This post is part of a series on the Virginia Edition of Robert A. Heinlein’s works. I have been excited to get to this book, not only because I have read (or rather, listened to) it before and enjoyed it, but also because it signals a run of much shorter books than the first two … [Read more…]
This post is part of a series on the Virginia Edition of Robert A. Heinlein’s works. It’s been almost a year since I reviewed the first volume of the Virgina Edition, I Will Fear No Evil. I didn’t intend for there to be such a long hiatus, but things got in the way. Also, there is the … [Read more…]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been out for a week of public consumption now, and there have been reviews, a lot of them very positive. I’ve even written my own spoiler-free review, and I’m planning to write a more spoilery one after I see the movie again tomorrow. Incidentally, this review will likely contain spoilers and … [Read more…]
I’m always fascinated when seemingly different subjects of my academic focus intersect in unexpected ways, as happened to me recently with Ursula K. Le Guin and Benjamin De Casseres. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised: It may be that I am drawn to both subjects because I had already identified certain similarities subconsciously. However, the rising to consciousness of those … [Read more…]
Yesterday, I finished George Orwell’s classic work of dystopian psychological horror, 1984, which I read for the Mythgard Institute’s Dystopian Tradition class, taught by the estimable Amy H. Sturgis. It’s the second time I’ve read the book, though I’m not entirely sure when I first read it. In college, perhaps? In any case, it was … [Read more…]
“When the Trumpet Sounds” was originally published by Daily Science Fiction on April 5, 2013. Imagine there’s a line to get into heaven. Or rather, to get on a rocket ship to take you there. And that nothing you did could help you gain passage — the only things that matter are your health and … [Read more…]
Living with Trees was published by Daily Science Fiction on Feb. 25, 2013. This is a great little story that taps into a feeling I can only describe as preemptive nostalgia. The narrator, a cadet in some sort of exploratory corps, lands on a planet named Bharini. Struck by Bharini’s pristine beauty, he neglects to … [Read more…]
“Over There” was published in the January 2013 issue of Asmov’s Science Fiction. When a trio of scientists attempt to simultaneously observe collapses of a wave form, reality gets split in two. Everyone, not just the scientists, begin to experience a dual existence, in which their selves in each reality acts independently while simultaneously being … [Read more…]
Published at Tor.com on 2/20/13. In the near future, when you tell a lie, you will be hit with cold water, either a torrential dousing or a cool misting, depending on the intensity of the lie. That’s the world Matt lives in when he decides to tell his traditional Chinese parents that he is engaged … [Read more…]
Published in the April 2013 issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact. What happens when first contact with a feather-bedecked alien species kidnaps welfare-recipient Dana Brooks and her children, then subjects them to moderate psychological examination using English learned from TV before benevolently returning them three days later? There’s no point in warning about spoilers … [Read more…]