Tag: #scifi

Star Maker — Olaf Stapledon

By 5t4n5

Star Maker -- Olaf StapledonI managed to get 31% into this and then just had to give up trying.   I really couldn’t manage any more of it.

Imagine that William’s favourite book is Gulliver’s Travels and he decides to have a go at writing a sci-fi version of it having read Brave New World just before starting.   I think that pretty much sums up the first 31%.

The problem is that while Gulliver’s Travels and Brave New World are both very good books, both are very well written and keep the reader’s attention, Star Maker is tedious, dull and plodding: at least that’s how i found it to be.   I can imagine for its time it was very exciting, but sadly some books just don’t age well and i think this is one of them.

I don’t feel that it’s bad enough to warrant a place on “The Deleted” page, so it will get a reprieve and stay in my Amazon lists for now and i may give it another go at some future date when i’m feeling a lot better about life and stuff.

Olaf’s Page

#scifi #sfmasterworks #olafstapledon

Annabel Scheme and the Adventure of the New Golden Gate — Robin Sloan

By 5t4n5

Annabel Scheme and the Adventure of the New Golden Gate -- Robin SloanI 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

Deep Ocean Blues — Yudhanjaya Wijeratne

By 5t4n5

Deep Ocean Blues -- Yudhanjaya WijeratneAn 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

Star Trek: Picard: The Last Best Hope — Una McCormack

By 5t4n5

Star Trek: Picard: The Last Best Hope -- Una McCormackThis 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

By 5t4n5

For Want of a Nail -- Mary Robinette KowalA 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