River of Stars

Posted on December 27th, 2020 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{5/5} “They didn’t execute out-of-favour civil servants in the Twelfth Dynasty of Kitai under the Emperor Wenzong. That, he thought wryly, would have been barbaric, and theirs was an emperor of exquisite cultivation. They just sent members of the disgraced faction away, sometimes so far that their ghosts couldn’t even return to threaten anyone.” River […]

Star Trek: The Antares Maelstrom

Posted on December 21st, 2020 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4.5/5} “Grandle jumped off the counter into the fracas, landing between two furious shoppers who were doing their best to batter each other senseless. She shoved them apart, trying to keep them at arm’s length from each other. Her fierce expression would have done an ancient Greek Fury proud. ‘Get a hold of yourselves! What […]

Always Be My Maybe

Posted on December 20th, 2020 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4.5/5} “You are scaring the goats.” Always Be My Maybe, released in 2019 Sasha and Marcus hung out together all the time as kids and teenagers. But they drifted apart. Sasha is a high-end restauranteur and Marcus works with his dad doing heating and air conditioning. When Sasha returns to San Francisco to open a […]

VOY Dark Matters: Shadow of Heaven

Posted on December 18th, 2020 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4.5/5} “It had been strange to be without a weapon on this planet and downright unsettling to be without a combadge. A dozen times a day he’d find himself tapping his chest, trying futilely to communicate with someone. It had gotten so that the children teased him, lifting their right hands and touching their left […]

The Mandalorian (season 2)

Posted on December 18th, 2020 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4.5/5} “‘There’s no such thing as an abandoned Sarlacc pit.’ ‘There is if you eat the Sarlacc.’” The Mandalorian season 2, aired in 2020 The Mandalorian is attempting to take the child to others of its kind. In order to do that, he’s looking for other Mandalorians to help him. He hears about one on […]

VOY Dark Matters: Ghost Dance

Posted on December 14th, 2020 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4/5} “The survivors were of two minds. Some thought they had displeased their gods, the Crafters, in some way and that to atone they needed to devote themselves totally toward an agrarian life. Others were angry, and wanted to be able to defend themselves should this ever happen again. The two drifted apart.” Star Trek: […]

11.22.63

Posted on December 11th, 2020 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{5/5} “The past doesn’t want to be changed. There are times when you feel it push back.” 11.22.63, aired in 2016 Jake is a teacher who’s just gotten a divorce. His friend Al, who owns a diner, shows him something astonishing — a portal to 1960. Al, who now has cancer, wants Jake to take […]

VOY Dark Matters: Cloak and Dagger

Posted on December 9th, 2020 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4.5/5} “They could probably take on the Federation with their present number of dark matter-cloaked vessels. But the Triumvirate, true to their Romulan heritage, wanted to wait until their was no risk at all. They didn’t want to fight the Federation. They wanted to sweep in with a victory so overwhelming that the round-ears wouldn’t […]

Classic vs. modern: SF & fantasy movies

Posted on December 4th, 2020 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

Here are the best 20 SF movies from the classics (up to 2000) and the best from the modern period (2001+). Classic Modern 12 Monkeys The Adjustment Bureau 2001: A Space Odyssey Arrival Aliens Batman Begins Back to the Future Cloud Atlas Back to the Future Part III Donnie Darko Blade Runner Edge of Tomorrow […]

Classic vs. modern: SF & fantasy novels

Posted on December 4th, 2020 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

It’s nearly impossible to come up with the best 20 SF novels — but 40 is doable. I thought it might be interesting to split them into 2 groups, old vs. new. Here are the best 20 SF novels from the classics (up to 1990) and the best from the modern period (1991+). Classic Modern […]