Tag: Science Fiction
Red Rock Review
I’m holding in my hot little hands the Spring 2015 issue (#35) of the Red Rock Review, a literary journal from the College of Southern Nevada. Red Rock Review is notable for publishing such luminaries as Marge Piercy and now yours truly. Check it out, page 71, “Dreams,” a short piece of what might be […]
Read More → Red Rock ReviewDouble Plus Ungood
I wish I had the good taste and self-restraint to only post mixes of “good” music, or music that I really like. But unfortunately I don’t, and here’s the proof: fifteen tracks of dubious quality on a science fiction theme. I love science fiction, but this mix is pretty awful. (My apologies to the artists.) […]
Read More → Double Plus UngoodThe Long Hard Summer
I’ve been in a book club for eight years now. We read science fiction and meet on the second Saturday of each month at Octavia Books. It’s a lot of fun. We select our books by a simple method which was established by our club’s founder, the late Scott Speake. Each person takes a turn […]
Read More → The Long Hard SummerThe Atrocity Exhibition
These are not reviews — more like reading notes. Title: The Atrocity Exhibition Author: J. G. Ballard Published: 1970 The Atrocity Exhibition was originally published in 1970, but it was shredded by a distraught Nelson Doubleday, or so the story goes. It was published again by Grove in ’72 under a different title, and then […]
Read More → The Atrocity Exhibition334
Once again, these are not reviews, just some scattered reading notes. Title: 334 Author: Thomas M. Disch Published: 1974 Like Nova, this is a good novel by an author capable of greatness. I admire Disch, and was saddened when he took his life last year. I have a collection of his stories, entitled Fun with […]
Read More → 334Nova
Title: Nova Author: Samuel R. Delany Published: 1968 Nova is a seminal work by one of my favorite authors. It’s a relatively short novel, written in an easy and accessible style, with poetic flourishes that don’t overwhelm, beautiful imagery, iconic characters, and just a dash of of avant-garde ambition. And I liked it OK. I […]
Read More → NovaBabylon, Babylon
I recently failed to complete two works with similar names: Babylon Babies, a book by some French dude, and Babylon 5, a TV series from the 1990s.
Read More → Babylon, BabylonOur Babylon 5 Connection
Quick quiz: What’s the connection between my beautiful wife and the science fiction television series Babylon 5?
Read More → Our Babylon 5 ConnectionThe Sea Priestess/Spin State
It should be noted: These are not book reviews. I think of them more as reading notes. This is my journal, and I’d like to record some thoughts on each book I read. That’s all.
Read More → The Sea Priestess/Spin StateThe Speed of Dark
Title: The Speed of Dark Author: Elizabeth Moon Published: 2002 So here’s a book that I enjoyed despite some glaring deficiencies. It’s the tale of a young autistic man. He’s high-functioning with a genius aptitude for pattern recognition, so he’s gainfully employed. In fact he’s part of a whole unit of autistic employees at some […]
Read More → The Speed of DarkGlasshouse
Title: Glasshouse Author: Charles Stross Published: 2006 There’s usually a point in most novels where I feel the hook, where I no longer feel the effort of pushing forward and making myself read, but suddenly (or not so suddenly) find myself being pulled forward, intrigued, under the spell. I’ve noticed this usually happens somewhere around […]
Read More → GlasshouseR.I.P.ping Time
Just learned of the untimely passing of New Orleans’ own Robert Asprin, creator of Thieves’ World and Another Fine Myth and many other science fiction and fantasy works.
Read More → R.I.P.ping TimeJust a Couple of Days
Title: Just a Couple of Days Author: Tony Vigorito Published: 2001 [Spoiler warning: This review reveals basic elements of the story.]
Read More → Just a Couple of DaysThe Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon
Title: James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon Author: Julie Phillips Published: 2006 If you go to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, you can see a huge gorilla beating its breast. It’s stuffed of course. It was shot on Mount Karisimbi in the Belgian Congo in November of […]
Read More → The Double Life of Alice B. SheldonHer Smoke Rose Up Forever
Title: Her Smoke Rose Up Forever Author: James Tiptree, Jr. Published: 1969-1981 He wails voicelessly as conviction invades him, he who had believed in nothing before. All the agonies of Earth, uncanceled? Are broken ghosts limping forever from Stalingrad and Salamis, from Gettysburg and Thebes and Dunkirk and Khartoum? Do the butchers’ blows still fall […]
Read More → Her Smoke Rose Up ForeverSpin
Title: Spin Author: Robert Charles Wilson Published: 2005 Imagine you’re a kid looking up at the night sky and all of a sudden the stars vanish. All of them, instantly, gone in the blink of an eye. That’s the opening gambit for Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, and I was hooked. Imagine growing up in […]
Read More → SpinTreachery
Every month, the Octavia Science Fiction Club meets at Octavia Books. Our reading selections are chosen by our members on a rotating basis, organized around a loose theme. Most recently we read three books on the theme of “Treachery.” You can get any of these books from Octavia Books by clicking the links. Note that […]
Read More → TreacheryScreaming & Kicking
For the last century, almost all top political appointments [on the planet Earth] had been made by random computer selection from the pool of individuals who had the necessary qualifications. It had taken the human race several thousand years to realize that there were some jobs that should never be given to the people who […]
Read More → Screaming & KickingWhat?
Why is Captain Picard of the Starship Enterprise talking about my mother?
Read More → What?Descending
Both elevators are out of commission for the last few days, so I’ve been using the emergency stairwell to get to and from my office on the 5th floor. The air is mighty stale in there. Going down these stairs reminds me of a very grim story, “Descending,” by Thomas Disch. Except… wait, that was […]
Read More → Descending