Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
Blade is the penultimate book in Linda Nagata's Inverted Frontier series. I've written about this series many times. It's a sequel to her earlier series: The Nanotech Succession. These books describe a civilization that has mastered nanotechnology, to the extent that mind uploading and new bodies on demand are possible, so everyone is essentially immortal. … Continue reading Blade (Inverted Frontier Book 4)
This week I saw the second part of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Dune. You've probably seen the glowing recommendations. I'll confirm that the movie is very good, a visually stunning experience. I certainly think it cements Villeneuve's adaptation as the definitive cinematic treatment of Frank Herbert's novel. I recommend seeing it, although it's worth first … Continue reading Dune: Part Two
Just some thoughts on Doctor Who, Rebel Moon, and Beacon 23. We had the three Doctor Who specials earlier this month. In general I thought they were alright. The first was serviceable, the second pretty good, and the third a decent bit of canon cleanup. I know a lot of people who were hoping Russell Davies would find … Continue reading Beacon 23 and other TV notes
Comments on some shows I've watched, or tried to watch recently, including Pluto, Loki, For All Mankind, Doctor Who, and Blue Eye Samurai. Pluto is a "reinterpretation" of the classic Astro Boy characters and setting. This is a world that now includes robots, with laws passed to ensure their equal rights. But someone is killing … Continue reading Blue Eye Samurai, Doctor Who, and other TV notes
E. E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series is classic space opera. As a science fiction nerd, I'm actually a bit embarrassed to admit that I had never read it before. Part of the reason was only discovering it as an adult, and finding the opening of the official first book in the series, Triplanetary, to be … Continue reading The Lensman series
Last week, when writing the TV notes post, which included remarks about the Foundation TV show, I opened the first Foundation book to check on something. I found myself falling into the story and kept on reading. I finished the third book in the trilogy yesterday. (The books are short by contemporary standards and Asimov's … Continue reading The original Foundation trilogy
I finally finished watching season 3 of The Witcher, a continuation of a gritty version of a Tolkien-like world, with elves, dwarves, other creatures, and magic. On balance I enjoyed it, but not as much as the previous seasons. I'm not sure why. Part of it might be that the romantic drama between Geralt and … Continue reading Foundation, One Piece, and other TV notes
When it comes to entertainment, for me, it seems like it never rains but it pours. We seem to go through stretches with nothing interesting on, then suddenly a flood. Although some things have been out a while and have just taken a while for me to catch up on. One of them is the … Continue reading Babylon 5 and other TV notes
If you're a nerd of a certain type and age, you might remember the 1970s Marvel comic series Planet of the Apes, the black and white one under the Curtis Magazines imprint. The Curtis comics were interesting in that they were sold as magazines on the magazine rack, not the comic book one. Which meant … Continue reading Planet of the Apes Archive
Silo, a TV show on Apple TV+, based on Hugh Howey's Wool book series, is one of my favorite types of science fiction. One where the characters find themselves in a world very different from ours, which they, and us, don't understand the nature of. Typically as the story unfolds, we learn that the world … Continue reading Silo
SelfAwarePatterns 