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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
Never Bet the Devil and Other Warnings, by Orrin Grey
The first time I encountered Orrin Grey’s work, it wasn’t even his fiction! He wrote the introduction to the Valancourt edition of J.B. Priestley’s 1927 novel Benighted, and I was struck then with his knowledge and insight into classic horror. … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Weird fiction
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John Blackburn’s A Book of the Dead
If you’ve read my blog enough, you know that I occasionally write introductions for volumes released by the excellent Valancourt Books, in particular a lot of introductions to the work of the late John Blackburn (1923-1993), master of horror and … Continue reading
Posted in Mystery/thriller, Personal
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The Southern Reach trilogy, by Jeff VanderMeer
I’m not entirely sure why it took me three years to read Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy. One of his earlier novels, Finch, is on a very short list of “best books I’ve ever read.” I suspect that I simply … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Science fiction, Weird fiction
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The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin
After reading the epic Foundation series of novels by Asimov, I was in the mood for a change of pace in science fiction. I turned to another brilliant author, Ursula K. Le Guin, and her classic 1969 novel The Left … Continue reading
Posted in Science fiction
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Foundation’s Edge, Foundation and Earth, by Isaac Asimov
Been rather preoccupied recently with life, but I finally have a moment to catch up on a bit of my book blogging, including discussing the “final” two books of Asimov’s classic Foundation series, namely, Foundation’s Edge (1982) and Foundation and … Continue reading
Posted in Science fiction
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Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy
I’ve recently been trying to become more acquainted with science fiction as a genre, as most of my life I’ve been focused primarily on horror fiction. A natural and obvious place to place some emphasis is on classic works from the … Continue reading
Posted in Science fiction
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Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
It is a truly daunting task to try and write a blog post about an utterly unique and undisputed classic of literature like Isaac Asimov’s Foundation (1951). On the other hand, it is almost impossible to not write about such … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Science fiction
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The Doomed City, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
The first indication that something is seriously wrong in the city is the arrival of the baboons. They appear without warning at the garbage dump by the hundreds, rapidly fanning out through the rest of the city and wreaking havoc … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Science fiction
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The Sword of Midras, by Tracy Hickman and Richard Garriott
I’ve been getting very nostalgic recently for the video fantasy role-playing games of my youth, most notably the Ultima series of games. I played Ultima I – V when I was young, and even watched a complete walkthrough of Ultima … Continue reading
Posted in Fantasy fiction
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Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris
I am nowhere near as versed in science fiction as I am in horror fiction, and recently I’ve been trying to remedy that somewhat, in particular focusing on science fiction by Russian and Eastern European authors. Back in March I … Continue reading
Posted in Science fiction
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