Anime, often, cribs from works of western science fiction – particularly films. Star Wars, Star Trek, the Starship Troopers novel, and Lensmen have all been borrowed from or in some cases adapted outright. However, there are some instances where the level of cribbing doesn’t quite pan out, and Odin: Starlight Mutiny is one of those.
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Sadly, we are not done with the Hutts. Though this time they play second fiddle to Boba Fett.
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It has all come down to this, as we have the final book in the Legend of the Galactic Heroes series.
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Battle Angel Alita ended – sort of – on an interesting note. Due to health issues, the mangaka, Yukito Kishiro, somewhat rushed the manga’s conclusion, quickly moving the story into the floating city of Zalem, before blitzing through the city coping with the revelation that everyone in the city has computer brains – and Alita ultimately ending up in control of the city. The sequel, Last Order, starts there, before going into an oddly different direction.
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The Electric State is very much a different book from Tales from the Loop and Things from the Flood. Those books had a retrospective narrative – the point of view for those books was from the viewpoint of someone looking back on events with a sense of nostalgia. The Electric State, on the other hand, has a more conventional narrative, while still having significant themes of memory, but definitely without the warmth of nostalgia.
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A while back, on the internet, I stumbled across the work of artist Simon Stålenhag, in what was part of the Tales From The Loop project – though I did not know what it was at that time. So, when the art was collected into a series of books with a narrative behind them – along with a tabletop RPG, I figure it was time to properly check it out.
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This time I’ve got the second of the Star Wars short story collections with Tales from Jabba’s Palace.
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A while back, when I had started my fanzine with the intent of getting established science fiction fans, in particular, those who read fanzines (a demographic that is generally more likely to vote and nominate in the Hugos), to watch and nominate speculative fiction anime – I started with a list. I gave a list of anime series that had come out since the turn of the millennium which I thought literary speculative fiction fans would enjoy. Among them was Bodacious Space Pirates, a science fiction anime which I felt took the sense of adventure and wonder that was a fixture of ‘50s and ’60s YA Space Adventure science fiction, kept that, and dropped the obsolete political and social views that fill so many works of that period. Astra: Lost in Space is the next anime that tries this and pulls it off spectacularly.
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This month we have the penultimate volume of Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
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I’ve previously discussed the first installment of Michael A. Stackpole’s Rogue Squadron Comics earlier. Well, he’s not just limited to the medium of comics, this week we get to the first of his Rogue Squadron novels, but with a different lineup of the squadron.
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After Callista was introduced in Children of the Jedi, unlike other characters who were love interests of Luke, she was not forgotten by other authors, with Kevin J. Anderson’s novel Darksaber.
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This month I’m returning to Star Wars novels with the first appearance of Callista, with the novel “Children of the Jedi” by Barbara Hambly
(more…) There were a couple more Star Wars Novels in 1995, with the first two Callista novels, starting with Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambly.
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In time for the conclusion of the new Boogiepop anime series, I have a review of the first omnibus volume of the Boogiepop novels from Seven Seas.
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This week I’ve got a vlog on the 8th book in the Legend of the Galactic Heroes series of novels.
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We have a new live-action manga adaptation in theaters. How did it turn out!
I’m almost done with the Star Wars novels in 1995 with the first three Young Jedi Knights novels, which were collected together as an omnibus under the title Jedi Shadow.
I’ve got a short story collection this month.
I’m continuing to make my way through 1995 in Star Wars with the first collection of Star Wars short fiction.
This week we have the latest installment of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, as Yang Wen-Li’s burgeoning rebellion tries to find its footing. (more…)
Altered Space is something of a horror film that isn’t quite a horror film. In a way, it’s difficult to describe – this is my first time watching a film by Ken Russell, but his reputation has preceded him. Specifically, his reputation for psychedelic, religious, and psychosexual imagery. All of those things are present in Altered Space in spades – with subject matter that is fundamentally horrific but is never presented in that manner. (more…)
I now come to the conclusion of the Corellian Trilogy as we get to the bottom of events in the villain’s plan. (more…)
This week I’m taking a look at book 6 of the Legend of the Galactic Heroes series, as the status quo changes once again. (more…)