Book Review: Death on the Caldera
I liked how grounded this book felt. The details of train service, survivors trying to recover after the wreck, the squabbling among various factions of train passengers, the differences between types of magic — all of these felt thoughtfully explored.
Book Review: The Thief and the Wild, by Seann Barbour
This Southern-flavored steampunk fantasy is as easy to sink into as a hammock, with a nice breezy tone most of the time, narrated by a sympathetic protagonist with a wry point of view, relating an exciting plot that moves around a bayou town, up and down, and eventually strikes out into the wilderness, with a cataclysmic confrontation at the climax.
374. Wild Wild West (1999) — Torture Cinema #100 (Pandemic Special)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sandf374wildwildwest/SandF_374_Wild_Wild_West.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSGiant mechanical spiders, male boob grabbing, and nice trains, oh my! Shaun Duke, Paul Weimer, and Alex Acks join forces for this special Pandemic Edition of Torture Cinema. Together, they tackle the infamous 1990s blunder, Wild Wild West, explore through a drunken stupor the film’s approach to characterization, history, Western tropes, race, gender, and disability. This is a jam-packed show, y’all, because there’s just so much to say about this ridiculous VERY 90s movie. You’re welcome! We hope you enjoy the episode!
Book Review: THE CURIOSITY KILLERS by K.W. Taylor
Years have passed since the second American Civil War split the nation in two, and physicist Edward Vere now devotes his time in the New British Empire to time travel technology, all while limited to the mostly Victorian-era technology that this portion of the former United States is permitted. During an experiment, a spacetime bridge opens between Vere and historic aviator Wilbur Wright, who is working with similar experiments in his own time. Perfecting the technology, Vere enters into a business partnership with historian Benoy Johnson. Together they start a time travel service for select individuals (references required), facilitating clients to go solve mysteries of the past as observers. However, there is a catch: upon returning, a client will be debriefed and then have their memory wiped to ensure that the technology or the ‘natural’ secrets of time do not spread to the public.
Book(s) Review: Alice Payne Arrives and Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield
Alice Payne Arrives and Alice Payne Rides form a pair of time travel novellas that stand ably alongside the other fresh and new time travel science fiction being written today. The late 21st and early 22nd century are, frankly, a mess. Even after the invention of time travel, the Earth is in a bad way. There are plans to try and move people to the future, when the climate ravages have hopefully settled down, or to the past, before the worst effects are baked in. Trying to change the past to try and fix everything has boiled down to a conflict between two time traveling factions, the Farmers and the Guides. They have very divergent ideas what to do with time travel, enough that they are in a no-win conflict They have achieved a messy stalemate in their temporal cold war. In the meantime, though, a young woman in the late 18th century is using daring, stealth, and her lover’s clockwork automaton creation to gain the funds needed to keep her family’s estate afloat. Her name is Alice Payne, and she is soon swept into the temporal cold war.
Book Review: The Architect and the Castle of Glass by Jade Mere
Jade Mere’s debut work with Dreamspinner Press, The Architect and the Castle of Glass, takes readers on an adventure to a strange castle in a distant land, where the main character, Tahki, is faced with the greatest architectural challenge of his life, that may or may not lead him to love. A high fantasy novel with touches of steampunk that mix with fascinating class systems, The Architect and the Castle of Glass is a coming-of-age tale that follows a troubled path. And while it may not be a complete stunner, it’s a comfortable novel that has some great themes and a solid ending.
