“We are Forerunners. Guardians of all that exists. The roots of the Galaxy have grown deep under our careful tending. Where there is life, the wisdom of our countless generations has saturated the soil. Our strength is a luminous sun, towards which all intelligence blossoms… And the impervious shelter, beneath which it has prospered.”

Literally the most interesting man in the world

Anyone who listens to heavy metal on anything approaching a regular basis has heard of Bruce Dickinson. He is, quite simply, THE best heavy metal vocalist out there today. There was a time when one could dispute that accolade. The case could be made that Ronnie James...

Ugly truths

There are a couple of books that I have been reading recently which serve to illustrate my long-held maxim that the truth can set you free- but damn can it hurt you in the process. Both of these titles were featured by friend and fellow shitlord Matt Forney, back...

To Hell and back

Terrence Popp is quite a character. If you watch his Redonkulas episodes over on YouTube regularly (which I do), then you will see that he comes across as something of a roaring asshole. He is very sarcastic, very blunt, doesn’t give a damn about your...

In which I am greatly upset

Our good friend- or should I say, former friend?- Adam Piggott, the Gentleman Adventurer, decided to pull a Marc Antony and bury Caesar instead of praising him (by way of blatantly ripping off borrowing liberally from Don Rickles): Dear friends, dear...

The collapsing Gamma

Seen at a Barnes & Noble bookstore about 15 miles outside of San Antonio today: And this, let it be noted, is Tor Books’ most heavily hyped and promoted sci-fi author, in whom they have invested quite a serious chunk of change. The book just came out earlier...

Well imagine my shock!

It would appear that our friends over at Tor Books are outraged- OUTRAGED, I tell you!!!- at the thought of some jumped-up johnnies from Finland and Italy jumping up and down all over their jumped-up Johnny’s latest magnum non-opus: We just received an...

The ageless juveniles

I recently finished the twelfth, and last, of Robert A. Heinlein’s famous “juvenile” novels, published when the late Grandmaster of science-fiction was approaching, but not quite yet at, the very peak of his immense literary powers. Now I am, of...

Book Review: A Sea of Skulls by Vox Day

When Vox Day decided to embark on the goal of writing an epic fantasy series that would rival George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire in terms of scope, character, plot, and quality, many mainstream critics and SF/F afficionados laughed at him. After...

Didact’s Booklist 2016

A Sea of Skulls (Arts of Dark and Light Book 2) by Vox Day (5.0/5) The Basic Instructions Before Lovin Eve by K. A. Peoples (3.0/5) Red Team Alpha: A Crimson Worlds Adventure by Jay Allan (3.6/5) Mutiny in Space by Rod Walker (3.4/5) Tunnel in the...

The Didact’s Best Books of 2016

As the last hours of 2016 wind down, it is time to go through a time-honoured tradition, stretching back to, uh, last year, before, um, whoever’s bothered to read this, in which I go over the best books that I read during the year. As with last year I’ve...