It’s been a while since I’ve written any reviews, so I guess I’d best get my act together:

Has Been

When I first heard that William Shatner had produced another music album, my first thought was, “Another?! What was his first?!” And my second was, “Shatner?! Music?!” All I could picture was Captain Kirk, and so I had a hard time seeing him as a sensational music star. Yet, here was his album, _Has Been_, and it is truly sensational.

To be fair Shatner didn’t actually compose the music for this album. Instead, he teamed up with Ben Folds of “Ben Folds Five”:http://www.benfoldsfive.com/ fame, who wrote the music to back the poetry of Shatner. I was skeptical when I first started to listen to the album. Few actors are able to make the transition into other mediums, and with the abysmal flop of Shatner’s Tek War series, I didn’t have high hopes for a music album. Yet, I was delighted and thrilled right from the first track all the way to the end. Ben Folds is on top of his game, and Shatner’s lyricism is catchy and engaging. It is a wholly different style from just about anything else in my collection and strikes a resonant chord with this musician and artist. I give the album two thumbs up and hope that Shatner produces another in the near future.

Armageddon & Glorious Appearing

This is probably more a review of the entire Left Behind series than of just these last two books in the series. Written by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, the series follows a massive cast of characters across the global landscape of a planet caught in the Tribulational judgments prophesied in Scripture. Based heavily in both Old and New Testament prophecy, the _Left Behind_ series shows what these judgments might be like from the eyes of those who experience it firsthand.

The series was exceptionally well-written and very enjoyable as dramatic fiction. It is certain, however, that the books cannot do justice to the terror and destruction that will one day lay waste to the world as we know it and decimate its population to a fraction of what it is today. Jenkins and LaHaye did an exceptional job of covering all the relevant prophecies contained within Scripture, though it is certain that a fair amount of artistic license was taken with passages whose interpretation is symbolic and difficult to determine. Ultimately, though, the sequence of events is right on target and encompasses a sobering description of life between Rapture and Millenium.

Intergalactic Medicine Show

A relatively new online magazine for science fiction and fantasy aficionados can be discovered at Intergalactic Medicine Show. Founded by Orson Scott Card IGMS(Intergalactic Medicine Show) is an outlet for amateur SFF(science fiction & fantasy) authors to display their wares. IGMS(Intergalactic Medicine Show) is a quarterly publication and features several short stories in each issue, plus a short story from the Ender’s Game universe penned by Card himself (also available in mp3 format). October’s issue also included Cards first novel _Hot Sleep_ (later republished as _The Worthing Chronicles_) as a five-part series and the comic _Fat Farm_, adapted from one of Card’s short stories. Free content features movie and book reviews and columns by various writers. If you’re a sci-fi/fantasy buff, IGMS(Intergalactic Medicine Show) is well worth the $2.50 per issue fee.