Alexander Outland: Space Pirate by G.J. Koch
It’s a Space Opera! It’s a pulp Story! Humor, romance, sex robots, a princess on the lamb, and the best pilot in the Galaxy!
If want fun, adventure, and even more raw sewage that you swing a smugger’s space ship at, this is your book. It’s not high art, but a fun read!
Tags: book, Monday Book Pick, Pulp, Science Fiction, SciFi, Space Opera
Arnold Schwarzenegger came back. This was a well done sequel that expands on the original. This 1991 (yes, it is old enough to order its own booze) movie had ground breaking special effects. It was also a good vehicle for Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor. She went through extensive training, including advanced weapons handling, to prepare for the role. Robert Patrick became a SciFi icon as the T-1000 Terminator. The movie is also noted for its use of identical twins to portray both the character and the T-1000 imitating the character. One of the pairs of identical twins was Linda Hamilton and her sister, who is a nurse.
Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Friday B-Movie, Movie, Science Fiction, SciFi
The Martian Emperor (A Chronological Man Adventure) by Andrew Mayne
Second in the series. The first was my pick back in early June. In this book, our hero and heroine pick up a number of months later. They travel to New York City by way of Smith’s private, and off the books, train, in order to face a new menance. The “Emperor of Mars” is blackmailing the Earth. They run into his old friend Theodore Roosevelt, and have a series of adventures. During the course of said adventures, we learn some more about Smith and his background. A ripping good yarn and well worth the $0.99.
Tags: book, Monday Book Pick, Pulp, Science Fiction, SciFi, Steampunk
The original is here. Great stuff.
In 1964, JFK is reelected, with LBJ as VP. The GOP does not yet do its big shift to conservatism, and its defeated candidate is Nelson Rockefeller (whose VP choice is William Scranton). Barry Goldwater rises up in 1968, and he is successful, defeating LBJ (who has Hubert Humphrey as his VP). Goldwater’s VP is William Miller (as it was, in actual history, in 1964), and Goldwater is an immensely successful President, winning the war in Vietnam, leaving civil rights issues to the states (and in the process preserving federalism values, to be used to excellent effect in succeeding years), and foreseeing and avoiding the problems of dependency on imported oil. Goldwater is reelected in 1972, defeating Hubert Humphrey (who has Scoop Jackson as his VP).
In 1976, Bobby Kennedy is the Democratic nominee (with Walter Mondale as VP), and he wins, defeating William Miller (who has Bob Dole as his VP). Bobby gets health-care reform, called “Bobbycare.” But Bobbycare goes too far, and RFK goes down in 1980, crushed by Ronald Reagan (whose VP is George H.W. Bush). Reagan is reelected in 1984, defeating Walter Mondale (who has Geraldine Ferraro as his VP).
In 1988, it’s Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen against George H.W. Bush and Jack Kemp, and — no big surprise — Bush and Kemp win. But they’re in for only one term. Blamed for the economy — stupid! — they lose, in 1992, to Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Clinton and Gore are reelected in 1992 (facing Jack Kemp and his VP choice Tommy Thompson).
In 2000, it’s Gore (with Lieberman) against George W. Bush (with Cheney), and Bush wins. In 2004, John Kerry (with John Edwards) lose to Bush and Cheney. In 2008, it’s John Edwards against Mitt Romney, and Mitt Romney wins. (We won’t worry about their VPs right now.) Challenged by Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney is reelected in 2012. And we don’t get our first woman President. But the Romney terms come to a close. Now it’s 2012, and Hillary goes for it again, only to be defeated in the primaries by another “first,” the possible first black President, this fascinating upstart with the funny name Barack Hussein Obama. (But America, having avoided dependence on foreign oil, thanks to Barry Goldwater, never got dragged into crazy interactions with those Middle East countries, and there was never a 9/11 terrorist attack or an Iraq war, or any of those things that would make “Hussein” seem truly odd.)
Speaking of firsts, there’s a first coming up on the GOP side, a woman! It’s the hyper-competent and stunningly beautiful Sarah Palin. With 8 years as Governor of Alaska, her executive experience and record of accomplishment wow America. (She was term-limited in 2014, and spent the next 2 years running for President.) And so in 2016, we have our big first, the first woman President: Sarah Palin!
Tags: Alternate History, Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Politics, Science Fiction, SciFi
John Ringo has slipped a non-subtle Warehouse 13 reference in his latest book, Queen of Wands.
OK, it’s more of a ‘guest appearance’ than a reference. Artie and Claudia show up to bag and tag an artifact after Barbara Everette, and an Opus Dei strike team, finish wiping out the nest of evil people who wanted to use it to raise a demon. If you have read the first Special Circumstances book, the only spoiler there concerned Artie and Claudia.
Apparently, John Ringo is a fan of the show.
Tags: Baen, book, John Ringo, Science Fiction, SciFi, Sunday SciFi
Red Shirts by John Scalzi
Scalzi takes a humorous, and also deadly serious look at one of the most famous themes of Television SciFi. Why Ensign Ricky doesn’t beam back up with the ship’s command crew. At the same time, he has fun with the topic of his earlier book, “Agent to the Stars”, the day to day work of Hollywood. As the author points out in the book, the theme is not new, but he does have an interesting take on it. One thing I did find interesting was that in list of “world as myth” examples, he left out “Number of the Beast.”
Tags: book, John Scalzi, Monday Book Pick, Science Fiction, SciFi
“Firefly just won’t die. And that’s a good things. Browncoats never surrender, they just take up misbehavior…”
— John Ringo
Tags: Firefly, John Ringo, quote, Quote of the Day, Science Fiction, SciFi
The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale by Mike Resnick
Executive Summary: Steampunk at the OK Corral, with Indian Medicine Men casting real Magick (for a dash of Shadowrun tossed in for flavor). Bonus points for a young Thomas Edison with a specially harded bronze mechanical arm. Other than that, it’s a pretty historically accurate recounting of the events leading up to, and the events after, the Gunfight at the OK Corral. It reminded me a lot of the movie Tombstone, to the point where I heard Val Kilmer’s Doc Holiday in my head while reading the book. This could be because both Resnick and the folks who did Tombstone did a lot of research on the topic. Even with the Steampunk Plus elements, it was a fun read.
Tags: Alternate History, book, Monday Book Pick, Science Fiction, SciFi, Steampunk, Western
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised about the amount of Dieselpunk on Pinterest.
It looks like the old FASA RPG Crimson Skies counts as Dieselpunk these days.
Tags: Crimson Skies, Dieselpunk, Pulp, RPG, Science Fiction, SciFi
I’ve been a Buckaroo Banzai fan since I saw it, twice, during the opening week back in 1984. Saw it at the old Juliet Theater in Poughkeepsie.
Got the paperback and the long sleeved Jet Car t-shirt.
Now there is a Buckaroo Banzai RPG.
This is not Doctor Banzai’s first appearance in an RPG. Team Banzai was an official part of the Battletech universe.
This is the first official RPG focused on the Banzai Institute though.
Bottom line, Buckaroo Banzai was a fun movie, a good read, and it’s a damn shame a sequel was never made.
Check it out.
Tags: BattleTech, book, Buckaroo Banzai, Movie, RPG, Science Fiction, SciFi, Sunday SciFi