Scide Splitters: The Lunatics of Terra by John Sladek
Daleks is and anagram for Sladek. This seemingly random bit of word play has everything and nothing to do with Scide Splitters’ review of John Sladek’s short story collection.
Scide Splitters: You Can’t Kill the Multiverse (But You Can Mess With its Head) by Ira Nayman
Ira Nayman’s novel, a tour de force of rapid fire humor, is the focus of Scide Splitter’s latest review.
Scide Splitters: Antigrav: Cosmic Comedies by SF Masters edited by Philip Strick
Scide Splitters reviews an anthology from the 1970s featuring some of the most prominent names in SF humor at the time.
Scide Splitters: The Technicolor Time Machine by Harry Harrison
Scide Splitters reviews Harry Harrison’s tale of Hollywood behaving badly with a time machine.
Scide Splitters: Mr. Hawkins’ Humorous Adventures by Edgar Franklin
A look at the Mr. Hawkins’ Humorous Adventures stories by Edgar Franklin.
Scide Splitters: The Hogben Chronicles by Henry Kuttner
In the latest Scide Spitters series, David Kilman takes a look at the new collection, The Hogben Chronicles, with stories from Henry Kuttner and an introduction by Neil Gaimon.
Scide Splitters: What Mad Universe by Fredric Brown
Reasons why you should read What Mad World by Fredric Brown, if you haven’t already.
Scide Splitters: This is My Funniest, Edited by Mike Resnick
Review of This Is My Funniest, a short story anthology edited by Mike Resnick.
Scide Splitters: Venus on the Half-Shell by Philip José Farmer
A review of Philip José Farmer’s Venus on the Half Shell before its December reissue.
Scide Splitters: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Thursday Next, the plucky female lead character of The Eyre Affair, is a literary detective in an alternate 1985 England.
Scide Splitters: Unidentified Funny Objects 2 edited by Alex Shvartsman
If done well, an anthology is like a box of chocolates filled with a variety of delectable confections. Granted, there are bound to be a few flavors you are not partial to, but on the whole, the selection is delightful. When not done so well, you end up with something a little more like Monty Python’s Whizzo Chocolates, getting a mouthful of Crunchy Frog or Cockroach Cluster….
Scide Splitters: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
I am not tasked with determining the level of Science Fictionness of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. Scide Splitters is far more concerned with whether or not the book makes us laugh – and it does.
Scide Splitters: The Goliath Stone by Larry Niven & Matthew Joseph Harrington
Larry Niven has a long history of successful collaborative fiction and The Goliath Stone is no exception. I expect, however, the reception of this novel will be mixed because the authors dared blaspheme one of […]
Review: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Classic works of science fiction can be timeless for many fans, but they will not always translate well with modern fandom. Issues include implausible science, obsolete predictions or an unfamiliar writing style. I saw some […]
Scide Splitters: The Humans by Matt Haig
Horace Walpole, the eighteenth century British writer and politician, once wrote, “The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel.” It is a truth that makes writing humorous fiction […]
Scide Splitters: Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison
I was first enticed to read Bill, the Galactic Hero, Harry Harrison’s darkly humorous take on military SF and space opera, by the funny illustration on the cover of the book (see right). I was […]
The Ghost of Towel Day Yet to Come: A True Story (sort of)
WHOOSH… A vaguely familiar sound woke me and I sat up in bed. “What’s that noise?” I asked. “It’s a deadline,” said a translucent Douglas Adams, who for some reason was sitting in a chair […]
Crossroads: Satire and the Fantastic
NOTE: This week’s essay is actually an adapted form of an essay from December 18, 2012 that was originally published at The King of Elfland’s 2nd Cousin. Some changes, however, have been made from the […]
Crossroads: The Importance of Parody to the Speculative Fiction Genre
Last week, we talked about how every piece of humorous speculative fiction inevitably gets compared to Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But as I outlined, Adams’ comedy of the absurd operates very […]
The Meteor That Never Fell
Just kidding! Putin didn’t really ride that meteor! But it was an uneasy thing to watch, and it prompted uneasier thoughts about other things that fall, and why I crave stories with endings.
CROSSROADS: Right Place, Time, and Tech – The Hitchhiker’s Guide
Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (itself spread across five books with a six written by Eoin Colfer), with its friendly, green warning against panic, casts a huge shadow over the field of […]
CROSSROADS: Make ’em Laugh – Humor and Speculative Fiction
Hello, folks! Now that I’m back on my feet, I find that April’s here. A few days ago was April 1st, also known as April Fool’s Day. And while I may not be clever enough […]
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