T.K. Wade -- Author

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Kenzie Report [Short Story Review]

[This blog contains spoilers.]

"The Kenzie Report" is a short science fiction story written by Mark Clifton. It was published in 1953. So far, Mark has done good by me. I've been enjoying his work.

This is an amusing "at the office" story about a man named Kenzie and an associate who are so obsessed with ants that they will not stop talking about them. Have you ever had a fellow employee that is so obsessed over one thing that you just begin to get annoyed whenever they go on their usual rants about said subject? Kenzie is one such person. He believes that ants are more intelligent than they seem, and he thinks that communicating with them is an important step in science.

Kenzie works on some sort of gadget that is ultimately able to do just that. He communicates with the ants but accidently uncovers that the ants are actually alien creatures that just colonize planets across the galaxy. I know that seems kind of silly, but I just found this story very endearing and entertaining.

It is rubbish, but imagine if it wasn't. Ants do control a considerable portion of our planet after all. They are everywhere, and we can't actually get rid of them. The story is a bit more nuanced on the matter, but I just think the whole ant/alien angle is super fun.

I do recommend this story. I have enjoyed the first two Mark Clifton stories. Will they stay good? I sure hope so! At least I'm not reading Harlan Ellison stories anymore!

This blog was written on September 18, 2024.

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Monday, January 13, 2025

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Anomaly Report [Video Game Review]

"Anomaly Report" is an unofficial map pack for Doom II. It was released in 2022. It has 32 maps in it, the same as Doom II. It is not canon, but I had a blast with it.

The story here is honestly the same as Doom II. Even the text scrolls are the same in between episodes. This is sort of an alternative Doom II. A what-if. All the maps are different and the music is brand new. It's all very solid and fun and feels official.

On the music, I really was impressed with the new tunes this one had. A lot of it was very creative. There was one called "Mummy Rags" that ended up being my favorite. It made really interesting use of the harpsichord. I ended up looking it up on YouTube, and I occasionally listen to it just for fun.

The map design and enemy placement were superb. One thing that I really appreciate is that all enemies are facing away from you when the mission starts. I wish this was a rule for the official missions. I never did like starting a map only to suddenly find myself under attack.

Just like in official Doom II there are three main episodes and two secret missions. I could not find a walkthrough for where the secret missions were, BUT I blundered into both of them by chance. The secrets were not as cool as they were in Doom II (being that you ended up going back to Wolfenstein in that one) but they were good enough! I had fun.

The final mission was... interesting. It was kind of easy once you figured out what you were supposed to do. They basically have you fight the Icon of Sin again, which is actually a way a lot of map packs for Doom II end. Surprisingly very common. But I guess I can't complain since the original fight with this glorified wall texture was kind of stupid. I liked it.

If you happen to have the new Doom+Doom II Remaster, you will be doing yourself a disservice if you avoid downloading and playing "Anomaly Report." I do recommend it. Don't worry about it not being canon; it was made extremely professionally. You will feel like you are playing a licensed Id product from beginning to end.

This blog was written on September 13, 2024.

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Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Star Bright [Short Story Review]

"Star Bright" is a short science fiction story written by Mark Clifton. It was published in 1952. I actually was able to predict a couple of things in this one, but it wasn't too bad.

This is a story about a little girl named Star who was a child prodigy. She was insanely intelligent well beyond the years of any humans. In fact, nobody really ever gets as smart as she did. She basically was super human. Her mental powers also involved ESP, telepathy, and eventually she found a way to teleport and travel through time.

The story is told from the perspective of the father. He is not at all anything like her, but the interesting thing is that he can kind of do those things by observing her. He does not fully understand it, but seeing is believing. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Remember anything from the Bible that may be similar to this?

Anyways, I predicted very early on that she had found a way to access a tesseract in order to teleport and travel through time. They were not using that word, but they were describing it to a point where I was just figuring it out. They do actually use that word later, leaving me fairly satisfied.

I think this story is actually pretty cool. It deals with ideals that have a basis in reality. I think people should read it. I don't want to spoil it though. I think there's enough reason here for people to seek this one out. It was pretty cool and kind of shocking that it came from 1952. I recommend it.

This blog was written on September 13, 2024.

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Monday, January 6, 2025

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Wizard of Oz [Movie Review]

"The Wizard of Oz" is a movie produced through MGM. It was released in 1939. It was filmed in both sepia and full color which was unusual for the time.

This movie hardly needs any introduction. By this point, just about everyone has seen it at least once. I've seen this movie a lot of times in my life. I had a good reason to go back to it, since I had recently read the screenplay. I still really enjoyed it.

I guess, in brief, I should just say that it is a brilliant production, great acting, great cinematography, great music, and really it is just an all around great movie. An easy recommendation for anyone of any age. I'm just here to let you know that I agree with everyone, and there isn't really anything else to say about a movie this famous.

Or is there?!

Actually I did want to say a few things. It was a little weird watching this after reading the screenplay. You can see some of the bits that got left in after a number of scenes got cut. For example, Hickory half mentions he is working on an invention at the beginning. This was some sort of wind machine that was cut from the movie, but he still mentions it.

When the Wicked Witch sends the flying monkeys down to grab Dorothy, she also mentions sending down an insect as well. This remark was supposed to lead to the missing "Jitterbug" song. Yet, despite the song being cut, she still mentions it, although now it doesn't lead to anything.

When Dorothy is saying her goodbyes to everyone at the end of the movie, she turns to the Scarecrow and says that she will miss him most of all. That's a leftover from a cut love-interest with Hunk, who is the Scarecrow's counterpart in Kansas. She would have actually felt a strong love for the Scarecrow throughout the film for this reason, but all that's left is that one remark.

