Classic SF with Andy Johnson

How will the world end? It’s a question that has occupied the minds of many SF writers over the years, but few have become as closely associated with it as John Wyndham. While they were heavily influenced by emerging events at the time he was writing, the best of Wyndham’s novels have an uncomfortable power even now. First published in 1953 and named for a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson , The Kraken...

In the first entry in a monthly series, I share some quick reflections on five games I played in October 2021, both new and old. In this edition: Eastward, Inscryption , REKKR: Sunken Land , the demo of Supplice , and the FPS classic Return to Castle Wolfenstein . Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free weekly classic SF upd...

Kingdoms of Amalur is now something of a cult classic, and its recent remaster is something to be celebrated. Here is a sprawling, epic RPG which manages to be accessible and fun - and which doesn’t require poring over stats in order to make decisions. Even taking into account its huge size, this is a game which people who are often turned off by RPGs can confidently jump into - and that’s reason...

Flash Point combines the talents of director Wilson Yip and star Donnie Yen, two of the foremost individuals who kept the fire of Hong Kong action cinema burning in the 2000s. The two had worked together before, and would do so again, but Flash Point is arguably the film on which their abilities really clicked for the first time. On this project, Yip and Yen helped to prove that Hong Kong action m...

 Chairmen of the Board may just be one of the most underrated soul vocal groups of the 1970s, little-known outside their enduring pop hit “Give Me Just a Little More Time”. The Chairmen had a brief but richly productive heyday, their original lineup putting out four patchy but deeply interesting albums between 1970 and 1974. Like many soul performers, they can be thought of as a singles act first...

 Over 50 years later, Edwin Starr's version of "War" is one of the most recognisable and popular recordings from the glory years of soul and funk - thanks in part to frequent airplay and its use in movies like Rush Hour (1998). But Edwin Starr himself is hardly a household name, and while soul fans will readily remember him as the performer of "War", they won't necces...

Following the publication of The Dispossessed (1974), Ursula K. Le Guin ceased to write new stories in her Hainish universe. In the following years, she wrote some of the books which are less well known today, including the Orsinia books and the experimental Always Coming Home (1985). At the time it must have seemed as if Le Guin was finished with the Hainish cycle - but after a 16-year break, she...

Originally published in late 2008, the Destiny trilogy is a major linchpin of Star Trek tie-in fiction. This hugely ambitious series combines characters, ships and backstory from several TV series and films and is a deeply rewarding read for Star Trek fans. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free weekly classic SF updates, s...

In the glut of World War II shooters that followed in the wake of Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers , it could be difficult for a game to be distinctive. With their first original project Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 , Gearbox Software used an increased focus on realism and small-unit tactics to help them stand out from the crowd. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF r...

In 2006, EA proudly presented a collected set of all of the  Command & Conquer  games released in the series' first decade. The second decade was far less successful, however, with a string of catastrophic failures and cancelled projects. This episode takes a deep dive look at the glittering diamond in the rough - the magnificently camp  Red Alert 3,  which is still a pleasure to play tod...

"Nobody gives Schwarzenegger a raw deal!" On April 1, Arnold's 1986 flop actioner directed by John Irvin will get another chance to impress, when it is added to Netflix. This episode takes a look at the film, arguing that it deserves the same cult status enjoyed by Stallone's movie of 1986,  Cobra . It also recaps the strange story of  Raw Deal 's co-writer, and how the fi...

In 2003, the New York Times published an article casting judgement on which show was “the best spy series in television history.” The writer, Terence Rafferty, wasn’t thinking of the then-current hit series 24 . He was writing about an obscure British series which had barely been broadcast in the United States - The Sandbaggers .  Exploring this unique and little-remembered series is fascinating f...

Resuming my exploration of the Hainish cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin, I reach The Dispossessed  (1974). One of her most acclaimed books, it won the Hugo, Locus and Nebula Awards for Best Novel. This brief recap looks at the book's exploration of radically different forms of social and economic organisation, set on the two worlds of Urras and Anarres. Get in touch with a text message! For more cl...

