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The author of Skulls in the Stars is a professor of physics, specializing in optical science, at UNC Charlotte. The blog covers topics in physics and optics, the history of science, classic pulp fantasy and horror fiction, and the surprising intersections between these areas. -
Category Archives: Adventure fiction
Invisible Men of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Nearing the end of my run of posts about invisibility in fiction! Be sure to look out for my book on the history of invisibility physics next year! One thing that is truly amazing about invisibility in fiction is how … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure fiction, Invisibility
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Land of the Shadow Dragons, by Eando Binder
Just a reminder again that I’ll (hopefully) have a book out on the history and physics of invisibility next year, so keep an eye out! Here we have a first in our discussion of invisibility in fiction — a sequel! … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure fiction, Invisibility
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The Cave of Horror, by Captain S.P. Meek
Yet another post about invisibility in fiction! Will I ever run out of these? I feel like I need to write another book just about invisibility fiction. So in my last post, I wrote about “Invisible Death”, which appeared in … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure fiction, Horror, Invisibility
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Raiders Invisible, by D.W. Hall
I am losing my mind. So: in the process of tracking down Rousseau’s The Invisible Death a few days ago, I learned that there is another story about invisibility, with almost the exact same name, Invisible Death, that appeared in … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure fiction, Invisibility
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Dreadnought, by April Daniels
A young girl, who is alienated from her friends and family because she feels she must hide who she truly is, witnesses a battle between the world’s greatest superhero, Dreadnought, and a mysterious powerful new enemy. In the end, Dreadnought … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure fiction, Science fiction
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Larry Blamire’s More Tales of the Callamo Mountains
Larry Blamire is a very good writer. That is the first thought that came to mind when I sat down to blog about his recently published collection, More Tales of the Callamo Mountains (2017). As the name suggests, this collection … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure fiction, Horror
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Valley of the Flame, by Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner (1915-1958) may be referred to as “one of the most important science fiction authors you’ve never heard of.” He was incredibly prolific and versatile, writing countless short stories of science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, and adventure, as well … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure fiction, Weird fiction
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Bertram Mitford’s In the Whirl of the Rising
Last week I found myself in the mood for some adventure fiction, and that made me immediately think of Bertram Mitford! A contemporary and competitor of sorts of H. Rider Haggard, Bertram Mitford (1855-1914) was a prolific writer of novels set … Continue reading
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Rosa Praed’s Fugitive Anne (1902)
Since nearly the beginning of my blog, I’ve been a fan of Valancourt Books, which publishes a lot of wonderful and neglected works from the 19th and early 20th centuries. I’ve blogged about a lot of them, some of which … Continue reading
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A. Merritt’s The Ship of Ishtar
(I’ve been working on a particularly difficult science post for a week now, and the end is still a ways off. In the meantime, I thought I’d catch up a little on my weird fiction posts.) Author A. Merritt (1884-1943) … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure fiction, Robert E. Howard, Weird fiction
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