George R.R. Martin and Christmas Puppies

So it’s not yet 2016, and the first salvos in the Sad Puppies 4 campaign have already been fired, in the form of a kerfluffle over on George R.R. Martin’s blog. For those of you who haven’t been following Sad Puppies, I can’t say I blame you. It’s basically an ongoing civil war within Science Fiction & Fantasy… Continue reading George R.R. Martin and Christmas Puppies

Why I don’t like George R.R. Martin

I was thinking today about George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones and the fact that I’ve more or less given up on the series after reading the first book.  A lot of my friends are rabid-at-the-mouth crazy about it, both the books and the TV miniseries, but I’m just not all that into it.… Continue reading Why I don’t like George R.R. Martin

Trope Tuesday: Rebellious Princess

You know that innocent and beautiful fairy tale princess, with the tricked out dress and the power to summon woodland creatures?  The one with a tendency to get kidnapped, but who always ends up happily ever after with her prince charming? Yeah, that’s not this princess. A rebellious princess would just as soon puke if she… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Rebellious Princess

Trope Tuesday: Honor Before Reason

If you can’t do something smart, what do you do? Something right–at least, when this trope is played straight. Characters who place honor before reason tend to be idealists, starry-eyed or otherwise.  It’s not that they’re stupid–at least, not always–but they do tend to be vulnerable to flaw exploitation.  If the Fettered can’t take a… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Honor Before Reason

Winter Warriors by David Gemmell

Eons ago, in the Days of Fire, demons feasted upon the souls of men the way that men feast on cattle.  Those days ended when the second most powerful demon betrayed his people, damning them to purgatory so that men could inherit the Earth. Four thousand years have passed, and the demons are beginning to… Continue reading Winter Warriors by David Gemmell

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Almost twenty years have passed since the fall of the Targaryen dynasty–twenty years since the last of the dragons was seen in the Land of the Seven Kingdoms.  Now, the libertine Robert Baratheon sits on the Iron Throne, blind to the conspiracies and secret combinations that surround him. In this dangerous time, Ser Jon Arryn,… Continue reading A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Dog dead workdays and killing your characters

This post is going to be super quick because I’m dead tired. Due to power surges and computer glitches, I had to work overtime today and yesterday at the warehouse, so I really haven’t had time for anything except writing and a little socializing at Leading Edge.  However, things are going well.  I’ll get the… Continue reading Dog dead workdays and killing your characters

Job – reliable internet = spotty posting

Sorry for the general lack of posts these past few days.  I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth (yet), I’m just working full time and living in a place that doesn’t have reliable internet.  Someone in the complex tried to set up a wireless router, and now the internet is down.  For some… Continue reading Job – reliable internet = spotty posting

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

For eons, sandstorms have swept the barren, desolate landscape of the red planet.  For centuries, Mars has beckoned to mankind to come and conquer its hostile climate.  Now, in the year 2026, a group of one hundred colonists is about to fulfill that destiny. I first picked up this book two and a half years… Continue reading Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin

Worlorn is a planet without a sun, wandering on the fringes of the galaxy where the skies are starless.  Though it came to life briefly as it passed the red giant Fat Satan, those days are over, and the world is slowly dying. Dirk T’Larien never thought he would find himself on such a forsaken… Continue reading Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin