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Flame Tree Fiction

Robert Zakes

Recent Posts

Science Fiction Classic: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Posted by Robert Zakes

Few stories have captured the imagination as thoroughly as Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It's one of the best sci fi books ever written and even its title sends shivers down your spine, and makes the mind drift to adventure.

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Topics: Jules Verne, book review, sf fiction

Gothic Horror: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Posted by Robert Zakes

Oscar Wilde’s sole novel The Picture of Dorian Gray remains to this day a classic example of gothic horror. While initially rejected by a morally-rigid Victorian England, the novel has lived on and been elevated so that it, as well as Oscar Wilde himself, have become mainstays of the English canon. We celebrate Wilde and his work, and mourn the injustices he suffered in his life. While many called this novel obscene, the opposite is true. As Wilde put it, while the work presented moral issues it never demonstrated a morality itself. Instead, Wilde's goal was to depict and not to judge.

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Topics: Oscar Wilde, gothic horror

SF Fiction Review: The Man in the High Castle

Posted by Robert Zakes

Philip K. Dick’s (1928–82) wildly manic style of science fiction, reflecting the deeply troubled, drug addicted author, has influenced and informed generation after generation of sci fi writers. Film adaptations of his work seem always to be in production; with great directors including Ridley Scott, Paul Verhoeven and Steven Spielberg as only the most notable to adapt Dick’s novels. One novel which has so far remained untouched by the film industry is his The Man in the High Castle. 

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Topics: Philip K. Dick

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