Tag: Science fiction

Recommendation: The Stars Are Legion

Occasionally on this blog, when pondering the far future, I've pushed back on the idea that the long term fate of civilization is to be machine robotic type life, instead noting that a truly advanced civilization would instead be engineered life, that it would make a lot more sense for its "machines" to be biological systems.  Admittedly, … Continue reading Recommendation: The Stars Are Legion →

Arrival, the shape of aliens, and bridging the communication barrier

This weekend, I watched the movie 'Arrival'.  It starts off with the now common scenario of several floating ships appearing in the skies around the world.  But unlike most movies in this mold, it focuses on humanity's efforts to communicate with the aliens and understand why they've come.  The protagonist is an expert in linguistics. I … Continue reading Arrival, the shape of aliens, and bridging the communication barrier →

Childhood’s End and why a war between us and aliens is profoundly unlikely

Last night, SyFy debuted two shows, 'The Expanse', which I've already written about, and 'Childhood's End', which is an adaptation of a classic science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke.  With these two shows, along with some other pretty decent ones earlier this year such as 'Dark Matter' and 'Killjoys', the network seems to be on … Continue reading Childhood’s End and why a war between us and aliens is profoundly unlikely →

xkcd: Why Asimov put the Three Laws of Robotics in the order he did

Source: xkcd: The Three Laws of Robotics The Three Laws from the Wikipedia article: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must … Continue reading xkcd: Why Asimov put the Three Laws of Robotics in the order he did →

The Expanse: Intelligent space opera you should check out

Last night, I watched the pilot episode to the new science fiction TV series, 'The Expanse'.  It's based on a series of novels by a writing team that goes by the pseudonym James S.A. Corey, the first of which I reviewed a while back.  I've read all the books in the series and enjoyed them … Continue reading The Expanse: Intelligent space opera you should check out →

Thoughts on knowing and targeting your audience

Writing can be a tricky business.  Whenever you do it, it has to be with an audience in mind.  When I do blog posts here, I'm usually aiming for a general audience.  I try not to assume that my readers know obscure scientific or philosophical terminology.  That's a decision I've made, hopefully one I've lived up to. … Continue reading Thoughts on knowing and targeting your audience →

‘The Martian’: Robinson Crusoe meets Apollo 13

I recently read Andy Weir's novel: 'The Martian'.  Weir's book is a self publishing success story.  An admitted life long geek, he enjoyed thoroughly researching how a mission to Mars might work and what might go wrong with it.  He originally published the book, in serialized form, on his web site.  In response to reader … Continue reading ‘The Martian’: Robinson Crusoe meets Apollo 13 →

What is the crucial element of a story?

I've been reading a lot of science fiction short stories lately.  As an aspiring author, one of the things I've been trying to pay attention to are what the properties are of the stories I end up enjoying.  And, just as important, what are the properties of the stories I don't enjoy, particularly the ones I end … Continue reading What is the crucial element of a story? →