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Next SFF Author: John Norman
Previous SFF Author: Alyson Noel

Series: Non-fiction

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On the Origin of Superheroes: Gods, superheroes, and super-men through history

On the Origin of Superheroes: From the Big Bang to Action Comics No. 1. by Chris Gavaler

When most people discuss the origin of the superhero, they typically start with Action Comics 1 and the introduction of Superman. Some might go back a few years to characters like Doc Savage, quickly naming a few pulp heroes along with Doc, but then they too dive almost immediately into that same issue with Superman lifting the car. Where most people begin, however, is where Chris Gaveler ends in his in-depth look at the long road that led to Action Comics 1 and the universe it spawned.


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November 2nd, 2015. ´s rating: | , | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

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Science of the Magical: A light look at what truth might lie behind tales of magic

Science of the Magical: From the Holy Grail to Love Potions to Superpowers by Matt Kaplan

I was wholly intrigued by the idea behind Matt Kaplan’s Science of the Magical — an attempt to lift the thick veil of myth and see if any of its typical magical elements (elixirs of immortality, love potions, oracles, etc.) might have any basis in reality. To be honest, I ended up a bit disappointed, finding the premise stronger than the execution, but Kaplan’s charmingly breezy voice and his willingness to dive right into his exploration went a good way to ameliorate my disappointment in the substance.


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October 22nd, 2015. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

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Resurrection Science: Conservation, De-extinction and the Precarious Future of Wild Things

Resurrection Science: Conservation, De-extinction and the Precarious Future of Wild Things by M.R. O’Connor

We’ve seen a number of books lately dealing with what has been called the “sixth extinction,” referring to the ongoing mass extinction event, and ways in which we might deal with the crisis. Elizabeth Kolbert’s forthrightly named The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History and Beth Shapiro’s How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-extinction are two excellent examples of such titles (I’d also include,


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September 23rd, 2015. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

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Distrust That Particular Flavor: Gibson’s “Best of” non-fiction album

Distrust That Particular Flavor by William Gibson

Distrust That Particular Flavor is William Gibson’s non-fiction compilation album. These entries, which are arranged neither chronologically nor thematically, touch on a variety of subjects, ranging from Japanese culture to Steely Dan to how recent technologies will evolve.

Gibson begins the work explaining how he learned to write fiction. He further admits that many of his non-fiction works were done primarily because Wired and other publications offered to fly him abroad if he’d comment on his experiences.


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August 20th, 2015. ´s rating: | | | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

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Bending Steel: Modernity and the American Superhero: A lucid and well-written exploration

Bending Steel: Modernity and the American Superhero by Aldo J. Regaldo

Bending Steel: Modernity and the American Superhero, by Aldo J. Regaldo, is another entry in the getting-crowded field of cultural analysis of superheroes/comics. I can’t say Regaldo offers a lot that is new here, especially in some of the examinations of specific well-plumbed comics, but Bending Steel still has a lot to offer as it is a well-organized, clearly and often sharply written exploration of the topic with lucid,


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August 12th, 2015. ´s rating: | , | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

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A Tolkien Bestiary: As engrossing as Tolkien’s novels

A Tolkien Bestiary by David Day

David Day’s A Tolkien Bestiary may be the greatest companion book ever. Even if it’s not, it’s still my favorite. Day provides an overview of people, places, races, and Middle Earth’s history. Although Day explains why he refers to the work as a bestiary, I usually think of it as an awesome encyclopedia.

In A Tolkien Bestiary, readers can lose themselves for hours at a time. I have encountered this book in many places — classrooms,


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August 3rd, 2015. ´s rating: | | | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |

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The Secret Life of Wonder Woman: Weirder than I ever could have imagined

The Secret Life of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore

Jill Lepore has reissued The Secret Life of Wonder Woman, her fascinating non-fiction look at the creator of Wonder Woman, with a revised Afterword that includes information from some new sources. The book is part scholarly work, part Wonder Woman archive and part scandal sheet. Non-fiction is usually pretty slow going for me, but I couldn’t put this book down.

Wonder Woman first appeared in 1941, part of All-Star Comics, a subset of Detective Comics,


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July 29th, 2015. ´s rating: | , | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

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The Goshawk: Love the hawk, hated the author

The Goshawk by T.H. White

When I found out that T.H. White, the author of The Once and Future King, had written The Goshawk, a book about training a hawk, I jumped at the chance to read it. I love stories about birds of prey (probably fostered by a childhood obsession with My Side of the Mountain) and have often fantasized about becoming an amateur falconer.

Based on The Goshawk,


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July 13th, 2015. ´s rating: | | , | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

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The Next Species: Examining humanity’s past and potential future

The Next Species by Michael Tennesen

The Next Species: The Future of Evolution in the Aftermath of Man, by Michael Tennesen, is an engaging, informative overview of the history of life on this planet and humanity’s impact on that life (mostly for ill), followed by a look into the future and what might happen were humanity to go extinct or diverge into a different species.

He begins with a trip to the rain forest in the Andes, cataloging the rich diversity of life in the relatively small area (“The tropical Andes contain about a sixth of the world’s plant life in less than 1 percent of its land area…


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April 24th, 2015. ´s rating: | | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

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Captain America, Masculinity, and Violence by J. Richard Stevens

Captain America, Masculinity, and Violence by J. Richard Stevens

Captain America, Masculinity, and Violence, by J. Richard Stevens, is the second academic exploration of comics that I’ve read this week, and while Stevens’ text isn’t as strong as Liam Burke’s look at comic book films (you can see that review here), its sharper focus and thorough exploration of the Captain America character makes it a worthwhile addition to the field.

[note: apologies for what may be a lack of specificity in the review.


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April 4th, 2015. ´s rating: | , | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Next SFF Author: John Norman
Previous SFF Author: Alyson Noel

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