One final thing I want to mention is that Dorothy really defends that she was in Oz when she wakes up. Either she's crazy and they are just putting her on, or maybe she really was there. It's hard to say, but she doesn't give into their claims that it was just a dream. I didn't remember it that way, but I kind of like that she defends it.

That's it. Consider the movie reviewed. I enjoyed seeing it again, and I look forward to whatever else Oz has in store for me. Maybe I'll end up going there myself someday...

This blog was written on September 11, 2024.

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Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Mission Impossible [Book Review]

Wait! Stop! It's not what you think! I actually bought this book by accident. I wasn't even going to read it, but I finally decided to go through with it. I was trying to buy the very first Mission: Impossible novel ever written, and I ended up with this. This is a Christian book. The difference in title has to do with the missing colon.

"Mission Impossible" is a book written by Wesley E. Smith. It was published in 1969. It has absolutely nothing to do with spies, espionage, masks, and the IMF. It is a Christian book about a man who tries to start a ministry for the wayward youths in his city.

It tells the true story of Wesley E. Smith. It takes place shortly after he is saved, and he immediately tries to bring a kid on the street to Christ. It was like an impulsive thing, but it works and he just keeps trying to do it. The story is not just about the kids he saves but also about him learning how being a Christian works at the same time.

The one thing I can absolutely relate to in this book is the snooty aspect of some churches. He has a horrible time trying to let these gang members into the churches because nobody wants to see them there. It breaks up their mojo or something. Jesus hangs out with thieves, but these church-going Christians can't be bothered to let a kid with a leather jacket come in to listen to what the preacher has to say.

Much of the story goes into how faith in God can lead to a lot of really surprising "coincidences." Wesley has trouble believing in the unseen, but he tries his best. I did like how he just sort of gave himself to the Lord in hopes that he could reach these kids.

Not everything in this book is particularly accurate to source material [the Bible], but I didn't mind it too much. I should say that I have read better Christian books than this, and honestly I prefer fiction.

I can put up with mostly anything I read, even if I don't agree with it, but people are temperamental these days. You might like it; you might hate it. What I say is... don't worry about it. Read something else. I read this book because I accidently paid money for it. I got out of it what I needed, and now I am moving on. No recommendation today.

This blog was written on September 11, 2024.

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Monday, December 30, 2024

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Sigil II [Video Game Review]

"Sigil II" is the second instalment in the classic Doom map pack created by John Romero. It was released in 2023. It is probably considered canon since the original Sigil was recently canonized. I see no reason why we shouldn't consider the sequel made by the same people as also canon. The only reason there is any doubt is because in the Doom+Doom II Remastered collection, "Sigil II" is not included. but instead added in as DLC. Weird.

Also I am not sure what the story for this one is. I had a terrible time trying to look it up. All said though, this map pack is pretty awesome and includes more of the same that I remember from the original.

In case you don't know how Sigil works, it all has to do with trying to find these little eyes looking at you in the walls. If you shoot them, it reveals a new area in the map that you can get to. It is always fun to find these eyes hidden in little cracks in the wall.

Sigil is also known for holding back on the ammo you can get, forcing you to conserve and be very choosy on what guns you use. I personally felt that "Sigil II" was a bit easier in that department. I did not have too many ammo concerns, but they were still more scarce than they tend to be in most Doom episodes.

The ending was actually pretty rough. They put you in a room with two Cyberdemons and a Spider Mastermind. You have to infight them and then run away. It was both difficult and boring at the same time. I did not like it, but the rest of the maps were... fine!

I do recommend "Sigil II," but just keep in mind that it is more of the same. If you liked the original, you will like the sequel. May Classic Doom live forever!

This blog was written on September 6, 2024.

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Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Fairy Tale Spotlight: All the Lies That Are My Life [Book Review]

"All the Lies That Are My Life" is a book written by Harlan Ellison. It was published in 1980. It is not a science fiction. I read the abridged version... unknowingly. You know what? I don't care. I'm sick an tired of this author. Let his last one be shorter than it could have been. Sure, he had some good ones here and there, but I'm done. I don't want anymore.

Interestingly enough, it may be appropriate that I did read an abridged version, as the plot of this story has to do with how people who take hold of an author's literary collection after they die can mess around with the works without him being able to have a say. I'm not saying that's what happened here. He might have approved this abridged version before he died. But it would be especially ironic if it was the case.

Ever seen a scene from a movie about the reading of a will... but the dead man happens to do it over video tape? All the people who were closest to him sit at a table as if he is looking right at them, and, for the first time in his life, he gets to say anything he wants to them, good or bad, and they have to just put up with it. I can't say for sure, but I feel like I have seen something like this once or even twice in my life, and there is a good chance that that movie or just the scene or scenes may have been based on this book. I can't know for sure, but this book is that scene up, down, right, and left. It is the pinnacle of what that whole premise is.

And to make matters more interesting, it is about an incredibly talented, rich, and very eccentric writer. I could, at the very least, relate to him as a writer, but I certainly could not relate to him being rich. A lot of people see writers as rich, because they get published and then they get money for it. I'm a writer of some pretty weird stuff, but I don't make good money for it. So I can't be very eccentric. All I can be is weird.

Either way... this story is about a man like that divvying out his millions to about four different people. It's only really entertaining because of the fact that it's done in such an interesting way--through video tape. It was a BetaMax tape too. Cool. I like BetaMax.

If you want to know more about this book, it's a decent recommend. Yes, I have no reason to not recommend it. Just know what you are getting into. It is about the death of a writer and the reading of his will. That's all it is, and it will never be more than that... unless you read the non-abridged version. I don't know what's in that one, and I still don't care. I'm done with Harlan Ellison.

This blog was written on September 5, 2024.

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