Review: Battle Royale

December 7, 2012 in General Topics

Battle RoyaleWay back when I first heard of The Hunger Games, two films popped into my head. The first was the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring adapation of the novel The Running Man, by “Richard Bachman” (who was revealed years ago to be a pen name of Stephen King’s). Widely viewed in the United States, it orbited my childhood. I sought it out due to my love of science fiction.

The second film slammed like a comet into the firmament of my adulthood. It presented no one-liners, no outrageous costumes or hulking action stars. None of the characters really won–they just lost less. The ending was starkly and typically Japanese, leaving its loose ends unresolved in the way that great cinema often does. That film was Battle Royale.

Having viewed the film adaptation of The Hunger Games recently, I felt compelled to revisit Battle Royale and see if it still help up. This presented a problem. Read the rest of this entry →

“Todd Elrin and the Forever Reset” on The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine

November 27, 2012 in General Topics

Todd Elrin and the Forever Reset (dunesteef.com)The folks at The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine recently published my tale “Todd Elrin and the Forever Reset” (in audio). You can listen for free, but I encourage you to donate to their podcast if you enjoy their work, and consider subscribing, too.

Bigg and Rish, the editors, did a great job with the story, and I adore the episode art. I think a special nod has to go to Tanya Milojevic, who voiced a key character in the story, and whose reading was, I thought, spot-on what I’d imagined when I was writing the tale. Read the rest of this entry →

The Future of Weaponry is Our Past

November 1, 2012 in General Topics

A lively discussion broke out on the Kindleboards recently about weaponry in various authors’ science fiction world-building. The topic produced great food for thought, and also gave me a chance to reiterate my belief that simple, reliable weapons aren’t going anywhere.

Yes, The Tyrant Strategy: Revenant Man spends some time on the great threat still menacing Zone 6 (roughly compromising the Rockies), left behind by the Akita Wars, in the form of that tyrant’s autonomous hunter-killer drones. Drones will, sadly, become more prevalent domestically and internationally in the coming years. This is despite the well-founded civil rights concerns.

Viet Cong forcesBut for the average belligerent on the ground, simple firearms will more often than not remain the order of the day, just as they do in my novel. Read the rest of this entry →

Review: Super 8

October 11, 2012 in General Topics, Other Stuff

"Super 8" posterThere was a moment, while watching Super 8, when I realized the film didn’t quite know what to do with itself. This is a schizophrenic movie – it wants to be a coming-of-age flick, until it decides it wants to be an alien invasion spectacular, until it decides it wants to invoke the rampaging monster action of Cloverfield.

J.J. Abrams’ past work has been real hit-or-miss, in my estimation. Super 8 is a better flick than most of his efforts, falling just under the excellent Star Trek reboot, but above basically everything else I’ve seen of his.
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The Tyrant Strategy: Revenant Man, Now Available!

August 29, 2012 in General Topics

The Tyrant Strategy: Revenant ManWelcome to Earth, 2142. The first novel in my epic series, THE TYRANT STRATEGY: REVENANT MAN, is now available for your Kindle, Nook, Kobo or app compatible with either of those three platforms, for $4.99 $2.99.

You can also purchase the paperback for $12.99.

Pick up a copy on Amazon (Kindle\Paperback), Kobo Books (Kobo), or Barnes & Noble (Nook).
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