As a lifelong sci-fi geek, I thought I’d seen every variant of alien contact narrative the genre had to offer, from the invasion epics to the misadventures of benign visitors to thinly veiled social allegories. Even the enjoyable ones often rely on predictable tropes. But Dawn, the first installment in Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy, captivated … More Review: “Dawn” by Octavia Butler
1984 is often regarded as the original dystopia, but Orwell himself acknowledged that the novel was somewhat derivative. His inspiration? Yevgeny Zamyatin’s 1921 novel We, evolutionary ancestor of the totalitarian sci-fi stories so popular today. It’s easy to dismiss the book as cliched until one places it on the continuum of speculative fiction and remembers that … More Review: “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin
I received a promotional copy of this book from Ellen Szabo in exchange for my honest review: thanks, Ellen! In the preface to this book, author Ellen Szabo writes “I wish someone had told me when I was young that separation of the `hard sciences’ and `creative arts’ was a false duality”. I can certainly … More Review: Saving the World One Word at a Time: Writing Cli-Fi
Reading Hyperion recalled my years in an undergraduate English department: the words mesmerized me, some of the ideas enthralled me…and the suffocating pretension tempted me to switch majors (or novels, in this case). I could tell the author was an English major even before confirming my suspicions on Wikipedia. We can always sense one another’s presence! I … More Review: Hyperion
I’d been meaning to post a review of The Martian by Andy Weir for the last few months, but hadn’t gotten around to it. Now I get to write something even more fun: the upcoming movie adaptation! Weir’s novel hits the big screen in October, and the trailer looks fantastic. The book’s simple premise belies its sophistication and … More “The Martian” becomes a movie!
Today the United Nations (U.N.) recognizes World Refugee Day, bringing attention to the plight of 60 million people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes. One in every 122 humans is displaced or seeking asylum, according to the U.N. It’s not only international conflicts driving refugee numbers to this new record: an increasing number … More Real-Life “Engees”: Record Numbers on World Refugee Day
Wild Type 