Living in a cyberpunk dystopia is weird. Most of the time we don’t even realize we are. We forget because it’s become so mundane, but we live in a highly connected online society largely influenced by giant corporations, and not for the better. Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting… Continue reading Living in a cyberpunk dystopia is weird
Tag: Science Fiction
Robopocalypse
I recently read the novel Robopocalypse, a science fiction-y thriller about the, er, robot apocalypse—the uprising of robots and technology and the attempt to wipe out humanity, and overall I quite enjoyed it: a good “popcorn” book that entertaining and mostly plausible if you don’t think about it too hard. Definitely movie fodder, and I… Continue reading Robopocalypse
V
So the new season of “V” premiered tonight; you might recall it’s the TV remake (reimagining?) of the the original nearly-30-year-old alien invasion TV series. I watched it from the beginning last season, with the presumption that I’d bail if it looked like it was going to go off the rails. It must have been… Continue reading V
Book report
I’ve been on a reading tear over the summer, mostly all good books, and I thought I’d be a little self-indulgent and list what I’ve read with some comments. Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle: Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World. It clocks in at something like 3,000 pages total, but it was by… Continue reading Book report
Derivatives
Cyberpunk: Cyberpunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, noted for its focus on “high tech and low life” and taking its name from the combination of cybernetics and punk. It features advanced science such as information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown or a radical change in the social order. Cyberpunk writers… Continue reading Derivatives
The 10 best sci-fi films that never existed
I just had to point to this: The Top Ten Sci-Fi Films That Never Existed. You gotta love it when he opens the Star Wars section with: Everyone remembers the exact moment when they realized that their Phanom Menace sandwich was filled with shit. For me, it was the scene on Tatooine where Qui-Gon is… Continue reading The 10 best sci-fi films that never existed
The Ringworld Engineers
Blogging has been light lately because I’ve been reading The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven, and just finished it up last night. It was a decent enough novel, and a decent sequel to the original Ringworld, though I think I liked the original better. Niven does a great job of building a complex, consistent universe… Continue reading The Ringworld Engineers
A Fire Upon The Deep
The latest book I’m immersed in (one of them, anyway) is A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge. So far I’m hooked (I’m about a quarter of the way into it), it’s totally compelling science fiction. And it’s a refreshing reminder that there’s really no limit to what you can do, story-wise, with well-done… Continue reading A Fire Upon The Deep
The Years of Rice and Salt
Over the weekend I finished reading The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson. Fantastic book, albeit one that defied my expectations, and I thought I’d write a short review. I picked this book up because I loved the concept: an alternate history novel that explores the question, what if the Black Death… Continue reading The Years of Rice and Salt
Followup to the Time Traveler Convention
Wired News has a followup article about the time traveler convention that I blogged about the other day. Apparently no one from the future showed up. But when attendees gathered outside for a raucous countdown at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, nothing appeared on the makeshift landing pad at the coordinates Dorai set for the… Continue reading Followup to the Time Traveler Convention