The brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière were two of the earliest and most influential film directors. La Charcuterie Méchanique (1895), considered one of the earliest “sc-fi” films of all time, predicts the mechanical butcher. A rather simple machine “transforms” a pig into Continue reading
science fiction
A Film Rumination: It! The Terror from Beyond Space, Edward L. Cahn (1958)
5/10 (Bad — but definitely watch if you’re a B-film sci-fi fan)
I think the most important lesson I learned from the hilariously (occasionally) bad 50s sci-fi alien monster caper It! The Terror from Beyond Space is that in future female scientists and doctors still serve coffee and lunch… Continue reading
Book Review: The World Inside, Robert Silverberg (1971)
5/5 (Near Perfect, a Masterpiece)
1972 Hugo Nomination for Best Novel, withdrawn (I suspect because Silverberg had another novel in the running that year, A Time of Changes)
Science fiction from the late 60s and early 70s dealing with overpopulation has always fascinated me Continue reading
Book Review: Bow Down To Nul (variant title: The Interpreter), Brian W. Aldiss (1960)
2/5 (Bad)
Ok, I admit, I bought this book because of the gorgeous red/helium-breathing alien/humans toting spears cover… Sadly, there’s very little behind the cover besides a standard uninventive pulp-ish romp. Aldiss expends little effort and as result the work lacks an interesting society or an involving plot and all the action takes place in the slip-shop last few pages. Continue reading
A Film (documentary) Rumination: The Atomic Cafe, Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty (1982)
8/10 (Very Good)
Atomic Cafe (1982) is a scathing documentary on the atomic age created from archival film from the 40s-early 60s. The scope of the material is extensive: military training films (often the most morbidly hilarious and poorly acted of the bunch), television news, various other government-produced propaganda films Continue reading
Book Review: Synthajoy, D. G. Compton (1968)
4.5/5 (Very Good)
I had not heard of the relatively unknown British sci-fi writer David G. Compton until I read a fantastic review by Ian Sales of Compton’s most famous novel, The Unsleeping Eye (1971) (his review and blog here). In my normal circuitous fashion, I decided to read a lesser-known work of Compton’s first, Synthajoy (1968). And, I was not disappointed, Continue reading
A Short Story Review: Recall Mechanism, Philip K. Dick (1959)
First publication for 'Recall Mechanism', If, July 1959
4/5 (Very Good)
“In the privacy of his living room, he sat dully examining a series of reports on carrot mutations.”
Paul Sharp files reports on what to rebuild in the swathes of H-bomb blasted California landscape for the Division of War Destruction Salvage… Continue reading
Book Review: Thorns, Robert Silverberg (1967)
4/5 (Good)
1968, Best Novel Hugo Award Nomination; 1968, Best Novel Nebula Award Nomination
Silverberg’s brooding, post-utopian, rumination has the makings of a great science fiction novel. This horrifically dark Continue reading
Book Review: The World of Null-A, A. E. van Vogt (published as a serial in 1945, revised in 1948)
3.5/5 (Above Average)
A. E. van Vogt’s The World of Null-A is a frustrating but worthwhile experience. This is in part because of the trite introduction inserted in my edition of the work by A. E. Van Vogt defending his work against the notorious (and career making) critique by the sci-fi writer Continue reading
Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 