Yes  15 August 1977  Providence RI Starship Trooper -- Yes -- 15 Aug1977 -- Providence RI Mid to late 1970's -- the height of the Rock and Roll era. If you lived in a decent-sized market, it seemed like there was a big show every week. If your favorite band was touring, chances were good they'd be coming to your town. By now, Rock (as the genre had come to called) had wide appeal, with a broad audience from the 12-year-olds to the young adults of the Baby Boom generation. There was enough cash burning holes in the pockets of all those Levi's to move the big shows out of the theaters and into the arenas. Into halls built for basketball ... Shitty seats, horrible sound, parking hassles, hearing damage ... although the last was part of the appeal. But it was the BUZZ that made it all worthwhile ... the indescribable feeling you'd get from a surging, converging crowd of 10,000 fellow travelers gathering to get drunk, get high, and soak in some mega-decibels. I was born a...

Braking Day -- Adam Oyebanji -- 2022 A young midshipman prepares for the fast approaching day when a small fleet of generation starships will begin braking in preparation for arrival at their destination world after a 132-year journey. He's from the crew class, not the officer class, a rare (potential) climber in a socially stratified world. I was excited to read this one, as I enjoy the Generation Ship sub-genre. Unfortunately, it's written somewhere between Juvenile and Young Adult. With no real adult themes or any nuanced examination of the social system, it reads more as High School in Outer Space. Still, it was enjoyable enough, try it if the theme / setting appeals to you ... or if you're a young adult. And, blessedly, contains no SJW bushwa! Black Sun Rising -- C. S. Friedman -- 1991 First volume of a fantasy/horror (with a bit of SF) trilogy. Set 1000 years after humans settle a planet where the local 'fae' can be channeled to create magic; but, unfortunatel...

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...

  “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...

Long ago, in ancient days, a tremendous cataclysm shook the land. A vast expanse filled with hills and valleys, cultivated fields and wild woodlands, with isolated hamlets and vibrant cities was transformed into a warped and shattered landscape. Tales and legends of that event are innumerable, but they differ with every teller, particularly on the event’s cause. Was it Wild Magic gone berserk? The anger of the Gods? A fragment of the Celestial Sphere crashing to Earth? But every loremaster has come to name both the event and the blasted land as -- The Shattering. The long-lived elves, whose memories span millennia, say in ancient days an Elven kingdom rich in wealth, exalted in culture, and strong in magic brilliantly shone in a land filled with beauty and wonder. That land was one among many that disappeared from history, lain to waste by The Shattering. Still, to this day, whisperings among the elves say it is not so. Long have elven adventurers searched, but they have found no evide...

      I've been an avid science-fiction fan from childhood. Through the eighties into the early nineties, I subscribed to IASFM. Some truly great stuff was published in that mag, particularly when Gardner Dozois was editor. I became acquainted with some of my favorite authors through that magazine and got caught up in the excitement generated by the Cyberpunk movement, which was prominently represented in its pages. Around 1994, I dropped my subscription, and fell out of touch with new and upcoming SF writers. Still followed my favorites from the eighties but, besides John Scalzi, really didn't become acquainted with any new SF writers. About ten years ago, I decided to try to discover some of the new talent, since some of my favorites (e.g., Bruce Sterling) weren't publishing much anymore. So I took a six-month subscription to IASFM in an attempt to educate myself. Good lord, in those six issues I enjoyed the grand total of ONE story! The rest, just dross, pure dross. Fa...

  Jefferson Airplane -- 14 September 1970   Have You Seen the Saucers? -- 14 Sep 1970 Taken from a performance at the Fillmore West (the former Carousel Ballroom) in San Francisco, California. With a capacity of around 3000, this was Bill Graham's premier venue at the time. "Have You Seen the Saucers" was recorded in February 1970 and was released in May on a 45, backed with "Mexico". Neither cut was released on LP until the Early Flight compilation in 1974. "Saucers" was a better song than many of those on Volunteers and Bark , the LPs bookending its release. For me, the four Kantner / Slick collaborations ( Blows Against the Empire, Sunfighter, Manhole, Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun ) are better than the last three Jefferson Airplane studio albums. But imagine if the band had released just one Jefferson Airplane LP per year, 1969-1973, with a selection of the best of all the Airplane, Kantner / Slick, and Hot Tuna records in those years. Th...