Category: Sci-fi
Annabel Scheme and the Adventure of the New Golden Gate — Robin Sloan
I really enjoyed Annabel Scheme and also everything else that Robin has written, so i went into this with very high expectations: sadly, i don’t think it reached them.
While it’s not a bad book and is quite an ok read, it just all felt a bit rushed.
Yes, i know, it was written as a serial article for a newspaper and maybe Robin was hobbled with some level of word count, or maybe Robin was in a rush to get on with other things: i’ve no idea. What i do have an idea about is that this book just isn’t as good as the original Annabel Scheme book.
But, hey ho, it’s enough to keep us Robin Sloan fans happy for a while and you can at least read it for free in it’s original form at the newspaper’s website.
In the meantime, we keep our fingers crossed for a full length novel coming from Robin soon.
Robin’s Page
#scifi #robinsloan
The Memory Hacker — JT Lawrence
This is just way too overdone for me with too many holes in it.
By far, the worse of the 4 stories in 2054.
Nuff said, move along, nothing to see here.
Janita’s Page
#scifi #cyberpunk #jtlawrence
Deep Ocean Blues — Yudhanjaya Wijeratne
An interesting little novella based in a deep ocean thorium mine with a human, an AI and a bunch of OctoPods as workers: OctoPods are cyborg octopuses in case you were wondering.
It mostly explores the same theme as Blade Runner, as in, what is it to be me.
I am left thinking that there’s at least a full length novel in this deep underwater world and the onshore world that supports it and squabbles over the rights. There’s certainly a lot of interesting space for a novel or three to explore and fill.
Available in 2054 and also to read for free at Yudhanjaya’s website.
Yudhanjaya’s Page
#scifi #cyberpunk #yudhanjayawijeratne
Hedon — Jason Werbeloff
If dystopia is your thing then this is right up your alley. It’s dirty, violent, extremely sexually graphic — and the ending.
Definitely not for children.
Also available in Uprising: 12 Dystopian Futures.
Jason’s Page
#scifi #dystopian #cyberpunk #jasonwerbeloff
The Man Who Fell to Earth — Walter Tevis
Star Trek: Picard: The Last Best Hope — Una McCormack
This needs to be read before Star Trek: Picard (the new TV series), or at any time after you begin watching it and wonder what happened to Picard that lead him to becoming an Admiral and then leaving Star Fleet.
This is a very well written story covering everything we need to know to more enjoy the series including how Picard met Raffi and their history; when and why Raffi started hitting the booze; Picard’s history with Elnor; the Romulan exodus, supernova and Picard’s part in it; the synth rebellion on Mars including Bruce Maddox and Agnes’ history; and many other things besides.
There are a few glaring omissions in this book: it becomes very clear that the Romulan sun did not go bang naturally, that there was something nefarious going on which was deliberately covered up by the Tal Shiar. I can only imagine one reason for not exploring this further in this book and that is because it will be dealt with in further seasons of the TV show — or another Una book? Whichever it is it certainly has the potential to stir up a huge bowl of gagh for our future Trekkie entertainment cravings.
So yeah, a must for all Trekkies.
Una’s Page
#scifi #startrek #unamccormack
For Want of a Nail — Mary Robinette Kowal
A wonderfully written short story about an AI whose handler, having dropped it, is having quite a few repair problems to deal with. As the story unfolds we get to learn that the AI has far worse issues than just the repairs it needs.
If you like AI stories then this is a really good one. And best of all it’s free, just click on the cover pic.
Mary’s Page
#scifi #maryrobinettekowal
Nova — Samuel R. Delany
Having previously read Babel-17 i was very much hoping this was just as good: so i did have very high expectations and it certainly had a lot to live up to.
So, yes, i did set out rather biased when i began to read this book, and while i have to say that it didn’t quite meet with my expectations with regards to Babel-17, it was still a very enjoyable read.
Samuel certainly has his own style, very arty, very high brow, and also very imaginative: Nova holds it’s place as one of the books which gave birth to the cyberpunk genre. But where Babel-17 felt like a timeless read, Nova did feel a little dated to me, like it’s from the 1960’s or something. 
But dated or not, it certainly has earned a deserving place in the “SF Masterworks” series.
