abuzz with activity, we released some awesome podcasts, and the world survived one more month of…well, never mind that. Now that we’re firmly ensconced in July, it’s time for another statistics post! Here’s what readers and listeners loved on our blog or podcast throughout June 2017: Top Posts: Movie Review: “Wonder Woman” (See it!) by Trish Matson Breaking News: Peter Jackson to turn The Silmarillion into a 14-movie epic by Michael J. Martinez Guest Post: Growing up in Fandom in the 1970s by LJ Cohen Guest Post: Religions on Mars, According to Me by Mary Turzillo Guest Post: Writing the Monster by Scott Oden Metropolis (1927), Feminism, and Influence by Stina Leicht Star Trek: Discovery and the Clueless by Stina Leicht Retro Childhood Review: The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (reviewed by Jen Zink) Book Review: Wothwood by Natania Barron (reviewed by Paul Weimer) Okay, the princess rescued herself. Now What?! by Stephen Geigen-Miller Top Episodes: Signal Boost #4: Gideon Marcus (GalacticJourney.org) and Andrew Barton (Tailings of the Golden Age) 153. Birdemic (2010) — A Torture Cinema “Adventure” 326. Joyce Chng (a.k.a. — Starfang: Rise of the Clan (An Interview) 304. Scott Lynch and Elizabeth Bear (a.k.a. The Rakish Rogue and the Sky Marshall) — An Interview #59. Alien: Covenant (2017) w/ Jeannette Ng — A Shoot the WISB Subcast Signal Boost #8: A Conversation about the Importance of Wonder Woman Signal Boost #7: Ashlee Blackwell (Graveyard Shift Sisters) and Carrie Patel (Pillars of Eternity/Recolleta Series) 327. Fiend Without a Face (1958) — A Torture Cinema “Adventure” 198. Brazilian SF w/ Fabio Fernandes, Cesar Alcázar, Libby Ginway, and Jacques Barcia #WorldSFTour 325. Queen of the Damned (2002) — A Torture Cinema “Adventure” w/ Megan O’Keefe What did you enjoy the most? Let us know in the comments!
Book Review: An Alchemy of Masks and Mirrors by Curtis Craddock
In this first novel in his Risen Kingdoms series, Curtis Craddock is coming at us like the love child of Alexandre Dumas and Frank Herbert, possibly as fostered in his youth by Scott Lynch. It’s a helluva combination, and I don’t make a comparison like this lightly. If you’re a fan of any of those authors, or of intricately plotted fantasy that’s full of surprises, well, grab onto a restraining rope and climb aboard my airship. That’s right, I said airship. The fantasy world of the Risen Kingdoms is one of floating continents*, some thickly settled, some just discovered. Travel between them is by airship — but don’t think this is steampunk. I said Alexandre Dumas, not Jules Verne! Our heroes are a Princess and her faithful King’s Own Musketeer (see?), who quickly learn that, while neither has been of much value in their native land or to the local ruling family, both now have grand destinies, because the Princess has to go marry the Prince of a rival nation and might become that nation’s queen one day, and her musketeer must go with her to continue his life-long charge of Keeping Her Safe.
Book Review: Substrate Phantoms by Jessica Reisman
Mysterious doings on Termagenti station, and the story of a tortured survivor of an exploration gone wrong, both external and internal, are at the heart of Substrate Phantoms, a debut space opera novel from Jessica Reisman. Substrate Phantoms features a strong character-based focus for the novel, playing firmly in the more literary side of the genre as it explores a story of what only slowly and painstakingly is revealed to be one of a first contact with the Other. The novel primarily follows a pair of characters whose stories touch and eventually converge. Jhinsei was part of a tube team, one of the groups on Termangenti Station sent as troubleshooters for various systems on the complex and sometimes badly functioning orbital habitat. In the prologue of the novel, he and his team check out a problem in the station in an area near where a mysterious derelict spacecraft has long been stashed. Things went…bad on that mission, to the point where Jhinsei, the most junior member of the team, was the only survivor. Eighteen months later, now in a safer dead end job, the consequences of that expedition and what really happened to Jhinsei start to emerge. Jhinsei has started to hear and see things, including the voices of the dead members of his team. And other things have started to happen in his presence as well. These strange events around him bring Jhinsei and what happened to the attention of some very powerful people on the station. This will put Jhinsei on the run from those he cares about, and ultimately the station itself.
Torture Cinema Poll: July "Battle of the Decades"
We’ve been enjoying ourselves forcing you guys to pick older movies and this month is no exception! The question is, what decade produced the WORST science fiction films? Honestly, I have no idea, and I really doubt this completely unscientific poll will answer that question, but WOW do these movies look awful! They’re all available on YouTube right now so if you want to watch before you decide, please do! But this poll ends on Friday, so hurry!
Book Review: The Rogue Retrieval by Dan Koboldt
As a geneticist, Dan Koboldt has written extensively within his field of research and in nonfiction for the general reader (such as Clarkesworld) on science in speculative fiction and related genres. Expecting and hoping for his fiction to be filled with speculative elements related to genetics, I was caught off guard by his debut novel, a light-hearted portal fantasy titled The Rogue Retrieval. A successful start to a Harper Voyager series called “Gateways to Alissia”, it has been followed by The Island Deception earlier this year, and will continue in a third volume due early 2018. The protagonist and point-of-view character for The Rogue Retrieval is Quinn Bradley, a talented and witty stage magician/illusionist who dreams of finding large-scale success headlining Vegas. In addition to attracting the notice of casino reps, Quinn’s act also attracts the attention of agents for CASE Global, a secretive corporation with the financial resources to recruit Quinn into an exclusive contract too tempting to dismiss.
