Mammoth

Posted on October 22nd, 2013 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4.5/5} “‘I also heard you’re trying to clone a mammoth. Anyway, knowing just those things about you, I asked myself what a man like you would want from a man like me. You offer me a fine meal’ — Matt gestured with his hamburger — ‘and then you casually ask if I believe time travel is possible. The conclusion I […]

The Greatest

Posted on October 20th, 2013 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4.5/5} “Our senior year I took piano, and he had soccer, so we would pass each other every day after school in the exact same spot. And it became something I looked forward to. So much so that I could tell you all the days that he was absent because those were the days I […]

Best fantasy novels by year

Posted on October 20th, 2013 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

Here are what I think are the best fantasy novels of the year, going back to 1966. Prior to that notable books include Dracula by Bram Stoker, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, and The Dying Earth by Jack Vance. The […]

Best science fiction novels by year

Posted on October 20th, 2013 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

Here are what I think are the best science fiction novels of the year plus runner ups, going all the way back to 1949. Prior to that, notable books include Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, The Time Machine and War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, and Brave […]

Panic Room

Posted on October 18th, 2013 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4.5/5} “I spent the last 12 years of my life building rooms like this specifically to keep out people like us.” Meg, recently divorced, and her daughter Sarah move into a new house in New York. It happens to have a panic room, a safe room to hide in if there’s a home invasion. Meg’s nervous about the panic […]

Europa Report

Posted on October 16th, 2013 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4/5} “Andrei and James had to do an EVA to repair the system. A bit like performing ballet and rocket science at 125 000 miles an hour.” On Europa, a moon of Jupiter, ice covers the surface — beneath the ice, water and heat signatures have been discovered. Scientists believe that microscopic life might exist […]

Best soundtracks by year

Posted on October 16th, 2013 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

Here are what I think are the best soundtracks of the year, along with runner ups and honourable mentions. I’ve got a tie for winner twice, in 2009 and 1989. I stopped at 1977 because I don’t have anything for 1976. Prior to that notable soundtracks include The Pink Panther, The Godfather, The Good, the […]

My favourite actor

Posted on October 15th, 2013 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

My favourite actor is Harrison Ford. I’ve seen all of his movies all the way back to The Empire Strikes Back which was in 1980. He only films about one movie a year but he’s done an extraordinarily good job at picking movies — in 33 years he only made one movie that was truly bad. […]

The Accidental Time Machine

Posted on October 15th, 2013 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4.5/5} “So it was a time machine, if kind of a useless one. Unless you could find a way to reverse it — go up fifteen years and come back with the day’s stock quotations. Or a list of who had won the World Series every year in between. But simply putting yourself in the […]

Old Man’s War

Posted on October 15th, 2013 by Dave Switzer  |  No Comments »

{4.5/5} “The recruiting office was a small storefront in a nondescript strip mall; there was a state liquor store on one side of it and a tattoo parlor on the other. Depending on what order you went into each, you could wake up the next morning in some serious trouble.” John Perry joins the Colonial […]