Martin McGrath
Welcome to my website. I intend to use this space to hold forth on things like politics, books, technology, films and anything else that interests or irritates me.
You can also use this site to see examples of some of the work I've done as journalist, writer and designer. I'm available for freelance work and my rates are competitive and negotiable for good causes.
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Author Archives: Martin McGrath
Pandemic and the Limits of Entrepreneurial Government
Once again the government has used a high-profile announcement of an apparent technological breakthrough (the “game-changer” this time is the promise of ninety-minute diagnostic tests) to try to distract from their general failure to effectively address the pandemic (and, in … Continue reading
BOOK REVIEW: ESCAPOLOGY BY REN WAROM
Escapology by Ren Warom (Titan Books, 2016) If I reveal that the characters in Escapology, Ren Warom’s first novel, have names such as Amiga, Shock, Twist and Deuce then some of you will immediately deduce a great deal more about … Continue reading
IT IS STILL BOLLOCKS TO BREXIT – LEFT OR RIGHT
The way in which Corbyn and his mates have been using the issue of Brexit as a weapon in their desperate attempts to retain control of the Labour Party is, I think, revealing. The most common criticism of the Labour … Continue reading
Arthur C Clarke by Gary Westfahl
Arthur C Clarke by Gary Westfahl (The University of Illinois Press, 2018) Gary Westfahl has been a bit unlucky. After reading his Arthur C Clarke – an instalment in the “Modern Masters of Science Fiction” series from The University of … Continue reading
Dennis Etchison
About fifteen years ago I was given a book to review by the then editor of Vector – it was Fine Cuts, by Dennis Etchison. It was the first book I’d read by him, but in a (too brief – … Continue reading
REVIEW: VIRTUES OF WAR AND GHOSTS OF WAR BY BENNETT R COLES
The latest issue of The BSFA Review (no.4, Summer 2018) has been published. It contains two of my reviews. The first one – of a pair of military sf novels by Bennet R Coles – is below. The second will … Continue reading
REVIEW: AURORA RISING/THE PREFECT BY ALASTAIR REYNOLDS
The latest issue (no. 3) of the BSFA Review is out, and it contains my review of Alastair Reynolds’ Aurora Rising (previously released as The Prefect). This is a slightly extended version. I jumped into the ebook of Alastair Reynolds’ … Continue reading
REVIEW: CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BY THOMAS PIKETTY
I was just reminded of this after a random comment on Twitter (hi @redrichie). I wrote this review back in 2014 for an editor who, in the end, never used it. The row over inequality hasn’t moved on much and, … Continue reading
GENRE HIGHLIGHT OF 2017 – OCCUPY AVENGERS #8
The BSFA’s Vector Review of 2017 was delivered today, which includes a piece I wrote on the bit of genre reading that stuck in my mind most clearly in the past year. I chose a few panels from a crossover … Continue reading
Posted in Blog reviews
Tagged 2017, bsfa, comics, Marvel, review, reviews, sf, Vector
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SOME REASONS TO BE SCEPTICAL OF THE HYPE ABOUT CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA (PART ONE)
Like lots of people, I’ve been thinking about the current row about Cambridge Analytica and their supposed influencing of the US election and Brexit and possibly other elections around the world. I understand people’s anger and I understand the degree … Continue reading