James Pyles's Blog, page 24

My SciFi Drabble “Hunter” is Available at “Martian Magazine”

Martian Magazine publishes science fiction drabbles every Monday and Friday. I somehow missed that one of my drabbles was going to be coming out on Monday, November 30th. This is the value of practicing drabbles and concise writing. Click the following link to read my 100 word SciFi tale Hunter.

The Old Shoe

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. Alan sat in the laundry contemplating the last moments of his life. It was cold outside, and not just because of the weather. You see things differently sitting on the floor. All these different types of footwear, all for different occasions […]

Review of “The Soldier: Rise of the Jain, Book One” (2018)

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. Last night I finished Neal Asher’s novel The Soldier: Rise of the Jain, Book One (2018). This one was harder for me to get into than some of the others. I’ve read a number (but only a fraction of those published) […]

Flowers and Rust

Things like the “flower Datsun” weren’t all that unusual, but people seemed to make a big deal over them. “There’s worse ways to repurpose your old rig.” He paused on his walk to regard the object. No doubt someone’s attempt at art or maybe a commentary on the environment. “Plants are wilting and the chassis […]

Caught in the Time Loop of Science Fiction Fandom

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. There seems to be an ongoing war debate on social media about whether or not science fiction is inherently liberal/progressive or conservative. I should say that “woke” is the more common word used for “liberal” or “progressive” although the two terms […]

Leap into the Panderverse: The End of Quantum Leap

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. I really thought One Night in Koreatown was going to be the Let Them Play episode for season two of the current version of Quantum Leap starring Raymond Lee and Ernie Hudson. I thought this because of how the showrunner and […]

My Drabble “Butterfly” a Favorite in “Pocket SciFi: Drabble Contest One”

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. I received this wonderful compliment on Facebook this morning (see the image above). As you may know from this announcement, nine out of ten of my submissions to “Pocket SciFi: Drabble Contest One” was accepted for publication. You can find this […]

Review of “Meg 2: the Trench” (2023)

Yes, last night I was so bored I watched Meg 2: The Trench (2023) starring Jason Statham, Jing Wu and Shuya Sophia Cai. I watched and reviewed the original back in 2018 (and I previously read the book upon which it was based). It was “okay,” no great film, but a way to kill a […]

One Last Look

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. Mo lagged behind the tour group being escorted into Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter. He’d been here hundreds of times over the past ten years but decided he needed to take one last look. Decades of Islamic terrorism had escalated into war. Netanyahu […]

Water Me

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi. Ken wasn’t getting any younger or thinner, so every morning took himself out for a walk. Fall had arrived, and he enjoyed strolling in brisk weather. Then it turned weird. “Hey, Buddy. Stop a second.” He was walking past the tennis […]