As my gaming interests have turned more towards Warhammer Fantasy than Warhammer 40k, my reading has followed suit. Worry not, dear reader, I haven’t lost my love of the 40k universe, it’s just that I …
Continue readingA Glimpse of Winter Falling – Game of Thrones
Since I missed the in-production teaser when it aired during the Countdown to True Blood on Sunday, I had to watch it on HBO’s website. Which meant that I also read the introduction by the …
Continue readingSandman Meditations – The Doll’s House
Taverns, serial killers, and… MTV? Matthew Cheney’s journey through Gaiman’s Dreaming continues.
Continue readingPlayin’ with Ice and Fire – A Game of Thoughts | Arya Stark Chapter 7
We get our first Arya Stark POV chapter and get great Stark family interaction with her and Jon and her and Sansa in this edition of our Game of Thrones reread
Continue readingWould a Robot Love You? – Notes from New Sodom
Romantic advice from the future from the great Hal Duncan.
Continue readingJuliet by Anne Fortier Review
I haven’t been as excited about a book as I was when I got to the end of Juliet in a long time. A year, maybe. Anne Fortier has managed what might well be the …
Continue readingPlayin’ with Ice and Fire – A Game of Thoughts | Catelyn Stark Chapter 6
We disect and discuss the husband wifey relationship between Ned and Catelyn Stark, opportunity, and parenting in Game of Thrones.
Continue readingGrimblades by Nick Kyme Review 40k
I must begin this review with a teensy confession. I bought this book by mistake. I was actually after Iron Company by Chris Wraight, and what with the very similar covers and the fact that …
Continue readingPlayin’ with Ice and Fire – A Game of Thoughts | Jon Snow Chapter 5
Our first POV Jon Snow chapter offers us the classic first meeting of Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister in our Game of Thrones combo reread. Of Bastards and Dwarfs!
Continue readingThe Combat Fiction Bar & Grill by Hal Duncan – Notes from New Sodom
Combat Fiction in science fiction and fantasy. What it is. Why. And Catch-22? Hal Duncan explains all in the latest Notes of New Sodom.
Continue readingSecret Warriors – A Steranko Vision For The Morrison Future
Secret Warriors was a title that spun out of the massive Marvel event of yesteryear, Secret Invasion. It could have been the usual dreck, a spin off title with the usual creative team but instead …
Continue readingPlayin’ with Ice and Fire – A Game of Thoughts | Eddard Stark Chapter 4
Two brothers from another mother reunite in the first Ned Stark chapter of our aSoIaF reread. And Jay loves Bobby Baratheon?
Continue readingThe Abominable Charles Christopher
Karl Kerschl is another comic artist who has dipped his toe into the big pond, he’s worked for DC on a multitude of titles, but his real magnum opus is coming in his longform webcomic. …
Continue readingPlayin’ with Ice and Fire – A Game of Thoughts: Daenerys Chapter 3
We get introduced to Daenerys Targaryen in Chapter 3 of our Game of Thrones reread. She has 99 problems and her brother is #1.
Continue readingSin Titulo – A Study In Paranoid Noir
Cameron Stewart is an artist who has become well known due to his collaborations with Grant Morrison on Seaguy and Batman & Robin as well as working with Jason Aaron on the Eisner winning Vertigo …
Continue readingPlayin’ with Ice and Fire – A Game of Thoughts | Catelyn Chapter 2
Info dumps! We meet the king through Catelyn Stark’s eyes and see a reunion between two old friends in Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon.
Continue readingWinter’s Bone | movie review
Winter’s Bone is about a rural Missouri teenager whose drug-manufacturing father left her between a rock and a hard place when he put their property up to post his bond and then failed to make …
Continue readingJodelle Ferland Interview | Mum on Cabin in the Woods
Joss Whedon is a man of many secrets, and one of them is the precise nature of the threats or coercions he clearly uses to keep the cast of his latest project, The Cabin in …
Continue readingSandman Meditations – Preludes & Nocturnes
This is the beginning of the best issue-by-issue analysis of Sandman IMHO. Follow Matt Cheney’s journey through Sandman and start here!
Continue readingPlayin’ with Ice and Fire – A Game of Thoughts | Bran Chapter 1
Puppies! The Starks get direwolves and miss ominous symbolism of wolf and stag in the Bran Stark Chapter 1 reread of A Game of Thrones.
Continue readingThanos – Badass of the Week
SNAP! Find out more of the exploits of Thanos before Infinity War. They are def BADASS.
Continue readingPlayin’ with Ice and Fire – A Game of Thoughts | The Prologue
Waymar Royce stylish in his winter gear! Kicking of the two person combo reread of George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones of with the prologue.
Continue readingShana Abé Interview + The Treasure Keeper + The Time Weaver Review
Shana Abé is a bestselling author normally found in the Romance section, but whose latest books are fantasy (or at least fairy tale) crossovers. She’s also a personal favorite of mine–verify on our favorites page, if you …
Continue readingInception | movie review
Inception is probably the first movie of 2010 that movie lovers have been legitimately anticipating—that is, looking forward to since that very first preview back in February. Certainly I was. Sometimes that anticipation is a …
Continue readingPredators | movie review
Don’t believe all of the inexplicably great reviews for Predators; it is a seriously stupid movie. Billed as a return to the greatness of the original Predator movie, this sequel comes off as a second-rate …
Continue readingRobert Freeman Wexler Interview | The Painting and the City
Robert Freeman Wexler’s latest novel is The Painting And The City, out from PS Publishing, and it was recently named one of the top 10 science fiction novels of 2009 by Booklist. He has also …
Continue readingThe Lost Airbender – Notes from New Sodom
The world needed it, and we got it. The Hal Duncan take on The Last Airbender movie.
Continue readingTwilight: Eclipse | movie review
I thought Eclipse was the best of the three movies so far, though not by as large a margin over New Moon as New Moon was over Twilight. New director David Slade retained the same look …
Continue readingTwilight with Jodelle Ferland | Interview
Jodelle Ferland is the young actress playing Bree Tanner in Twilight: Eclipse. She’s got a resume a mile long already, even though she’s not even sixteen, and it includes working with heavyweights like Terry Gilliam …
Continue readingKit Reed Interview | Enclave
We are pleased that Kit Reed, the author of Enclave, has agreed to be interviewed for us. She is also the author of many other books, many of which are mentioned in this interview, like The Midnight Children, Thinner …
Continue readingWarren Ellis’ X-Men Is Death
The fact that Warren Ellis has a run on any X-Men title should be enough to merit pause and reflection. That he was then able to craft a science fiction dirge about mortality and creation …
Continue readingAdam Rex Fat Vampire Interview
Adam Rex is an amazingly talented children’s illustrator, as well as being an author of both children’s and YA novels. I had the pleasure of meeting him in person last month at BEA, and I …
Continue readingDavid Moody Interview – Hater
Author David Moody created an online sensation when he published his horror novel, Autumn, via the Internet, racking up more than half a million downloads and spawning a series of sequels. When he published Hater, …
Continue readingThe Forever War by Joe Haldeman Review
For reasons I cannot adequately explain, even to myself, I prefer to read fantasy over science fiction, but I prefer SF movies over fantasy. So I don’t actually read a lot of true science fiction …
Continue readingBlack Panther: The King Without Fear
It’s just been announced that T’Challa, the Black Panther, King of Wakanda, is going to become the new Man Without Fear protecting Hell’s Kitchen. This turn of events will transpire after the Shadowland event centering …
Continue readingThe Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer Review
I’m assuming if you’re reading this you like Twilight and have already read the other books, yes? And you want one of two things from me here–a recommendation about whether this new novella is worth …
Continue readingUnder Heaven and the Book World Under Siege – Guy Gavriel Kay Guest Blog
The great Guy Gavriel Kay blesses my blog.
Continue readingThe Spelunkers of Speculative Fiction – Notes from New Sodom
Speculative fiction. Science Fiction versus Sci-Fi versus science fiction versus Fantasy versus fantasy?Hal Duncan on genre and labels.
Continue readingSoul Hunter + Helsreach + Blood Reaver 40k by Aaron Dembski Bowden Review
Let me start by saying that this isn’t a book I would normally pick up. It tells a dark tale from the perspective of what I’ll call the “bad guys.” I could not conceive of …
Continue readingKick-Ass | movie review
Kick-Ass lives up to its name. Best movie I’ve seen at the theater in months. I had pretty high hopes going in–all the bad reviews I saw were focused on how violent it was, which just …
Continue readingThe Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin Review
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is the first book in a new series (The Inheritance Trilogy, which lends itself to some potentially hilarious confusion with The Inheritance Cycle) by a new author, and I think that …
Continue readingCassandra Sawtell on Harper’s Island and Gilliam| Interview
Actress Cassandra Sawtell, whom we hear at the empire know from Harper’s Island, has been nominated for Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) at the 2010 Young Artist Awards for her work on the show. …
Continue readingA Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill Review
One of the most keenly anticipated books of the bestselling Horus Heresy series, A Thousand Sons tells one half of the epic story of the destruction of Prospero, the Thousand Sons’ homeworld, from the perspective …
Continue readingRepo Men | Movie Review
Repo Men is a movie I wish someone could repo from my memory banks. It was the biggest waste of two hours of my life since Avatar (and possibly longer, since it’s not a film …
Continue readingRobert Pattinson’s Remember Me | movie review
Um. Wow. I am really not sure how to approach this one. First of all, this movie was not what I expected. It looked from the previews like a love story, possibly happy and possibly …
Continue readingThe Kerspindle Kerfuffle – Notes from New Sodom
The book world stands off as Macmillan and Amazon square off over digital domination in publishing.
Continue readingThe Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie Review
It was only after watching a great deal of House M.D. that I discovered that Hugh Laurie had penned a novel (published about a decade ago, now). I was intrigued. Clearly the man is an …
Continue readingFallen Angels by Mike Lee Review
Mike Lee’s Fallen Angels is the eleventh book in the hugely popular Horus Heresy series and continues the story begun in Mitchel Scanlon’s excellent Descent of Angels. Did I just say excellent? Yes. I know …
Continue readingEmpire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky Review
Empire in Black and Gold is the debut of British author Adrian Tchaikovsky and the first installment in a trilogy titled Shadows of the Apt. In his debut Tchaikovsky gives us a heroic narrative where …
Continue readingSons of Dorn by Chris Roberson Review
This being my first review for BSC, I wanted to say one thing straight away: objectivity is a myth. I have none. My reviews will be guided almost exclusively by my enjoyment, or not, of …
Continue readingOutlining for Non-Outliners: An Outline – Erin M. Evans Guest Blog
Erin Evans is back from the Realms to outline your life.
Continue readingThe Book of Eli – review
The Book of Eli is really great: it’s got the apocalypse, it’s got all kinds of murder and death with blood and rolling heads, and it’s got Denzel Washington saying profound things and threats from the …
Continue readingAdam Bertocci Interview
Sunday morning I brought the internet gem that is Two Gentlemen of Lebowski to your attention. Now I’ve got the man of the hour himself here to explain what possibly prompted him to combine Shakespeare and the Dude, …
Continue readingDaybreakers | movie review
Daybreakers, AKA 2010’s first vampire movie, is a pretty solid movie-going experience. It delivers on its trailers, presenting an eerie future where almost all the humans on earth have been changed into vampires–and in having done so not just …
Continue readingThe Best Mystery Crime Fiction of 2009
2009 was without question one of the best years for crime fiction in many years, and trust me when I tell you that my top ten has changed so many times in the last six …
Continue readingJames Cameron’s Avatar | movie review
Avatar is a great film. Here is a movie that will actually surprise you and offer things you have never seen before. James Cameron has delivered a special effects powerhouse that is actually an extended …
