When people find out that I like science fiction (and write about it), they often try to find a familiar example to talk about. This is a better reaction than to say, “Oh, that crap?” or something along those lines. But recently, the example has inevitably been Star […]
I’ve noticed recently that otherwise good stories have been let down by their endings. It’s partly due to the expectations of the audience: you can imagine any kind of ending you want, but when the ending finally arrives, it’s been narrowed down to a single one of those […]
What does it cost to be an artist? A writer? Any creative type? If you are into the written word, you need, at minimum, a pencil and several pieces of paper. You could write a play or a whole book for about ten bucks. If you dance or […]
At first, I resisted reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel. A guy is stranded on a raft – it sounded like a concept that had been done before. But my friends raved about the book constantly, and when I finally broke down and read it, I found […]
She’s eighteen and she’s getting a little impatient with life at her boarding school. She doesn’t see her stepdad very often. She knows more about magic than the teachers at Wyverly College, but even though the school is within twenty miles of the Wall that separates mundane from […]
I don’t have much patience for vampire stories, so I never felt much attraction to the Buffy and Angel universe. I could see how people would get pretty wrapped up in it: ongoing storylines, smart characterization, constant action, snappy one-liners, reportedly the whole bit. When Joss Whedon, Buffy […]
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The Cultural Gutter 