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    Movie Review: The Darkest Hour 

    Published on 02-09-2012 09:24 AM  Number of Views: 6 
    Categories:
    1. Science Fiction
    2. Movies/TV
    3. 1.5 Stars
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    The Darkest Hour (2011), Rated PG-13
    89 minutes
    Starring Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, Joel Kinnaman
    Directed by Chris Gorak
    Reviewed by Dave Felts
    Rating: (1/5)


    Two young American entrepreneurs, Sean (Emile Hirsh) and Ben (Max Mingella) arrive in Moscow to pitch their web site business to Russian investors in the hopes of a big payday. When they arrive, however, they find a business contact, a Swedish man named Skyler (Joel Kinnaman), has backstabbed them by stealing their idea and already securing the deal for himself. ...
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    Book Review: A Clash of Kings, (A Song of Ice and Fire #2), by George R. R. Martin 

    Published on 02-08-2012 12:17 PM  Number of Views: 214 
    Categories:
    1. Fantasy
    2. 4.0 Stars
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    A Clash of Kings (A Song if Ice and Fire Book 2)
    By George R. R. Martin
    Review by Dave Felts
    Rating: (4/5)

    A Clash of Kings is the second volume in George R. R. Martins series A Song of Ice and Fire, and a follow up to the popular A Game of Thrones.. This review contains some spoilers, as it's necessary to talk about some of the events and characters from the first book. If you haven't read the first book but plan to, DON'T READ THIS REVIEW. ...
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    Book Review: Swords of the Horseclans (Horseclans #2), by Robert Adams 

    Published on 02-07-2012 10:46 AM  Number of Views: 15 
    Categories:
    1. Fantasy
    2. Military Science Fiction
    3. 2.5 Stars
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    Swords of the Horseclans (Horseclans #2)
    By Robert Adams
    Review by Dave Felts
    Rating: (2.5/5)

    While I would classify the first volume a being close to heroic fantasy, albeit in a future apocalyptic setting, this second volume in the series, Swords of the Horseclans, is more military fantasy. Book 1 ends with Milo completing his odyssey of leading the Horseclans from the high plains of the middle use to the eastern seaboard, where he establishes them in their new home and forms the Confederation. ...
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    Book Review: Full Dark, No Stars, by Stephen King 

    Published on 02-03-2012 09:01 AM  Number of Views: 57 
    Categories:
    1. Mixed Genre Anthology
    2. 3.0 Stars
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    Full Dark, No Stars, by Stephen King
    Reviewed by Dave Felts
    Year First Published: 2010
    Rating: (3/5)

    It's been long while since I've read a Stephen King book. I think the last one was one of his Dark Tower books, and I couldn't tell you when that was. I thought The Stand was fantastic and have read it 3 or 4 times, but not in a long while. It's one of my favorites, but then I have a weakness for post-apocalyptic stuff. I remember some of his short stories too, though I couldn't tell you any titles. I haven't deliberately decided to avoid his stuff, I just kind of.... stop noticing it I guess. Plus his books tend to be very long and require a hefty investment of time to finish. And I haven't been reading as much as I used to. ...
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    Book Review: A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin 

    Published on 02-02-2012 11:01 AM  Number of Views: 300 
    Categories:
    1. Fantasy
    2. 4.5 Stars
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    A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin
    Reviewed by Dave Felts
    Year First Published: 1996
    Rating: (4.5/5)

    If you haven't caught HBO's series Game of Thrones, I highly recommend it. On the heels of enjoying the series, I decided to do a re-read of the novels. Game of Thrones was first published in 1996. I think I might have read it that year, or shortly thereafter. Now a review of a novel published over 15 years ago might not be timely, but the resurging interest due to the series makes it relevant. ...
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    Member Book Review: Betrayer, by C. J. Cherryh 

    Published on 02-01-2012 07:44 AM  Number of Views: 29 
    Categories:
    1. Military Science Fiction
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    Betrayer, by C. J. Cherryh (Foreigner universe #12)
    Reviewed by Edward F. McKeown
    Publisher: DAW
    Year Published: 2011
    ISBN-10: 0756406544
    ISBN-13: 978-0756406547

    In my prior review of Deceiver, I commented on how impossible it was to enter the series from that book because of the sheer weight of all that had gone before and how nobody should expect a writer to be able to do that. Then at the beginning of Betrayer, CJ Cherryh pretty much does so and makes it coherent and cogent with little evident effort. Drat. ...
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    Movie Review: Fright Night (2011) 

    Published on 02-01-2012 06:34 AM  Number of Views: 74 
    Categories:
    1. Vampire
    2. 4.0 Stars
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    Fright Night (2011), Rated PG-13
    106 minutes
    Starring Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
    Directed by Craig Gillespie
    Reviewed by Dave Felts
    Rating: (4/5)

    Back when I was in college, VCRs had only been around a few years. Towns that had cable TV were still fairly rare, but one of my roommates had it at home. He'd go home for the occassional weekend and return with movies he taped off HBO. My parents had given me their old VCR (a top loading one--I can still picture it) and another roomie provided the TV. Seemed as though there was ALWAYS some movie playing: The Natural, The Sure Thing, Rocky IV, My Bloody Valentine, Cocoon... and dozens of others, including Fright Night. ...
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    Suspended Animation: Essential Fantastic Four Volume 1 

    Published on 01-31-2012 05:52 AM  Number of Views: 105 
    Categories:
    1. Suspended Animation
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    Essential Fantastic Four Volume 1
    Review by Mark Allen
    Published by Marvel Comics
    544 pages
    $16.99

