Tag: hard science fiction

Y is for Yesteryear

They say that the golden age of science fiction is about twelve years old.  That’s definitely true for me. My first exposure to the genre was Star Wars: A New Hope.  I saw it when I was seven, right around the height of my dinosaur phase.  Everything about the movie completely blew me away, from… Continue reading Y is for Yesteryear

T is for Terraforming

[NOTE: this post is a reprint of an earlier post from the Trope Tuesday series, which you can find here.] One of the problems with interplanetary colonization is that Earth-like worlds are fairly rare (though possibly not as rare as we once thought). In our own solar system, the only other world that comes anywhere… Continue reading T is for Terraforming

I have a confession…

…I’ve started writing a Sword & Planet story. In case you’re wondering what the heck is Sword & Planet, think Conan the Barbarian in space.  With giant lizards and man-eating plants.  And half-naked princesses getting kidnapped by evil technomancers with giant four-armed bodyguards that wield laser-bladed swords.  Basically, science fiction in the style of the… Continue reading I have a confession…

O is for Orbit

One of the key things that makes space different from Earth is that nothing is ever stationary.  Anything close to our planet that isn’t moving at a good clip (measured in miles/kilometers per second) is liable to plummet like a brick.  Gravity is still in effect, even though you’re in free fall and thus don’t… Continue reading O is for Orbit

Trope Tuesday: Terraforming

One of the problems with interplanetary colonization is that Earth-like worlds are fairly rare (though possibly not as rare as we once thought).  In our own solar system, the only other world that comes anywhere close (Mars) is a radiation-blasted desert with only the barest hint of an atmosphere and a surface temperature colder than… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Terraforming

Thoughts after finishing Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson

Whoa. If I had to sum up my thoughts with one word, that would be it–though of course, by itself that word is hopelessly inadequate.  Let’s just say that, for me at least, this  was a truly astounding book, a literary journey that left me wide-eyed with my mouth hanging open, blinking wearily as I… Continue reading Thoughts after finishing Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

For eons, sandstorms have swept the barren, desolate landscape of the red planet.  For centuries, Mars has beckoned to mankind to come and conquer its hostile climate.  Now, in the year 2026, a group of one hundred colonists is about to fulfill that destiny. I first picked up this book two and a half years… Continue reading Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Welcome to Mars, a magical world of ancient ruins like giant glass chess sets and canals of wine and sandy desert seas. A world inhabited by golden eyed people who can telepathically project hallucinations–some of them still live up in the hills. A desolate, empty world, the next frontier for a new generation of pioneering… Continue reading The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury