Classic SF with Andy Johnson

C.J. Cherryh's 1981 novel  Downbelow Station  won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, becoming the first book published by DAW Books to achieve this feat. A part of the long-running Alliance-Union universe, the novel is one of the definitive space station stories - but does it still hold up? Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To ge...

On September 5 and 6, 3D Realms masterminded an online game show dedicated almost entirely to retro-style FPS games. This episode runs down some of the highlights from Realms Deep 2020, and what the event implies about the health of the "boomer shooter" movement. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free weekly class...

Ursula K. LeGuin is best known for her award-winning sci-fi novels  The Left Hand of Darkness  (1969) and  The Disposessed  (1974). These are both part of her loose "Hainish cycle", but far fewer people have read the books which began the series. This episode looks at LeGuin's first three novels -  Rocannon's World  (1966),  Planet of Exile  (1966) and  City of Illusions  (1967...

Vincent Bevins' remarkable book  The Jakarta Method  is an unsettling but hugely informative look at the history of anticommunist violence in the 20th century. Focusing primarily on the Indonesian mass killings of 1965 and 1966, it also covers Brazil, Chile and numerous other countries - and explains how the U.S. assisted in appalling massacres in the Third World. The book is highly recommend...

Richard Garfield's boardgame King of Tokyo had sold 750,000 copies even before its second edition was released in 2016. This episode looks at what made this classic dice-rolling game a hit, and and what brings players coming back.  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 .

Featuring Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode and Claudia Cardinale, The Professionals was one of the biggest Westerns of the 1960s. Packed with explosive action and a fantastic script, it's also more than just box-office dynamite. 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...

The survival FPS  Metro 2033 , developed by Kiev-based 4A Games, is a triumph of environmental storytelling. This episode explores the game's depiction of a society forced to survive in Moscow's metro system after a nuclear war, and the lessons it offers to developers. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get free weekly...

During the late '70s, Black Sabbath found themselves in a challenging position. Suspicious of their management, burned out on coke, and with new music styles springing up around them, they released two of their strangest, most varied, and most undervalued albums. This episode explores highlights from  Technical Ecstasy  (1976) and  Never Say Die!  (1978) Get in touch with a text message! For...

Released in 2001 and developed by Rage Software,  Hostile Waters  has been called "one of the best games you've never played". This episode examines this unusual hybrid of real-time strategy and action, which sees the player trying to defend a futuristic utopia from the tyrants of the "Old Guard" - a mission which creates the need to re-learn war. Get in touch with a text...

Walter Hill began his career as a film director in 1975, and up until 1984 released a string of seven terrific action, thriller and Western movies. Some, including  The Driver ,  The Warriors and  Streets of Fire  have achieved cult status. This episode looks at each film in turn, and traces the ups and downs of the early, brilliant part of the career of one of America's best directors. Get i...

With Populous: The Beginning , beloved British games developer Bullfrog produced one of their last great games - an innovative and literally groundbreaking hybrid of the god game and the real-time strategy. This retrospective looks at what makes the game so unique, why it was released to such a muted reception in 1998, and why it is ripe for rediscovery. Get in touch with a text message! For more...

Fledgling British games developer Firefly Studios hit the strategy world like a battering ram with their 2001 castle-constructing sim  Stronghold . A novel combination of city-building and RTS gameplay, the game was a major hit for the then-new company. This episode looks at the distinctive elements that made the game a success, and the reasons why  Stronghold  still stands up almost 20 years afte...

During its peak period, Hong Kong was the world's third-largest movie producer, exceeded in productivity only by the US and India. At that time, its tremendous success rested on its output of the world's best action movies, which continue to be influential to this day. This episode is a beginner's guide to the glory days of Hong Kong action, taking in the films of John Woo, Bruce Le...

David "Moose" Adamson's musical project Jookabox lasted from just 2007 to 2011, but made some truly odd and otherworldly albums which make for perfect lockdown listening. Inspired by the urban decay of the East Side of Indianapolis, the songs summon up zombies and ghosts but always have a humourous side and a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. Get in touch with a text messag...

XCOM: Chimera Squad  was announced and swiftly released in April 2020. Set five years after XCOM 2 , it is set in City 31 - where humans, aliens and hybrids are attempting to live in peace. This brief review looks at the game's interesting remixing of familiar gameplay elements from the successful XCOM  series. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visi...

Published in 1960, Harry Harrison's novel  Deathworld  launched a trilogy and has been an influence on numerous later works including  Avatar . This action-packed but thoughtful novel is set on a planet where every living thing is seemingly dedicated to killing the human colonists. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get fre...

One of the more divisive entries in the series,  Sonic 3D Blast  is an unusual isometric adventure for everyone's favourite blue hedghog. This short retrospective makes the case that  3D Blast  might be one of the more undervalued Sonic games. 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 he...

A brief look at the novel  Earthlight  (1955) by Arthur C. Clarke. The story is set on the Earth's moon, in the relatively near future. Humans have colonised much of the Solar System, but the moon becomes a stage for espionage, paranoia and potentially the first war for two centuries. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion, visit andyjohnson.xyz . To get...

A look at the book  Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days  (2003) by British sci-fi author Alastair Reynolds. The first novella "Diamond Dogs", concerns the exploration of a deadly tower on an uncharted alien world; the second novella "Turquoise Days" is set on an ocean world inhabited by the mysterious, alien "pattern jugglers". Get in touch with a text message! For more clas...

A capsule review of  Aquatica , the undersea-themed boardgame launched by Russian company Cosmodrome Games at SPIEL 2019.  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 .

Developed by Gray Matter and released in 2001, Return to Castle Wolfenstein was a triumphant return for the series that helped popularise the first-person shooter. This retrospective takes a look at the distinctive combination of retro elements what was then cutting-edge FPS design that makes  RTCW  an enduring classic. Get in touch with a text message! For more classic SF reviews and discussion,...