Author Archives: James Pyles

Book Review: “Red Mars”

red mars

Cover image for Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel “Red Mars.”

When reading author Kim Stanley Robinson’s 1992 Nebula award-winning novel Red Mars, I made a decision I rarely consider. I stopped reading before I finished. Yes, it was that dull.

The book is actually the first in the Mars Trilogy describing the colonization, terraforming, and the final result of turning the fourth planet into an Earth-like environment over several centuries.

So what was so dull about the novel? I mean, the first part deals with passion, jealousy, and murder, so you’d think it would be exciting.

It has to be Robinson’s writing style. Even during “the action,” the presentation and characters were about as thrilling as watching grass grow (especially in early March in Idaho). The story is told through the points of view of several of the 100 initial colonists of the red planet, but their lives, even aboard a spacecraft and on the surface of Mars, is so ordinary. I didn’t particularly like or relate to any of them.

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Why is Reviewing the “Captain Marvel” Movie So Hard?

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Promotional image for the movie “Captain Marvel” (2019).

I didn’t want to do this. I still don’t have to, but then again, there’s more hype about this movie than even last year’s Black Panther. When I was anticipating watching and reviewing that film, I was “irrationally” afraid that if I didn’t like something about it, I’d be forever labeled a “racist.” Fortunately I thought it was one of the better Marvel films, and that although it told a story of significant meaning to African-Americans, it also transcended race as the epic tale of a Prince confronting the realities of becoming a King.

However, Captain Marvel (2019) which will have its general release to theaters this coming Friday (March 8th), seems to be getting a lot more press than Black Panther, at least to the best of my recollection.

First of all, according to The Mary Sue (which leans pretty far to the left), the movie is getting tons of bad reviews pre-release, but it’s only being reviewed by misogynistic white males who hate the idea not only of powerful women, but of Captain Marvel (played by Brie Larson) being the most powerful hero in the Marvel Universe, even more so than Thor or the Hulk (okay, I’m exaggerating slightly).

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I’ve Just Been Interviewed by Author Jensen Reed

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Image from the Author Jensen Reed blog

Jensen Reed is co-owner with Donise Sheppard at Pixie Forest Publishing, and in three days, their latest anthology, Magical Reality will be published in paperback and ebook format at Amazon (available for pre-order today). It includes my fantasy short story “The Dragon’s Family.”

To read the full interview, visit Magical Reality Blog Tour- James Pyles.

Edit: Here’s the promotional poster for my story.

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Promotional poster for the my short story “The Dragon’s Family” published in the Pixie Forest Publishing fantasy anthology “Magical Reality.”

Using Climate Change to Illustrate Debates Based on Data vs. “Feels”

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Yes, this is Ben Shapiro appearing with one of his quotes. Don’t panic.

Relax. The point of this blog post isn’t to say that climate change is a hoax or to deny that it’s possible for human beings to damage the environment in any manner. The point is that when you want to convince someone of something, the way NOT to do it is to appeal to their “feels,” at least not when your point is supposed to be based on observable data and repeatable results from scientific experiments.

Case in point: climate change. The most liberal member of my immediate family, one of my sons, says that it’s possible for what we are currently observing to be “human assisted” climate change. He’s pretty smart and reads a lot (okay, reading and podcasts), so even though we don’t always agree, I can depend on him to present his point of view logically.

Now relative to climate change, he agrees with me that it’s not like the Earth has never been hotter than it is right now.  For instance, during the Cretaceous Period, according to LiveScience.com:

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Now a Listed Author on “World War Four”

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Screen shot of my Amazon’s author’s page listing “World War Four” as one of my publications

This didn’t quite workout the way I’d planned. All I wanted was to have a link to my author’s page from the list of authors and editors listed for the World War Four anthology. It’s still not listed alongside Adam Bennett, Sam M. Phillips, and Neal Asher, but if you scroll down on the page, you can find my photo along with a button so you can “follow” me on Amazon. Also, on my author’s page (see image above) you can see WWF listed along with my other publications. Finally.

For other WWF authors (or published authors period) I encourage you to create such pages on Amazon and make sure all of your works at attributed to you there. Great marketing (or at least I hope so).

Film Review of “The Lego 2 Movie: The Second Part” (2019)

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Promotional poster for “The Lego Movie 2” (2019)

I guess it must be me, because while the general box office and critical reception of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) has been pretty much favorable, I didn’t like it. This in spite of a terrific cast starring with Chris Pratt who’s good in everything I’ve seen him in.

Yes, I know the movie is a parody on just about everything, and is meant to describe family relationships, particularly between older brother and younger sister, but I’m not sure the focus was there and it seemed jumbled, confusing, and sometimes insulting.

