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Sci Fi

Announcement: The Devil’s Science, by Jate Hemms

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The Devil's Science Book 1

QSFer Jate Hemms has a new Sci Fi book out: Thomas was a middle aged man who lived a troubled life of sadness and grief. He tried to maintain his sanity through the worst events life has to offer. Little did he know that fate had something much more in store for him that would change his life. . . and the world forever. This story looks at the complexities of religion against the marvels of advanced technology and the many shades of grey in between. It will challenge the seemingly easy process of determining what is right and wrong … Read more

Discussion: Habitable Planets for Man

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earth like world

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Jim Comer: Dole’s Habitable Planets for Man and Niven’s puckish defiance of Dole’s limitations: How unlike Earth do we want to make our worlds? What schemae do we want to use to design our histories? Do Spengler, Diamond and Toynbee still apply? How do worlds differ if sex is different? I’ll break this down a bit. Carl Sagan postulated that there would be many habitable planets out there, and many alien civilizations. But just because a planet is habitable doesn’t mean it’s comfortable. So what kinds of worlds should we be creating for our fiction? … Read more

Announcement: Schrodinger’s City, by Matthew P. Buscemi

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Schrödinger's City

QSFer Matthew Buscemi has a new Sci Fi book out: On the surface of a sphere twenty kilometers in diameter, beneath a sky of swirling blue that offers light without a sun, there lies a city like no other. Hodgepodge personalities eke out something akin to survival, even a meager form of community. But City’s streets have begun to change abruptly, and one individual has left City of his own free will. A path through frightening chaos leads either to opportunity or the further erosion of City’s bleary existence. A philosopher and a waitress both seek answers, in their own … Read more

Announcement: Star Clash – A Space Anthology, by Vera Loy

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Star Clash

QSFer Vera Loy has a new sci fi anthology out: “Then they came. Humans. They looked like us, walked like us, but never have such a brutal, bastard race existed … We will fight. We will end them, or we will die trying.” In Vera Loy’s science fiction anthology, a war threatens to annihilate two species; a mercenary travels to Avalon to fight zombies; and a crime-fighter chooses to cross the line, the line between right and wrong. Featured Stories: Star Clash, Emerald Warrior, Io Colony, Black Death, Kaia, Crime Fighter, Guns and Guys. Note: Io Colony has LGBTY characters; … Read more

“The Homecoming” by J. Scott Coatsworth

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The Homecoming

Genre: Gay Science Fiction Length: Novella   ALDISS AND his crew crash land on a forgotten Earth, expecting it to be abandoned after hundreds of years. Their own world is destroyed, and now Earth is their only chance for a new start. But it’s winter, the climate is harsh, and Earth is not as forgotten as they thought. The inhabitants also may not be as open to new arrivals as Adliss’s crew hopes. I loved this book. The setup was interesting, and the characters were engaging. I loved how spacemen and werewolves collided: technology meets primal Earth. First contact between … Read more

When Twins Attack

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Twins

Today’s discussion topic comes from QSFer Freddy MacKay: Can we have a topic about the effect of being able to differentiate twins genetically (their non-coding, or junk DNA, is different) might have on stories? Considering we now have a way to go back to trial cases and correctly identify the twin in the case, future stories will be impacted by this kind of development. That’s interesting – I hadn’t even heard of this one. We take it as an article of faith that identical twins are, well, identical. There’s even a “twin twist” on Big Brother this summer, with a … Read more

Television: First African-American Gay Superhero Joins Arrow

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First African-American Gay Superhero Joins Arrow Arrow, the popular CW series that follows DC’s Green Arrow, has cast Echo Kellum as Mr. Terrific and announced the show’s version of the superhero will be gay, Variety confirms… …Executive producer Greg Berlanti told Out magazine last year that he plans to continue to explore new ways of introducing gay characters to this series and The Flash, which has also featured gay heroes and villains, such as David Singh (Patrick Sabongui) and the Pied Piper (Andy Mientus). See the article here

Discussion: Pushing the Boundaries of Queer

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Evan J. Peterson: I’m more into the psychology of gender and sex than the romance, so I’d like to talk about what’s possible in pushing the boundaries of Queer beyond LGBT. How can magic or technology be used to give same-sex couples (or asexual individuals) biological children? How can we continue to make gender even queerer? Why not shapeshifters of gender rather than species? Genuine love between human and robot? Etc. It’s a fun sandbox to play in – but it can be fraught with pitfalls as well. What do you think?

Announcement: Blue, by Ashlyn Forge

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Blue, by Ashlyn Forge

QSFer Ashlyn Forge has a new Sci Fi book out: One year sober, Galen’s trying to start over again. He has a new job, a new lease on life, and nobody to share it with. Then a message arrives—his old lover is in a bad way. Couple that with a number of other unforeseen and unwanted comings and goings and things start looking familiarly bleak. Midge is barely coherent when Galen finds him. Because he’s unable to take care of himself, Galen takes him in despite the strain of the arrangement. After so long, Galen is looking to forgive and … Read more

Article: one YA writer’s response to fan who complains about gay characters

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Article: one YA writer’s response to fan who complains about gay characters In an open letter titled “Dear Guy Who Is Mad Because I Wrote A Gay Character In A Book,” Wendig attacks every angle of the homophobic argument, starting with, “I suppose the more pleasing alternative to you would be for the characters to suffer in loveless abandonment,” and, “why weren’t you mad that [another] character’s straightness didn’t matter and affect the story?” See full article here