"If you ask 'Should we be in space?' you ask a nonsense question. We are in space." -Frank Herbert

THE HOBBIT, Chapter 1…A Study on Craft

By Susi Jensen | March 8, 2021 |

The following is a post about the craft of storytelling. Posts like this are somewhat unusual for me on my author website. Most of time I am reviewing science fiction for the average consumer, not just for the writer. In this post, I am poking my nose into craft. I don’t want to just taste…

DUNE, Chapter 1…A Study on Craft

By Susi Jensen | March 3, 2021 |

Spoilers below. If you want to read a review of the novel without spoilers, click here. I happen to be in a writing critique group that started up this past week. A couple of the folks in this group are writing novels and sent in first chapters for a swipe at getting critique. So, I…

DUNE, A Review of the Novel

By Susi Jensen | January 28, 2021 |

This is my second time reading DUNE, with probably about twenty years in between readings. My first took place as a fan, consuming for pleasure. This time, I re-read DUNE as a writer of science fiction. It was still a thrilling ride. DUNE, the novel holds up well to post-modern scrutiny and the writing is…

TRAIN TO BUSAN, A No Spoiler Review

By Susi Jensen | January 5, 2021 |

TRAIN TO BUSAN is the story of a father and daughter trying to make their way from Seoul to Busan. While on that journey, a viral outbreak that turns its victims into flesh-eating zombies, begins to ravage the country. TRAIN TO BUSAN, set in Korea, is subtitled for English (and other language) speakers. This film…

So, You Just Finished Writing a 70K Word Sci-Fi Novel…Advice to the Young Writer

By Susi Jensen | October 31, 2020 |

Periodically, a friend tells me that he or she knows someone who is writing or has written a novel. It happened last week as I’m sure it happens to most writers. Not that I’m the expert on all things writing, but I’ve navigated the writing world long enough to have an opinion. So, I had…

EQUILIBRIUM, A No Spoiler Review

By Susi Jensen | October 22, 2020 |

During COVID, I have been watching older science fiction films, whose theatrical release I might have missed. EQUILIBRIUM falls into that category. Written and directed by Kurt Wimmer, starring Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Taye Diggs and Emily Watson, this film is rated R for violence, released in 2002. You can rent it as an Amazon…

THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, A No Spoiler Review

By Susi Jensen | September 8, 2020 |

THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, by Michael Crichton, was the first novel published by Crichton under his actual name. He had published previously under a variety of pen names. His reason for publishing under other names…he was a medical student at Harvard and was actually thinking he might practice medicine someday and didn’t want his patients to…

KINGDOM, A Review of a Korean-Made Masterpiece

By Susi Jensen | August 25, 2020 |

As I have said before and hope to repeat for many years to come, NETFLIX is taking the cake when it comes to combing through international productions and finding top-notch stories. KINGDOM is brilliant. Rated R for violence. No sexually explicit content at all. Not even a kiss. And yes, this is a zombie story,…

HANNA, A Review of Amazon Prime’s TV Series

By Susi Jensen | August 1, 2020 |

The second season of HANNA was released July 3 of this year, the dreaded year of Covid, and since all of us are streaming our content each night/day/allday/allnight (until recently, there have been no sports to watch and no air-conditioned movie theaters in which to view the latest fun film)…However, most of us are still…

A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ, by Walter M. Miller Jr., A No Spoiler Review

By Susi Jensen | July 30, 2020 |

This morning, I finished reading the classic science fiction novel, A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ. I rate this novel PG for violence. First, the short review… To purchase the novel, click A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ. 5 Reasons I Recommend A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ If you are a science fiction fan and want to be fluent in…