On Space Opera: The Heart of Genre, Forgotten by Scholars
A few years ago, I taught an upper division literature course on American space opera. There were a couple reasons I chose that angle over many other possible science fiction topics I could have taught: It gave me an excuse to teach Ann Leckie, Tobias S. Buckell, and Star Wars. The course was marked as “American […]
Five Faves: SF/F/M Movies or Shows I Love Because of My Grandma
A little over a year ago, we lost my grandmother, Merle Crawford. She was a quirky and jovial lady. The kind of person who could meet anyone at a grocery store and turn a chance encounter into a meeting between old friends. You can read a bit more about her life in the obituary I […]
Adventures in Teaching: The Aliens That We Are, or Roleplaying the World
Let’s talk aliens, ethics, and mock United Nations debates, shall we? Since 2011, I have run an experimental debate session with my students at least once per year. In this debate, they are asked to roleplay as one of two alien species (or as members of an Intergalactic United Nations security council) who have been […]
Thor: Ragnarok (2017), or Thor and the Amazing Technicolor Marvelverse
Earlier today, I had the pleasure of seeing the third installment in Marvel’s Thor series. Directed by Taika Waititi of What We Do in the Shadows fame, Thor: Ragnarok has almost everyone head over heels with delight. And they’ve got good reason to be. Ragnarok is hilarious. From its absurd settings, colorful cast of characters, and heart-wrenching ending, this film is sure to […]
All the Star Wars
I was all set to let a blog post slide for the evening. There’s a lot going on today, so it just seemed like a lost cause. And then this happened. What’s that? Here, let me quote it for you:
On the “Right” Kind of Reviews
One of the things that often bothers me about the reviewing process is the idea that some reviews are inherently more valuable than others. By this, I don’t mean in the sense of the quality of the writing itself; after all, some reviews really are nothing more than a quick “I liked it” or are […]