Continue readingThe Princess and the Frog – movie review
Brad Pitt called The Curious Case of Benjamin Button “a love letter to New Orleans.” Well. If Button was a love letter, then Disney’s The Princess and the Frog was a Homeric poem in the …
Continue readingDisney options Lauren Kate’s Fallen novel
Medora was kind enough to point me in the direction of this news item and it was a tough call between BSCkids and this site, but in the end I felt it belonged here. Disney …
Continue readingStumptown – A Study In Retro Noir
If you missed Stumptown then you might not be blamed for the omission in your reading stack. Hell, even if you got the comic you might have missed the subsequent issues because the four issue …
Continue readingThe Road | movie review
The Road is, unfortunately, a boring movie, and the title might as well be Sittin’ Round the Campfire. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, is one of the very best books of the decade, and this …
Continue readingHeat Wave + Naked Heat by Richard Castle Review
New York City is in the grip of a heat wave, and Detective Nicki Heat is in the grip of a stubborn case. Real estate mogul Matthew Starr was pitched from his balcony, and the …
Continue readingDisney Channel New Year’s Eve programming – I vote Selena Gomez
Disney Channel viewers will be able to vote for the New Year’s Eve programming lineup at DisneyChannel.com beginning Friday. After all the voting is done, the programs that have won will air on December 31st …
Continue readingTwilight New Moon | movie review
Going to a midnight movie is an experience that has to be included in the review of the film. First, who was there? Mostly female–about 1 in 10 people were male–and not as many shrieking …
Continue readingCoffee and Conversation with Hegel and Manfried Grossbart – Jesse Bullington Guest Blog
Jesse Bullington – Good morning, and thank you for agreeing to this interview. Hegel: [Mutters something incomprehensible to Manfried] Manfried: [Mutters back. This goes on for some time, until:] Uh huh. Mornin. Hegel: Sure. Good …
Continue readingTiffani Thiessen Interview – White Collar
So I got a chance to join a conference call where we asked Tiffani Theissen some questions, mostly focusing on her role as Elizabeth Burke on the USA Network Show White Collar.
Continue readingWorld’s Worst Interview with Victor Gischler
In case you haven’t noticed, over the past few weeks Boomtron has been republishing Victor Gischler’s World’s Worst Interview series, which he conducted on his old blog at the end of 2004 through the middle of …
Continue readingBrent Weeks Interview + The Way of Shadows Review
Our guest this week is Brent Weeks, author of The Night Angel Trilogy, recently published by Orbit Books. Unless something changes in the next few weeks before the end of the year, The Way of …
Continue readingOn Blood, Bad Boys and Bottoms – Notes from New Sodom
Vampire! Hal Duncan’s latest Notes on New Sodom examines vampires in popular fiction, specifically Anne Rice, Twilight, and Poppy.
Continue readingAn Open Letter to Those Terrified of E-Piracy – Gary Gibson Guest Blog
There are many pro writers out there worried by piracy, who see the internet as the greatest illegal intellectual land-grab of all time. Here’s the deal: if you’re worried enough to want to stop it, …
Continue readingWest Coast Blues by Jacques Tardi and Jean-Patrick Manchette Review
Jean-Patrick Manchette was a French crime novelist who wrote 10 novels. He is held in the highest possible regard by his English-speaking audience. To date only two of his novels have been translated. Let me …
Continue reading30 Rock – Interview: Savanna Samson on Her Appearance
Vivid Girl Savanna Samson gave us the scoop on her appearance on 30 Rock. The episode was “Into the Crevasse,” which aired last night on NBC. Can you describe what it was like to walk on the …
Continue readingTop 50 Favorite Novels of the Decade: 2000-2009
Not too long ago I decided to make a list of my top 10 favorite books of the decade, from 2000-2009. I easily knocked out a list with a couple of dozen titles then decided …
Continue readingThe 7-part Interview Series with R.A. Salvatore continues
When you think of the most popular character from the Wizards of the Coast stable, I do not think there is much debate. Drizzt Do’Urden leads the pack. Today we have R.A. Salvatore answering some questions we had …
Continue readingQuatrain + Fortune and Fate + Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn Review
