Saturday, December 10, 2022

Tour: WHAT BRANCHES GROW by T S. Beier

One of the greatest pleasures in a long life devoted to Reading is opening a book to discover a STRONG female protagonist, one molded through life and trauma, sorrow and pain, yet who is "more than," a persona not just a personality, one with ethics and Integrity, a character I'll be willing to trail into the desert; or in this case, into the all-but-deserted feral wasteland remaining after the Great Apocalypse. Unfortunately, that kind of character isn't common enough, and when paired with a self-analytical, hard-lived, male secondary character as a foil, in a well-thought-out and severely Dystopian [yet all too human] post-apocalypse, well I'm going to jump on that wagon train.

Thank you, T. S. Beier! You've brought me a Thinking Person's Post-Apocalypse, a terrifyingly bland but dangerous attempt at Society in which human frailties and missteps are all too well showcased, and provided hours of entertainment, adrenaline, and years of thought and philosophizing!

Friday, December 2, 2022

Review: AUTONOMOUS by Richard Beauchamp

Science Fiction and Horror have been my two favorite genres over a long lifetime. At first glance they seem to have nothing in common; but look again. What is NOT TERRIFYING about Space? From the very factual Challenger, Columbia, and Apollo 1 multi-tragedies (all Horrifying and unforgettable) and Dr. Who floating gently toward the Sun, to the possibilities in Space: the Void, the Cold, Systems Failures, Meteorites, Asteroids, Comets, Solar Eruptions, Terrific Planet-spanning storms; psychotic break in a crew member; sociopathic artificial intelligence; unsuspected aliens! What in Space is NOT MIND-BOGGLINGLY TERRIFYING??? WHY ARE WE EVEN IN SPACE????

If I haven't already proffered sufficient food for thought (and premises for Nightmares), I now offer you Richard Beauchamp's brand new "REASON TO AVOID SPACE EXPLORATION," titled intriguingly AUTONOMOUS. Oh my: a story does not have to exceed Proustian length to blow readers out of the water and onto an unscheduled EVA tour without a tether [yet another potential Space Terror!] I don't suppose Mr. Beauchamp has ever traveled on a Space Exploration mission, but reading AUTONOMOUS, you would never know: I swear he's traveled to Space and brought back the tale.

Do not overlook AUTONOMOUS! [And do remember: In Space, no one can hear you scream!]