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

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

Ancillary Justice: an excellent read

I just finished reading Ann Leckie's new novel, Ancillary Justice, after reading about it on John Scalzi's site.  I found it one of the most absorbing books I've read in a while.  If you enjoy space opera science fiction, with AIs, strange societies, and generally mind bending ideas, then you owe it to yourself to … Continue reading Ancillary Justice: an excellent read