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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: Weird fiction
Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Part 5
Trying to keep my game of catch-up on old school D&D alive, so here’s part 5! WG5: Mordenkainen’s Fantastic Adventure (1984), by Robert J. Kuntz and Gary Gygax. This adventure is reeeeeally old school, even though it was published in … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction
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Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Part 4
Time for another edition of Old School Dungeons & Dragons! I did soooooo many of these threads on twitter, I’m kinda amazed and appalled. Still have many to catch up on here… DDA1: Arena of Thyatis (1990), by John Nephew. … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction
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Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Part 3
Working hard to make my old school D&D posts catch up to the ones I’ve done on twitter, which were a lot! Part 1 of Old School Dungeons & Dragons on the blog can be read here, and part 2 … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction
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Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Part 2
As long as I’m still on an old school kick, let me try and catch up with all my posts from twitter! Part 1 of Old School Dungeons & Dragons on the blog can be read here. Without further ado, … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction
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Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Part 1
In recent months, I’ve been somewhat obsessed with my early years of Dungeons & Dragons. I got into the hobby around 1981, the year that the red box Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set came out, and was a pretty hard … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction
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The Last, by Hanna Jameson
Life has been rough lately… and by “lately,” I kinda mean the past two years, for various reasons, on and off. Because of that, I’ve struggled to focus on reading fiction, much to my own dismay. However, I opted to … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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An Ode to the “Tomb of Horrors”
(NOTE: Updated the post to include one additional Tomb-related adventure, which I completely forgot about while first writing!) Part of this feeling on my part is certainly nostalgia, but there really isn’t anything quite like the original Advanced Dungeons & … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction, Horror
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The Dragon Corps, by Natalie Grey
One thing I really enjoy about being on twitter is meeting and learning about authors that I might otherwise not have encountered in my rather limited experience. These experiences are pretty much always rewarding, and the same is true with … Continue reading
Posted in Science fiction
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The City and the Stars, by Arthur C. Clarke
I have such a big backlog of books to blog about — even though I’ve been struggling to focus on reading for fun! But there are so many good books that I’ve read, from a variety of eras and writers, … Continue reading
Posted in Science fiction
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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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Skulls in the Stars 