The Greenbelt (Free subscription) | 11/27/2009
Today in 1907, in New York City, L. Sprague de Camp was born. Alternate histories, time travel, ethnocentrism (attacking it, I hasten to add), linguistics ... de Camp was a giant. The Incomplete Enchanter is one of the funniest fantasy novels ever written. Lest Darkness Fall , "The Wheels of If", and "A Gun for Dinosaur", among others, set rigorous standards for time travel novels...
The World in the Satin Bag (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
There was an enormous book sale here in Gainesville over the last few days and I thought I’d let you all know what I got (a lot of stuff, actually). Next time, in April, I don’t think I will be going quite as all out, mostly because I don’t have as much need for a lot of books anymore. I intentionally went this year trying to find things to use for my research, and now I’m only...
Military Analysis (Free subscription) | 10/24/2009
This is coolbert: From the prior blog entry: "during WW2, the best minds of the entire world were devoted to this question." " This question " - - continual research and engineering development the intention of which was to improve the performance of the World War Two [WW2] war bird to the highest possible degree of operational status. Improvements to all aspects, engines, weaponry,...
The Fate of the Artist (Free subscription) | 10/08/2009
W arren Ellis writes about Gil Kane's isolated publications of 1968 and 1971. He says something that reflects on a stupid argument that I occasionally find myself in. That is, that the 'graphic novel' is widely said to be a 'format,' for example as in this passage I mocked : "One of the most common mistakes made in our medium is the confusion of Comic Books with Graphic Novels. This is sort of...
The Corner (Free subscription) | 09/24/2009
J. J. Miller and I had some exchanges a few days ago about the writer H. P. Lovecraft. This is one of those topics that brings in bagfuls of e-mail, I don't know why. Lovecraft has a huge following. I just posted one of the best of those emails to Secular Right, since it's a bit long for the Corner on such a peripheral topic. Incidentally, several readers questioned whether the Lovecraft biography...
Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Experience (Free subscription) | 09/17/2009
THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE Read other issues here ---------------------------------------------- Vic Phillips "Maiden Voyage" © Astounding Stories, Jan 1939 --/ third place space sf novella --/ adventure award --/ style award --/ romance award --/ shock value --/ rare find This is an outstanding novella: nothing much is known about Vic Phillips, who only published a...
How books got their titles (Free subscription) | 09/04/2009
HP Lovecraft was one of the early exponents of horror fantasy. He peppered his books with references to an occult work called The Necronomicon , and, as his fame grew, he was besieged by readers asking where they could find a copy of it. But the truth was that Lovecraft had invented the book and its title. He wrote in a letter of 1937: ‘The name Necronomicon (necros, corpse; nomos, law; eikon,...
Book Calendar (Free subscription) | 08/16/2009
Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, and Isaac Asimov, Philadelphia Navy Yard, 1944 Daily Thoughts 8/17/2009
The Silver Key (Free subscription) | 04/10/2009
Even the Gods so glorious must march at the last, down the dim dusty road to death the destroyer. —L. Sprague de Camp, The Tritonian Ring I hesitate to mention the name L. Sprague de Camp ‘round these parts, given the resentment held against him for his character-sullying, inaccurate portrayals of Robert E. Howard in his REH biography Dark Valley Destiny and elsewhere. But if you can look...
Cynical-C Blog (Free subscription) | 07/09/2008
Oldtime Radio X-Minus One "A Gun for Dinosaur" Part One.A safari into the Cretaceous to hunt for Tyrannosaurus Rex is endangered by a reckless glory hound, whose ineptitude and arrogance are matched only by his capacity for murder. Story by L. Sprague de Camp Part 2 is here.
io9 (Free subscription) | 03/04/2008
Gary Gygax, co-inventor of Dungeons and Dragons, will probably be best remembered as the man who brought role playing games into the lives of millions of teenagers in the 1970s, and who helped spawn... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
SF Signal (Free subscription) | 02/28/2008
From the Science Fiction Writers of America : The SFWA® Board of Directors and President Michael Capobianco are pleased to announce that writer and editor Michael Moorcock has been named Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master for 2008. The Grand Master represents SFWA's highest accolade and recognizes excellence for a lifetime of contributions to the genres of science fiction and fantasy. Mr. Moorcock...
Dr. Frank's What's-it (Free subscription) | 01/19/2008
Along with Patty Hearst, Pete Shelley, Yog Sothoth, L. Sprague de Camp, and Radagast the Brown, this guy was a major touchstone/icon/bugbear of my childhood, such as it was, so, even though he went insane in the end: pax tecum....
Dumb Looks Still Free (Free subscription) | 09/10/2007
I do like it when public figures put out books on alternate history and then venture forth to offer 'alternative timelines' on things. Really! It's fun! Latest is Newt Gingrich offering *his* alternate history on 'the war on terror', as reported on by David Freddoso at NRO . One of the great joys in my SF reading has been alt-history from H. Beam Piper's Paratime works (especially Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen...
TexasBestGrok (Free subscription) | 05/24/2007
(2004 winds up!) Astounding Stories: The 60th Anniversary Collection; edited by James Gunn (Easton Press, 1990). Three volumes, introductions by Poul Anderson (black cover volume),...
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