A few weeks ago, I gave my very personal take (it wasn’t structured enough to be called a review) on Apple TV’s Foundation series versus the books by Isaac Asimov. What I forgot to mention was that in the first few episodes of the TV series, when Harry Seldon was still on Trantor, the ecumenopolis […]
Only Book Readers Spotted It Read More »
If you’re a regular reader of my blog, I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that I’m just a little bit in awe of science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein – for a variety of reasons, including the fact that he’s one of a microscopic collection of authors who can make me cry. Heinlein had
Aim to be a Live Lion Read More »
It’s a well-known phenomenon that an author of a runaway bestseller will be found to be disappointing in all future books. This might even be true. I went into the reading of Andy Weir’s Hail Mary with what I thought was an open mind, after thoroughly enjoying The Martian, his monster best-seller turned hit movie
Andy Weir’s HAIL MARY — About Five Chapters Too Long Read More »
If it can’t be expressed in figures, it is not science; it is opinion. Robert A. Heinlein – The Notebook of Lazarus Long Say what you will about Robert Heinlein, he does make you pause to think at least once in every book. His The Notebook of Lazarus Long is stuffed full of thinkers. I’ve
The Immoveable Object and The Irresistible Force Read More »
Any talk about AI tends to be radically polarized. The lovers and the haters seem to have zero middle ground in common. I’m personally cautious about AI…for now. There are copyright issues yet to be sorted out, and most of the tools like ChatGPT (which I’ve tried) produce generic pablum that requires just as much
And sometimes AI is actually useful… Read More »
I’ve been subscribed to ARS Technica for years. They’ve always been light and superficial, and just a bit clickbaity. Lately, I’ve drifted away because the ads were so numerous, I often couldn’t read the post at all. It’s because of sites like theirs that I finally installed an ad blocker. I know, I know…ad blockers
Self-Sustaining Life on Mars Read More »
Many readers like reading science fiction because of the mind-warping sense of scale that future-set stories can create. You can put a SF book down and feel very humble about the world, and also quite hopeful for the future. But here’s a real life, contemporary times scale-warping experience: Consider the original apple tree that Newton
The Force and the Apple That Created It Read More »
A couple of weeks ago (in real time), I invited you to complete a two-question survey about a potential new Hammer series, to follow up on the Imperial Hammer and The Iron Hammer. There were 64 responses, thank you. And the results were absolutely conclusive. “Do you want to read another “Hammer” series?” Guess that
More Hammer It Is. Read More »
This collection of essays and posts is a couple of years old, but I still found it fascinating to dig into. There’s a lot of stuff collected on this page. If you like imaging the future for yourself, or listening to people who do, then you’ll enjoy this collection. A couple of highlights include the
Imagining the Next Future Read More »
This is very last minute, sorry, but I wasn’t invited until the last minute, either. The TBR Con 2024 started this morning. The conference has been described as “an all-virtual sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention,” by the organizers, FanFiAddict.com, and as “A gaggle of nerds talking about Fantasy, Science Fiction, and everything in-between. They also occasionally write reviews
TBR Con — I’ll be there. You? Read More »