Adventures in Bat Country

I really love the series Mad Men.

It is rare that the main character of a series is so interesting.

I am surprise it lasted as long as it did.

I love the free mean spirit of the series and show how times have changed.

And Jon Hamm has the look for Batman. He should really play Bruce Wayne.

“Review: You Might Sleep by Nick Mamatas, Part I"

by Jason Andrew

You Might Sleep from Prime Books is a collection of speculative short fiction from writer Nick Mamatas. Many of the stories take a left turn and delves into that grey area between marketing labels that some of the greats such as Harlan Ellison or Ray Bradbury occasionally visited.

This book has three strikes against it. The cover is very busy. Artistic taste is often subjective, but I just honestly can’t imagine this image selling this book. The introduction to the collection is boring. I wanted to get more of a sense of the writer and for Mamatas to show the same vulnerability that appears in his stories. And finally, the collection starts with a very short flash fiction piece that is really a recycled literary joke titled “Found Wedged In the Side Of a Desk Drawer in Paris, France. 23 December 1989.”

“Land Speed Record” is an amusing story set in the world of cubicals, office paranoia, and the mind-numbing monotony of the corporate world where worker drones dream of revolution. This isn’t the strongest story in the collection, but I certainly was entertained and now wanted to read the rest of the collection.

“All That’s Left After the Big One Drops” is a sad almost bittersweet story about a teenaged boy living in a government controlled shelter during a nuclear war. This story shows a surprising vulnerability in the characters and the dynamic between the successful father and the chubby son just trying to rebel and live a little. There’s an awkward age when you just want to get the girl, cut your hair wild, and you will do anything even eat cockroaches just to be cool while you’re young. However, it is hard to be shocking wearing a Charlie Manson t-shirt when your father has killed three billion people. I’ve read this story three times in three days and I’m very impressed with the genius in the storytelling and the sadness in the characters.

“April 29th” takes a look at an old sci-fi trope and takes a very human look at it. Alien spacecraft have appeared in the skies and humanity is awaiting word from the visitors. It seemed very important during 9/11 to get home and watch everything on the news. Seattle is just about as far as you can get from New York in the continental United Stated and still the instinct to return home and wait was almost palpable. I remember the office empty before noon and the strange distance I felt from everyone else trapped in my own head and fear. The narrator of this story has that same sort of alienation and instinct to stay at home. People of the world fear leaving their houses least the aliens see them. When they do leave, it is only under the cover of an umbrella. It seems strange that it would matter, but there is a very unstated shame from humanity for their technological inferiority.

“The Pitch” is a clever story that continually goes against reader expectations. Successful movie producer Manny Bursky is on the hunt for new stories and gets the surprise of a lifetime. The pitch is a new twist on classic horror tropes with a sad denouncement. The story takes you slowly, one step at a time, into a horrible concept that stays with you long after you are finished reading it. I read this story five times looking for more details.

“One Thumb Up” works well placed after “The Pitch” and I almost thought it was a sequel at first. It is a short flash story that hits with a solid punch and then fades into the black.
“There is a Light That Never Goes Out” is a huge multi-thread story that features separate scenes from different eras and different people with an unusal connection with each other. I enjoyed this challenging story.

“Build a Trebuchet” is one of my favorite stories in the book. It doesn’t contain any speculative elements, but it is hiliarious. We’ve all had occasional drunken moments where we’ve done strange things to get attention from women. Some guys dress like pirates, some wear kilts, or learn to play guitar to pick up women. The main character of this story decides that the best way to pick up women is to be interesting and build a trebuchet. It is the strange sort of thing some of my friends my do. This story alone is worth purchasing the book.

“Quieter Types, Loners Mostly...” is a story set in a classic dystopian future where punishment is meted out seemingly at random with excessive cruelty.

“A Sudden Absence of Bees” involves a professor challenging his students to imagine different end-game scenarios for the world. When all of them start happening at once, the professor starts to suspect his old students.

