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 […]
America’s flag is unique among national flags in that it’s dynamic, mandated to reflect the number of states in our political union. As the country expanded, there have been 26 official versions of the flag. Contrast this with Britain’s Union Jack which has been in its present form for 218 years. The reason I bring […]
I first heard of this novel when it won a Hugo award in 2015. The unusual title intrigued me, as well as the fact that it was originally written in Chinese. Not knowing anything else about the book except that the translator was Ken Liu (one of the authors from Love, Death, and Robots; see […]
My wife Arlys and I are long-time anime fans, but it’s become difficult for us to find something we like. Like American TV networks, Japanese animation studios produce many series that are maudlin and unoriginal. We prefer shows that are out of the ordinary, generally with a sci-fi, supernatural, or crime element. Recently we encountered […]
I almost never reread a book, no matter how much I like it, because I always have new ones on my list. Recently, however, the popularity of audiobooks has made it easier to revisit them. In May I listened to Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age and found it to be even better than I remembered […]
