Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
When I was young I read a lot of Arthur C. Clarke's books. With one of them, I remember having a strong sense of deja vu. It seemed like I knew the story already, sort of. It was very familiar, yet surprising in many details. I don't remember which one I read first, Against the … Continue reading Against the Fall of Night and its progeny
A few years ago David Bourget and David Chalmers did a follow up survey to the 2009 one polling philosophers on what they believe about various questions. One of them was quantum mechanics, particularly the measurement problem and its various interpretations. Over the decades there have been surveys of physicists themselves on this question, but … Continue reading What physicists believe about quantum mechanics
When I picked up Iain M. Banks' book The Algebraist, I thought I was starting a Culture novel overlooked until now. (The way Amazon listed the book encouraged this belief.) However, while it is space opera on a grand scale similar to a typical Culture novel, it takes place in a different fictional universe, one … Continue reading The Algebraist
The other day I came across a video of Hank Green comparing Ursula Le Guin's Ekumen civilization to Iain Banks' Culture one. (I discussed the Culture a few weeks ago). It reminded me that I had never gotten around to reading Le Guin's classic Hugo Award winning book: The Left Hand of Darkness. I decided … Continue reading The Left Hand of Darkness
I was initially leery of picking up Adrian Tchaikovsky's latest book Shroud. It seemed to have a space horror vibe, and while I've enjoyed a lot of Tchaikovsky's work, I'm not a horror fan. I don't mind if a story has elements of it, but usually don't enjoy straight horror. Thankfully, Shroud isn't horror, but … Continue reading Shroud
Iain Banks' Culture setting is probably the closest thing to outright paradise in science fiction. It's an interstellar post-scarcity techno-anarchist utopia, where sentient machines do all the work and the humans hang around engaging in hobbies or other hedonistic pursuits. Some do choose to work, but there's no requirement for it since money isn't required. … Continue reading A reread of Consider Phlebas
Not Till We Are Lost is the fifth Bobiverse book by Dennis Taylor. I've been following these books for years. Although there's usually a delay in reading new releases because they're initially exclusive to Audible. I do listen to the occasional audiobook, but most of my reading is Kindle editions. Thankfully they subsequently get released … Continue reading Not Till We Are Lost
For some reason I had never read Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, and recently decided to remedy that. Like most classic sci-fi novels, it's a quick read, much shorter than most contemporary novels. It's often been called a Vietnam veteran's response to Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Haldeman himself disputes that, although he admits it's … Continue reading The Forever War
A few weeks ago I reviewed Neal Asher's new book Dark Diamond. It takes place in his Polity universe, a future interstellar society ruled by AIs, where everyone is effectively immortal, but in a dangerous universe. That book featured Ian Cormac and other characters from his earlier Agent Cormac series. I read the first book … Continue reading The Agent Cormac series
A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the movie Mickey 17, which I found fairly intelligent. That movie is based on a book, Mickey 7, by Edward Ashton. The book turned out to be on Kindle Unlimited and didn't look long, and I needed a break from some of the other stuff I was reading, … Continue reading Mickey 7
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