Wearing a Red Shirt

Riddle: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to a planet. Who dies before the commercial break? Answer: The red-shirted security guard standing behind them. Welcome to the life of redshirts. I didn’t expect to review another book so quickly after Down the Mysterly River, but then I found Redshirts. Have you ever finished a book … More Wearing a Red Shirt

Assembling Avengers

Welcome to the finish of the longest “origin story” in history. It began with Iron Man, went through four more movies establishing characters, and has now concluded with an epic story that, in the highest superhero tradition, threatens the world and destroys half of New York. It’s always New York. Captain America: “You take the … More Assembling Avengers

I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world.

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox (all three books, Bridge of Birds, The Story of The Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen) is now available on Kindle for the low, low price of $10. Beat the drums, blow the horns, and make sacrifices to the Fortunes! And buy this now if you don’t … More I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world.

Hulking Up

The Hulk has always struck me as the perfect example of Character Degeneration. In the “original” origin-story, Bruce Banner was a nuclear physicist designing bigger and better bombs for the US government; think of him as another Oppenheimer. On the day they test his new Gamma Bomb, after the detonation sequence has commenced, he sees … More Hulking Up