Parable of the Sower (1993) – Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler’s science fiction tale, that follows a young woman of colour on her quest to understand herself, the ideas of god, and the destiny of humanity. Within pages of this novel, I was completely swept up in Butler’s storytelling style, her characters, and the world she created. And here’s the thing, the world…

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) – Adam Marcus

New Line Cinema takes over the reins of the Voorhees series for the next three films, and for their first film, the creator of the original film, Sean Cunningham insisted on something different. Adam Marcus, who served as the film’s director, and one of the film’s writers definitely did that, and delivered one of the…

Demolition Man (1993) – Marco Brambilla

Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes go head to head in this sci-fi actioner from the early 90s. It also features Sandra Bullock, Benjamin Bratt, Denis Leary, Nigel Hawthorne, Bob Gunton and, sigh, Rob Schneider. Stallone plays a supercop, John Spartan, who has been tracking a psychotic maniac, Simon Phoenix (Snipes) and their confrontation at the…

Never Send Flowers (1993) – John Gardner

James Bond is back, and while I’ve enjoyed Gardner’s efforts with Ian Fleming’s 007, with the minor exception of The Man From Barbarossa, this entry, his thirteenth (of sixteen) feels like a real stumble. It seems to want to be more in line with the cinematic 007, but without a solid story, or set pieces…

Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura (1993) – Kathy Tyers

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… Kathy Tyers pens the first stand alone novel in the Expanded Universe, following on the tail of Timothy Zahn’s trilogy. The events in this story take place right after the events depicted in The Return of the Jedi, Han Solo and Leia Organa know they…

Star Wars: The Last Command (1993) – Timothy Zahn

Five years after the events of The Return of the Jedi, the battle against the Empire continues, as the blossoming New Republic gears up for a final encounter with Grand Admiral Thrawn in the third volume of Timothy Zahn’s trilogy that truly launched the original Star Wars Expanded Universe. While Thrawn plans to cripple the…

Cliffhanger (1993) – Renny Harlin

Somehow I feel this actioner from the early 90s doesn’t get enough love. In fact I think it can honestly be looked at and said it has improved with age, while some 90s action flicks should be better left forgotten. Directed by Renny Harlin, who had two big successes already at the time, Nightmare on…