"An Action Canon" is a new series which looks at some of the best and most important action movies of all time, and explores why they have a crucial place in the genre's history. This first instalment focuses on Paul Verhoeven's subversive sci-fi action masterpiece RoboCop (1987), which is definitely the only movie by that name ever released. Get in touch with a text message! F...

Funded by a hugely successful kickstarter in 2012,  Shadowrun Returns  is that rare thing - an RPG which can be finished in a modest amount of time. This short piece looks at the appeal of an RPG which is made to be completed, and not just dipped into. Read my top games of 2020 published by Entertainium here . Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andy...

Kathryn Bigelow's 1995 cyberpunk thriller  Strange Days  was a major flop, and seriously damaged her career. Watched 25 years later to see in the New Year, the movie is more relevant and impressive than ever - despite an ending that seems overly hopeful right now. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free weekly classic S...

In this conclusion to a three-part series looking at Crystal Dynamics' first trilogy of Tomb Raider games, we explore the final game - Underworld . A slightly haphzard effort to combine the best aspects of the two prior entries in the trilogy, it isn't the most consistent game in the series but certainly has its moments and serves as the end of an era. Get in touch with a text message! F...

Part two of a three-part series on the Tomb Raider: Legend trilogy (2006 - 2008). Tomb Raider: Anniversary represents a unique fusion of two eras of the Tomb Raider series. While preserving some of the smoothness and new mechanics of Legend , it also brings back the solitary, atmospheric adventuring and strong emphasis on puzzles from the 1996 original. The result is a game which is strikingly dif...

In 2004, the  Tomb Raider  series was in a bad place. The critical failure of  The Angel of Darkness  led publisher Eidos to sack Core Design from the series, and bring in another of their studios - Crystal Dynamics. Released in 2006,  Tomb Raider: Legend  overhauled Lara Croft's adventures in a number of key ways that have set the series in good stead for its ongoing success. Get in touch wi...

There is a grand tradition of rally video games, stretching back into the 1980s. Released for a host of platforms, they have varied in their approach to realism and their relationship to official championships. Art of Rally is a genuinely unique take on this venerable sub-genre of racing games. Developed by Canadian outfit Funselektor Labs, it recognises the things that make rally unique and speci...

My overview of Michael Moorcock’s epic Elric saga continues, and concludes, with this second part. The guide covers the eight main novels in the sequence in their internal chronological order; to catch up with the first four novels, be sure to read or listen to part I . Following those first four books, Elric has made enemies in what remains of his Melnibonéan people, and in the powerful sorcerer...

By 1972, Ursula K. Le Guin was increasingly being seen as one of the most important writers of science fiction and fantasy. Following three fascinating but mostly ignored novels , the Oregon-based author and her Hainish series were brought to wide attention by The Left Hand of Darkness (1969). She had also published A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) and The Tombs of Atuan (1971), the first two entries i...

Nothing looks quite like Amid Evil . Released from the murky ambiguity of Early Access into the sunlit uplands of actual completion in 2019, the fantasy shooter by developer Indefatigable has a genuinely unique aesthetic. Even moreso than its eminently solid gameplay, it is the visuals and level design of Amid Evil which elevate the game into being one of the best examples in the recent retro shoo...

Ursula K. Le Guin made her name with her groundbreaking 1969 novel  The Left Hand of Darkness . Thie episode recommends this oft-recommended book, introduces some of its themes, and looks at how it connects to the larger Hainish cycle. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free weekly classic SF updates, sign up here .

Michael Moorcock is one of speculative fiction's greatest ever authors, and Elric of Melniboné is one of the key characters in British fantasy fiction. However, the series' tortured chronology can make it less accessible than it could be - this episode is the first in a two part series exploring the epic Elric books in their internal chronological order. Get in touch with a text message!...