Category Archives: science fiction

One Last Icing On The Web

ice web

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

“Ah, crap.” Jackson looked out the window expecting to see his salvation. Beyond the shed’s single window frame on the abandoned farm, he did see what he hoped for, but right before that, there was something much worse.

“You never give up, do you?” He almost let his fingertips glide along the lengths of frozen webbing. “So close.”

Outside it was Spring, the first Spring since he was a little boy. The climate was turning again in favor of life. But the ice giants were taking one last shot at him before they went.

Then he saw the first spider.

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“A Wobblegong And His Boy” is available NOW!

a wobblegong and his boy

Cover image for my novel “A Wobblegong and His Boy”

What can I say? It’s finally here and available in both Kindle and paperback formats. Be the first one to read and write an honest review of A Wobblegong and his Boy on Amazon and Goodreads.

Here’s just a sample of the excitement you can expect in this book:.

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Writing Books To Encourage Boys To Read

a wobblegong and his boy

Cover image for my novel “A Wobblegong and His Boy”

There are already a ton of articles and essays out there commenting on the decline of boys and men reading. When I was a kid entering Junior High, my “gateway drugs” into science fiction and fantasy were Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series starting with A Princess of Mars. Then came along E.E. “Doc” Smith’s Skylark Series as well as Andre Norton’s The Time Traders and Galactic Derelict.

My reading interests exploded from that flashpoint and I’ve never stopped. Seriously, I’m over seventy-years-old now and I’ve always got at least one book going (library cards are a wonderful thing).

I’ve been very actively promoting my latest science fiction novel A Wobblegong and His Boy on my blog, substack, and social media (you may have noticed). When I heard that Raconteur Press was soliciting novels for their Boy’s Adventure Books series, I was very excited to submit something of my own. I’m gratified and humbled that they accepted my manuscript and as of right now while still on pre-order, my book is number one on Amazon’s list of New Releases in Children’s Space Exploration books. That’s fantastic.

However, as much as I’m thrilled to have another science fiction novel (this will be my second) hitting the virtual book stands, there’s something more important going on.

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Pre-Order “A Wobblegong And His Boy” NOW!

a wobblegong and his boy

Cover image for my novel “A Wobblegong and His Boy”

Today’s the day when my boy’s adventure science fiction novel A Wobblegong And His Boy goes on Pre-Order. Just click on the link and on the Amazon page, pre-order my novel for delivery to your Kindle device on Friday, March 20th.

I’m incredibly excited about this one. This will be my second published novel which I hope will lead to other, larger works and successes.

Here’s just a taste of what you have to look forward to:

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The Kickstarter for “Ruins: A Space Opera Anthology” Officially Launches Today!

ruins

Promotional image of “Ruins: A Space Opera Anthology”

Across the vast expanse of space and time lie the remnants of civilizations that reached for the stars—and vanished. Silent cities carved into asteroids. Derelict megastructures drifting between galaxies. Temples buried beneath the red sands of dead worlds.

This book contains 13 bold tales of humanity’s encounters with these cosmic ruins.

Today is the official launch date for the Kickstarter for Ruins: A Space Opera Anthology edited by M.G. Herron and featuring my 10,000 word story “Sunrise.”

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Freezing My Butt Off In Quebec Again

stairwell

PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast

“Of all the ridiculous…not Quebec again.”

Gerald sat on the steps heedless of melting snow making the rear of his jeans cold and wet. He propped his elbows on his knees and set his forlorn looking face in his hands. His gaze darted around the concrete stairwell. “Le Petit Champlain. I know where I am. A damned quaint, picturesque tourist hole.”

He stared upward as if seeing through the clouds. “Look, I’m trying to find the ultimate evil down here. Get your bloody coordinates straight for once.”

“Sorry,” said the chagrined voice in his ear. “We’re still experiencing technical difficulties.”

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Review of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (2025)

ff movie

© James Pyles

When I saw the DVD of The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) at the library this morning, I was really excited and grabbed it immediately. That’s not because I thought it was going to be a great film and I was looking forward to seeing it. Actually, from everything I’d heard, it was a terrible film and I wanted to watch it so I could pan it.

I know. That’s a horrible attitude to have if you’re going to review a film, but that’s what popped into my head.

Actually, the film did have little moments that I liked. Little ones.

Spoiler Alert! This review is full of them. You have been warned.

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Has Social Media Made “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” Seem Worse Than It Is?

sfa banner

Promotional art for the Paramount Plus show “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.”

I’ve read that episodes 1 and 2 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy were available to watch for free on YouTube, but I could only find episode 1, Kids These Days. So be it. I watched the thing.

But why?

I mean, everything I’ve heard, well almost everything, about the show says it stinks. It’s awful. It’s horrible. It makes no sense.

I’d watched at least some of the Starfleet Academy Red Carpet video hosted by Celia Rose Gooding who played Uhura in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Between her and the junior (by age) cast members of SFA, it was like watching a bunch of undisciplined, uneducated, and spoiled teenagers with rich Mommies and Daddies prance around being impressed with themselves in their designer clothes that they didn’t have to pay for.

It was terrible. I could hardly stand it. I wonder how Robert Picardo, who is at least an adult, could stand it?

That doesn’t tell you why I forced myself to watch SFA.

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Book Review of “Ghost Dog: Military Science Fiction Across A Holographic Multiverse” (2018)

ghost dog

Cover art for the 2018 novel “Ghost Dog.”

And so ends the “Dog” trilogy by Ashley R. Pollard.

I just finished reading the third installment in the “Gate Walkers” trilogy, Ghost Dog: Military Science Fiction Across A Holographic Multiverse. I should say I bought all three novels for my Kindle just over two years ago so this is the completion of my reading and reviewing saga.

Just as I said in my reviews of Bad Dog and Strike Dog before it, “Ghost Dog” is faithful to military procedure and culture and at least what we imagine might be the inevitable conflicts between the military and civilian scientists on a joint mission to another planet.

In this book, the protagonist Lara Tachikoma has been promoted to Captain and is charged with leading yet another team of mixed military personnel and various scientific experts through the “pillars,” this time to a moon in orbit around a gas giant whose sun in a red giant. The site is an advanced alien civilization that seems to now be extinct. The mission is to locate and retrieve as much of their advanced technology as possible.

There are two hiccups.

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2025: A Year in Review

2025

© James Pyles

Looking back on 2025 and my publication history, here’s what has presented itself. Frankly, I expected two more anthologies featuring my short stories to have come out this year, but both have been delayed.

To start off with, I had four drabbles published in the Starry Eyed Press anthology Drabbles: First Contact, tales of exactly 100 words long, describing humanity’s first contact with aliens (the images above aren’t presented in publication order).

Then there is my first actual (short) novel Our Legacy, The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure. This was previously published in installments on the now defunct Amazon Vella but it was always intended to become its own novel. Old school space opera based on a 1950s TV show. A lot of fun. You should read it.

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