City on Fire and Days of Atonement author Walter Jon Williams has a eulogy up at his blog for Fred Saberhagen, who died a little over a week ago. Williams writes about Saberhagen’s unacknowledged influence on fantasy, science fiction and horror. And he tells a couple of nice […]
When it come to romance novels, the trend today is for stories with teeth. And I mean teeth: long, white, sharp, and dangerous. Said teeth might belong to a werewolf, or a shapeshifting tiger, but most often, they’re the fangs of a vampire. Just what is the appeal […]
Really, I am trying to be good, but I’m not sure I can help it. Last month, DVD’s for The Amazing Screw-On Head and Hellboy: Sword of Storms were released on the same day. That should have been the best day ever since they’re both based on Mike […]
On the subject of Kaiju-biology (monster biology), Peter Watts narrates his brilliant slideshow that explains vampires from an evolutionary perspective, and then explains how humans can profit by harnessing their predators. Watts brings his experience as a scientist and his talent as a science-fiction writer to bear in […]
Fantasy fiction is overrun by dragons. The fiery beasts have become a way to spice up an otherwise standard book — just add dragons. When I first heard about Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series — the Napoleonic Wars, a la Hornblower, except with dragons — I sighed to myself: […]
I don’t care that much for vampire stories. It’s a reflexive dislike that’s hard to define — basically, I’m not part of the target audience of the whole vampire fascination. Another pet peeve of mine is the amnesiac protagonist. What an absolutely lame excuse to explain everything to […]
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The Cultural Gutter 