Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
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
Over the years I've recommended a number of Neal Asher's books. Although recently I haven't found his stuff as compelling. Dark Diamond represents something of a return to form for him: epic space opera. The story takes place in his Polity universe, one where Earth and its interstellar colonies are ruled by AI. The AIs … Continue reading Dark Diamond
Adrian Tchaikovsky announced the other day that he and Emma Newman were starting a new podcast: Starship Alexandria, where they will take turns recommending sci-fi and fantasy books, with most of the episode devoted to discussing them. Their first episode dropped a couple of weeks ago, and Newman made the first recommendation: The Kraken Wakes … Continue reading The Kraken Wakes
What would aliens look like? Not just another intelligent species, but alien animals, or entire ecosystems? It's very hard for us to imagine them without falling back on variations of Earth animals. So aliens in sci-fi often look like insects, octopuses, or other species we're familiar with. To be sure, aliens would have evolved in … Continue reading Alien Clay
I've recently come across a couple of writing podcasts that are worth checking out for any aspiring sci-fi or fantasy authors. The first is On Writing With Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson is a bestselling epic fantasy author with a number of major series under his belt, not the least of which was completing Robert Jordan's Wheel … Continue reading Sci-fi and fantasy writing podcasts and advice worth checking out
This week I came across Scavenger's Reign, a sci-fi animated series on Netflix. The show is about a crew stranded on an alien planet, Vesta, with an interesting ecosystem. It chronicles the efforts of isolated groups to survive. The groups have little hope of a rescue. It's revealed upfront that the company they work for … Continue reading Scavenger’s Reign, and other TV notes
Shows based on video games have gotten better in recent years, and Halo seems to fit this trend. I never got into the games, so my knowledge of the premise only comes from the show. Humanity is at war with an alien civilization known as the "Covenant". The Covenant seems determined to eradicate humanity for … Continue reading Halo
The TV show, 3 Body Problem, is an adaptation of Liu Cixin's novel, The Three Body Problem. I read Cixin's book several years ago, back when it was up for the Hugo Award, which it eventually won. The book explores a lot of ideas, such as the difficulty in making predictions with inherently chaotic systems, … Continue reading 3 Body Problem
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