    Marvel Masterworks, or Marvel Essentials? Whichever a person chooses to consume the first 20 issues (and Annual #1) of The Fantastic Four is, for all intents and purposes, inconsequential. That is, unless you judge a great comics experience by whether or not the strip is in color. If so, you will be depriving yourself of some of the great works of the medium. ...
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    Movie Review: Source Code 

    Published on 01-31-2012 04:51 AM  Number of Views: 60 
    Categories:
    1. Science Fiction
    2. 4.0 Stars
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    Source Code (2011), Rated PG-13
    93 minutes
    Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright
    Directed by Duncan Jones
    Reviewed by Dave Felts
    Rating: (4/5)

    Duncan Jones popped up on the radar in 2009 with Moon, which, while not a commercial blockbuster, garnered notice beyond the walls of geekdom. Science fiction to Hollywood seems to mean replacing guns with lasers, minorities with aliens, and cars with spaceships. Moon was a pleasant departure from that mold, being science fiction for the thinking person, built around ideas instead of action. Source Code is Jones' second film, and while there are explosions a-plenty, it's still science fiction for thinkers. ...
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    Book Review: The Coming of the Horseclans, by Robert Adams 

    Published on 01-31-2012 04:44 AM  Number of Views: 42 
    Categories:
    1. Military Science Fiction
    2. 4.0 Stars
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    The Coming of the Horseclans (Horseclans book 1), by Robert Adams
    Reviewed by Dave Felts
    Year First Published: 1975
    Rating: (4/5)

    The older I get, the more nostalgia I seem to develop for the things of my youth. My friends and I were quite taken with the Horseclans books when we discovered them (early 1980s). My edition is a 1982 printing, not the 1975 original. Mundania Press released The Coking of the Horseclans in 2005, but no reprint of the rest yet. There's 18 of them in all. I have the first 13 in my possession and will set about procuring the other five. ...
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    Member Book Review: Deceiver, by C. J. Cherryh 

    Published on 01-30-2012 11:52 AM  Number of Views: 53 
    Categories:
    1. Science Fiction
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    Deceiver, by C. J. Cherryh (Foreigner universe #11)
    Reviewed by Edward F. McKeown
    Publisher: DAW
    Year Published: 2010

    CJ Cherryh is the premier writer of what I think of as statecraft science-fiction. This is the stuff that occurs before the bullets start to fly that determines when they fly, how many of them fly and who they are aimed at. It’s what goes on before Seal Team Six is dispatched, though we do get to see some of the running and gunning, particularly when things go wrong or as John F Kennedy used to say, “Some dumb s.o.b doesn’t get the word.” ...
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    Movie Review: Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 

    Published on 01-30-2012 08:27 AM  Number of Views: 94 
    Categories:
    1. Fantasy
    2. Movies/TV
    3. 0.5 Stars
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    Twilight Breaking Dawn, Part 1 (2011), Rated PG-13
    Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
    Directed by: Bill Condon
    Reviewed by Dave Felts
    Rating: (.5/5)

    Okay, it's embarrassing to admit, but my wife and I watched Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 this past weekend. I could say it was a guilty pleasure, but without the pleasure part.

    This is going to devolve into a bit of a rant, so feel free to skip ahead if you want.

    My daughter tore through the Twilight books a few years ago (I guess around age 13-14?). Hey, anything to get kids reading, right? Maybe.... ...
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    Angry Robot Open Door in April 

    by
    che2000
    Published on 01-29-2012 08:03 PM
    Categories:
    1. Market News

    Some news that might be of interest to the various writers here:

    "Following a successful Open Door ...
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    Book Review: Jack Brand, by John M. Whalen 

    Published on 01-29-2012 07:19 AM  Number of Views: 73 
    Categories:
    1. Science Fiction
    2. Superhero
    3. Military Science Fiction
    4. 4.0 Stars
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    Jack Brand, by John M. Whalen
    Reviewed by Michael D. Griffiths
    Publisher: Pill Hill Press
    Year Published: 2010

    Jack Brand by John M. Whalen is an action packed book set in the distant future where space travel has been achieved and living on another planet has become a reality. The entire novel takes place on the planet Tulon. Jack was formerly from Earth and also used to be a member of Tulon’s law enforcement agency. Tulon itself is suffering from an economic depression that will only be getting worse as the oil, which was their primary source of income, is no longer needed because a new invention on earth that has made fossil fuels obsolete. ...
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    Book Review: Aaron’s Revenge, by Christina Weigand 

    Published on 01-28-2012 03:53 PM  Number of Views: 106 
    Categories:
    1. Fantasy
    2. Sword & Sorcery
    3. 3.0 Stars
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    Aaron’s Revenge, by Christina Weigand
    Reviewed by David Hodge
    Publisher: Xlibris, Corp
    Year Published: 2010

    Aaron’s Revenge is a decently written (a bit pedestrian) of the lost prince type. Aaron is taken from his cradle by the badgize [term from Gahan Wilson] and left with unwitting foster parents. At fifteen, he is tested for talent and “assignment”, probably as a squire to a knight. Instead he is kidnapped again, and hauled off to the badgize place to become an evil wizard and instrument of his evil uncle Brandan’s revenge. But a little rescue (more than once), and “love is all you need,” comes into play. The ending clearly shows the author’s moral and didactic purpose. It’s worth reading, but will not win any prizes. But, do the good guys really not know what’s gotten into Tomas? Can you say, “Sequel”? A little more polish and a sequel would not be unwelcome. ...
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