So far, I’ve given H.I.V.E. a lot of grief over its use of genre conventions, but I hope I’ve done it good-naturedly enough to keep you from being put off the book. I mean, it’s YA; it’s sort of YA’s job to use genre conventions to make characters relatable and understandable. And the story itself is something most kids can understand: being taken from your home because you’re special, but once you get away, all you want is to go back again.
Book Review: “H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education” by Mark Walden
Posted in book, escape pod, nonfiction, review, superhero, writing, ya
Tagged h.i.v.e., harry potter, higher institute of villainous education, mark walden, percy jackson, review, starfleet academy, super-villain, the magicians, trope, ya
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Soundproof #12 : Escape Pod
My review of Lev Grossman’s “The Magician King” has been reprinted in this month’s Soundproof Escape Pod.
Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 8 of 10: Deathly Hallows 1
Overall I was very pleased with Desplat’s soundtrack for the first half of Deathly Hallows. I was leery at first, but the studio really came through with a good choice for the film’s score, and I was quite looking forward to what he would do with Part Two. He proved he can do films, he can do homages, he can hint ahead at future tracks… basically, everything that I praised Patrick Doyle for — and, as I said, he wrote my favorite soundtrack of the series. But this one’s pretty good too.
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged alexandre desplat, deathly hallows, harry potter, nobuo uematsu, review, soundtrack
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Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 7 of 10: The Half-Blood Prince
Overall, I think the Half-Blood Prince soundtrack was by far the better of Hooper’s two outings into the Potterverse. While I didn’t like the film almost at all — I’d put Deathly Hallows 1 at the bottom of the list, and this film just above it — I definitely got some enjoyment out of the soundtrack. It’s a solid piece of art, despite its overuse of bells and choruses, and it provides what I felt to be an excellent companion character to the film.
reprint of “Bring on the Rain”
“Bring on the Rain”, originally published in the July issue of Asimov’s, has been reprinted in audio form by StarShipSofa. I was asked to narrate the story as well – it’s a new experience, narrating my own stuff – and, at the end, I was interviewed about the story submission and acceptance process. Take a listen.
“Bring on the Rain” in StarShipSofa #203
Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 6 of 10: The Order of the Phoenix
Overall, I think Nicholas Hooper is a talented composer, and I found several tracks I was able to enjoy as singular pieces of music. However, I thought the soundtrack of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was a step backward in terms of soundtrack-as-character and soundtrack-as-complete-work-of-art.
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged harry potter, nicholas hooper, order of the phoenix, professor umbridge, review, soundtrack
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Show Open for Andrea Shea-King
Here’s something fun: the opening to a radio show I produced in 2003. The host, Andrea Shea-King, was a really nice person, regardless of your agreement or disagreement with her political views.
“Section 3A” in real life
[P]rincipals all across the country are telling me that more and more lawyers are accompanying parents for school meetings dealing with their children.
I seem to remember writing a story about this and having it published in Big Pulp’s Winter 2010 issue.
Just saying.
Posted in fiction, flash fiction, short story, writing
Tagged cnn, education, news, section 3a
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Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 5 of 10: The Goblet of Fire
Doyle’s strength with this soundtrack was to create a series of cues and themes — the “Family Guy” theme, the music and mood he used for the Voldemort sequences, the waltzes and love themes — that feels, for the first time, like a complete piece of art.
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged familiy guy, goblet of fire, harry potter, patrick doyle, review, soundtrack, weird sisters
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Book Review: “The Magician King” by Lev Grossman
I enjoyed reading the book, and there were a lot of clever and funny things to keep me interested until I got to the next plot point. And, unlike the first book, The Magician King clearly sets up another sequel. I’m not sure how much longer Grossman can keep up this particular style of storytelling, but I’m on board for book three.
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged lev grossman, review, the magician king, the magicians, trope
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Soundproof #11 : Escape Pod
My review of Philippa Ballantine’s “Spectyr” was reprinted in this month’s Soundproof Escape Pod.
Book Review: Fade to Black by Josh Pryor
I imagine that it can be difficult to sell big-idea hard-science-fiction books. How do you elevator-pitch a story about the virus that may have been the catalyst to turn humanity from people living in caves to the society we know today?
Posted in book, escape pod, horror, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged antarctica, fade to black, josh pryor, review
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Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 4 of 10: The Prisoner of Azkaban
While the Prisoner of Azkaban soundtrack isn’t my overall favorite of the entire series, I definitely mark it as my favorite of the John Williams scores. I think it was Prisoner that really showed us how the music of Harry Potter can make us feel.
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged harry potter, john williams, prisoner of azkaban, review, soundtrack, the inner light
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Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 3 of 10: The Chamber of Secrets
While Chamber is a darker film, as noted before, the soundtrack is still a bit too juvenile to really pass on the feeling of peril.
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged chamber of secrets, harry potter, john williams, review, soundtrack, william ross
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Music and Magic: the Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective, Part 2 of 10: The Sorcerer’s Stone
From the article:
Overall, I think that the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone soundtrack will forever live on in our hearts because it gave us “Hedwig’s Theme”. However, in terms of soundtracks, I’d say it’s only average.
A new part drops every Monday at escapepod.org.
Music and Magic: the Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective, part 2 of 10: The Sorcerer’s Stone
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged harry potter, hedwig's theme, john williams, music, review, sorcerer's tone, soundtrack
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Music and Magic: The Harry Potter Soundtrack Retrospective — Part 1 of 10: Introduction
While listening to the Deathly Hallows Part 2 soundtrack, I thought that it might be time to take a look back at the adventure of Harry Potter’s cinematic journey by listening to the soundtracks independent of the films. I pitched the idea to Escape Pod’s editors and they agreed, and here we are.
Posted in article, escape pod, music and magic, nonfiction, writing
Tagged deathly hallows, harry potter, john williams, music, review, soundtrack
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Book Review: “Spectyr” by Philippa Ballantine
As I said in my review of Geist, Philippa Ballantine’s writing is well-paced, not overly laden with exposition (a major flaw in several fantasy novels I’ve read), and tends to leave tropes for readers to trip over.
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged fantasy, geist, philippa ballantine, review, spectyr, trope
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“Catastrophe Baker and the Cold Equations” by Mike Resnick
I have a role in this week’s Dunesteef, in audio form.
Soundproof #10 : Escape Pod
My review of Lavie Tidhar’s “Osama” was reprinted in this month’s Soundproof Escape Pod.
Book Review: “Osama” by Lavie Tidhar
It’s been about ten years since Al Qaeda operatives flew jets into three U.S. buildings (and were thwarted before they could hit a fourth). In that time we’ve all suffered the effects, which is to say: a couple of wars, a lot of political punditry, the unfortunate rise of Sean Hannity, and the end of flying for fun thanks to security theater (at least, in the U.S., where I live). I think it’s safe to say that most people wish the bombings had been nothing but a story, a book they could read and then put down again.
Posted in alternate history, book, escape pod, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged lavie tidhar, osama, review
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Josh Roseman: Writer, Voice Guy, Dad, Human 