The Case Of The Dying Bomber: Megrahi and Lockerbie

There has been a lot of sturm und drang about the Scottish government’s decision to release on compassionate grounds Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi, the man convicted for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, which resulted in 270 fatalities. Cries of outrage have been heard on both sides of the Atlantic, although most vociferously [...]

Analysing A Virtual Earth – For Fun And Profit

Frederik Pohl produced some of the most enduring and relevant SF ever written. Pohl had worked for quite some time in advertising from which he gained a lifelong aversion to it blandishments and outright propaganda. This showed up in such short stories as ‘The Tunnel Under The World’, ‘The Midas Plague’, and ‘Happy Birthday, Dear [...]

Orphaned Worlds, 1st Draft, 3rd Excerpt

This is the 3rd and final excerpt from the 1st draft. Once all the edits and revisions are done I`ll see if these three excerpts have altered substantially and if so I`ll post the new versions for comparison. This section is from the start of chapter 6 and involves Catriona:
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Cradled in the growing green darkness, Catriona listened eye-closed [...]

Battlestar Galactica: A True Ending

(As I said, I can’t let it go so I sat down to concoct an ending with more grace and plausibility than we saw on the screen. So here it is, a mirage of words to try and put it right, and my gift to all BSG fans – Mike  Cobley)
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After the arrival at this [...]

Battlestar Galactica’s Last Half-Hour: An Epic Failure Of Storytelling

You have got to be kidding me. No way, not now, not never, not ever would a true story end in that way. Okay, so let’s recap – after years of flight and struggle and death and despair and pain and loss and grief, after a climactic battle where the Human survivors and the rebel [...]

Opponents of US version of the NHS are seriously demented

I could have added ‘corrupt’, or ‘bought and paid for by private health corps’, but that practically goes without saying in American politics today. The latest bolus of batshit craziness comes from that paragon of lowbrow gruntertainment, Sarah Palin. This excerpt came from a CNN report:
“”And who will suffer the most when they ration care?” she wrote. [...]

Orphaned Worlds, 1st Draft, 2nd Excerpt

This next bit is the opening section from chapter 3, which involves Robert Horst and his companions.
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Shivering, Robert Horst pulled up the hood of his padded jacket before tugging open the D-shaped hatch leading outside the Artisans’ Deck. Hinges creaked and a gust of snow flew in as he edged out into the freezing blast, [...]

The Orphaned Worlds, 1st Draft, 1st Excerpt

Yes indeedy, here for your delectation, consideration, apoplexitation (okay, made up the last one), I present an excerpt from chapter one of The Orphaned Worlds. And yes, it is entirely possible that this brief chunk may turn out differently by the final edit, so read and wonder!
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Greg climbed out of the notch and crouched in a nearby [...]

Battlestar Galactica: Interim Reflections

Yes, am watching the entire saga from start to finish on DVD, and we`re at about the midpoint of Season 3, just finished watching the ‘Rapture’ episode. And….although I am still enjoying the drama and the acting and the general forward paced plotting, there are some story elements that I’m uneasy about. Seems to me that [...]

Movie Review: Harry Potter And The Half-Price Bargain

Sorry, sorry, I know, how despicably flippant of me! – anyway, me and SuperSusan are toddling off to see the aforementioned big-screen hextravaganza. Report later.
 
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Blimey. I know that movie demands frequently alter the plots of books, but … what happened to the big battles in the corridors of Hogwarts? And was there ever a more underused [...]