Cory Doctorow’s “Little Brother”

What started out as pretentious to me, turned out to be the best piece of fiction I’ve read in a long time. Read more

The Hitchhiker’s Guide Prequel

The radio dramatization of “Dirk Gently’s The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul” is coming with a surprise at the end. Read more

Don’t Forget Your Towel!

Today is “Towel Day”!! Make sure you celebrate the life of the great author. You can celebrate by purchasing your own Utility Towel from Think Geek. Remember, “Towel Day” is a celebration of our beloved Douglas Adams. Read more

Arthur C. Clarke: 1917-2008

2001: A Space Odyssey was one of the novels that drew me to science fiction as a child. I read it at a very young age, and it drew me right in. Read more

Quick Review: Born Standing Up

I picked up Steve Martin’s, “Born Standing Up” at the Albuquerque Airport (as I had finished my other book) and couldn’t put it down until I was done. It was interesting, funny, and heartwarming. Steve Martin is a beautiful writer. Read more

Quick Review: Brave Men Run

I read the novel, “Brave Men Run” ( by
Matthew Wayne Selznick ) on a single flight from Detroit to Denver. Was it short in comparison to some novels? Yes. But I was able to finish the book because I just could not put it down. It was that engaging. Read more

What Ever Happend To Rusty Miller?

In 1982 we all wanted to be Rusty Miller. He was only 11 years old, and he had an authorized LucasFilm book, “The Jedi Master’s Quizbook”. I was 11 myself at the time, and had my own “quizbook” that I had roughly put together with my friend Doug. It was a rough compilation of questions we asked each other to try to stump one another. But Rusty had his published. Star Wars was a huge part of every 11 to 15 year old boys life in the early 80s.

One would think that Rusty Miller, now in 36/37 years old, would be an Internet celebrity geek for his early success. When the “Star Wars Page at Texas A&M” debuted (now theforce.net, it was the most popular (and nearly only) website for Star Wars fans. I would have expected Rusty to flock to it, to be found by leagues of fans who at one time wanted to be him. Also, when “the prequels” finally were released, what an opportunity to develop yet another quizbook and capitalized on previous fame. But Rusty is still unknown.

Where is Rusty Miller? He doesn’t even have a wikipedia entry. He was to the 1980s fandom as Kevin Rubino was to the 1990s. Rusty, where are you?

Update:
My post inspired another post, and eventually StarWars.com found Rusty!.

Douglas Adams

The internet now gives us unbelievable access to celebrities. Not paparazzi stuff, but real access through their official sites, blogs and podcasting. Jenna Fischer, Allison Mack, John Mayer, Felicia Day, Nathan Fillion, and Michael Stackpole are just a few. But an often overlooked pioneer in fan interaction was the late great Douglas Adams. Read more

Neil Gaimen: Stardust

In a world in which the book is almost always better than the movie, there is always an exception. Stardust is one of them. Though Neil Gaiman actually wrote the screenplay for the movie, the book is so much inferior.

The movie was my favorite movie of 2007, and in my top 10 of all time. If anything, it should have been ‘at least as enjoyable’ as the movie. I actually didn’t finish the book. It was so convoluted that I couldn’t stand to.

Do yourself a favor. Pick up the the movie.

Book Review: Ancestor

What began as an online audio book has become an excellent novel by Scott Sigler. Mad scientists, secret agents, and ex-Military businessmen make this the most thrilling novel I’ve ever read.

The story really keeps you on the edge of your seat. The main characters are all flawed, but sympathetic. They good guys are not actually ‘good guys’, but are worthy of support in the light of the ‘bad guys’. Once I started reading it was difficult to put it down.

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