On a Plague of Series

On a Plague of Series

Looking at the fantasy and science fiction landscapes these days, they are dominated by neverending series. And lo, it has become fashionable to complain that even before mediocre writers earn their craft, they are already working on neverending series, milking money one dollop at a time from the waning pool of traditional readers by pumping them full of mediocre writing, over, and over again. Insofar as it goes, it’s true. Outside of Neal Stephenson, I’m hard pressed to name a one-off I’ve rea…

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A Parable for the Dragon Awards (and Congratulations)

A Parable for the Dragon Awards (and Congratulations)

In his inimitable style, Dave Freer gives us a parable for the inaugural Dragon awards [https://madgeniusclub.com/2016/09/05/dragon-on-the-carpet/]. > A little parable for you: Once upon a time, some Bavarian beer fanciers set up a beer-fest in field outside their small town. Now, because nothing goes quite so well with good beer as good smoked and cured pork, soon there were people providing the same, and happy buxom lasses serving beer, eisbein, various pork sausages and ham. Then there was a…

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Review: Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge (or, The Last Paladin of Shadows of MHI)

Review: Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge (or, The Last Paladin of Shadows of MHI)

Before writing this I made the mistake of looking at the existing reviews. Heh. There was a lot of hate for Ringo in the comments. I also get it – Ringo’s sense of humor and story complements Larrys, but it’s different. I know people who can’t stand the Grimnoir books but love MHI. Go figure. So I’ll tackle complaints first: 1. “Mary Sue” – my first hint you don’t read John Ringo, especially when you claim to like his other stuff. Have you ever met his characters? I don’t mean in the…

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