Tag Archives: scifi

January 6th, Baen’s Bar, and the Definition of “Evil”

1-6

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Addendum, 2-17-2021, 4:45 a.m. mountain time: Just an update from File 770 (still not a fan but it is an information source) on the whole Baen Bar fiasco. Of course, from that perspective, all conservatives are evil, but while 770 is also heavily biased, we must make certain that our own behavior and attitudes doesn’t support violence. No one is going to (I hope) cancel us because we believe in smaller government, the freedom to worship as we wish, free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment, and eating actual beef hamburgers in opposition to the dictates of Bill Gates.

Original content starts here: Oh, good grief. Here we go again. I can just hear it. “All people even slightly to the right of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are Trump, Hitler, and Satan combined.”

What do I mean?

Well first off, a little personal background.

When I started reading science fiction in the 1960s and 70s, it was well before we had any idea of an “internet” much less “social media.” Today, we can investigate pretty much anyone’s past, at least up to a point. And not just individuals, but organizations as well. Thus we can make some sort of determination if we want to be associated with people and groups with a particular “reputation” before we partake of any of their “wares.”

Continue reading →

Planetary Anthology Saturn Available Now!

Promotional image for the Planetary Anthology “Saturn”

It’s here. The Tuscany Bay Press Planetary Anthology Saturn is available for immediate purchase. As you know having read my previous announcements, it features my science fiction time travel story “Saving the Apostle,” the act and consequences of rescuing the Apostle Paul from execution at the hands of the Romans.

Continue reading →

Book Review: “Prador Moon” by Neal Asher

Prador Moon cover art

I’ve previously read and reviewed Neal Asher’s “Polity series” novels Dark Intelligence (2015) and War Factory (2016), both part of the “Transformation” trilogy.

Frankly, Asher has written so many novels, just within this one series, that I was stumbling blind when I read those two, and although I enjoyed them, I couldn’t figure out how everything fit together.

I needed some sort of context to make sense of the universe I was experiencing. Although it’s not the first “Polity” book Asher (metaphorically) penned, Prador Moon records the first encounter between humans and AIs in the Polity and the Prador.

It’s not a complex novel, but it does introduce some of the key elements presented in all of these stories, including “Augs,” “AIs,” “Golems,” “runcibles” (basically stargates), and of course, the utterly ruthless, crab-like Prador.

Continue reading →

Book Review of Galactic Patrol

Image captured from Amazon

In some ways, E.E. “Doc” Smith’s third Lensman novel Galactic Patrol feels like the first “real” Lensman novel. I suppose that’s largely due to the character Kimball Kinnison having a central role in the book. He is the Lensman hero I think all of my friends looked up to when these books were popular when I was in Junior High in the late ’60s. Of course I also think these novels were better consumed over 50 years in the past by boys between the ages of 12 and 14 than they are by a fellow in his late 60s today.

It also hung together a bit better than the previous two (“Triplanetary” and “First Lensman”). That said, most of the book felt incredibly episodic. It was like a television show where the season hadn’t been plotted out cohesively from start to finish. A great deal of the action bounced all over the place, introducing seemingly random characters, planets, and events throughout the first two-thirds of the story.

Eventually, Smith was able to tie (most) things together showing relationships in the last third, but even that seemed rushed.

Continue reading →

Read an Advanced Review Copy of Planetary Anthology Saturn

saturn

Cover image for the anthology Saturn.

As I’ve mentioned before, my science fiction/time travel short story “Saving the Apostle” is to be featured in the Tuscany Bay Press Planetary Anthology Saturn.

It’s available for pre-order from Amazon now (see the link above) for delivery to your kindle device on February 16, 2021.

However, if you can’t wait, you can read it right now. The publisher has placed an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) on Booksprout. Of course you have to be a Booksprout member AND you have to agree to leave a review in order to read the book.

From our point of view, this means that the reviews you leave will already be on Amazon when the book launches.

If you are not a Booksprout member but would like to review an advanced copy of the anthology, contact me by commenting on this blog post. I’ve got copies in PDF, epub, and MOBI. As long as you’re willing to leave a review, I’ll be glad to send you a finalized copy of the book in your desired format.

Let me know.

Continue reading →

Review of The World of Science Fiction 1926-1976: A Personal Past and Uncertain Future

skylark

Image captured on Amazon

This my second and last review of the late Lester Del Rey’s 1980 book The World of Science Fiction, 1926-1976: The History of a Subculture. The first review was more political and cultural. This one is more personal.

First of all, the copy I currently possess is a first edition. Like I said, the first printing of this tome was in 1980, and according to the old fashioned stamps in this library book, it was first acquired by my local library system on January 24, 1980. It’s like holding a piece of history in my hands.

The first 22 chapters are interesting, but also made up of long lists of ancient science fiction stories, their authors, which magazines they appeared in, the editors, and occasionally what was going on in the world around them. A tad dull overall.

Continue reading →

TICK TOCK: A Time Travel Anthology (500 Fiction) Available Now

Promotional image for my short story “The Tenth Second.”

Well, it’s too late to add the science fiction anthology TICK TOCK: A Time Travel Anthology (500 Fiction) to someone’s Christmas stocking, but you can buy for your New Year’s reading pleasure either as a digital book for your Kindle or as a paperback .

There’s quite a number of time travel tales contained within its pages, and each complete story is a mere 500 words long.

Continue reading →

Review of The World of Science Fiction 1926-1976: “But What Good Is It?”

Cover image of Lester Del Rey’s “The World of Science Fiction 1926-1976

Finally finished The World of Science Fiction 1926-1976 by Lester Del Rey and I must say it is both very informative, and for long stretches, pretty boring.

This is one of two (probably) reviews, and today’s write up is the most “controversial” of the two.

The book was published in 1980 so 40 years of science fiction have passed since Del Rey opined “But What Good Is It?” in the 34th chapter. To Del Rey, the purpose of science fiction was to entertain, but then he remarked on page 348:

What disturbs me more is the whole concept of purpose as applied to any literature. To the Marxists, intent upon subordinating everything to the good of the state, the arts must serve a direct purpose of life — usually propaganda, I’m afraid. But why people in this country accept such Marxist ideas is a puzzle.

Del Rey died on May 10, 1993, about 13 years after penning this tome, and I’m glad he didn’t see what’s happening to field of science fiction today.

Continue reading →

“Tick Tock” Anthology of Time Travel Stories Coming Soon!

Promotional image for my short story “The Tenth Second.”

The Black Hare Press science fiction anthology Tick Tock will become available on December 15th, barely a week away. It features my short story “The Tenth Second.”

This series is unique in that each story accepted had to be five hundred words long. Imagine dozens of such stories, each one about time travel or some manipulation of timespace.

Continue reading →