A Momentary Taste of Being

Do keep in mind that these are the musings of a rank amateur who has neither the breadth of reading nor the deep understanding of the field that might make for a more coherent set of speculations.  However, ignorance has never stopped me from flapping my gums and I don't see any particular reason to start now. One of the "givens" of zombie fiction is the so-called Zombie Apocalypse.  Given that I do have a resolutely scientific mind in these matters and I had cause to ponder this question over the weekend it occurred to me that the triggering mechanism for the plague had a great deal to do with the possibility of such an apocalypse. Let us consider the matter--if the trigger is based in the material and scientific world, it most likely consists of some strain of virus, prion, or other contagion.  This has practical consequences--either a virus, bacterium, fungal, or protozoan infection have means of redress and an incubation period.  The scenario resembles that p...

A Kiss Before the Apocalypse features an angel detective whose routine work on a divorce case rapidly escalates into a much more serious matter--indeed the matter glossed in the title.  The premise is intriguing, but I wasn't persuaded by the handling of the topic.  Too many liberties were taken (it seems to me) both with the concept of angels and the concept of War in Heaven.  Additionally, I was struck by the essential misunderstanding of the Fall--I kept wanting to say--"They FELL, they weren't pushed or thrown." Setting aside my reservations about Angelology, I had some problems with the story just trying much too hard to involve me and make me go with our protagonist.  There were just too many disjunctions for me. All of that said--the story is fast-paced and for those more forgiving of some of the defects I've outline above is likely to be engaging and interesting.  It falls into that large genre of "regularizing" the supernatural, and as such,...

What a difference a day makes!  Or in my case, several thousand days.  I first read A Handmaid's Tale when it was an "explosive best-seller" lo, these many years ago.  And as a result of reading it at that time eschewed any further contact with the opus of Ms. Atwood.  At that time, for whatever reason, I thought it an agenda-driven piece of anti-male, anti-religion diatribe. Hmm.  I now wonder what book I was reading--it certainly wasn't the one I've read over the past several days.  Encouraged by Fred's mild endorsement of it, I picked the book up for a long-delayed reread.  Setting aside my own agenda, for just a moment, I decided to try to read the book that was written, not the one that I had constructed in my own head and pilloried. How glad I am that such a recourse has become possible for me.  As I said before, I don't know what book I did read so many years ago, but I have finally seen some of the light that others have noted coming ...

The Literature of Apocalypse But can any list that leaves off Pangborn's Davy be complete?  And what about Judge Dredd .  And I didn't see Susan Collins's work mentioned.  And. . . and. . . and. . . but a nice introduction to the genre.