John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction A history of the early days of modern Science Fiction, centered about the lives of John W. Campbell Jr. and three of his proteges: Robert Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and Isaac Asimov. A sometimes interesting account of a crucial era in the history of Science Fiction, but mainly just biographies of the titular personalities. Most of the interactions among these characters occurred before World War II, long before the lifetimes of anyone likely to be reading. I'm a longtime SF reader who grew up reading Heinlein and Asimov, and started reading Analog intermittently from about the time of Campbell's death. As invested as I am in the SF of the second half of the 20th Century, the history of the first half didn't interest me that much. Really, if you want to know what was happening in SF way back when, just read the stories! (SPOILER: It mostly sucked, especially Hubbard an...
A summary of my Genre (and Genre-adjacent) reading in 2025, presented in the order they were read. Mostly gleaned from used bookstores, the public library, and the BSFS library -- mostly an old guy reading old books. System Collapse -- Martha Wells -- 2023 Last of the Murderbot Diaries, "novel" length, but a short one. Continues this spectacular series in fine form. This story begins from the end of the last volume, "Network Effect." SecUnit (Murderbot's polite name) and ART (Murderbot's name for his pal, an acronym for the sentient ship he calls Asshole Research Transport) work to save their beloved but hapless human employers from enslavement by the Evil Corporation. Here, Murderbot seems to be developing into something almost completely human, emotionally at least, and begins to awaken to that fact, if not anywhere near accepting it. Highly recommended, as is the entire series. Clan of the Cave Bear -- Jean Auel -- 1980 OK, it took me mo...
“The Shattering” is the new campaign world I've begun to design for an eventual return to in-person gaming. Here are my base points: -- I’ll run some flavor of D&D, most likely Moldvay B/E. Initial design will be version (and system, I guess) independent. -- PC level independent, at least in initial design. Populating the encounters will need to wait until it's decided if the players want to start with fresh PCs, or continue with developed (and at this stage, probably ridiculously equipped) PCs. The PCs in my group are always happy to dungeon delve, so those subterranean complexes can be designed now, and stocked later. -- The actual "world" will be designed as a network of interconnected locales. Completing the scenario in the current location will provide clues/quests for choosing the next course of action. As the PCs explore the setting while gathering information along the way, they can choose whichever opportunity looks most attractive to...
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