Tag: Science fiction

Literary “rules” I wish science fiction and fantasy books would break more often.

Read any book on writing, or take a creative writing course, and there are certain pieces of advice that you are almost certain to encounter.  In many cases, the advice is good, but some have a tendency to take these tools of the craft and turn them into rigid rules.  And just about any rigid rule … Continue reading Literary “rules” I wish science fiction and fantasy books would break more often. →

When to give up on a story

I've been reading a lot of science fiction short stories lately.  Many have been excellent.  But some have not been my cup of tea.  I've run into a fair amount of melancholic ambiance pieces where nothing much happens.  But the stories I tend to enjoy have action, dialog, or at least a steady stream of concrete information. As I've been … Continue reading When to give up on a story →

A darker vision of the post-singularity: The Quantum Thief trilogy

I just finished reading Hannu Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief trilogy: 'The Quantum Thief', 'The Fractal Prince', and 'The Causal Angel'.  (The official name of the trilogy is the Jean le Flambeur series, named after one of the chief protagonists, but everyone seems to call it the Quantum Thief trilogy instead.) Most visions of society after the singularity … Continue reading A darker vision of the post-singularity: The Quantum Thief trilogy →

The definition of the science fiction genre

Charlie Stross has an interesting post up on the distinction between science fiction and fantasy.  He looks at a question I haven't thought about in a while: Not too long ago, someone in the twittersphere asked, "Whatever happened to psi? It used to be all the rage in science fiction." The answer, essentially, was that … Continue reading The definition of the science fiction genre →

Greg Egan’s Amalgam is close to the most likely interstellar civilization

The other day, I did a post engaging in speculation on, assuming we don't discover a completely new physics, what I thought an interstellar civilization might look like.  In summary: Given special relativity, travel faster than the speed of light is impossible.  This has been verified by innumerable experiments, and nothing in nature has been observed to … Continue reading Greg Egan’s Amalgam is close to the most likely interstellar civilization →

Interstellar: more accurate than the typical sci-fi movie, but still had issues

This week, I watched the movie Interstellar, the Christopher Nolan film about travel to another galaxy, a black hole, a wormhole, and other exotic environments.  I enjoyed it immensely, although I also had some issues with it. In the film, at some point in the future, the Earth is dying due to a global crop blight. … Continue reading Interstellar: more accurate than the typical sci-fi movie, but still had issues →

Writing Excuses: New season, a writing course by podcast

Many of my readers and fellow bloggers are aspiring (or practicing) writers.  If you haven't caught it before, 'Writing Excuses' is a podcast about writing in the science fiction and fantasy genre.  If you've ever contemplated doing that kind of writing, it's a pretty awesome podcast to follow, and even if sci-fi/fantasy isn't your chosen … Continue reading Writing Excuses: New season, a writing course by podcast →