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Essays

A collection of essays I have written on various works of science fiction

Frank Herbert's Dune: A Book Report

written when I was a sophomore in high school, it does show its age, but is still interesting to compare and contrast my level of appreciation of the work at the time to a more mature understanding of it

The Identity of Kynes

Speculations on the development of the character of Kynes in the Dune novels

The Ancestry of Stilgar

Speculations on the relationship of Stilgar the Naib of Sietch Tabr to the Kynes family in the Dune novels.

Loneliness, Impersonality and the Tecton

An essay on the Sime~Gen Universe of Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Simelan

an examination of the fictional language of Jacqueline Lichtenberg's Sime~Gen Universe in light of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

The Mri Language

linguistic analysis of the fictional language of the mri in C. J. Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy.

The Dol'jharian Langauge

linguistic analysis of the fictional language of the Dol'jharians, villains of the Exordium series by Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge

Where are the Next Draka Books?

When the promised sequel to Drakon failed to appear, a lot of people wanted to know what had gone wrong

Is Voldemort Harry Potter's Real Father? Say It Isn't So!

originally written after the publication of The Goblet of Fire

Literary Flaws of the Gor Books

alas, but it's not nearly as fun as Mark Twain's wonderful skewering of the literary sins of James Fenimore Cooper
.

Bibliographies

Books and stories on particular themes in science fiction and fantasy.

American Dictatorship

The light has gone out on the City on the Hill. This particular subset of dystopian fiction focuses on worlds in which the United States has taken a wrong turn and instead of being a bastion of freedom and a beacon of hope for the rest of the world, it has become an oppressor within and often a bully without.

Alternate Tsars

Works in which the Russian Revolution was averted altogether, or perhaps the fall of the Soviet Union resulted in the restoration of the monarchy rather than a republic as a successor state

Reviews

The Billion Light-Year Bookshelf

A review site I maintain, and its associated blog on which I discuss the news of the science fiction publishing world.

Last updated October 19, 2012