Echoes from the Satellite

  This post is not a review but just an appreciation of a writer that I fear is getting lost in the mists of time -Roger Zelazny. If you've not read any Zelazny, it's hard to find another writer to compare him to, because he had a unique style and voice. He wrote both science fiction and fantasy, but his work often blurred the two. He was one of the SF/F writers that emerged from the 60s who focused not on the hard SF of Asimov and his ilk, but more on the human psyche. His books featured protagonists that were often conflicted, perhaps leaning more towards anti-hero status, but always intriguing. He had an interest in legends and mythology which plays throughout his works. Zelazny had a way with language and words -although he often favored a sort of stripped down style of dialog, he could also weave dreamlike imagery. As a reader, I always felt transported by his writing, effortlessly, to new places, new ideas, new states of being. If you are wondering where to start, I would...

Earlier this week I saw a tweet by @deanetts about the 70s era Marvel Comics character Killraven (featured in the title Amazing Adventures ) and it got me thinking about that series. As a 70s kid (a Bronze Age Baby, as I was once called), I have an unabashed love of Marvel's output from 1970 to about 1977. That's the sweet spot of comics for me. As a SF fan, I was always excited to see SF elements worked into super-hero fare, but books with straight up science fiction premises were a real treat. I came late to Killraven. Going back through my collection, I can tell the difference between the issues I picked up off the stands and the ones I bought as back issues (I bet most of you can do this too). It looks like I started reading the series with issue 29, which, since it started with issue 18, was a fair way into the run.  But I recall that it wasn't too hard to understand what was going on. The series took H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds and imagined that the ...

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells There are currently five entries in this highly entertaining science fiction series from Martha Wells. The first four - All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol , and Exit Strategy - are all novellas. The most recent entry, Network Effect , is the first full length novel featuring Murderbot, aka SecUnit, the security construct (part robot, part human tissue) that is the main character of the series and who serves as our guide. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series, devouring the novellas once I became aware of them, and I've just started the fifth book, which was released in May. The stories all take place in a far future where corporations control space exploration/colonization, and teams that go out on these hazardous missions must take a company-owned security unit (SecUnit) with them for protection. The SecUnit of this series has just managed to hack its own control system when we first meet up with it. But rather th...

Welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere. Yes, I've been here before. Some of you might know me from my days of blogging on comics with my pal Doug over at Bronze Age Babies ( https://bronzeagebabies.blogspot.com/ ). We had a great run for seven years and Doug keeps the BAB alive on Twitter. I can't say enough good things about Doug, He and I continue to stay in touch, and we even will be teaming up again soon. More about that later. Some of you may be here because you are listeners of Planet 8 ( planet8podcast.com ), the twice-monthly podcast that I am a part of with my pals Larry and Bob, where we talk about all things geek. At the time that I write this, we've been doing it for just over two years and have 53 episodes finished, so not too shabby. I also do some tweeting on stuff, mostly science fiction-related, but sometimes music or comics, so that's another outlet. But lately I've been feeling the need to explore some ideas that just can't be ...