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Sci Fi

The Space Taxi is Coming!

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Prepare to have some sci fi plot bunnies released: NASA just announced a critical component of Launch America, the country’s highly anticipated next chapter in human spaceflight. The organization confirmed in a press conference today that Boeing and SpaceX will split the $6.8 billion “space taxi” contract, with $4.2 billion going to Boeing and $2.6 billion to SpaceX. Essentially, Boeing’s CST-100 Space Capsule and SpaceX’s Dragon will each send a test flight to the International Space Station to demonstrate their space taxi capabilities. Each team will fly to the ISS with a NASA crew member and cargo, show that they … Read more

Announcement: Take to the Sky, by Gregory Jonathan Scott

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Hello Everyone! Check out the beautiful cover below for Take To The Sky by Gregory Jonathan Scott. Today is the Official Release Day. Description An angelic romance that’s Powerful, Suspenseful, Sexy, Uniquely Erotic, and Romantic. In a secret Michigan Laboratory, an experiment developed a superior creation that was anticipated but not expected. He was the ultimate conception, a core life-being merged with avian. He was born with a gift, a rare one; the ability to fly. His wings instinctively brought out the urge in him to fly, and Kellan’s need to be free became his obsession. When the dark, swirling clouds … Read more

Where Are All the Queers in Mainstream Sci Fi?

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Morning all! Today’s topic comes from QSFer Jim Comer: “The role of LGBT, etc, themes in mundane SF.” We talk a lot here about romance and love stories set in a sci fi universe. But there’s also a whole big mainstream sci fi market out there, and historically it hasn’t been friendly to LGBT characters. I watched Star Trek for years hoping for a gay character – I finally gave up that particular search – hey, did they ever get there? Ditto for most of the mainstream sci fi books – we’re not talking gay sex or even a romantic … Read more

Need A Primer for Space Battles? We’ve Got You Covered

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From our friends at Towleroad.com: Turn back now if you still cling to hope that Star Wars will one day become science, rather than just science fiction as It’s Okay to Be Smart’s Joe Hanson picks apart Hollywood’s flashy, but scientifically inaccurate space battle staples.

Writing the Future

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Andrew Sullivan at the Dish flagged this great piece by David Mitchell: When you’re writing about the future, you simply try to work out what people in that future point will be taking for granted. In The Bone Clocks, there are two future sections. 2025 one is only about 11 years away–there’s just a few gizmos about the place and we’re basically there already. In the 2040s, however, more dramatic changes have taken place. There’s no more oil–or very little oil left. So you think about what people at that point will be taking for granted about travel, about the … Read more

Two Species of Mankind: The Rich and the Poor

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The idea for today’s post is from QSFer Thea Nishimori: “A lot of people were talking on the earlier post about the growing socio-economical divide, but what about how that will influence intelligence in the future? If you’re born poor, you can’t get a good education or job; you are more likely to turn to drugs and/or alcohol, which destroys brain cells; ergo your children are born into poverty with lower IQs… a vicious cycle creating almost two different species.” Hmm… as a sci fi/social evolution concept, I really like this idea. Its been explored before in sci fi, at … Read more

Book Review: Assimilation, Love & Other Oddities, by Lyn Gala

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Ondry and Liam have settled into a good life, but their trading is still tied up with humans, and humans are always messy. When political changes at the human base lead Ondry to attempt a difficult trade, the pair find themselves entangled in human affairs. Liam wants to help the people he left and the worlds being torn apart. He also wants to serve Ondry with not only the pleasures of the nest but also by bringing human profits. Ondry has no hope of understanding human psychology in general, he only knows that he will hold onto his palteia with … Read more

My Favorite Dragonriders

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I just saw the news (in EW, of all places) that there’s finally going to be a Dragonriders of Pern movie. I am thrilled, elated, and scared. This series is one of my most beloved in the sci fi realm – I started reading it in my early teens, and fell in love with it. My mom had this bookshelf in our third bedroom, next to where the dogs were crated at night. The shelves went up and up and up to the ceiling in the tiny home, and about in the middle were her two shelves of sci fi … Read more

Will Anarchy Ever Be a Viable Option?

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Will anarchy ever be a viable option? In my heart, I’m an anarchist. I don’t like people who try to control others or tell them what to do. I have no desire to impose my will on anyone, and I don’t want anyone attempting to impose their will on me. However, I’m realistic enough to recognize anarchy would not work in our current society. Left to their own devices, I’m sad to acknowledge many people would take the opportunity to exploit others in every imaginable way. That’s where the human race stands at the moment. Without the threat of consequences, … Read more

Shining a Light on Prejudice

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Today’s topic is from QSF’er Tracy Rowan: “Off the top of my head: How do you think about the role of gender and orientation in the future or in fantasy worlds? If you posit a distant future or a fantasy world with the same prejudices as exist in our world, why? If you don’t, why?” Of course, the easy answer is “because I’m the writer and I said so.” But that masks a more complex one. What’s different about a society that accepts its LGBT population, vs. one that doesn’t? We’ve come to a point where we generally have widespread … Read more