Tag Archives: Science fiction

Why faster than light travel is inevitably also time travel

Posted on February 3, 2019 by

I’ve always loved space opera, but when I was growing up, as I learned more about science, I discovered that a lot of the tropes in space opera are problematic.  Space operas, to tell adventure stories among the stars, often … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction, Space | Tagged , , , , , , | 81 Comments

Recommendation: The Soldier

Posted on January 21, 2019 by

I’ve recommended Neal Asher’s books before.  He writes epic space opera where the stories take place over a vast scale, most of the characters are superhuman or alien entities, and the forces involved are titanic.  That was the motif of … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The dangers of artificial companionship

Posted on January 20, 2019 by

Lux Alpstraum at Undark argues against “Our Irrational Fear of Sexbots”: When most people envision a world where human partners are abandoned in favor of robots, the robots they picture tend to be reasonably good approximations of flesh-and-blood humans. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Doctor Who: The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Posted on October 7, 2018 by

I’ve noted before that I’m a long time fan of Doctor Who, so naturally I tuned in to watch the first episode of the new Doctor played by Jodie Whittaker.  I’ll be honest here, I wasn’t sure what to expect … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

A qualified recommendation: The Murderbot Diaries

Posted on September 16, 2018 by

I’m generally not a fan of most depictions of AI (artificial intelligence) in science fiction.  They’re often highly anthropomorphic, assuming that engineered intelligences would innately have motivations and impulses similar to humans or other living systems, such as caring about … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Recommendation: Children of Time

Posted on June 17, 2018 by

The Fermi Paradox is the observation that if intelligent life is pervasive in the universe, it should have arrived on Earth ages ago, but there is no evidence it ever did.  The solutions to the paradox include the possibilities that … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Altered Carbon

Posted on February 5, 2018 by

Several years ago, I read Richard K. Morgan’s Takeshi Kovacs novels about a future where people’s minds are recorded in a device (called a “stack”) implanted just below the brain stem, essentially providing a form of mind uploading, and allowing people … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , | 42 Comments

Recommendation: We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Posted on July 1, 2017 by

One of the things that many space enthusiasts find frustrating about the space age is how slow it’s moving, at least relative to its early years.  Humans made it to the moon almost 50 years ago, but since then seem … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Recommendation: The Roboteer Trilogy

Posted on June 19, 2017 by

I’m sure anyone who’s paid attention to my science fiction novel recommendations has noticed that I love space opera.  But as much as I love the genre, I’m often aware of an issue many of its stories have.  In order … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Predicting far future technologies

Posted on May 15, 2017 by

Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. Niels Bohr If you’re a science fiction writer, one of the things you do is try to predict what future technologies will come along.  If you’re not writing hard science fiction, this … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments