• 2.5 Stars

    Book Review: Swords of the Horseclans (Horseclans #2), by Robert Adams 

    Published on 02-07-2012 10:46 AM  Number of Views: 12 
    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: The Augustine Agenda, by William L. Lavell 

    Published on 11-22-2010 01:59 AM  Number of Views: 523 
    Categories:
    1. Science Fiction
    2. 2.5 Stars
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    The Augustine Agenda by William L. Lavell
    Reviewed by Paul Weiss

    Publisher:CreateSpace/Selfpublished
    Year Published: 2010

    Enjoyable but needs more originality to truly shine!

    Earth was overcrowded and a shadowy industrial conglomerate, identified only as "The Company", offered to terraform the planets and moons of the Three Systems into habitable environments for emigrating pioneers in return for a contract with Earth's government that they could retain all the profits that might be drawn from the resources and future business earned on what was obviously a high risk venture with low probability of any return at all. But, when the Company decided that this agreement was a licence to become a dictatorial government ruling every aspect of the settlers' lives, a resistance was formed and the brutal war was on. ...
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    Book Review: The Glasswrights' Progress, by Mindy L. Klasky 

    Published on 10-25-2010 04:00 PM  Number of Views: 426 
    Categories:
    1. Fantasy
    2. 2.5 Stars
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    The Glasswrights' Progress, by Mindy L. Klasky
    Reviewed by Joshua Palmatier

    Publisher:ROC
    Year Published: 2001

    The Glasswrights' Progress is the second book in the Glasswright series by Mindy L. Klasky and I finished it this morning. I though the first book, The Glasswrights' Apprentice, showed some real promise for the character and the world and I was looking forward to seeing how Rani, the main character, was going to go about restoring the Glasswrights' Guild that was destroyed in the first book. That seemed to me to be the obvious plotline for continuing the series after the way the first book ended. ...
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    Book Review: The Blue-Haired Bombshell, by John Zakour 

    Published on 08-25-2010 03:19 PM  Number of Views: 1976 
    Categories:
    1. Science Fiction
    2. 2.5 Stars
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    The Blue-Haired Bombshell, by John Zakour
    Reviewed by Joshua Palmatier

    Publisher:DAW
    Year Published: 2009

    The Blue-Haired Bombshell is the fifth book in the Zachary Nixon Johnson series from John Zakour. I really like the main character in this series, and I like the humorous and over-the-top riff on detective noir fiction with all of the SF elements mixed in.
    ...
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    Movie Review: 30 Days of Night 

    Published on 08-14-2010 01:41 PM  Number of Views: 2645 
    Categories:
    1. Vampire
    2. Movies/TV
    3. 2.5 Stars
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    30 Days of Night (2007), Rated "R"
    Starring Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster
    Directed by David Slade
    Review by Nicholas Ozment
    Rating: (2.5/5):

    In David Slade's adaptation of Steve Niles' 2001 graphic novel, the northernmost town of the United States gets wiped off the map by foreigners. These visitors don't have passports and they don't have pulses. ...
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    Movie Review: Alice in Wonderland 

    Published on 08-10-2010 09:23 AM  Number of Views: 1909 
    Categories:
    1. Fantasy
    2. Movies/TV
    3. 2.5 Stars
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    Alice in Wonderland (2010), Rated "PG"
    Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry
    Directed by Tim Burton
    Review by S. J. Higbee
    Rating (2.5/5):

    Hard on the heels of Avatar, I decided to watch this 3D film on the big screen, rather than at home. Directed by Tim Burton, it is a visually luscious affair with a stellar cast. The great and the good of Britain?s acting profession are there; in addition to the stars, there is also the likes of Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Christopher Fry and Paul Whitehouse ? all of whom are highly accomplished actors, in addition to being household names. ...
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    Movie Review: Pandorum 

    Published on 07-27-2010 10:18 AM  Number of Views: 1521 
    Categories:
    1. Movies/TV
    2. Science Horror
    3. 2.5 Stars
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    Pandorum (2009), Rated ?R?
    Starring Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue, Cung Le
    Directed by Christian Alvart
    Review by Dave Felts
    Rating (2.5/5):

    Have I mentioned how much I like streaming Netflix movies over my Wii? I honestly think stream-on-demand is the future of home TV/movie entertainment. The only question is how long it will take movie companies to figure it out.


    A quick search for Pandorum reviews reveals mostly negative opinions, but it seems to be one of those films that has divided viewers: critics mostly trashed it, but the average viewer didn?t seem to think it was so bad. I?m in the latter camp. ...
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    Movie Review: Predators 

    Published on 07-23-2010 09:48 AM  Number of Views: 1468 
    Categories:
    1. Science Fiction
    2. Movies/TV
    3. 2.5 Stars
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    Predators (2010), Rated "R"
    Starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Laurence Fishburne, and Danny Trejo
    Directed by Nimr?d Antal
    Review by Dave Felts
    Rating (2.5/5):

    If you going to watch Predators, hopefully you already know what type of movie you're in for. This isn't an award winner or an Academy nominee. It's not going to pose Great Questions and inspire deep thought or reflection. It doesn't offer insight into the human condition and you aren't going to leave the theater the bearer of new philosophical enlightenment. What is does do, and does fairly well, is offer up a fun-filled 107 minutes of alien versus human mayhem, evoking some, if not all, of the spirit of the first one from way back in 1987 (has it really been that long?). ...
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    Movie Review: The Book of Eli 

    Published on 06-16-2010 02:47 PM  Number of Views: 663 
    Categories:
    1. Movies/TV
    2. Apocolyptic
    3. 2.5 Stars
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    The Book of Eli (2010)
    Starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals
    Directed by Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes
    Review by Dave Felts
    Rating (2.5/5):

    I like end-of-the-world books and movies, probably because when you get right down to it I'm not a big fan of people. They get in my way, they tailgate me even when I'm already speeding, they sneeze on me in movie theaters, they're rude to me on the phone.... So it's fun every now and then to kick back and indulge in the fantasy that most of the people are gone and you're on your own, free to scavenge a life off the corpse of the old world. ...
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    Book Review: Close Encounters of the Urban Kind edited, by Jennifer Brozek 

    Published on 05-28-2010 03:02 PM  Number of Views: 511 
    Categories:
    1. Anthology
    2. Science Fiction
    3. Science Fiction Anthology
    4. 2.5 Stars
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    Close Encounters of the Urban Kind edited, by Jennifer Brozek
    Reviewed by Joshua Palmatier

    Publisher:Apex Publications
    Year Published: 2010

    The theme of this anthology is to use an urban legend-either something well-known, something made up, or something local to a particular region-and give it an alien twist or alien explanation. In other words, involve aliens in some way. I was invited to participate in the anthology and had fun writing my own version of that theme. Here are my thoughts on the rest of the stories in the anthology. ...
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