This wonderful, hard cover coffee table book, is a visual trip through space and time of spaceship, rockets and their influence on pop-culture and art.

Shepard claimed he has seen a wild black panther in the forest, which might have been, according to him, the last one in the US.

I enjoyed to read the research the author woven into the book. One of the main character is a neurologist and I found the science fascinating.

It was marvelous to see how the idea of science-fiction have evolved over the decades, from winged moon creatures to worlds feel with natural wonders or space colonies. In each era, the artists have taken whatever knowledge was available at the time and expanded on it to create a vivid futuristic guess of what lies just around the corner.

Ray Bradbury didn’t like computers or eBooks, believing that the Internet was “distracting”. However his stance softened when his agent explained to him that “a new contract wouldn’t be possible without ebook rights”.

While laying in a hospital bed after his suicide attempt Leroy, the sci-fi fan, makes up his own story which centers on him and his girlfriend being hunted down by a group called “The Free” who believe they are unpatriotic.

Today we celebrate the birthday of award winning science-fiction author Michael Shea (13 July, 1943 – ???). Mr. Shea (website) has won “year’s best” World Fantasy Awards for his novel Nifft the Lean and Growlimb, a novella. Books by Michael Shea 1 ) Michael Shea hitchhiked twice across the USA 2 ) A Quest fo Simbilis is Vance’s homage, and an authorized sequel, to Jack Vance’s The Eyes of the Overworld which he found in a hotel in Juneau, AK. 3 ) Jack Vance declined to share the advance offered by DAW Books. 4 ) Some of the jobs Mr. Shea had before and after publication were: painting houses, teaching ESL,, construction and night clerk. 5 ) Mr. Shea married Lynn Cesar, author and artist. They have two children, a boy and a girl. 6 ) Michael Shea’s book Nifft the Lean is a collection of four linked stories. 7 ) The Color out of Time is an homage to H.P. Lovecraft’s The Colour out of Space. 8 ) Reviewing The Incomplete Niff, writer Elizabeth Hand said that she “must create a new category for this beautiful, terrifying work, part sword-and-sorcery, part season in hell. Call it Shea generis.” 9 ) Shea’s…

Article first published as Book Review: The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers on Blogcritics. About: The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers is an award winning science-fiction book taking place in the near future. This is a book that out of my comfort zone as I usually don’t read this genre (I used to), but I’m glad I read and think it’s important to read books which you might not otherwise. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— use the form at the end of the post to enter. 256 pages Publisher: Harper Perennial Language: English ISBN-10: 0062130803 My rating for The Testament of Jessie Lamb – 5 Buy this book in paper or electronic format More Book by Jane Rogers Thoughts: The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers (website | Facebook.)almost reads like a classic dystopian novel and I’m sure it will become one soon enough. I found the story surprising with several gentle twists, every time I thought I knew what was going to happen, I found out I was wrong. The writing is excellent, but the book is not your fast paced variety. The story is narrated from the point of view…

Article first published as Book Review: A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs on Blogcritics. About: A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a science-fiction book published in 1912. This is Burroughs first published book and stars John Carter. 160 pages Publisher: Del Rey ISBN: 0345331389 My rating for A Princess of Mars – 3 Great price on this book in paper or FREE in electronic Format through the Man of la Book Affil­i­ate Account More books by Edgar Rice Burroughs Thoughts: A Princess of Mars is Edgar Rice Burroughs’ first novel, while the novel is good, it feels like a first novel and I’m glad Burroughs continued to write and get better each time. What impressed me about the book was how imaginative it was compared to other science-fiction stories of the time. While Jules Verne concentrated on the science aspect of his stories (see my review of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) and H.G. Wells’ science fiction stories were more about social commentary (my thoughts on The Invisible Man), Burroughs concentrated more on the story aspect, but instead of taking place on earth, he set it on Mars. The book is an escapable fantasy, and enjoyable tale which, if…

Article first published as Book Review: The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells on Blogcritics. About: The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells is a science fiction classic written in 1897. The novella was first serialized in Pearson’s Weeklythe same year it was published. 196 pages Publisher: Simon & Brown ISBN: 1613822162 My rating for The Invisible Man – 4 Great price on this book paper or free in electronic format through the Man of la Book Affil­i­ate Account More books by H. G. Wells Part of the League of Extra­or­di­nary Gen­tle — Men of la — Book Chal­lenge (Vol. 1) Thoughts: What if what you consider a blessing is also a curse? The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells touches on this very same question. How many of us wouldn’t like to be invisible? That’s what the protagonist, Griffin, thought when he became invisible only to find it to be the bane of his existence. Yes, there are some positives aspects but H.G. Wells concentrates mostly on the negative ones. I thought Wells did a good job building up the eerie atmosphere that is prominent throughout the story. Actually, the atmosphere is the star of the book as none of the characters…