Category Archives: science fiction

The origins of Frank Herbert’s Dune

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Frank Herbert’s Dune was originally started as a non-fiction article on sand dunes in Oregon. From an LA Times article:

The novel was sparked when, in the late 1950s, Herbert flew to Florence, Ore., in a small chartered plane to write about a U.S. Department of Agriculture effort to stabilize sand dunes with European beach grasses. The author was struck by the way dunes could move, over time, like living things — swallowing rivers, clogging lakes, burying forests. “These waves can be every bit as devastating as a tidal wave . . . they’ve even caused deaths,” he wrote his agent, beginning an article, “They Stopped the Moving Sands,” that was never published.

Dr. Who – Eleventh Doctor

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The new Dr. Who series with the Eleventh Doctor started in the UK on two weeks ago. It’s finally appearing on BBC America now. Never having watched Dr. Who before (Hi. My name is Mark and I’m a science fiction fan who’s never seen a Dr. Who episode), I thought this might be a good place to start with a new entry point. So, how is it?
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Red Lightning by John Varley

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Red Lightning by John Varley is the sequel to Red Thunder (reviewed previously) and follows on with the next generation 20 years after the events of Red Thunder. This book has some of the same flaws as the original, but it’s strengths aren’t quite as good. By following up 20 years later, we can see some of the effects from the end of previous book and allow us to see how the events played out. The change in narration is handled well, but be still have too much exposition at times.

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DVD You Should Own – Firefly

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Firefly was Joss Whedon’s 3rd TV series (after Buffy and Angel) and was the first one set in a different universe. The basic concept was a science fiction western (which was based on Whedon’s reading the book The Killer Angels), but was never appreciated by the TV executives. The episodes were aired out of order when they were not rejected. But, in an unprecedented turn of events, a TV show that was cancelled for low ratings mid-season sold so many DVDs that a feature film was created about it. What was it that made the fans so excited?

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The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson

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The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson is a wild ride of conspiracy, sex, violence and a anarchy loving midget named after a mathematical tool used in statistical analysis. The best description of the book comes from a Rolling Stone blurb: “A hundred pages in  I couldn’t figure out why I was wasting my time with this nonsense…after three hundred I was having too much fun to quit and by the end I was eager to believe every word”

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Psychohistorical Crisis by Donald Kingsbury

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Psychohistorical Crisis by Donald Kingsbury is an unofficial Foundation book. Kingsbury goes out of his way to make sure you know that he’s talking about Foundation without ever explicitly mentioning it. The novel is set later in the thousand year interregnum and a knowledge of the Foundation books s critical to enjoying the book.

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WWW:Wake by Robert Sawyer

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WWW:Wake by Robert Sawyer (author of FlashForward whose TV show is probably canceled for good reason) is about an emerging consciousness in the Internet. The main thing it reminded me of was Jane from Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead. The idea is a network gains enough nodes(the Internet or the ansible) that it starts becoming conscious. Where Jane is a fully formed being, this is the beginning of one and the first part of a trilogy that will follow it.

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Red Thunder by John Varley

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Red Thunder by John Varley is a cross between The Astronaut Farmer and Salvage 1. It’s a story about a group of kids who work with an ex-astronaut and his genius (and slightly mentally challenged) cousin to develop a new power source into a trip to Mars. If you look at the cover and the title, it would appear to be more of a Tom Clancy book, but this is a homage to Robert Heinlein’s juveniles.

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Things We Didn’t See Coming by Steven Amsterdam

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Things We Didn’t See Coming by Steven Amsterdam reads like someone trying to write their own version of The Road. And I don’t mean that in a good way. The characters didn’t fit into the post apocalyptic scenario. We start before the apocalypse and then move on with little to no warning or clues to how far forward we have jumped. I spend the beginnings of several chapters trying to figure out if I was reading about a new character or an existing one. Highly not recommended and not worth a full review. Go read The Road instead.