Tag: #scifi

Stroboscopic — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Stroboscopic -- Alastair ReynoldsYou’ll find this in the collection, Deep Navigation.

I get the distinct feeling with this short story that Alastair was just having some fun with an idea.   And why not?

Basically, there’s a game that involves some newly discovered, alien lifeform that the solar system’s best gamers are invited to play.   There’s also a bit of politics involved, with the goodies v baddies, evil corporation thing going on in the background as well.

It’s ok, only 4 stars for this instead of Alastair’s usual 5, but like i said, this one just seemed like he decided to have some fun for a change.

Next up on the Alastair Reynolds timeline, from 1998, it’s On the Oodnadatta.

Bye for now.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

Paradises Lost — Ursula K. Le Guin

By 5t4n5

Paradises Lost -- Ursula K. Le GuinAvailable in the collections, The Birthday Of The World and Other Stories, and The Found and the Lost.

One of my favourite Le Guin stories, which takes place inside a generation ship built inside a large asteroid trundling across space towards a distant Earth-like planet.

The problem with a generation ship is that after a while it becomes the only home the people on board have ever known, which can eventually lead to factions forming around the purpose of the mission.   Why should these later generations live and end their lives according to an idea from a planet and peoples that have nothing to do with them whatsoever?

Ursula’s Page

#scifi #ursulakleguin

Belladonna Nights and Other Stories — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Belladonna Nights and Other Stories -- Alastair ReynoldsI’ve rearranged the stories into date order, rather than the order they are in the collection: coz that’s juse how i roll, darlings.   Obviously, you can read them in any order you chose as well.

Revelation Space

Night Passage – 2017

House of Suns

Belladonna Nights – 2017

Standalones

For the Ages – 2011
Magic Bone Woman – 2011
The Lobby – 2013
A Map of Mercury – 2013
Wrecking Party – 2014
A Murmuration – 2015
Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chatterjee – 2016
Visiting Hours – 2017
Holdfast – 2017
Different Seas – 2018
Providence – 2018
Death’s Door – 2018
Open and Shut – 2021
Plague Music – 2021

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

The Found and the Lost — Ursula K. Le Guin

By 5t4n5

The Found and the Lost -- Ursula K. Le Guin

Standalones

Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight – 1987
Hernes – 1991
Paradises Lost – 2002

Hainish

Vaster than Empires and More Slow – 1971
The Matter of Seggri – 1994
Another Story or A Fisherman of the Inland Sea – 1994

Yeowe and Werel

Forgiveness Day – 1994
A Man of the People – 1995
A Woman’s Liberation – 1995
Old Music and the Slave Women – 1996

Earthsea

Dragonfly – 1998
The Finder – 2001
On the High Marsh – 2001

Ursula’s Page

#fantasy #scifi #ursulakleguin

Spirey and the Queen — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Spirey and the Queen -- Alastair ReynoldsYou’ll find this in the collection, Zima Blue and Other Stories.

It’s looking like all of Alastair’s early writings were short stories, and this is another one in the long list.   You certainly get to see how Alastair worked on his craft as a writer, cutting his teeth on these sci-fi ideas neatly wrapped up within a few hundred Kindle Loc Points.

Spirey and the Queen was written at a time when Alastair was just beginning Revelation Space and there’s certainly aspects of self aware machine vs human going on within this.   It’s a really good story, but, and it’s a big but, the beginning is all rather all over the place in terminology and nomenclature.   It’s like you’re thrown into this completely blurred out reality and slowly, over time, like in an opticians appointment, Alastair gradually finds the right lenses and all gradually becomes clear.

In Zima Blue and Other Stories, Alastair comments at the end of this story, that he’d like to come back to Spirey at some point in the future and explore what happened afterwards: which i would really look forward to reading.

So while i do feel this could have been better served had Alastair given it a novella length and explained things a lot more as we went along, i won’t throw the baby out with the bath water, it’s still, certainly, a good short story.

Coming next in the Alastair Reynolds reading list wil be Stroboscopic.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds