The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Something Old, Something New

— by Wombat-socho You might think that with St. Patrick’s Day (or as we Irish like to call it, Amateur Night) coming up, this post would be about Irish authors, books about the various Irish Brigades, and suchlike things. Maybe next year. Silicon Valley delenda est. Things have slowed up in the tax mines, so […]

Deep Dark Depression, Excessive Misery

— compiled by Wombat-socho These last few months have been largely taken up with getting ready for tax season, but now that the season is underway and I’m spending several nights a week in Las Vegas between shifts in the tax mines, I’m finding more time to read. Also, Amazon seems to have killed off […]

Annual Admiral Of The Ocean Sea Appreciation Post

— compiled by Wombat-socho Today President Trump proclaimed Columbus Day, taking a swing at “radical activists” trying to undermine the legacy of the great explorer. Well, the best defense against these leftist ninnies is the truth, and what better way to find the truth than by reading Samuel Eliot Morison’s classic Admiral of the Ocean […]

The Labor Day Weekend Book Post

— by Wombat-socho Having completed my life or death struggle with the new microwave (to say nothing of the FMJRA), I greet you with some books suitable for what’s left of the long weekend. First out of the gate is Tom Kratman’s latest (and perhaps last) book in the Carreraverse, Days of Burning, Days of […]

The Centurion, Some Collections, & A Fistful Of Manga

— by Wombat-socho Leonard Wibberley is best known for his hilarious Cold War comedy The Mouse That Roared, which was later made into a fine movie starring Peter Sellers, but today I want to talk about a more serious Wibberley novel, The Centurion. The novel is about the Roman centurion, Longinus, who appears at several […]

The Yellow Peril

— compiled by Wombat-socho One of the recurring tropes in science fiction (and pulp fiction as well) is the Yellow Peril, the notion that America is in danger from the Asian hordes – originally Chinese, but later Japanese, and now Chinese again – whose fiendish plots are foiled only by heroic deeds, super-science, or both. […]

Mamelukes, Marines, & A Wizard

— by Wombat-socho I became a fan of Jerry Pournelle’s SF back in 1972, when I read “The Mercenary” in Analog, and for the next 40+ years I snapped up pretty much everything he wrote in the way of SF, and quite a few of the anthologies he edited as well. One of those books, […]

The Early Summer Book Post

— by Wombat-socho Since the end of tax season, I’ve been making up for lost time. I’m a little behind on my Kindle Lending Library borrows, but on the other hand, I had some spare cash this month after paying bills, and I spent it wisely. On books. For my Kindle, because I’m still not […]

« go back — keep looking »