Tag Archives: drugs

The Sheep Look Up, by John Brunner

Posted on August 30, 2018 by pete

Not long ago I sang the praises of John Brunner’s large SF novel Stand on Zanzibar, which has maintained a reputation over the years as a classic of dystopian literature. It constructed a detailed world from many speculations about social, political … Continue reading →

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“The Purple Pileus” by H.G. Wells

Posted on June 22, 2018 by pete

A lot of good, even classic, science fiction stories are currently available for free as HTML, PDF or some e-reader format. I decided to feature some of these “freebee” pieces on a semi-regular basis this year.  Recently, I was trading … Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction, short fiction | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

So Nude, So Dead, by Ed McBain

Posted on June 1, 2018 by pete

Waking up hung over and next to a naked corpse is not a unique way to begin life as a crime novel protagonist — the premise that begins Ed McBain’s 1952 So Nude, So Dead also started off the Lawrence Block … Continue reading →

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Slide, by Ken Bruen & Jason Starr

Posted on March 31, 2018 by pete

The Ken Bruen and Jason Starr collaboration Bust was at once bizarre and vulgar, but it was a fun read and turned out to be more enjoyable than I expected it to be. That was mostly due to its surprisingly … Continue reading →

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Now Wait For Last Year, by Philip K. Dick

Posted on January 28, 2018 by pete

Fascism should more appropriately called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. – Mussolini Now Wait For Last Year was first published in 1966, and the original manuscript was written about 1962, putting it in the … Continue reading →

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Children of Dune, by Frank Herbert

Posted on January 18, 2018 by pete

Years ago I had a habit of starting well-known philosophy books but not getting anywhere close to finishing them. These included Nietzsche’s famous work Thus Spoke Zarathustra, his mock scripture describing the pronouncements of a fictional prophet.* This was Nietzsche’s … Continue reading →

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When Gravity Fails, by George Alec Effinger

Posted on December 6, 2017 by pete

Science fiction and crime fiction are two genres with largely different traditional audiences, although there are many of examples of writers that have crossed the boundary between them. Asimov, Vance, Silverberg and Moorcock are all giants of SF who have … Continue reading →

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A Diet of Treacle by Lawrence Block

Posted on October 28, 2017 by pete

For the most part, reading the early books of famed crime writer Lawrence Block have been low-risk, entertaining tasks. I often see prototypes of characters later written into the Matthew Scudder series, but the plots have been consistently clear and … Continue reading →

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A Scanner Darkly, by Philip K. Dick

Posted on September 29, 2017 by pete

A Scanner Darkly, a 1977 novel by Philip K. Dick is reviewed. I focus on the theme of self-awareness and intellect. Continue reading →

Posted in books, science fiction | Tagged , | 7 Comments