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Articles by Sam Tyler
The Righteous Arrows
I am a massive fan of historic fiction; it is a fantastic way of bringing the past to life. It depends on the author how heavily they lean on the historic part or the fiction part. Some books are thinly disguised pseudo fantasy held together by a whisper of historic accuracy, while others read like real stories, that happen to be told by fictional characters. Brian J. Morra’s The Righteous Arrows follows the realistic approach to recent history.
Letter to the Editors: Why I Do Not Support the Gaza Solidarity Encampment
Just as we must vehemently protest the Netanyahu government’s actions in the Gaza Strip, we must oppose the horrific actions against Israeli people. No power imbalance or historical context excuses the deliberate murdering and raping of civilians. Our encampment organizers, UCSC SJP, openly support the October 7 attacks while advocating for the destruction of the State of Israel. As organizers and leaders, UCSC SJP’s beliefs represent the movement and must be taken seriously.
Book review of Smoke Kings by Jahmal Mayfield
There is a reason that criminal gangs fall apart. As an individual you can take responsibility for your own action, plan ever detail and keep your mouth shut when the job is done, but what about the others? They may be getting cold feet or have a loudmouth. The Smoke Kings are a group that started off with a just mission behind their crimes, but as time passes and fractures in their relationships open, they come closer to a resolution none of them wanted – prison or death.
Book review of The Lost Cause by Cory Doctorow
As a long-term science fiction fan, it sometimes feels like we are living the books that I grew up reading. Not the flying cars and cure for cancer stories, but the ones that warned about humankind’s tendency to destroy itself. It feels like only a matter of years until Gort rocks up to give us one last chance to save the planet. Cory Doctorow writes fiction that is trying to do something about it now, if nothing more than to compel the reader to think about the future.
The Graveyard Shift
I love listening to the radio, but even I struggle when it gets late at night. Suddenly the airwaves are packed with novelty DJs using all their shtick to ‘entertain’ the few remaining listeners. It is even worse if you live in London, when the light fades the pirate radios stations come out to play. The bandwidth is full of the latest beats from someone’s front room. I cannot listen to any of it, but what if you thought that you heard a murder during a phone in?
Book review of Mr Breakfast by Jonathan Carroll
Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day as I can indulge in some food I shouldn’t really be eating from sugary cereal to a full English breakfast. There are other more sensible options; porridge or bran flakes. The wonderful thing is that I can choose each day what I want. What I am unable to do is eat my breakfast and then decide that I have changed my mind, the past is the past.
Book review of Flux by Jinwoo Chong
Time travel is one of the most complex and difficult concepts to write in fiction. On the screen you can use visuals as shorthand to try and explain what on Earth is going on, but in fiction you are required to explain it all, or not. There is a choice. Do you go down the route of hard science and try to explain the concepts or instead be more speculative and keep things a mystery. In Jinwoo Chong’s Flux we go down the what-just-happened route when we meet Bo, Brandon and Blue.
Oh God, the Sun Goes
Growing up in Britain it can seem during certain times of the year that the sun has disappeared, but we all know it is still there, just behind many rain clouds in the few daylight hours of the winter. It would be a hugely different thing if the sun did disappear, for one, life on the planet would soon be over.
Book review of Inanna by Emily H. Wilson
A lot of what goes on in Fantasy novels is miraculous, magic spells cause havoc on the battlefield, or dragons swoop through the air. Their very nature is that they are fantastical. Some of the characters are like Gods with their powers, but few claim to actually be deities. When Inanna is born, she is told that she is one of the Anunnaki, Gods that walk the Earth. Who is she to think otherwise? Gilgamesh was born of Gods but is a mere mortal and Ninshubar did not even have the Gods on her side.
Book review of Prison of Sleep by Tim Pratt
I love sleep and have a deeper appreciation of it since having a family. I find myself able to drop off in a second as I snatch any five minutes I can before being woken up again at 5 am. The number of naps that I have would not be advisable in the world of Zaxony Delatree as I may end up waking up in a different parallel universe each time.
Book review of Nettle and Bone by T Kingfisher
I have read many genre books and I see trends in what is currently popular or going through a period of high quality. The dark gothic fairy tale is having a moment in the sun as I have recently read some excellent stories that hark back to a feel of past fables but are their own modern take. T Kingfishercaptures the tone perfectly in Nettle and Bone, the story of a Princess turned Nun, who wants to be an assassin.
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Book review of Doors of Sleep by Tim Pratt
Making an author come up with a single science fiction concept is tricky enough, but to ask them to come up with an infinite number of multiverses is just plain mean. Tim Pratt only have themselves to blame as they choice to take Zaxony Delatree on an adventure across a multitude of worlds. Worlds full of technology, worlds full or monsters. Some worlds not even on a planet. Will Zax every be able to get back home and, if he does, what type of person will he be?
Shadow Service Volume 2: Mission Infernal
We all have a past. For most of us it is dull. I went to school, Uni and then got a job. It is rare that I have to face off against the hideous undead or talk to the local rat population. Gina Meyers does not have it so easy, and her past is coming back to haunt her. The issue is that she does not know her own past. Where do her powers come from and how strong is she?
Slaine Dragontamer
I love 2000AD, it is a fantastic serial comic that is filled with some of my favourite characters. Judge Dredd is omnipresent, but there are other characters that I picture when I think of opening a new issue; ABC Warriors, Rogue Trooper and of course, Slaine. Slaine felt a little different as it was not the science fiction the magazine normally lent on, instead it was fantasy.
The Rising Storm
The Force is a concept that underpins the Star Wars Universe, but it is good or bad? The entire point is that it is both. There is a Light Side and a Dark Side, and these two opposing elements must be in balance. During the Star Wars films, the Dark Side is on its uppers and therefore we follow a band of plucky rebels as they fight for balance. But what works for one side, must work for the other.
Book review of Liege-Killer by Christopher Hinz
Science Fiction does not have to be epic. It can tell a small story about a single person or family as they struggle against a strange new world, but sometimes you want to read a stonking great space opera where an individual's actions can alter worlds. Liege-Killer by Christopher Hinz is one such book. It focuses on character, but the difference here is that their actions could bring about a change in how the colonies of Old Earth are governed. Epic stuff. Earth is dead.
Book review of Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow
I am not someone that goes in for Conspiracy Theories, I just don’t have the energy for them. Take for example the idea that nanobots are being injected into people so that the Deep State can track our every move. Why would they spend trillions of pounds on such technology when we are all pretty much logging our own moves via Smart Phones and Social Media? These shadowy entities are better served building vast storage warehouses and harvesting all the data.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Co-Op Review For a good portion of the LEGO video game series lifespan, the experience was about the same from game to game. This was both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, if you enjoyed busting LEGO bad guys into thousands of pieces and solving a few puzzles while reliving iconic pop culture franchises like Star Wars and Harry Potter, you kne...
Introduction to Walleye Fishing Techniques
Technique 3: Walleye Fishing With A Downrigger The downrigger is a trolling device that lets you set your lures at an exact depth. It's basically a boom arm with a spool of steel wire and a single or dual rod holder positioned above the arm. A heavy weight is attached to the end of the steel wire. Attached to the weight is another wire with a release and a lure that is set anywhere from 10 to 200 feet (3 to 61 meters) behind the release [source: Ross].
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