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So here we are, more than six months after the release of STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI, and I’m only just now working out how I feel about it. I suppose this is is how it’s going to be with me and Star Wars as it moves forward in its post-Lucasian era. I expect that I will feel a bit conflicted about every successive movie that comes out. My feelings on THE FORCE AWAKENS took a long time to crystalize, until I generally settled on the view that it is two-thirds of a great movie followed by one-thirdDown the rabbit hole….

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Author Ursula K. Le Guin has died. Calling Le Guin an “author” is true, but it doesn’t do her justice, and that’s coming from one who has not read nearly enough of her work. Not even close. Le Guin was a cultural force, particularly in the genres of fantasy and science fiction where her influence is felt so keenly that her name ranks with the very highest of titans in the fields. Le Guin’s brilliance shone for decades, not just in her fiction but in the examples she set in her interactions with the rest of the field and inDown the rabbit hole….

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Not long ago the awesome folks at The Geekiverse posted their Top Fifteen Science Fiction Movies. Their list is, for the most part, a pretty good list! And yet, I disagree with it! Naturally! So, let’s have at it: here is my personal list of the top fifteen sci-fi movies. I will go in reverse order, with comment. 15. Flash Gordon Recently seen and written about! This is almost my platonic ideal of an afternoon fun movie, the kind of thing I watched on a Saturday afternoon as a kid with either a bowl of popcorn or a can ofDown the rabbit hole….

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So a couple of weeks ago I attended a special screening of a very special movie: This was in conjunction with Buffalo’s new comic-con, Nickel City Con, and what a night it was! In 1980, at the height of the post-Star Wars science fiction film boom, a screen adaptation of Flash Gordon came out. An amusing irony of this is that earlier in the 1970s, a filmmaker newly out of film school named George Lucas had wanted to make his own adaptation of Flash Gordon, but he couldn’t get the rights, so he set about creating his own original sci-fiDown the rabbit hole….

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I didn’t see Star Wars on opening day. In truth I don’t even remember exactly when I saw it, but it was later in the summer of 1977. We had just moved from Wisconsin to Oregon, and in that time I was not even aware of this enormous movie phenomenon whose popularity was sweeping the nation. I finally saw it, though, with my sister, who is six years older than me. I didn’t like it. It was very loud. It opened with big words flying through space and then there was loud spaceships and talking robots (one of whom onlyDown the rabbit hole….

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Two developments: :: Amongst the Stars: The Song of Forgotten Stars Book III will be available on May 25! As is my usual practice, the book will be in paperback first with e-books to follow a couple of weeks later. And I am planning to start selling signed copies of all my books through ForgottenStars.net! Front cover: Back cover copy: I’ve already posted the first two chapters to ForgottenStars.net, and there will be a third chapter up later this week, probably Thursday. :: The jury is still out on this particular development on the home front. I’m sure we’ll getDown the rabbit hole….

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So last week the first trailer for Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi hit. Here it is! I actually don’t have a whole lot to say about it. This isn’t out of any lack of excitement for the movie, although I was admittedly less thrilled than most with The Force Awakens. This trailer doesn’t really do much more than it absolutely has to. It’s a pretty middle-of-the-road, safe trailer, isn’t it? It pretty much hits all the points that this movie needs to hit. We hear Luke Skywalker’s voice, we see him doing a little bit of training Rey,Down the rabbit hole….