James Pyles's Blog, page 232

Dreaming of Arabia Terra

Commander Amanda Nichols was disappointed as she opened the Mars lander’s hatch and saw that her helmet obscured much of her first view of the upland region of Arabia Terra. Major Terry Chang, the lander’s co-pilot who was standing behind her, always referred to the Martian terrain as “planet Nevada,” but for Amanda, the stark […]

Lying in the Sands of Time

“I took a walk around the world to ease my troubled mind. I left my body lying somewhere in the sands of time.” -Brad Arnold “Kryptonite” Performed by Three Doors Down How did I get here? I’m on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, but it’s like 1970s Berkeley. There’s the Federation Trading Post. They were closed […]

I’ve Just Been Published at “Theme of Absence”

I’m proud to announce that an original piece of my fiction has just been published online at Theme of Absence, which is an online magazine of fantasy, horror, and science fiction administered by Jason Bougger. An original fiction short story and author interview is published every Friday at that website. Today, I’m the published author. […]

Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy

From the Flight Log of Freighter Pilot Camdon Rod I wouldn’t have known there were X-rays being emitted by Conlon’s Object if Cepravez hadn’t moved its jump point to the outer system. Technically Conlon’s is a dwarf planet, but when it was discovered centuries ago using a standard, ground-based optical telescope, the hunk of rock […]

The Pilot Episode of “Supergirl” : A Retro Review

Now that the television series Supergirl has moved to the CW from CBS, giving it a second chance at life and a second season, I thought I’d dust off my review of the series pilot, which I wrote last year for another blog. I hadn’t originally intended on watchingthe pilot episode of Supergirl starring Melissa […]

V for Vendetta: A Retro DVD Review

Yesterday, I reviewed the V for Vendetta graphic novel. I was generally impressed, but a lot of “dystopia” material came out of the latter half of the 20th century, so by the time I got around to reading Moore and Lloyd’s work, I found it hard to be overly impressed. Also, the length of the […]

Review of the Graphic Novel “V for Vendetta”

I’m repurposing another review I posted sometime back on another blog. When I wrote this review, I hadn’t yet seen the film V for Vendetta (2005) starring Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving but I just finished Alan Moore’s and David Lloyd’s graphic novel (originally a ten-issue comic book series) and thought, given the wide use […]

The March of the Stuffed Animals

The Fifth Story in the Adventures of the Ambrosial Dragon: A Children’s Fantasy Series One by one, the plethora of stuffed toy animals in Landon’s bedroom came alive. It was late at night and the seven-year-old boy was fast asleep. Everyone living at his Grandpa’s house, Grandpa,Daddy, his baby sister Dani, and even Buddy and […]

Robot News Roundup

News about robots is abundant today. It looks like automation or human-robot relationships are represented by the good, the bad, and the ugly. The Good A story reported by the Los Angeles Times states “Man vs. machine: L.A. sheriff’s deputies use robot to snatch rifle from barricaded suspect, end standoff”. You’ve probably heard about how […]

Batman: Under the Red Hood, a Retro DVD Review

Yes I know, this is old. The animated film was released in 2010, but sometimes I don’t get around to watching things right away. Actually, I’m repurposing an old review I wrote for another blog. Time to let it out for a breath of fresh air. This review is loaded with spoilers, so if you […]