Posts by Ryan Donovan

Heather, this month's anime patron, joins her sister Erin and her fellow library patrons Anthony, Matt, Bobby, Shanta, and Marcus as one of longest 

Imagine being lost in a strange place with no memory of who or what you are. The only thing you know? That luck seems to somehow be on your side. This is life for the mysterious man known only as Longshot.

Destined to become one of the iconic X-Men, Longshot's first self-titled graphic novel details his first trip to Earth. It turns out he ended up here by accident.

From another dimension, Longshot escaped from the mad tyrant Mojo and 

Last night, there were 17 people who came out for Mid-Manhattan Library's monthly Anime Night screening. This month, we watched popular game-turned-anime Disgaea. For September's patron feature, we caught up with Marcus. A man of few words, Marcus was nice enough to chat with the Library about why he likes anime and give us a few of his favorite 

Happy September! As the fall season begins, we must bid farewell to Sci-Fi Summer and all the television we've watched together. I was extremely happy to get the chance to blog about 10 of my favorite science fiction shows. And just in case you missed any of the blog posts, I've put them in a "Top 10" list below with my absoulte favorite series appearing first. Remember — it's all part of Summer Reading 2011.

1. 

The summer is almost over! It's sad but true. As we look ahead to the leaves changing colors in Central Park and kids going back to school, let's spend the last fleeting moments of the season talking about the oldest show on our list, Quantum Leap.

“Theorising that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished... He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not 

There is no discussion about science fiction television without talking about Firefly. This was the brainchild of Joss Whedon, the man who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, spinoff Angel, and more recently Dollhouse. Following nine people on a small spaceship on the outskirts of 

"September 23rd. Journal entry one. I'm Liz Parker, and five days ago, I died. After that, things got really weird..." 

Here's a typical boy-meets-girl story. The girl is Liz Parker, a high school waitress from Roswell, New Mexico. The boy is the mysterious Max Evans, a high school loner who redefines "tall, dark, and handsome." Liz works at her parents' diner, the Crashdown Café, which plays up the town's touristy alien kitsch mentality. One afternoon while Max is eating and Liz is working, two guys get into an argument. One pulls out a gun. There's 

Are you ready for another edition of Anime Addicts? It's a new month, so we had a new anime screening: this time it was all about Kaleido Star — the story of Sora Naegino, a young girl who dreams of joining the circus.

All of our regulars were in attendance, including Anthony,

"What if you found a portal to a parallel universe? What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds? Where it's the same year and you're the same person... but everything else is different. And what if you can't find your way home?"

As far as science fiction concepts go, Sliders kind of cornered the market on weird. Our story starts with the main protagonist, Quinn, played by Jerry 

Teleportation. Precognition. Suspended Animation. Dark Matter. Fringe.

From the mind of J.J. Abrams (who brought you Alias, the Cloverfield monster, and an updated Star Trek movie, to name just a few) comes the story of a mad scientist, his estranged son, and the F.B.I. Agent who brought them all together. A large part of

"Over the last 60 years 4400 people have been abducted. All at once they were returned. With no memory of where they've been. They haven't aged a day. And some have returned with new abilities. All are trying to reconnect... with a life interrupted."

Such is the basis of The 4400, a show that, similar to Battlestar Galactica, started out as a

We've met Anthony. We've also met Matt. We've even met Erin. While those three patrons — attendees at Mid-Manhattan Library's monthly Anime Night screenings — 

"We are of peace. Always."

These are the words spoken by Anna, the leader of the intergalactic strangers known only as the "Visitors," when they first arrive on Earth. Sending 29 ships that appear above all major cities in the world, Anna is able to simultaneously address the many nations of our planet in their various native languages. While she professes coexistence and mutual cooperation, it becomes quite clear early on that the intentions 

There are 12 Cylon models.

This was not always in the case. In 1978, Battlestar Galactica was very different than its 2003 reimagining. Both shows have the same basic plot: the enemies of humanity, the Cylons, are able to wipe out most of humanity in a devastating attack, leaving a ragtag group of survivors aboard the titular ship.

In the original series and its follow up, 

The truth is (probably) out there.

When I was a kid and it was Friday night, I can tell you... I got very excited. Why? The X-Files was on. I was in elementary school at the time, so it was probably wildly inappropriate that I was even watching this show. Those who have seen it know what I'm talking about. If it wasn't one of the overly confusing episodes about the government hiding some sort of sophisticated alien conspiracy, then it was an hour of pure, abject horror.

Like, for 

We are about to boldly go where many people have gone before.

I mean, let's face it. If you've never heard of Star Trek before, you've basically been living under a rock. The Original Series starred William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, cementing their status as pop culture icons to this day.

It also spawned

On the first Wednesday of every month, Mid-Manhattan Library hosts a monthly screening of anime. Throughout this Sci-Fi Summer season, we will be featuring patrons who have been attending Anime Night. So far, we've met

Last year, several young adult librarians and teens selected their favorite Stuff for the Teen Age. One of my favorite titles was a book called The Monster Variations by Daniel Kraus. Now, it's a year later and Daniel has a new book out titled Rotters. I caught up with Mr. Kraus to ask him a few questions about the inspiration behind his dark new novel and why 

On the first Wednesday of every month, the Mid-Manhattan Library hosts a monthly screening of anime. Eighteen people came to last night’s screening of Trigun at 7:00 PM. Next month on June 1st, NYPL at Nite will be screening