Earlier this year, Claire Armitstead in the Guardian newspaper posed the question whether genre fiction sentences can equal those found in literary writers such as Joyce or Beckett. Science fiction writers like Gibson, Banks and M. John Harrison were mentioned as possible genre sources for great sentences. I have thought quite a lot about this since… Continue reading Great Science Fiction and Fantasy Sentences
Tag: science fiction
Science Fiction/Fantasy Links
Here is a revised list of useful SFF links of various kinds: bloggers, magazines, organisations, writers and others. Suggestions for further links are welcome: http://afantasyreader.blogspot.com A Fantasy Reader http://aidanmoher.com A Dribble of Ink http://analogsf.com Analog http://apex-magazine.com/ Apex http://asimovs.com Asimov’s http://beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/ Beneath Ceaseless Skies http://bestfantasybooks.com/ Best Fantasy Books http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/ Patrick Rothfuss http://bookwormblues.net Bookworm Blues http://bruceboston.com Bruce… Continue reading Science Fiction/Fantasy Links
List of SFF Links
I have now assembled a fairly comprehensive list of SFF links in my page’s sidebar and set out below: blogs, magazines, writers, organisations. Many will be familiar but there are some lesser-known interesting links as well. I hope this list will help you to find lots of good reading and contacts. Any suggestions for further links are welcome! http://afantasyreader.blogspot.com… Continue reading List of SFF Links
Unaccompanied Sonata by Orson Scott Card
I remember clearly reading this story when it was first published in Omni magazine in 1979, when I was very young. I have just re-read the story for the first time since then and was surprised and pleased to see how well I remembered it. That is the sign of a story that really made… Continue reading Unaccompanied Sonata by Orson Scott Card
Language in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
On re-reading this classic recently, I was very struck by the clever use of language. “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” was first published in 1966, the setting is 2075-6. Heinlein gives his viewpoint character a plausible future Moon dialect of English; a number of Russian words and even some Australian ones such as “cobber”. The character’s… Continue reading Language in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
Who Can Replace a Man? by Brian Aldiss
This story imagines an attempt by machines to replace humans who are presumed to be extinct. It reminded me of Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, but with machines instead of animals. In the end, the answer to the question in the story’s title is given as “no machine”. However, until they realise that humans are not actually extinct,… Continue reading Who Can Replace a Man? by Brian Aldiss
UFOs in A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke
What do science fiction fans think of the UFO phenomenon? Clarke’s novel A Fall of Moondust got me thinking about it again. The setting is around 2040 AD. A tourist bus on the moon is trapped under the surface and rescuers race against time to save the passengers before they run out of oxygen. When… Continue reading UFOs in A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke
Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven
An early 70s last night of the world story that ends up as an apocalyptic story looking forward to the post-apocalypse. Niven rigorously explores the various explanations and possibilities. The suspense (which of the above categories will we finish in?) is very well maintained. By the end, I really wanted the main characters to survive to… Continue reading Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven
Passengers by Robert Silverberg
A great story from the early 70s that still stands up really well today. Earth has been infested for three years by creatures known as The Passengers. They exist on a purely mental plane, so no one has ever seen them or knows what they are. They might be aliens or evil spirits; the story… Continue reading Passengers by Robert Silverberg
Space Exploration, Space Race, Outer Space Treaty, Moon Treaty
A piece on space exploration, the space race, Outer Space Treaty, Moon Treaty, Cosmo-Skymed, Copernicus space system, Orion space programme: https://scflynn.com/space-exploration/
S.C. Flynn 