Author Archives: jananson

In the Chinks of the World Machine

Posted on August 22, 2018

In the Chinks of the World Machine provides a committed but very readable picture of the achievements of serious science fiction by women at the time of its publication in 1988. Sarah Lefanu was in a privileged position to write … Continue reading →

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Dark Horizons: Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination

Posted on August 10, 2018

The monochrome cover of Dark Horizons is very dark, and its subtitle is Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination, but the agenda of editors Raffaella Baccolini and Tom Moylan in this collection of essays is as much about utopia as … Continue reading →

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Myths and Legends of the Pacific

Posted on July 12, 2018

When it comes to myths and legends of Australasia, A.W. Reed is a ubiquitous author – and equally ubiquitous as his own publisher. Myths and Legends of the Pacific extends his range across the whole of the Pacific, covering nearly … Continue reading →

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Mary Magdalene, the Movie

Posted on April 10, 2018

Mary Magdalene has always seemed special. It’s difficult to fit together the different resurrection appearances of Jesus into a coherent narrative, but one thing is clear in the Easter story as I received it: Mary Magdalene is the first person … Continue reading →

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Daniel Odier’s Tantric Quest

Posted on February 11, 2018

Daniel Odier is a novelist and his spiritual memoir Tantric Quest: An Encounter with Absolute Love has something of the feel of a novel. I found it much more readable than some other books in this genre, such as those … Continue reading →

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Raylene Ramsay’s The Literatures of the French Pacific

Posted on January 30, 2018

Raylene Ramsay’s monograph The Literatures of the French Pacific: Reconfiguring Hybridity has a misleading title. The book deals not with the French Pacific as a whole, but specifically with the French-speaking country of New Caledonia. I can only think this … Continue reading →

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Ian Fleming’s The Spy Who Loved Me

Posted on January 17, 2018

The Spy Who Loved Me was the only one of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels that I didn’t reread the second time round, in my early thirties. The reason I didn’t was probably the same reason the critics had panned … Continue reading →

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