Ring by Stephen Baxter (1994) This science fiction story is really two separate plots that don’t converge until almost the end of the 500-page novel. One story is of a multi-generation ship and the trials and tribulations of its colorful crew as it makes its way to a distant artifact on the other side of the universe. During the centuries that pass, the population of the ship grows into three factions: the natives in the jungle who have given up their immortality, the immortal captain […]
Hot Times in Polar City
Polar City Blues by Katharine Kerr (1990) A young derelict who can read minds tries to survive in the slums of the misnamed Polar City. The colonial world is so hot people need personal tents if they go into the open air. When he helps the police “read” a murdered alien ambassador, he places himself and his friends in danger. Cursed with his ESP gifts, he’s a second-rate baseball player, a junkie, and a bum. Fortunately, he’s got an occasional girlfriend, a retired space navy […]
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
A Virtual Soul by Kevin Teixeira (1999) NEVER have I felt more compelled to skim a 500-page science fiction story. This guy could teach a few things to George R. R. Martin about how to avoid story progression. It seemed like a likable premise – in the near future, genetically bred sub-humans (called Tubies because they are created in test tubes) are a separate race of submissive servants and a very competitive market because they only live seven years. One hyper-competitive business creates a virus […]
If Wishes Were Dragons Some People Would Fly Between
Dragonsdawn is the ninth book in the Dragonriders of Pern series but takes place approximately 2,500 years before Dragonflight, the first book in the series. I discovered Anne McCaffrey in an English textbook sample my dad brought home from school when I was about 13. There was an excerpt from Dragonsinger in there and I fell in love. I devoured every Pern book our local library had over the next few months and set out to collect the ones they didn’t have. I purchased […]
Patience and Time and Silence
Last year, John Scalzi’s written for Audible novella, The Dispatcher, narrated by Zachary Quinto, was offered for free. I snapped it up, but didn’t listen until yesterday. Scalzi is one of those authors who has been on my list, but remained unread. I enjoyed both Scalzi’s story and Quinto’s performance. In the near future, people who are murdered come back to life. No one knows why or how, just that it happens. It has given rise to a new profession, the Dispatcher. Dispatchers are trained, […]
“I knew a dreamer, a long time ago.”
“She had no idea what to expect, so there was no predicting what would be needed.” Vellitt Boe, Professor at the Women’s College at Ulthar, goes on a journey to find her student, Jurat, who has run off with a man she’s been seeing. He is planning to take her away to the waking world where, “He says there are millions of stars.” The problem is that Jurat’s father is a trustee of the board for the college and the board will likely get angry […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 424
- 425
- 426
- 427
- 428
- …
- 587
- Next Page »