Quatrain is a collection of, as the name suggests, four all-new novellas from Sharon Shinn. Each is set in a distinct world established from previous books, and each story stands firmly against the others. Shinn …
Continue readingThe Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville Review
Those who believe that the short story is dead and/or irrelevant, and those who don’t see the value in publishing stories in e-zines that pay very little, if at all, to a circulation that is in …
Continue readingNotes on Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
I’m picking my way through Inherent Vice, and I’m not even quarter of the way through it yet but I wanted to post some informal thoughts. By the end of the first chapter I was …
Continue readingScience Fiction and Why It Needs Secret Decoder Rings – Gary Gibson Guest BLog
It does seem like the eternal war between SF and the mainstream just goes on and on and on, doesn’t it? One minute you think it’s dead and buried, the next it’s climbing back out of …
Continue readingElena’s World – Zombieland review
The best romantic comedy of the year! I make that claim with only about 5% facetiousness. Zombieland, despite its name and premise (a pair of unlikely allies making their way through an America overrun with …
Continue readingTo the Water Fountains – Notes from New Sodom
Hal Duncan on discovering Samuel Delany, punk rock, the Ramones and Burroughs
Continue readingThe January Dancer by Michael Flynn Review
Michael Flynn is one of the more unusual figures in modern SF and especially in technically rigorous science fiction, one who delves into areas seldom touched by other writers: taking a “hard” science approach to social science in …
Continue readingElena’s World – My Thoughts on Shane Acker’s 9
Shane Acker’s 9 is a movie that has been much anticipated around BSCReview. We pretty thoroughly covered the media blitz for this movie, all of which I found intriguing and enticing: the date tie-in, “9/9/9: …
Continue readingFantasy: Violation of the Possible? – Betsy Tobin Guest Blog
Is it possible to break the rules of fantasy writing by adhering to them too strictly? When Borders UK first shelved my novel Ice Land in the Fantasy/Sci Fi section, I was gobsmacked (to use …
Continue readingA Bad Day For Sorry by Sophie Littlefield Review
When young mother Chrissy Shaw asks Stella for help with her no-good husband, Roy Dean, it looks like an easy case. Until Roy Dean disappears with Chrissy’s two-year-old son, Tucker. Stella quickly learns that Roy …
Continue readingEvermore by Alyson Noël Review
Evermore is the first book in Alyson Noël’s new YA series, The Immortals. Fittingly, considering the title, a lot of E words popped into my mind when I was thinking of how to describe it: Enchanting. …
Continue readingDown in the Ghetto at the SF Café – Notes From New Sodom
Defining science fiction, it’s birth, midlife, some punk, and current state with Hal Duncan in the latest Notes from New Sodom.
Continue readingMPD – Psycho No.1 by Eiji Otsuka Review
MPD Psycho was a mini-series that came out in 2002 and was inspired by a Manga that came out in 1997. Dark Horse has been releasing the book in America since 2007. I’ve been meaning …
Continue readingNever Slow Dance with a Zombie by E. Van Lowe Review
Never Slow Dance with a Zombie is a novel for young adults. I read a fair amount of YA books, and I’m never quite sure how to judge them. I mean, I can tell you …
Continue readingLevel 26: Dark Origins by Anthony Zuiker & Duane Swierczynski Review
Level 26 is problematic at best. I’m going to take a more personal approach to this review then I have in the past because that just seems like the best approach. When I first started …
Continue readingDarkborn by Alison Sinclair Review
Darkborn is a fantasy novel that I’m not quite sure how to further classify or qualify. It’s not quite romantic fantasy, because even though it has strong themes of love, it is not a love …
Continue readingGlenn Martin DDS with Kevin Nealon on Nick at Nite
On Monday night Nickelodeon’s network new family plan will begin and Glenn Martin DDS will be leading the way as the only original series ordered for the new Nick at Nite schedule. This will be …
Continue readingDistrict 9 | Eli’s Plot Twist
District 9 is a revival of the good old days of R rated 80s and early 90s sci-fi action films. This is a great movie, showing true originality, and delivering on its entertainment mandate. District …
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