Mining the Genre Asteroid: The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
Eight, sir; seven, sir; Six, sir; five, sir; Four, sir; three, sir; Two, sir; one! Tenser, said the Tensor. Tenser, said the Tensor. Tension, apprehension, And dissension have begun In the days of Sad and Rabid Puppies and food fights over the Hugos and the legacy of science fiction, it’s valuable to go back to the award’s beginning. In 1953, the first ever Hugo award for Best Novel was awarded. The winner was The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester. The Demolished Man stands with Bester’s The Stars My Destination as one of the two masterpieces of SF author Alfred Bester.
Book Review: The Ark by Patrick S. Tomlinson
Bryan Benson is one of the lucky few, one of the 50,000 or so humans left in the universe. A descendant of those who built and escaped on a generation ship fleeing a disaster for Earth undreamed up by even the imagination of Irwin Allen, Benson is an ex-sports hero, and now a detective. On the last bastion of humanity, slowly approaching their goal of Tau Ceti, there isn’t a lot of work for the detective beyond the usual sort of petty crimes one expects. The margin and tolerance for anything greater just isn’t there when all of the species is in one boat, literally. So, when Benson is handed a missing person case that may not be a missing person, or even an accidental death, but rather a murder, the ex-sports hero will have to become a different sort of hero.
Mining the Genre Asteroid: Tea with the Black Dragon, R.A. MacAvoy
Martha MacMamara has had a strained relationship with her computer programmer of a daughter, Elizabeth. When Elizabeth sends her a plane ticket and a reservation to a hotel in San Francisco, however, Martha is drawn west to find out what is going on in Elizabeth’s life. Martha’s arrival coincides, however, with Elizabeth’s outright disappearance. With Martha unable to find her daughter, the help and aid of a mysterious Chinese gentleman may prove to be a most fortunate and propitious meeting. For, you, see, Mayland Long is far more, and far older, than he appears, and the perspicacious Martha recognizes this right off. And so one of the most interesting and powerful relationships in the history of SFF novels is born. Tea with the Black Dragon is R.A. MacAvoy’s 1983 Nebula and Hugo nominated novel. On the strength of the novel, MacAvoy won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1983. The novel won the Locus Award for best first novel in 1984. It’s a short novel, most especially by modern standards, and aside from the richness of the writing to slow you down, it goes down as a very fast read (or re-read).
Book Review: Romance and Ghosts: Delia’s Shadow by Jaime Lee Moyer
Delia Martin’s early 20th-century American life as a woman of money and means is not all peaches and cream. Delia has an unwanted and rather terrifying ability to see ghosts. After the Great Earthquake of 1906, Delia left her San Francisco home, and she thought, the ghosts forever. One determined spirit that crossed the country to find Delia brings her back to her hometown. Delia, with the ghost, which she has named Shadow, arrive just in time for her best friend’s wedding and the Pan-Pacific Exposition besides. And the possibility of a new romance for Delia. Oh, and also just in time to wind up in the middle of the bloody run of a serial killer. A serial killer who has killed before. And a serial killer to which Delia’s shadow might have a connection. The eponymous Delia’s Shadow is the debut novel of Jaime Lee Moyer.
Book Review: The Buried Life by Carrie Patel
The city of Recoletta is an artifact of the Catastrophe. Like the bomb shelters that saved humanity after the Catastrophe, most of the city is built underground, and most of its residents rarely see the surface. It’s a point of pride to those who manage never to do so. In this gaslight world of tenement and tunnels, the Council rules, openly in some ways, secretly in others. When murders and death stalk not the common man, but the high and mighty in Recoletta, the conflict and dangers run from those high and mighty to every aspect of society. Recoletta is a city, a world in miniature on the edge, and these murders are set to very possibly give it a very big push. Carrie Patel’s debut novel The Buried Life introduces us to Recoletta and its citizenry and gives us a picture of it and their lives in the wake of a series of shocking murders. Our points of view are primarily a pair of strong women characters.
#24. Sherlock (Season One) — A Shoot the WISB Subcast w/ Alex Acks and Mike Martinez
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB24SherlockSeasonOne/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2324%20–%20Sherlock%20%28Season%20One%29.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSTeapots, super genius murderer cabbies, and MORIARTY, oh my! Finally, we’ve done it. We’ve watched and reviewed the first season of BBC’s Sherlock (2010-present). Joining us are Michael J. Martinez (author of The Daedalus Incident and The Enceladus Crisis) and Rachael Acks (author of The Curious Case of Mrs. Clementine Nimowitz). We hope you enjoy the episode! Spoiler Alert: the following podcast contains spoilers for the film being reviewed; if you wish to see the film without having it ruined for you, download this podcast and save it for later. Download the episode here. [audio http://archive.org/download/ShootTheWISB24SherlockSeasonOne/Shoot%20the%20WISB%20%2324%20–%20Sherlock%20%28Season%20One%29.mp3] Show notes (info about our contributors can be found on the about page): Sherlock (IMDB) Rachael’s Website Rachael’s Twitter Rachael’s Books Mike Martinez’ Website Mike’s Twitter Mike’s Books Comment away!