“Withdraw, Withdraw!” is an erotic study of a young couple that turns sexual politics into a fetish. This story was both sexy and authentic. I knew girls like this in college ready to explore known sexual troupes and try to figure out that time when our bodies feel mature and ancient and yet the world in new and each turn feels like discovering a new world.

“The Uncanny Valley” examines the post-humanity dealing with the concept of the Singularity troupe and what it might mean to those humans left behind. I enjoyed the idea of a mass collective consciousness needed therapy. Technology changes our perspectives in the world, but sometimes we need human contact to heal wounds.

I started watching the Terminator TV show on Netflix.

The show is surprisingly good. There are many surprises.

Brian Austen Green grew up to be a bad-ass.

The actress that plays Sarah Conner is pretty cool.

The evil terminators are actually smart. Some of them genius level chest-master smart.

I like the character Cameron. Summer Glau is way too geek sexy.

I am sad this show was canceled.

More than any other series in recent history, this one was pure awesome.

Yes, this series was better overall in acting and writing than Firefly.

Ian Shane must have made a deal with the devil because he is just that good.

My favorite episode was the Sabbath Queen. It effectly a ghost story and a deal with the devil story. Chilling and awesome.

There series has so much awesome in it. The scenes between Ian Shane and Brian Cox (playing Vesper Abedon the former King) were a delight.

You want to know who else was awesome in it? Macaulay Culkin. He plays a disgraced nephew of the King and he is full of creepy evil.

Sebastian Stan was awesome as Prince Jack and handled the secrely gay storyline with a steady hand.

I am very sad. I loved this show and it recieved very little attention. The complete series is available on netflix and I highly recommend it, but you'll never be able to watch Home Alone again.

I really enjoy writing reviews. I have resolved to do more of them.

insatia and I have started watching the series Roswell. I've very much enjoyed it.

When that is over, I am going to watch the Dresden Files. I accidently caught an eposode and loved it. The vampire Bianca was played perfectly. Like I would imagine a vampire actually would act.

Sadly, Glee and Doctor Who are the only two TV shows I actually love on the air.

Scheherazade Cast In Starlight by Jason Andrew is a strong,sharp story about an Iranian woman who uses her kills to tell the world of her country in all it's brutality. She recounts how her mother had been thrown in jail for drug abuse, but her only crime was being elected to the parliament. If you read this and you mistakenly think it's the one story in Shine that's downbeat, it isn't. Here we have a modern day storyteller who gets the world to listen, who empowers and who becomes the face of what a patriarchal society tries to destroy. Spikey, vivid storytelling.

http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=10547

I am pleased with this review. I can really tell that she gets this story.

http://webfictionguide.com/listings/dylan-and-the-dream-pirates/review-by-fiona/

"This story, in its early days so far, is doing a lovely job of blending reality and myth. A modern boy from Seattle interacts with three Lost Boys from Peter Pan’s Neverneverland aka the dreamland. Both the power and the limitations of the Lost Boys’ carefree mode of living in the moment are handled subtly and skillfully, while the modern boy is forced to be practical to help his new friends while navigating a magical world with unknown and arbitary rules and practices."

I have very much enjoyed the series.

And really, I expected that I would like it.

It has Romans, gladiators, sword fights, politics, and a number of other elements that hit my weak spots. Bonus points for a nude Lucy Lawless.

The surprise in the series was the story. Elements were pushed forward. It had the feel of a British TV show.

The season finale was awesome. Bloody. Character dropped like flies. They helld nothing back.

I did not expect this. I thought there would be some sort of reset.

I was wrong.

A good review can totally make a writer’s day. This one put me on the moon.

http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=10547

Quote about my story:

Scheherazade Cast In Starlight by Jason Andrew is a strong, sharp story about an Iranian woman who uses her kills to tell the world of her country in all it's brutality. She recounts how her mother had been thrown in jail for drug abuse, but her only crime was being elected to the parliament. If you read this and you mistakenly think it's the one story in Shine that's downbeat, it isn't. Here we have a modern day storyteller who gets the world to listen, who empowers and who becomes the face of what a patriarchal society tries to destroy. Spikey, vivid storytelling.