Since it’s still out in the theaters and you might not have seen it, I may end up dropping some spoilers you won’t appreciate, so you’ve been warned. I must also confess that although I have seen The Lego Batman Movie (2017) exactly once, I haven’t seen any other the other Lego films, so I don’t have any familiarity with the characters or the general universe.

Yesterday, my wife suggested that my two sons and I take my grandson (he just turned ten) to the movies. We had a choice of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the aforementioned Lego movie, and Alita: Battle Angel. My son (grandson’s Dad) felt Alita might be a bit too “mature” for my grandson, so that just left Spider-Man (which we’ve seen before but it’s terrific) and Lego. My grandson chose the Lego film because he hadn’t seen it yet. That’s how I ended up seeing it (which I normally wouldn’t).

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Film Review: “Serenity” (2005)

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Poster for the 2005 film “Serenity”

I’d heard of the television show Firefly for some time, so when I got the chance to rent the entire series from my local public library a number of years ago, I jumped at the chance. Needless to say, it was magnificent, a sort of science fiction meets western theme, with sinister, bloated government conspiracy thrown in. Joss Whedon not only created a (rather short-lived) legend, but unwittingly presented the world with an anthem for the libertarian party (which is very much what Whedon isn’t).

Firefly, we hardly knew ye.

Yesterday, again at the public library, I happened to chance upon the “epilogue” of the too soon canceled classic, Serenity (2005), and no, not the 2019 film currently in theaters by the same name which I have no intention of seeing.

[Yes, I know this violates the credo of the pundits at the much vaunted File 770, at least as applied to award-winning science fiction writer Robert Silverberg, that you shouldn’t sample SF/F that’s older than ten years, but so be it.]

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World War Four is Available Now!

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Notice for Zombie Pirate Publishing’s upcoming anthology announcing contributor Neal Asher

This anthology containing my short story “Joey” is available for purchase now on Amazon in paperback format as well as digital in the US and the UK.

This science fiction anthology from Zombie Pirate Publishing features twenty post-apocalyptic tales set in a world that has survived World War Three but that now faces the unimaginable; a fourth world war, has accepted my short story “Joey.”

Synopsis of “Joey:” Ten years after the end of the third world war, on an Earth recovering from nuclear winter, an alien species invades and wipes out all but a handful of the human race. A man and his young grandson make a hazardous journey though the Northwest wilderness, running from hunter machines and hoping to join the remaining resistance fighters, but sixty-year-old Andy Hanson has a terrible secret.

“World War Four,” edited by Adam Bennett and Sam M. Phillips, and features the exclusive novelette “Monitor Logan” written by internationally bestselling SciFi writer Neal Asher.

Book Review of “Escaping Infinity”

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Cover art for Richard Paolinelli’s novel “Escaping Infinity”

I’ve wanted to read and review one of Richard Paolinelli’s novels for quite some time now, since I previously reviewed his short story The Last Hunt which was featured in last year’s Superversive Press anthology To Be Men: Stories Celebrating Masculinity. I finally got my opportunity with Escaping Infinity, a 2017 Dragon Award Finalist.

As I got into Paolinelli’s book, I found it had some similarities to Australian SciFi writer Matt Reilly’s 2000 novel Contest. In both books, an innocent couple is thrown into a highly unlikely environment where they must solve a series of challenges in order to survive. In Reilly’s case, it was the location was the main branch of the New York City Public Library, and in Paolinelli’s novel, it’s a seemingly five-star hotel located in the middle of the Arizona desert, miles away from where any such structure has a right to be.

Peter and his friend and co-worker Charlie are driving to Phoenix for a business trip and become lost. Running out of gas and miles from nowhere, they come across an incredibly futuristic and opulent hotel called “Infinity.” Once inside, they realize the hotel and casino can provide a virtually unlimited supply of pleasures and experiences, enough to keep them there for a lifetime, which seems to be the idea.

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Amélie Wen Zhao, “Blood Heir,” and Social Justice (or is it vengeance)

blood heir

Cover art for the novel “Blood Heir” by Amélie Wen Zhao

I’ve held off about commenting on Amélie Wen Zhao controversial book Blood Heir, since it seemed that more than enough online pundits were weighing in, both for and against the book. Also, I didn’t really understand what the problem was all about. Yes, it had something to do with slavery, but what did Zhao actually write that at least some people found so offensive?

However, as a matter of good conscience, I felt I should look into the matter and see what it was supposed to be all about. To that end, I decided to seek the answer from one of the most liberal information outlets I could find, Slate.com. It doesn’t get much more leftist than Slate. Writer Aja Hoggatt wrote an article called An Author Canceled Her Own YA Novel Over Accusations of Racism. But Is It Really Anti-Black? published January 31, 2019. I found the write-up really even-handed, especially given Slate’s obvious leftist perspective.

First off, here’s the summary of the book I found at Amazon:

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