When as a student in elementary school, I first heard about the underground railroad, I was disappointed to discover it was only a metaphor. In Colson Whitehead’s alternate history, The Underground Railroad, it has real steam locomotives. Though the book won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017, I hadn’t heard of it until I saw a […]
The Powers of the Earth is not the first sci-fi novel about a war between the Earth and its colonies on the Moon. Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, is probably the most famous. Ursula Le Guin wrote her own version, The Dispossessed. Even if an idea is not truly original, a great author […]
I love historical fiction, and one of the most fascinating settings for that genre is feudal Japan. The culture was quite alien to that of modern America, yet there were shared values like honor, bravery, and chivalry. Mojo Mori’s Six Expressions of Death is a murder mystery set in this era. Though I’ve never been […]
In science fiction, I have my specific interests, such as steampunk and alternate history. I didn’t pay attention to annual awards until the “Sad Puppies” controversy* concerning the politicization of the Hugos arose in 2013. I heard about Scalzi due to his feud with right-wing sci-fi/fantasy author Vox Day regarding this movement. I’ve read several […]
Ghost in the Shell is one of those classic anime movies that seasoned fans recommend to newcomers. Like most anime, it began life as a manga. Ghost’s progenitor was the cyberpunk-themed series by Masamune Shirow which ran from 1989-1990. Its original Japanese name was Kōkaku Kidōtai which means “Mobile Armored Riot Police.” This was the […]
As you should know by now, I really love a good alternate history. Some writers change one or two things and others change many things. A good example of the latter is Kingdom of the Wicked by Helen Dale. Her story (which is split into two books) explores a scenario in which the Industrial Revolution […]
For my 100th online review as the Steampunk Desperado, I consider Philip Ligon’s young-adult steampunk novel “The King’s Regret,” published in 2019. It’s a “fantasy world” type steampunk which follows a pair of teenage siblings from the aristocratic Falconbone family. Once leaders of the mining city of Airendale, their family was betrayed by their country’s […]
