None of us set out to do anything more than be technically ingenious. We succeeded and London nearly died. Surely that’s more than enough to make us redirect our activities. The next time it may be the whole world. Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters (1971) Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis were a writing duo active … Continue reading Kit Pedler & Gerry Davis: Three Novels
This I tell you all. Some disaster happened in the past, in the long past. So complete was it that no one can explain to you what it was or how it came about. We know only that it brought darkness and cold. You try to live the best you can. Good, good, live well, … Continue reading Brian Aldiss: The “Helliconia” Trilogy
ˌæntɪəˈɡæθɪk anti-agathic: serving to prevent death; a drug that has this function This is a science fiction word. It was coined during the 1950s by James Blish as a key concept for his Cities in Flight series of novels, to designate the drugs that his characters took to give them potential immortality, allowing them to … Continue reading Anti-agathic
We’ve got good tech, we’ve got a nice planet, but we’re fucking it up by way of stupid laws. I’ve written about Kim Stanley Robinson before, when I reviewed his Green Earth. I mentioned his environmentalist and anti-capitalist concerns, his lyrical descriptions of landscape, his long passages where nothing much happens except characters talking to … Continue reading Kim Stanley Robinson: New York 2140
Geometry might well kill them in the end, but only a rigorous understanding of its principles could make their situation intelligible, let alone survivable. That quote comes from Part 4 of this novel, but it encapsulates what’s intriguing and (at least potentially) frustrating about the story—it’s about spacetime geometry. I’ve written about Greg Egan before, … Continue reading Greg Egan: Dichronauts
A review of the first three novels in Dave Hutchinson’s “Fractured Europe” sequence
“The Apollo Moon programme is cancelled,” the man behind the desk was saying. “But the good news is you two good old boys are gonna get the chance to save the world.” This is a slightly odd one. In 1971 Arthur C. Clarke wrote a novella entitled “A Meeting With Medusa”, which won the Nebula … Continue reading Stephen Baxter & Alastair Reynolds: The Medusa Chronicles
April sipped her drink. “You really want to know? I don’t see how anyone could have built the yacht.” Max listened to the fire and watched April struggle with her thoughts. “I know how that sounds,” she said. “What exactly do you mean?” asked Max. “It’s beyond our technology. But I knew that before I … Continue reading Jack McDevitt: Ancient Shores & Thunderbird
“You’re suggesting we need a paradigm shift in how science interacts with society.” “Yes I am.” Kim Stanley Robinson has been around for a while, and is probably best known for his Mars trilogy. A lot of his science fiction reflects his own political agenda—strongly environmentalist and anti-capitalist, with a conviction that responsibly applied science … Continue reading Kim Stanley Robinson: Green Earth
“I’ve only one more question,” he said. “What shall we do about our children?” “Enjoy them while you may,” answered Rashaverak gently. “They will not be yours for long.” It was advice that might have been given to any parent in any age; but now it contained a threat and a terror it had never … Continue reading Arthur C. Clarke: Childhood’s End