Tag Archives: sci-fi

The importance of the Dune books is that they are indeed a great read but they are quite a bit more than that. They are exploration of the entanglements of science, religion and politics and the morality and immorality uniquely endemic to each. Mentats of Dune has continued this vein of introspection and is a quality addition to the series.

'What Makes This Book So Great' is a near-perfect blog. But a blog is not a book. By failing to adapt her pieces into the appropriate medium, she doesn’t give the reader much of a reason to turn off the screen and pull this book off the shelf.

Lazarus is a completely unique story. The post-apocalyptic setting is completely acceptable; the characters are not only compelling but also amazingly detailed. In fact, everything about this comic is fully detailed, even down to the fake product ads inside or sometimes on the exterior of the comic.

Time plus repetition is one of the most awesome forces in nature. It literally moves mountains. In the face of such a force, something so small and insignificant as a human goal will sooner or later fall at your feet with a sigh of surrender.

For this Throwback Thursday, I thought I'd dust off the TV Guide and break out some suggestions from an era when you could count the number of available channels on one hand.

Whoever picks this up will not be disappointed. It’s simply a book that demands to be read and one that will catapult you back to the days of your youth, or introduce the characters and stories of the original series to a younger audience and take its place alongside other great Star Trek stories for a new generation.

Set in 2072, 'The Boost' by Stephen Baker imagines a world in which everyone has a networked computer, called a “boost,” installed in his or her brain. Baker is a gifted futurist whose first stab at fiction is remarkably well written, although his inexperience does show in a few places. But Baker compensates with a fast pace and solid scientific grounding. 'The Boost' is a fun and thought-provoking exploration of the long-term effects of the ever-shrinking computer.

The Fourth Planet is a product of eclectic and diverse inspirational backgrounds and a passion that can only be fuelled by “one who knows.” It’s really a testament to the variety of sci-fi and comic influences that are being applied in the creation of this comic and, at the same time, an individual story of great merit that speaks to the power of listening to that creative voice.

If nothing else, 'Edge of Tomorrow' allows Tom Cruise detractors the chance to watch the actor die over and over.

Whereas most 'Godzilla' movies have favored distant shots of mass destruction, this time we're on the street watching from the ground-up as titans stomp down bridges and collapse buildings like crumbling paper.

May H.R. Giger's black soul be basking in some dark, biomechanical netherworld, eternally fornicating demons, aliens and robots with indiscriminate glee.

Age of Shiva was such an enjoyable romp that I was sorely tempted to purchase the rest of James Lovegrove's Pantheon canon and go on a week-long reading spree.

In a recent commentary for CNN, Lewis Beale laments "How ‘Star Wars’ ruined sci-fi." Here's why he's wrong.

Good science fiction is not about the future so much as the present, and Afterparty by Daryl Gregory is good science fiction. It amplifies the societal insecurities of today and projects them into tomorrow without losing track of the human element that drives dramatic storytelling. With elements of a good mystery, Afterparty is full of twists and turns and red herrings on the way to an unexpected and satisfying resolution.

Many novels that have tried to straddle sci-fi and fantasy end up simultaneously irritating the hard-core sci-fi fans and discombobulating the fantasy lovers. The Revolutions does neither and is an intriguing blend of steampunk sci-fi/fantasy with dabbling in Victorian-era occult.