The Primacy of Speculative Reason – Encore

Author's note: Here's one from the vaults. It struck me as particularly relevant now. Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should. -Dr. Ian Malcolm Americans' habitual contempt for speculative reason never fails to dismay…
January 18, 201920 Comments
Movie Ranks: Men vs Women

Movie Ranks: Men vs Women

Seen on Twitter: Cursory analysis: Women like newer children's movies. Men like mature films--with a marked preference for war movies, westerns, and sci-fi--that span all eras of film. Additional observation: Number of entries on each list that also appear on AFI's list of the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time…
January 16, 201923 Comments
Book vs Movie

Book vs Movie

In my work as a freelance editor, I've noticed a common tendency among the current crop of science fiction authors to write books as if they're writing movies. That practice is understandable since most science fiction and fantasy novels published after 1980 suck, and therefore today's authors are disproportionately influenced…
January 15, 20198 Comments
Who’s Frank Pentangeli?

Who’s Frank Pentangeli?

Perusing this humanist blogger's semi-apt comparisons of various dissident Right figures to characters from the Godfather saga, one comes across this howler: Also, because of excessive pride, Fuentes is too often and too easily dismissive of views and ideas that doesn’t jibe with his paradigm, and this is especially true when…
January 14, 201929 Comments
Combat Frame Data: XCD-001-2

Combat Frame Data: XCD-001-2

XCD-001-2 Kreuzgun    Technical Data Model number: XCD-001-2 Code name: XSeed Nickname: Kreuzgun Classification: energy weapon optimized Sentinel use combat frame Manufacturer: Seed Corporation Operator: [REDACTED] First deployment: CY 1 Crew: 1 pilot in cockpit in chest Height: 19 meters Weight: dry weight 65 metric tons, full weight 78.4 metric tons Armor…
January 11, 20194 Comments
Writing Tips: Conflict, Tension, and Action

Writing Tips: Conflict, Tension, and Action

Many writers labor under a common misconception about what makes a book feel fast-paced. Slamming chapters together with no space in-between doesn't necessarily give readers a sense of speed. In fact, it can do the opposite by bringing on action fatigue. Pacing has less to do with keeping lots of…
January 10, 20194 Comments
A Partial Timeline

A Partial Timeline

The following is a timeline of events--perhaps related; perhaps not. 1905: The Gods of Pegāna by Lord Dunsany is published. 1912: Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs is published. 1914: Outbreak of World War I           First members of the Greatest Generation born. 1917: Russian Revolution…
January 9, 201913 Comments

Combat Frame XSeed Feedback

With the official Combat Frame XSeed launch fast approaching, I thought it a good time to share some of the feedback offered by one of my keen-eyed beta readers. A year ago, Brian Niemeier , along with a group of other authors and a group of Mobile Suit Gundam fans realized…
January 8, 20194 Comments
PleastantvilleApple

Satanic Boomer Agitprop

Regular readers will be familiar with my penchant for shining a light on Hollywood's hatred of their audience and Boomers' hatred of every other generation. Much as A Bridge Too Far proves Pigman's Caine-Hackman hypothesis, I have been presented with the ultimate intersection of Hollywood diabolism and Boomer propaganda in the…
January 7, 201941 Comments
Conflicting Perceptions

Conflicting Perceptions

The internecine conflict that's upturned the Republican party since 2015 can be described as a war of conflicting perceptions between Conservatives typified by Mitt Romney and populists represented by Trump. David Reaboi explains. For a full treatment of the Romney Republican vs. Trump Republican perspective conflict, see here as Tucker…
January 4, 201912 Comments